Thursday, October 11

Farm Photo 10/11/07: Living By The Light


Tana Enjoys The Breakfast Buffet

My life in the city was ruled by the clock. Now it's ruled by the sun. Animals don't wear watches, and they don't stick to fixed timetables. The system they live by is simple: when it's light you wake up, when it's dark you go to sleep. In between you eat as much as you possibly can. Their lifestyle, in turn, determines ours, because it would probably be easier to knock the earth off its axis than convince a flock of sheep in July that it's time to go to bed at six o'clock. I spend my days acutely aware of sunrises and sunsets.

The other thing I now pay attention to is where the sun is actually shining during the different seasons. Sometimes this is for practical reasons; it's handy, for instance, to know when the laundry line is going to be in the sun or when the greenhouse will be in the shade.

Other times I'm reminded of the constantly changing angles of the sun when I come upon a scene like the one in the photo above. There are only a few misty mornings each fall when the light hits this tree in such a way that the big branch on the right appears to extend down to the ground. I captured it last year, then forgot all about it until the other day when it started happening again.

I love these comforting little reminders of how some things really do stay exactly the same from one year to the next.

Want to see more?
You'll find all kinds of farm landscape photos here and lots of other sheep photos here. (Additional photos will be added to these and other "search label" photo collections as I catch up adding Blogger labels to previous posts.)

A year of farm photos ago:
9/29/06:
Perfect Landing
9/30/06:
Seeing Double (Tana & Her Daughter BB)
10/1/06:
Bodyguard or Nanny Bear?
10/3/06:
Follow The Yellow Dirt Road
10/11/06:
Glowing Glimpse Of Autumn

Two years ago:
10/3/05:
Winter Food For Sheep Or Giant Dog Fort? (Sadly the barn only has about half this much hay in it this year.)
10/3/05:
WDB#3 Robin Sitting Pretty
10/6/05:
There Is Absolutely, Positively No Place Like Home
10/7/05:
Settling In
10/9/05:
Weekend, Work, Wood, Warmth (Here's another thing that doesn't change from year to year--we were just out cutting firewood this morning.)
10/9/05:
Weekend Dog Blogging #4
10/10/05:
Haybarn & A Hint Of Color
10/11/05:
Into The Mist

© 2007 FarmgirlFare.com, the award-winning blog where Farmgirl Susan shares stories & photos of her crazy country life on 240 remote acres.

16 comments:

  1. Wow! I would start digging for buried treasure right at that spot the branch touches the ground.

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  2. I know the feeling about animals ruling your sleep habits. With four small dogs that have tiny bladders, everything is ruled by that. They always know when it's breakfast and dinner time; and when I want to take a nap. Of course that's when they want to go outside!

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  3. oLovely picture!! Awesome sight, that! Thank you for sharing!

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  4. So true! I think it's fall when I become most aware of the light, the sunrises are so apparent, the sun's so low my 'full sun' garden gets only dappled light, and most of all, for this food blogger who takes most of her photos in the back yard, I need to cook VERY early. Supper at three in the afternoon? It's in my future. Soon.

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  5. There is a lot of peace in that photo and those rays of light almost speak of a 'higher being'! Beautiful.
    As a first timer to your blog I look forward to returning!

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  6. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous! The sheep in this photo makes it even better than last year's.

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  7. Your animals sound just like my 3 yr old. She knows when it's light, you stay awake, eat as much as you possibly can and when it's dark out, it's time to sleep. Thought I'd share that giggle with you. It's amazing how things change as you grow up. Sometimes when I see the animals or the little ones, I wish we all could live that simply.

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  8. Wow! What a breathtaking picture! I would love a view like that!!! I am new to blogging and will definately keep coming back for more!

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  9. Just a gorgeous pastoral photo! But more importantly I appreciate what you wrote. There is such value in being in tune with the seasons, with the sun, and with the earth. That's why I think farmers have the best life in the world! Cindy at Rosehaven Cottage

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  10. I love your recipes and pictures! We are in the market for a new camera and my husband would love to know what camera you use. Thank you so much for posting all the beautiful pictures, they are a joy to look at.

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  11. Wow, that sunbeam is lined up exactly with that branch...What a great shot!

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  12. Lovely. Simply lovely. One thing I love about my school classroom is that it faces East, and I get the morning sun. It's a simple pleasure in the city.

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  13. I am, as you know, a total city kid, whose love of the countryside is of the taking-a-break-from-real-life kind. Often, this occurs right here at your delightful blog, when I can't actually get away.But there have always been a few things I yearn for that my present existence cannot include, no matter how I stretch things.

    These include chickens (haven't totally given up on this), and a dairy goat (pretty futile). I am more drawn to the actual country than to the 'burbs, which are very much not my thing. So, I won't be moving out a bit to try to shoehorn a hen house into my life.

    But this post reminded me of a country life feature I should be able to wriggle into my life right here in my rowhouse apartment with porch and back deck. That is the clothesline.

    Sheets dried outside are a luxury generally reserved for the person of modest means. I imagine that few of the wealthy enjoy the fragrant sweetness of line-dried bed linens. I'm going to get a clothespole or two into my life! If I can figure out a way, the smell will be great...there's a hill of clover and flowering bushes behind the deck.

    Thanks for the inspiration.

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  14. Hi Yellow Dog,
    Great to hear from you. And I love the idea of digging for buried treasure in that spot!

    Hi Vickie,
    LOL you and those dogs always crack me up. Good thing they're so cute! : )

    Hi Connie,
    So glad you like it.

    Hi Alanna,
    Supper at three in the afternoon sounds like a dream schedule to me. Of course I'm dreaming if I think it's ever going to happen! Lunch at 3pm is more like it, LOL.

    Hi Aimee,
    Welcome to the farm! Thanks for taking the time to write. Hope to hear from you again.

    Hi Anon,
    Yeah, I figure a sheep plunked into any photo makes it better. ; )

    Hi Maine Mom,
    Thanks for the giggle. Sounds like your 3 year old would fit right in around here! : )

    Hi Jessica,
    We definitely have some pretty nice views around here. : )

    Hi Cindy,
    Always so nice to hear from you. Yes, it really is nice being so aware of the light and the seasons and the weather. Between spending so much of my time indoors--not to mention living in Northern California where we didn't have four distinct seasons--sometimes I feel like I had no clue what the outside world was doing during the first 26 years of my life. Of course there are times, during icestorms, for example, when I'd love to not have to go outside--or even know what's going on out there! : )

    Hi Shawna,
    My camera is a Canon PowerShot A630. I love it and highly recommend it. Click here for more info about it. I've had mine a year and have taken over 7,000 photos. I carry it with me everywhere. For the price (around $230 right now from amazon.com--see link above--with no tax and free shipping) I think it's a great deal, and I'm not the only one--it continues to be one of the top selling cameras at amazon.com.

    I use rechargeable batteries in mine and highly recommend this Sony charger with batteries. It's the #1 selling charger at Amazon.com, and I've been using mine for over 2-1/2 years. It's also a bargain compared to other batteries and chargers. It comes with 4 batteries and you can buy extras so you always have a fresh set for the camera (it takes 4 batteries). A 4-pack of extra batteries is under $10. Click here for more info.

    I turn my camera on and off several times a day, and a set of batteries will literally last for a couple of months before they need recharging.

    Can you tell I love these batteries, LOL? : )

    Hi Segolily,
    Thanks!

    Hi Daisy,
    There's something extra special about that morning sun, isn't there?

    Hi Lindy,
    You know I always love your comments--they're almost as fun to read as your blog posts on Toast. You definitely need to put up a clothesline! : )

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  15. Hi again Shawna,
    I forgot to mention that my camera has all kinds of features I don't ever use--it's capable of doing so much more when in the hands of somebody less impatient and lazy than I am. I take most of my photos on the fully AUTO setting, and I never use a tripod. The few other settings I use (zoom and the one for indoor shots, for example) are really easy to use. That's one of the nice thing about the Canon PowerShots (I had a different PowerShot before I bought this one): even somebody who has no idea what they're doing can be snapping photos within seconds of taking the camera out of the box! : )

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  16. Gorgeous picture. What do you do with your sheep? I'm sure it is in the archive somewhere but I'm not sure where. I am planning to raise sheep when I get my farm but I'm not sure what I want to raise them for. Do you sell the babies to other farmers? Raise them for meat? Raise them for fleece? I'm researching breeds and what breed I raise will depend on what I want to do with them. I'm trying to find out where the market is.

    Thanks!

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December 2015 update: Hi! For some reason I can't figure out, Blogger hasn't been letting me leave comments on my own blog (!) for the last several months, so I've been unable to respond to your comments and questions. My apologies for any inconvenience! You're always welcome to email me: farmgirlfare AT gmail DOT com.

Hi! Thanks for visiting Farmgirl Fare and taking the time to write. While I'm not always able to reply to every comment, I receive and enjoy reading them all.

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I try my best to answer all questions, though sometimes it takes me a few days. And sometimes, I'm sorry to say, they fall through the cracks, and for that I sincerely apologize.

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