2009 In Retrospect ~ Country Style

Looking Baack at 2009...

I'm not horsing around, when I say...

That I'm berry appreciative of my Blogger friends...

It would be snow fun without you...

So as we prepare to ring in 2010...

I wish each of you a very Happy Moo Year...

And hope it will be a year we can all crow about!

Abandoned

Tractor On The Mountain
Ashfield, Massachusetts

When his world turned white
and snow covered the hay
The farmer decided...
to call it a day.
~SRD

Today marks Barnyards and Barnacles 200th post and 605th photograph.
Thank you to all my followers, I truly appreciate your loyalty and kind comments.

Filly Fashionistas

Keeping Warm
Leeds, Massachusetts

Agnes wondered what the chances were
of getting matching shoes.

Winter Wizards

Fence Line
Ashfield, Massachusetts

Their icy fingers grasped the trees
Making all the branches freeze,
Then dancing lightly on the snow
They caused the winter winds to blow,
Their frigid ways, I begged be done
And bless us with a little sun!
~SRD

This picture is straight from the camera, it is not a black and white photo.
In the higher elevations, the clouds clung to the mountain,
giving the appearance of snow.
Please click picture to enlarge.

Turkey Trot

Wild Turkeys In The Cornfield
Buckland, Massachusetts

I was spotted...and off they trotted!

The Morning After

From The Window

Christmas was white
but during the night
nature renewed her gift
giving spirits a lift.
~SRD

Christmas Wishes

Christmas Gift Suggestions:
To your enemy, forgiveness.
To an opponent, tolerance.
To a friend, your heart.
To a customer, service.
To all, charity.
To every child, a good example.
To yourself, respect.
~ Oren Arnold

Christmas Eve

Old World Santa

Christmas is forever, not for just one day,
for loving, sharing, giving, are not to put away
like bells and lights and tinsel, in some box upon a shelf.
The good you do for others is good you do yourself.
~Norman Wesley Brooks
"Let Every Day Be Christmas," 1976

Roads

The Road Home

In life, I've traveled many roads
With loved ones and alone
But the road I really treasure most
Is the one that takes me home.
~SRD

Twinkle...Twinkle

Christmas Tree Lights

Deerfield, Massachusetts

Face Christmas with a childlike wonder
And open up your eyes
To see the unexpected things
Each one a sweet surprise.
~SRD

Christmas Magic

Santa Snow Globe
Yankee Candle Village

"Christmas waves a magic wand over this world,
and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful."
~Norman Vincent Peale

Seasonal Welcome

Dickinson Memorial Library

Northfield, Massachusetts

"Perhaps the best Yuletide decoration is being wreathed in smiles."

~Author Unknown

Hoo! Hoo!

Hoo Me?

Have you ever had the feeling that you were being watched? It was getting close to sunset, and I had taken Lucy out for a walk...I couldn't shake the feeling that there were eyes following us. I looked around and spotted this Barn Owl sitting in a tree.

Dusk was setting in, it was bitterly cold, and suddenly the woods took on a very eerie feeling. It was time to go home!

If you look at the branch to the right of the owl, you can see icicles.

(Wo)Man's Best Friend

Santa and Lucy

If you happen to be a follower of Life With Lucy this will be a familar face, if not, let me introduce you to Lucy. She is a three year old Goldendoodle and a very important part of our family. On her recent visit with Santa, she managed to take over his chair but Santa didn't seem to mind.

I talk to her when I'm lonesome like;
and I'm sure she understands.
When she looks at me so attentively,
and gently licks my hands;
then she rubs her nose on my tailored clothes,
but I never say naught thereat.
For the good Lord knows I can buy more clothes,
but never a friend like that.
~W. Dayton Wedgefarth

Believe

Santa Claus

United States

Father Christmas
England - Australia - New Zealand

Pere Noel
France

Christtindl - Kris Kringle
Germany

Ganesha
India

"Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as
love and generosity and devotion exists, and you know that they
abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy."

Editorial in the New York Sun, 1897, responding to a letter
from 8-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon.

Pictures taken at Yankee Candle Village, Deerfield, Massachusetts.

Red, White and Ooh!

Twin Brooks Farm

Ashfield, Massachusetts

There are many theories as to why barns are painted red. Starting centuries ago, in Europe, farmers would seal the wood on their barns with linseed oil adding milk and lime to produce a long lasting paint that dried quickly.

Wealthy farmers added blood from a recent slaughter, others added ferrous oxide (rust) to the mixture, and as it dried it would turn red.

Regardless of the method, red became fashionable because of the sharp contrast with the traditional white farmhouse.

My favorite theory is that during a snow storm, a red barn was easy to find.

Information obtained from the Internet.

Winter Woolies

Wooly Sheep

Shelburne, Massachusetts

Within a couple of hours the green patches were covered
with a blanket of snow...the sheep moved on,
warm and happy in their 100% wool coats.

Snow Troopers

Hay Barn
Ashfield, Massachusetts

When I was just a youngster
Many years ago
I eagerly awaited
Winter's gift of snow

And when my wish was granted
Friends and I would race
Through knee high drifts and giggles
To a special sledding place

Where Grandpa piled the snow up
Beside the old hay barn
We had our own 'Mount Everest'
Down on Grandma's farm

We called ourselves 'Snow Troopers'
And for hours we had fun
Ignoring frozen noses
And toes that had gone numb

As the sun was setting
We trudged home through the snow
For Mother to defrost us
With hugs and hot cocoa

Fond memories of childhood
And the good times shared back then
The world was such a perfect place
When I was only ten
~SRD

When I took this barn picture it reminded me of a poem that I wrote
several years ago and I'd like to share it with you.
This is not my Grandma's barn.

Snowy Morning

Steady Lane Barn
Ashfield, Massachusetts

One kind word can warm three winter months.
~Japanese Proverb

Circle Of Hope

Lilliput Barn
Ashfield, Massachusetts

I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.
~Charles Dickens

Dead Of Winter

Reverence

Listen to the falling snow...and hear the sound of silence.

Early Snow

Sangha Farm

Ashfield, Massachusetts

The sun melts sending soft snow kisses to the ground.

Lights...Camera...Christmas Trees!

Town Center

Conway, Massachusetts

Town Hall

Ashfield, Massachusetts

Elmer's Tree
Ashfield, Massachusetts

Yankee Candle Village
Deerfield, Massachusetts

"The perfect Christmas tree? All Christmas trees are perfect!"
~Charles N. Barnard

Country Breakfast

Fresh milk and...

Frosted Shredded Wheat

Pictures taken the day before and the day after the first snow.

Star Light...Star Bright

Lilliput Farm
Ashfield, Massachusetts

Some heavenly stars are closer to earth.

A Promise Kept

First Snow

A promise made,
A promise kept,
It snowed all day
and while we slept.

Landscapes changed,
From brown to white
Such beauty
in the morning light.
~SRD

If you missed Saturday's post, please visit A Promise.

A Promise

December Sunset

Sky above,
Earth below,
Sun sets,
with a promise...snow.
~SRD

Strike A Pose

Blondie

Ashfield, Massachusetts

"The cow is of the bovine ilk;

One end is moo, the other milk."

~Ogden Nash

Socks

Conway, Massachusetts

"When you're young and you fall off a horse,

you may break something.

When you're my age, you splatter."

~Roy Rogers

Dodge

Shelburne, Massachusetts

"Never trust sheep."

~Ryan Stiles

A Slice Of History

Factory Cupola

Lamson & Goodnow, is the oldest cutlery manufacturer in the

United States. Established in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts in

1837, it rapidly became the premier cutler in the country.

The Factory
Recruiting experienced cutlery workers from both Sheffield, England
and Solingen, Germany the company experienced steady growth
during its early years. Descendants of those workers are still
employed today. In 1869, the workmen of Lambson & Goodnow
produced a 62 piece dinner set for President Ulysses S. Grant.

Storage Barn
Lamson & Goodnow cutlery is still being proudly produced.
These pictures are a few glimpses of their many old buildings.
You can read more about the history of L & G by clicking here.

Security Guard

Guard Llama

Mohawk Trail, Massachusetts

With the ever present threat of Coyotes,
sheep farmers have been using Llamas
as a nonlethal alternative for reducing predation.

Multiple Llamas are not as effective as one Llama.
It seems if you put a couple of Llamas together,
they tend to hang out together and forget the sheep!

It only takes a few days for sheep and Llamas
to adjust to each other.