Sydney ♥

     Happy Thursday!  Sorry I haven't posted anything for the last week - been doing stuff, but mostly I didn't really feel like it.  >.<  But, to make up for my absence, I've included pictures of what I've been up to.  Will owns a sheep ranch, and this was the week they had to be shorn, so on Tuesday night we went up on the ranch to herd them into the pen that leads into the shearing barn.  Yesterday was when we sheared them, and these are pictures from it.

     Below, Denise (Will's older sister) and I are "sheep surfing" - they keep themselves so close together that it's nearly pointless to try and walk between them; not to mention it keeps your toes safe from being stepped on!

     This is where the magic happens.  Will is in the background, in blue, and his dad, Glen, is in the foreground.  It is absolutely mesmerizing to watch them work, because they do so in a way that ensures the fleece comes off the sheep in one piece.  The sheep pictured below are the same two, and it's almost comical how naked they look after being shorn.

     These pictures are of the ranch.  The first was taken on Tuesday night, around 6:30 PM.  The ranch is only a ten minute drive from the beach, so fog out here is a constant all year long.  Below that is a picture I took heading back down to the house on Wednesday, around 4 PM.  Their property line ends at the line of eucalyptus trees that meets with the gravel path, and extends out of the frame both left and right for several acres.  They own 365 acres, which is much bigger in person than it actually sounds.

     So that's what I've been doing the last few days!  If you'd like to know more about the ranch, you can read Will's most recent blog post about it here.

     Finally, on to my knitting!  This is the project I have on my needles right now: my first ever pair of socks!  I have successfully conquered my fear of making socks, and I'm really excited.  For years after I learned to knit, all I made were scarves and hats, because they were easy, and because I was terrified of doing a pair of socks (socks being the entry level project to the next skill level of knitting; to me, at least).  I swear, the stigma surrounding them is astounding.  They were actually much easier than I had thought - minus the gusset, which I ended up doing mostly by ear.  But, somehow, it still turned just like the picture! All's well that ends well.

     The last thing I want to talk about (well, really it was the first thing, but no one else really cares) is my dog, Sydney.  Today would be her 11th birthday.  She was a beautiful golden retriever, that I picked out!, but on February 3rd, she was diagnosed with lymphoma - a shock to all of us, because her symptoms had started out of the blue, and after being completely healthy her entire life.  A week and a half later, on Valentine's Day, we put her to sleep, and it was the hardest thing I've ever been through.  I cried for two hours straight afterward; it was awful.  Anyway, these are some pictures so you can see the beautiful dog she was, inside and out.

     The first picture was taken last October, on her last road trip.  The second was taken nearly 11 years ago - and yep, that's me!

xo