Star Gazing Farm, Animal Sanctuary

18/12/2024

Mon cher Saint Nicolas,

C’est moi, the Jean-Claude and how happy indeed I am to meet you once again. I am pleased to report that my preeminence as most handsome animal on the farm persists, and is doubted by no one. Eh bien, but how could it be? You, Santa, have not the elegance of the Jean-Claude but you are a kindly person who dresses well, and that accounts for a great deal. Monsieur Santa, may I please ask you for just a few tiny little things this year?

Did you know that llamas do not really lick? Oh, occasionally the maladapted one may try to lick someone or something, but we consider this to be very outré. Non, we much prefer to delicately nibble. Therefore, the salt blocks which you have so generously donated to the large cows do not suit us. No, they do not at all. What we require is something more delicate, plus raffiné. You see, this very finely ground salt would be just perfect for me. I cannot say for my colleagues Pearl, Marguerite and Dingy, but I suspect they may share my sentiments. https://tinyurl.com/loose-salt-for-jc

Monsieur – may I provide a brief lesson on the toilet habits of camelids? Eh bien, you see we are not like the impossibly messy cows who simply plop their enormous waste in piles everywhere so that those less careful may step in them. Nor are we like the sheep, who walk while pooping. M***e, that is a terrible sight. Mais non! We have our own private toilets. We designate a few spots on the farm and then use these exclusively. They must be cleaned up regularly, but, hélas, the shovels, they do not work so well. This is a very fine and handsomely decorated ‘pooper scooper’ exclusively designed for llamas and alpacas. This will enable the people who serve us to greatly enhance the sanitation of our WCs. https://tinyurl.com/pooper-scooper-for-jc

C’est tout, monsieur le Santa! Ah, except may you please send to me a sponsor or several sponsors? If they shall bring me the baby carrots, I will be glad to engage in polite conversation with them.
https://shop.stargazingfarm.org/product/jean-claude/

It has been a pleasure, my dear sir,

Jean-Claude
Star Gazing Farm
16760 Whites Store Road
Boyds, MD 20841

Star Gazing Farm is a farm animal sanctuary in Maryland.

17/12/2024

Well, our animals all have a different approach to their hay. Some of them won’t even wait till it’s off the tractor. Some of them are happy to wait until it’s in the feeder and eat quite cooperatively. But someone, ahem, who shall remain unnamed, goes right to the source. He says he prefers to dine alone… Le gourmand.

17/12/2024

Hiya Santa! It’s me, Mamie. Santa, so you remember how cute I am!? I can run around and around in circles and then jump up on you and knock you down. Sometimes I’m kind of a noisy little dog. And very nervous. But very cute. (Santa, please remember my history: I was locked in a cage for many years being forced to have babies over and over again. I know I have some PTSD from that.)

I love love love my people, but I hate hate hate it when they aren’t paying attention to me. I don’t know why I’m so anxious, because I know they love me and they DO pay a lot of attention to me. As I get older, though, I am able to reflect a little on my own self. I try to meditate with my mom every day. (but usually I just fall asleep).

So I thought, why not try better living through chemistry? I read this article that said these calming chews are top rated (A+). I’d be willing to try them out to see if it takes the edge off of my anxiety. https://tinyurl.com/calming-chews-for-mamie

I can tell you, also, that I do love chewing on bones. There is something incredibly soothing about chewing. These bones are just messy enough to annoy mom and just yummy enough to keep me busy for hours and hours. When I finish with them, she stuffs them with peanut butter and now THERE is a good project. https://tinyurl.com/chewbones-for-mamie

Santa, I loved meeting you last weekend. You are so big and kind to animals. I noticed, though, that the humans were having some difficulty staying awake. It seems that their coffee carafe BROKE! Now, I do sneak some coffee myself from time to time (don’t even start about how that makes me nervous), so I can understand why the humans need easy access to their caffeine. This type of carafe would be very good for them! https://tinyurl.com/coffee-carafe-for-mamie

Santa, I honestly can’t remember the last time someone sponsored me. All the big dogs seem to get the attention, but that’s really unfair. That’s anti-short-dogism. So please send me someone who will want to come and play with me!

https://shop.stargazingfarm.org/product/mamie/

Santa, I wish you came more than once a year – would you come in the summertime? That would be so much fun! You can jump in the pool with me, wheeeee!

Love you Santa,

Mamie
Star Gazing Farm
16760 Whites Store Road
Boyds, MD 20841

16/12/2024

Hello, Santa. Santa? Are you there? I can’t hear you. What? (Magnolia the hen whispers into Lucy’s ear that when you write a LETTER, the person can’t actually hear you).

OK, I’ve been told to stop listening for your voice. 10-4. Santa, can I still say things though? (Magnolia tells her to get on with it, already). Oh Santa, I’m so happy that we were given a brand new chicken coop recently! It is really lovely. The humans keep telling me to go in there at night, but it takes me a really long time to learn new habits. My mama used to say, “poor Lucy, she was left behind the door when the brains were handed out.” I’m not sure what she meant, but mama was a smart chicken. Except that she got eaten by a fox.

Ok Santa, so here we go with my list!! We need two new gates for our brand new coop. These really cute boys came and built a fence, but we still need gates because then we can have our privacy with no cows coming in or anything. These nice people have these gates (we need 4′ wide): https://tinyurl.com/gate-for-lucy and we can go and pick them up. I like riding in the car. (Magnolia: “Lucy! you don’t know how to drive!”)

So Santa, it gets dark so early now. That means I have to go to bed really early. But sometimes the humans are a bit lazy and leave all the evening chores until it’s dark. I don’t know what their problem is – they should be in bed already. Among their many failings, humans don’t see well in the dark. They need headlamps. The one they have right now is weak and silly. I think they need this one: https://tinyurl.com/headlamp-for-lucy

Santa, no Christmas is complete without treats. I know that you like cookies, but I much prefer bugs! Look at how yummy these are: https://tinyurl.com/treats-for-lucy

Santa, Magnolia told me about this sponsorship thing (she is very smart and checks the Internet every day for the news). How about a sponsor for me?

https://shop.stargazingfarm.org/product/sponsor-lucy/

Santa I have to say I am mighty disappointed because I thought we would have a nice conversation and I would hear your deep “ho ho ho”. But life is not perfect, is it, sigh. I hope you read this at least. Will you? Please?

Love,
Lucy
Star Gazing Farm
16760 Whites Store Road
Boyds, MD 20841

15/12/2024

Winston and Stephanie had long conversations with Santa and the beautiful Mrs. Claus today. I overheard them asking for their pirate ship. They’ve been wanting one for their back yard for quite some time. 🏴‍☠️
They want the ramp and the deck and the portholes and the whole magilla! They said they don’t need the swings but I interrupted to say, “oh yes we do! We humans love swings!”

15/12/2024

Such a nice festival today! Cold and sunny outside and warm and cozy inside. These aren’t all the fantastic volunteers who worked so hard today but every one of our volunteers is treasured. Cosmo the goat snuck into the picture somehow. He’s always sneaking into and out of places. 🐐🐐🐐💕

14/12/2024

Hail to you Sir Santa! My name is Winston and I’m a dog for the kings, I am. I came to this farm when my people sold their sheep and no longer needed my services. (we won’t mention the dalliance I had with the Great Pyrenees down the road which meant that I was often “off duty”. But we won’t mention that).

I came here and found true love: my beloved Stephanie, and an enormous collection of humans who hug me all the time. I also love Milo the working dog (ahem, I’m also supposed to be working which I do… sometimes) and all the other animals. I’m just an all around good fellow. The type of gent you’d like to sit down and have a pint with. In case you were wondering, I’m a Turkish Kangal dog – we’re relatively rare in this country but I don’t like to be a party to exceptionalism.

Except… when it comes to sleeping. Early on, everyone realized that a “dog bed” was a thing to laugh at when it came to my size, and so a baby mattress was bought. Of course, Stephanie proceeded to chew on it (her motto is – with music playing – “GOTTA CHEW!”). Well, I can still use this mattress but it’s not in the best of shape and will soon fall apart, so I was wondering – perhaps – could you send me a new one? I’ll share the old one with our old man Jethro who seems to need many beds. https://tinyurl.com/mattress-for-winston

And it would be so refreshing to have a new cover (brown, please – it matches my coloring). This two pack is handy, because the humans do a lot of laundry all the time. https://tinyurl.com/mattress-cover-for-winston

I have only one more thing to ask for today, Santa. As Cosmo the goat would say, “and it’s cheap!” Dear, old Jethro cannot always control his poor old bladder. This means that we go through a lot of p*e pads, and mopping happens here quite a bit. I like a clean floor, and my nose is very sensitive so it’s important to keep the house clean. Could you possibly send us some more of these nice pads for our mop? https://tinyurl.com/mop-pads-for-winston

Kind sir, I am so grateful for your generosity. Animals need you, too. I have some beautiful sponsors, but a fellow cannot have too many friends, now can he? Would you please pass the word that I would like a sponsor or two? You see, sponsors help pay for my keep and truly, I do eat a great deal every day.

https://shop.stargazingfarm.org/product/sponsor-winston/

I thank you for your time and attention and for all you do for the children and animals of the world.

Respectfully yours,

Winston
Star Gazing Farm
16760 Whites Store Road
Boyds, MD 20841

13/12/2024

CALLING ALL SPONSORS! Did you know you are invited to the farm tomorrow to visit YOUR animal? Sponsors always have free admission to the farm.

Why be a sponsor? Let me count the ways!
(1) Sponsors of our animals come to our events free!
(2) They can come on Saturdays to visit "their" animal
(3) They receive a beautiful package with information and photos of their animal
(4) Sponsorships make great gifts!

Read more about sponsorships here: https://shop.stargazingfarm.org/product-category/animal-sponsorships/

Info on our festival here: https://shop.stargazingfarm.org/product/santas-holiday-festival-at-the-farm/ (Just tell the elf at the gate that you are a sponsor!)

If you've been thinking about coming out to our holiday festival tomorrow (Saturday, December 14) from noon-4, think no more! Pile all your friends in a car and come on out. Santa will be there in a nice, cozy space with hot food and drink and good cheer.

13/12/2024

Ho ho ho Mr. Clausie,

I am Cosmo. I am a very cute and very naughty goat. I know that you know this already, since you make the lists of who’s been naughty and nice, but I’m *mostly* nice, aren’t I? And my naughtiness is onlly meant to make humans laugh. Humans don’t laugh enough, Mr. Clausie – except you. Thank goodness you’re coming here tomorrow so everyone can start laughing.

Santie (may I call you that?), my sister, the “perfect Stella” AKA “la princesa” came here swimming in our mommy’s tummy. She and daddy and a whole bunch of their friends were picked up by humans in blue suits because they didn’t have enough to eat and their barn was really yucky. They said it’s “pretty nice” here. I think it’s more than that but what are you going to do with parents, anyhow?

So: Santie, I kind of get about the farm a lot. I mean, a LOT. Sometimes I need to be “locked in” (that is not a word in goat vocabulary, but the humans have been trying to explain it to me). They put up these grates on the gates – see, Stella and I are pretty small and we can squeeze through anything. Then we run around during feeding time and eat everyone else’s food. It’s a good game to see who can hit the most feed stations. Anyhow. The humans said that I need zip ties. Now, before you get all worked up, these are to tie the grates to the gates (not all gates are properly grated). The humans said, “it will save our sanity”! I guess that’s a good thing? https://tinyurl.com/zip-ties-for-cosmo And they’re cheap!

So in order to put the grates on the gates, they also need some good wire cutters. Humans need so many tools. I don’t understand why they are so helpless on their own. SMH. Anyhow. Here are the wirecutters and they’re nice and cheap, too! https://tinyurl.com/wire-cutters-for-cosmo

Did you know that in wintertime they put up these really nice heat lamps for us? And heated water buckets? And a radio so we can get educated about Beethoven and Bach? But sometimes they need to plug in several things at once. This splitter would be very useful for them. It’s also cheap! https://tinyurl.com/power-cord-for-cosmo

Cosmo

Santie, you’ve got to know I’m working up to the Big Ask! See, I love riding on the tractor. One of these days I’m going to ride in the truck, too, and go out on the town and meet people. Well, but did you know that tires lose their air sometimes? Sort of like when your reindeer get all out of breath (they’re very impressive, by the way, and I really want to meet Rudolph, please). Well so when the tires go down they need air and this handy portable compressor will mean a lot to everyone, especially handyman Dave who is my bestest friend. So, here it is! https://tinyurl.com/air-compressor-for-cosmo

It’s not cheap but it’s not expensive, either 🙂

Finally, I was born here in JANUARY! Yes, I’m BRAND NEW! That means that I’ve never had a sponsor in my whole life. Would you send me one or three or five? Oh thank you, Santie. When you come you can sit on the tractor with me!

https://shop.stargazingfarm.org/product/sponsor-cosmo/

Ho ho ho, Santie, don’t forget to make all the humans laugh like you do!

Love love love,

Cosmo the goat
Star Gazing Farm
16760 Whites Store Road
Boyds, MD 20841

13/12/2024

When these sheep first arrived at our farm, they were terrified if anyone even looked at them and careened off the side of the fences, trying to get away. Now they’re doing synchronized chewing. I’d call this a successful rehab!

12/12/2024

So, Santa. How’ve you been? Did you know in Australia they say, “how you going?” just one of those little tidbits I pick up in conversation around here. Oh, they think I don’t listen but I’m all ears (except for the one that is tipped).

Santa, I honestly have landed in a très cool place here. I was living on the streets of Baltimore. I had to eat outside all the time and it was a rough neighborhood. Here’s a photo of me before I became a man of leisure. Did you know that even working cats (of which we have two – but honestly I’d call them part timers) sleep up to 16 hours a day. Therefore it is imperative that we have a good bed to rest on. We have two, but when the part-timers come inside they take over the two, and then I’m left with the floor. It’s just disgraceful. Here is a really good looking bed that would help me iin my snoozes. https://tinyurl.com/bed-for-hopkins

Last year you brought us this wonderful perch that they set up in the front window for me. I love it when the sun streams in! But the cover got sort of torn up. Could we please have a new cover for our perch? (I swear, I’ll share with Tabitha and Maria. But if that Sport character comes in here, all bets are off). https://tinyurl.com/cat-perch-pad-for-hopkins

Santa, you need to help me out here. I heard them saying ugly words like “overweight”, “portly” and even (SHUDDER), “fat”. I heard them say, “we’d better get that Hopkins a cat treadmill”. Santa, I don’t care at all what they say about me but please, I hate the gym. I’m thinking you could suggest to them that I get these low-cal treats instead. https://tinyurl.com/low-cal-treats-for-hopkins

I know we shouldn’t compare, but really Santa, I am the most cuddly cat on the farm. Please ask someone to sponsor me and I will gladly sit on their lap for hours on end!

https://shop.stargazingfarm.org/product/sponsor-hopkins/

I can’t wait to see you this Saturday. I’ll sit on your nice big lap and we can eat cookies together! https://shop.stargazingfarm.org/product/santas-holiday-festival-at-the-farm/

Thank you Santa, kisses,

Hopkins
Star Gazing Farm
16760 Whites Store Road
Boyds, MD 20841

11/12/2024

UPDATE: I'm incredibly sad to have to tell that little Emmy just passed away. Her wounds were really severe and even though we cleaned them really well and were giving her antibiotics, her body just couldn't sustain the damage the dogs did. This should never have happened.

Our sweet little Emmy was attacked by two neighborhood dogs. They are cute little dogs, but any dogs can do a lot of damage to a little bird like Emmy. Thanks to Dr. Giebel at Quince Orchard Vet we think she has a chance of surviving. The wounds were really bad and included a bruise in her beak that goes all the way down inside her mouth and lots of torn flesh on her neck and back. (Photos in comments for anyone interested). We have to clean and scrub her three times a day and give her antibiotics, she just had her cleaning and you can see that she’s looking fairly chipper. I hope this keeps up. She’s a very dear Duck. We were given her by City Wildlife. Folks, please keep your dogs under control and on a leash if they’re going out.

11/12/2024

Santa. Listen. They haven’t planted sunflowers in two years now. I like sunflowers. I like climbing. I need more flowers to eat. Can you pulleeeze pass this along to the powers that be?

OK now that that’s done, how are you doing? I’m doing great. I keep growing taller and taller and taller. It freaks people out when I go to the door and look in. I love it!

Santa, you know, goats are really fussy about cleanliness. We will not, positively not, drink out of a dirty water bowl. I’ve given these instructions quite clearly to all the volunteers, but sometimes they use (GASP) a dirty sponge to clean the water buckets and troughs. I mean, seriously. Well, so I’m kind of a gadget guy and I think we could use this amazing thingamabob to scrub really, really well (to a goatly standard of satisfaction): https://tinyurl.com/scrubber-for-falkor

I’m also rather particular about my feet. These feet take me all over the farm and they get a lot of use, let me tell you. My hooves seem to grow about twice as fast as everyone else’s (must be my bionic genes and that’s why I keep getting taller, too). I need a new set of hoof trimmers to keep my tootsies in good shape: https://tinyurl.com/trimmers-for-falkor

Santa. Cookies. Can we talk about cookies? See, different people here have different views about the value – and quality – of cookies. We’re not really supposed to get many cookies because, well, they’re very caloric for one thing and for another, we get used to being bribed. Yeah, well let me tell you, that ship has sailed. So here’s the deal: if someone wants to go in or out of the house and I’m standing at the door, they have to pay a cookie toll. No joke. It works every time. These are the best cookies I know of (besides Scottish shortbread): https://tinyurl.com/mrspastures-cookies-for-falkor

I’m well aware that you will be aiding and abetting in perpetuating my bad behavior (and the resultant human compliance). That’s the idea. OK – I’ll share with Tony and Caroline. Does that make it better?

So Santa, people are sometimes act nervous around me. Did I mention how tall I am? And I have horns I’m not afraid to use if the occasion warrants. But I can be nice if you scratch my face in just the right spot. And I snuggle with the other goats at night and I’m impossibly handsome. Plus, every farm has to have “THAT” goat, if you know what I’m saying. Anyhow – would you please send me a sponsor? I’d really enjoy that a lot and I’ll behave when they come to visit. Promise. https://shop.stargazingfarm.org/product/falkor/

Santa, don’t forget I’ll see you this coming Saturday at the farm. We’ve got to get some good photos together! Tell all the fraidy cats that I’ll be in the “Goat Containment Center” for the day so I can be viewed and admired but I won’t be able to headbutt anyone (oh, snap!).

See ya,

Falkor
Star Gazing Farm
16760 Whites Store Road
Boyds, MD 20841

11/12/2024

Our latest mail to our supporters :)

10/12/2024

Hello hello helloooooo Santa Claus!

It is I, Freckles the bunny bun. My best friend in the world is Luc, also a bunny bun. I am white with droopy ears and he is black with large up-style ears. We love to snuggle and groom each other. I’d have to say we have the perfect rabbity relationship. Sometimes people see us canoodling and they say, “awwww.” Yep. We’re pretty cute.

We live indoors because rabbits, don’t you know, are very sensitive to heat and cold, plus it’s safer for us because outdoors there are big and scary animals like foxes and hawks and owls. We are both older, so mostly we like to nap, but we also like to have some hop-abouts every day. We’re kind of messy, but I hope that doesn’t count against us in the nice and naughty tallies.

When some other bunnies’ parents go on vacation, they come to us to stay in our “Bunny Motel”. When we have bunny visitors we don’t always get the run of the whole bunny room; instead, we are given a bunny patio with a playpen. But our current playpens are kind of falling apart and we could really use another one or two. https://tinyurl.com/playpen-for-freckles

And speaking of visitors, my goodness, some of these rabbits come with a LOT of luggage (you wouldn’t believe how heavy their bags are sometimes!). Anyhow, we really need a cubby set so that we can put all their belongings in their own little cubicle. We wouldn’t want to give the wrong treats to the wrong bun! https://tinyurl.com/cubbies-for-freckles

And speaking of treats – Oh Santa, we love our treats. We particularly love these dry salads because they have all kinds of different tastes that we can pick out. They’re also good for us! Here are two varieties:

https://tinyurl.com/rosewood-treats-for-freckles
https://tinyurl.com/dandelion-treats-for-freckles

Santa, I’m getting sleepy so I’m going to go take a little nap with Luc, but he reminded me to ask you for a sponsor. I know, I know, I used to be a bit of a biter but I’m just about over that phase. Now I truly enjoy being groomed and petted and I promise I’ll be good. Really! I promise… https://shop.stargazingfarm.org/product/freckles/

Yawn, good night Santa Claus, see you soon!

Freckles
Star Gazing Farm
16760 Whites Store Road
Boyds, MD 20841

09/12/2024

City Wildlife does amazing work. Please support them!

09/12/2024

Oh Santie Claus! My name is William. Ok, truth be told, I don’t look exactly like this anymore – I’m still incredibly cute, but I’m about 9 months older than when this picture was taken. I know people complain about those dating sites where the photos are way out of date (not that I know anything about THAT … no, um, I don’t). But everyone says, “that William is a looker!” And I’m always in a good mood. No, I mean always.

Santie, my mama brought me here while I was still swimming around in her big belly (don’t tell her I said it was big). She and a whole bunch of other sheep and goats got picked up by the animal police and brought here. I don’t know why. But they were. They didn’t mind one way or the other, but they said that the food and accommodations were better here, so there’s that. I never had to know a dirty barn or lack of food. Boy howdy, I’ve got it good! Sort of like being born into royalty. But let me rush to say that I don’t take it for granted. No I don’t. Did you know people EAT lambs like me? Well, they do. My mama doesn’t know I learned about this awful thing so please don’t tell her.

I’m here for good and I plan to have a jolly time of my life! I give free kisses and honestly, really and truly, I make people smile when they look at me. I hope you smile when you come to visit me next Saturday, Santa!

Dearest Santa, I don’t need a whole lot, seeing as how I’m a little lamb and I just go along with what the adults say (at least for now). But I know that there are some things my favorite humans really need, so I’m going to ask for those!

First, they said their hands are cold. They need some of these (they told me just today that there are only toe warmers left, and who wants to put toe warmers on their fingers!? I know I wouldn’t). https://tinyurl.com/hand-warmers-williamsfriends

Second, they said that there are never enough of these strong rakes (ummm, I think they use these sometimes to rake up sheep poopies but we won’t mention that, ok?). https://tinyurl.com/heavy-rake-williamsfriends

Santa, you might find this surprising but I’m not much of a cookie guy. I prefer salty things, like kelp. I think maybe in my past life I was a seal, and that’s why I’m so cute and smart and friendly now (have you ever seen a seal? OMG they are so sweet). https://tinyurl.com/kelp-for-william

Now, I have never, ever, ever had a sponsor! I am so thrilled at that idea. Would you please send me one? I will be so fun to be around if they come and visit me, t0o. https://shop.stargazingfarm.org/product/william/

Oh Santie, how nice of you to look after the animals. Did you know some people eat us? Oh Santie, please help them to not want to eat us. We don’t like that at all. See you soon!

Love,

William
Star Gazing Farm
16760 Whites Store Road
Boyds, MD 20841

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