Cartogriffi
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cartogriffi.bsky.social
Cartogriffi
@cartogriffi.bsky.social
92 followers 110 following 190 posts
Game developer and former social studies teacher. But, I mainly use social media to infrequently post photos of my sheep.

Personal account, the views expressed here are mine alone and do not reflect the views of my employer. (He/Him)
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cartogriffi.bsky.social
People call sheep "stupid," but the lambs found a novel way to push between the fence posts and fence to escape their pen yesterday.

One of the lambs, Birch, watched unhappily as I fixed it up. As I went down all the posts, a series of sheep came to investigate my work (or request scritches).
A Shetland lamb is watching me mend a fence. I'm using bailing twine to tightly affix the wire fence to the fence post, and the lamb has her snoot right against the fence while I work. Come spring, we'll replace the twine with some heavy-duty staples. Birch, a Shetland ewe ram, in profile. She has a dark coat with a lighter neck and belly, a pattern called gulmoget. She also has a white head with large eye spots, like a panda, a pattern called yuglet. She is a very pretty sheep with a nice brown coat.
November 28, 2025 at 7:20 PM
cartogriffi.bsky.social
Parmesan finally broke through the gate, and got to show off for the lady folks across the other pasture. With no good way to get him back to his pasture, we had to toss him in with the boys (and Lyrid with the girls, which she had no issues with).

An adventurous start to Thanksgiving!
A double farm gate is lashed together with twine, and leaning at an odd angle. It has been taken off of its bottom hinges, and pushed out, so Parmesan could squeeze through and go see the ladies. Parmesan and Lyrid bred yesterday, so the plan was the separate them tomorrow evening. It's best re-integrating a ram at dusk, as they settle down pretty quickly. Unfortunately for Parmesan, he's been chucked back in with the boys and will spend the whole day re-asserting dominance.
November 27, 2025 at 5:12 PM
cartogriffi.bsky.social
The Scarecrow I can deal with, but the product placement for the Tin Man? No way.
The Scarecrow confronts Batman with one of his greatest fears, a Roomba, in one of Pete Holmes' "Badman" spoofs.
November 23, 2025 at 5:04 AM
cartogriffi.bsky.social
Rut is always a bit dicey.

Here's Parmesan, our top ram. Under all the fluff is 120 pounds of muscle, as well as a testy attitude. ("Testy" being particularly accurate this time of year.)

He's been good to Lyrid, the ewe, even though she isn't currently in estrus.

He's been less good to the gate
Two sheep share a trough. Parmesan (the ram) isn't always great about sharing his food. And since this was taken, we've swapped to two small troughs to ensure Lyrid (the ewe) gets her fill. A large farm gate sits with both halves at awkward angles. It's heavily lashed with blue twine to the fence posts, and to each other. While hard to see, but the gate is no longer attached to either post at the top. Our culprit, Parmesan, stands pensively on the other side. Lyrid, a ewe, stands next to him. She's not currently in estrus, but some of the girls elsewhere are, hence Parmesan's frustrations. Parmesan is a gentle giant. He hasn't taken his frustrations out on Lyrid, or the shepherds. He even request chin scritches from us when we're about. But he does not like the gate.
November 21, 2025 at 7:54 PM
cartogriffi.bsky.social
I really do think that machine learning has potential, but LLM slop isn’t it. I was more impressed with the tech in 2019 than I am now.

The FOMO also doesn't help. In the future we may have flying cars, but I’m not going to drive off a cliff today based on that hype.

Anyway, here're some sheep.
About a dozen Shetland sheep in a variety of colors hang out in their pasture. They're mostly ewes, but a larger whether (castrated ram) is in the foreground. Fall leaves are scattered around their feet.
November 20, 2025 at 9:12 PM
cartogriffi.bsky.social
We discovered a lamb-sized hole in the roof of the shelter. Thankfully no one was hurt. But as you can see, lessons were not learned.

(Or maybe the lesson was learnt by that particular lamb, and it simply hasn't been conveyed to the others.)
A mobile livestock sits is the pasture. Instead of the green covering of previous photos, it's now covered by a somewhat ill-fitting grey tarp. Two lambs frolic on top, while other ewes wander around it.
November 16, 2025 at 1:06 AM
cartogriffi.bsky.social
Neighbors' turkeys came over for a visit.
A rafter of five turkeys stand in an orchard, just on the other side of net fencing. The foreground is empty, just grazed down grass. A rafter of turkeys stand in an orchard, just on the other side of net fencing. On the other side of the fence is a large number of very curious sheep, who just arrived en masse, and are all looking directly at their visitors. This spooked the turkeys a bit, who have turned around and are contemplating returning home. A rafter of five turkeys stand in an orchard, just on the other side of net fencing. On the other side area group of sheep, some of whom are watching the birds, others appear to be conferring about these strange guests. The sheep are familiar with chickens, and these look a lot like chickens, but they are much larger and make very peculiar noises.
November 6, 2025 at 5:15 PM
cartogriffi.bsky.social
Just got my UK passport, I'm officially a dual US/UK citizen.

Here's a photo of my dog to celebrate.
Ginger, a brown corgi/husky mix stares expectedly up at the camera. She's unaware of the delightful little rainbow cast across her forehead. Why does my human friend keep taking photos of me, she wonders?
October 31, 2025 at 11:01 PM
cartogriffi.bsky.social
Lambs do love their mobile shelter.
A large green arched shelter, about 5 feet wide and 8 wide. It's a sunny day, and most of the sheep are packed in under to enjoy the shade, except for two. Robin is a pale adult sheep happily chewing cud just outside the shelter, and Willow, a little black happily standing on top of the shelter. Foreground is a collection of hungry ewes happily munching on a bale of hay we've plopped in their pasture. We generally don't put hay on the ground, but were in a bit of a rush and didn't have time to move one of our portable hay feeders over. In the background is one of our green arched sheep shelters, about 5 feet wide and 8 wide. Deegan, a brown wether lamb, is playing on top. He's had his full of dinner and headed to his favorite spot. A large green arched shelter, about 5 feet wide and 8 wide. A large green arched shelter, about 5 feet wide and 8 wide. Three lambs are up on top! Splash, a black lamb with a large white spot on her forehead. Willow a dark brown lamb Deegan, a brown wether - currently facing away from the camera. Down below, two adult ewes look up at the antics.
October 20, 2025 at 3:43 PM
cartogriffi.bsky.social
All this discussion of the butcher Lazar Wolf, and no mention of his ghost wife?

♬ Have you no consideration for a woman's feelings? ♫ ♪
The ghost of Fruma Sarah rises from her grave to chastise Tevye and Golde, as they're planning to marry their daughter Tzeitel to her husband, Lazar Wolf. This is presented as a dream sequence, or perhaps more accurately a figment of Tevye's imagination, to try and convince Golde that they should let Tzeitel marry her sweetheart, the tailor Motel Kamzoil instead. Granted, the whole situation with Lazar Wolf was partially Tevye's fault to begin with.
October 9, 2025 at 12:03 AM
cartogriffi.bsky.social
I keep forgetting you're in a different time zone than me. Over here in MD it's "Hummingbird Clearwing on a Butterfly Bush" O'Clock!
A Hummingbird Clearwing rests on a purple butterfly bush. Clearwings are not hummingbirds, but hummingbird moths, so called due to their similar size and behavior. They're also called flying lobsters, due to their somewhat similar shape. This shot is a sideview, so the beautiful clear wings aren't visible. Granted, since they rarely stop beating their wings, they're usually a blur. The hummingbird clearwing has a dull, yellow-green body, white underbelly, and reddish tail. A Hummingbird Clearwing rests on a purple butterfly bush. This show shows the top of the clearwing, including its namesake transparent patches on its red wings. They're hard to get a clear photo of, as they rarely rest, preferring to dart from flower to flower just like a hummingbird.
September 2, 2025 at 7:06 PM
cartogriffi.bsky.social
"OK, we've been told not to train our AI priest on Reddit. Let's ask ChatGPT to find some popular and well-loved priests we can rip off instead, what could go wrong?"
A screenshot from the TV series Father Ted, with the eponymous Father Ted Crilly attempting to teach his rather doltish compatriot Father Dougal McGuire the difference between reality and dreams. He's doing this with a diagram of Dougal with the word "Dreams" inside his head, and "Reality" outside. This is clearly a lesson LLM AI proponents apparently also require.
August 29, 2025 at 5:22 PM
cartogriffi.bsky.social
We've had a significant drop in egg production. We asked the giant rat snakes in the coop if they'd seen anything - they mumbled something and left, so the mystery remains unsolved.
Two large black snacks in our chicken up, curled up in a nesting box. One is poking its head out. The other, perhaps realizing they've been caught, is quickly wolfing something down. What could it be? A close up of one of the rat snacks in our chicken coop. It's gullet is largely distended, as if it were holding a gold ball or other round white object in there. Maybe its preparing for a day at the driving range? Up close shot of a six foot long eastern rat snake in our chicken coop. It's mouth is partially open, it's tongue sticking out slightly, and it's throat is widely puffed up from what it's eating. Its black scales are widely separated by its elastic skin, in black and white, due to the enormity of its meal. I'm glad they're around to take care of rodents, but it's a shame to have lost some chicken eggs.
August 16, 2025 at 3:00 AM
cartogriffi.bsky.social
Signs the rams are in rut: noses swell a bit and get horizontal wrinkles, general testy behavior (pun intended), and purple spots on their heads.

That last one isn't natural, it's antiseptic Blu-Kote spray (basically, gentian violet). These dunderheads have hurt themselves repeatedly headbutting.
Parmesan, a large Shetland ram, faces the camera. He has widespread horn and a face with large irregular black and white patches. He has a dark purple spot under his right horn, and another in between his eyes. A trickle of purple has run down this latter one, onto his nose. We didn't expect the Blu-Kote to run so much. It's not ideal to get it in their nose or mouth, so we'll be more careful dabbing in the future. Usually we use a spray, but couldn't here as it was so close to his eyes. Parmesan looks a bit tired. He hasn't entered rut, just some of the younger rams, and he's clearly sick of their antics. Fancy Pants is a Shetland Ram hanging out near a fence, which casts a shadow across his face. He has a "badger face" pattern, with a brown muzzle and darker lines running up past his eyes, but an otherwise tan coat. He has a dark purple spot under his left horn. Burnsides, a similarly colored ram with larger horns, is just behind him. It's hard to see, but if you zoom in you can see faint horizontal wrinkles on their snouts. Three Shetland rams eat at a large trough on the left, while two more are slightly further back on the right. The ram nearest the camera is Scalloway, who is looking up from eating. He has a dark purple spot in between his eyes, which has trickled down his snout slight. A second purple dot is under his right horn. There's a purple streak across his horn, he must have flicked his head to cause it to splatter upwards. Scalloway appears to be one of our primary instigators right now, which is unfortunately on brand for him. He was a lovely lamb, but would prefer to rank higher in the ram flock.
August 10, 2025 at 2:38 AM
cartogriffi.bsky.social
Survived the latest round of ZeniMax layoffs, but lost so many friends.
A two panel snapshot from Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. It features an exchange between Bernard, a newspaper vendor, and Walter, a the doomsday picketer. Some context first. The last time they saw each other, Walter was picking up his daily papers. Bernard jokingly asked how the end of the world was going, and Walter was convinced it would be that day. Then, he reminded Bernard to hold his papers tomorrow. Later that day, the superhero who provided the foundation of the USA's military defense left Earth after being accused of giving people cancer. Back to the screenshot, Walter is picking up his papers and Bernard asks "How about you? I see the world didn't end yesterday." And Walter simply replies. "Are you sure?"
July 2, 2025 at 4:31 PM
cartogriffi.bsky.social
Yesterday the little rams were most most curious about the big rams, and vice versa.
Two groups of rams are separated by a gate. One one side are six adults, on the other two lambs. Cole, a moorit (brown) lamb is sniffing, and being sniffed by, Burnsides, a mioget (buttery tan) adult. Deegan, Cole's brother, had been up against the gate as well, but has decided to wander off and check out the fresh grass instead.
July 1, 2025 at 3:44 AM
cartogriffi.bsky.social
It's hard to get that convenience and cohesion of a set, but that just means you can experience the joy of assembling your own.
Photo of the corner of my office, with bookshelves on either side containing an eclectic assortment. The focus of the shot is a bookshelf that's primarily focused on world history and natural history, as well as maps and Islamic art. There's a mix of visual encyclopedias, coffee table books, and more scholarly works (albeit, often aimed at a somewhat general audience). For a dilettante like me, it covers the basics well for these these subjects, and has hooks to inspire deeper investigation. Off to the side of the shot is the corner of another bookshelf largely focused on science fiction, with some futurism and RPGs tossed in.
June 2, 2025 at 5:32 PM
cartogriffi.bsky.social
I'll hand it to my son, "two ratsnakes interrupted me" is a pretty good excuse to stop cleaning the chicken coop.

The black (or gray) ratsnake is one of the largest native snakes in North America. Thankfully, they're also pretty chill.
A black ratsnake, over four feet long and shiny black. It's stretched across the roof of our chicken coop, coils alternating on either side of the peak. According to Wikipedia, Pantherophis alleghaniensis are good climbers - as this attests! A black ratsnake, over four feet long and shiny black. It's on the side of a chicken coop, the lid of the egg boxes is up and locked, and the snake is spread across it, looking down. It's neck is a tight squiggle, while the rest of it is stretched out long. Making it's way down from the roof, this proved to be a useful shelf. A black ratsnake, over four feet long and shiny black. Previously it was facing the front of the coop, but it turned arouns and is now crawling down the side of the chicken coop into the furthest nesting box. It's empty, as my son had been cleaning out the coop. The snake would methodically check out all four boxes before venturing back inside. A black ratsnake, over four feet long and shiny black. It's inside our chicken coop, and much of the snack is straight up the back wall, with the remainder loosely zigzagged on the ground to provide stability. It's always impressive when snakes raise so much of their body off the ground, especially given how large this snake is. Sure, it's leaning against a wall, but it still takes strength to lift up like that.
May 13, 2025 at 2:00 AM
cartogriffi.bsky.social
All eight lambs enjoying the sun. Details on all of them in the Alt Text.
Cole and Deegan are moorit (brown) ram lambs. Cole is a gulmoget, which means he has a lighter underside, socks, and "tears" in front of his eyes. He already has horn nubs. His brother's head is covered in white speckles, and his horns aren't sticking out yet. They're following behind their mother, who is largely off frame. They're part of a maternal line based on children's books. Their mother is Ms. Frizzle, and their older half-sister is Dorothy Ann, one of the children in the Magic Schoolbus. We considered naming these boys after other kids, but instead went with creators Bruce Degen and Joanna Cole. Bruce Degen passed away a few months ago, and my wife had met him when she was younger. Cole and Deegan were the first two lambs born this year, nearly two weeks before the rest, so they're noticeably larger than the rest. Alongside them is Splash, a smaller black ewe lamb with some fancy white splotches on her head. Seen here is a white blaze on her forehead. Not seen is a white patch encircling her black left ear. Splash is holding a small piece of straw in her mouth, and looks pretty silly. More info about Splash is in the alt text of the photo of her sister Midnight. Midnight is a black ewe lamb with interesting white spots on her forehead. She has one small spot between her eyes, and two large, curved stripes which sort of make a circle between her ears. It looks rather like a halo. It's hard to get a good shot of her forehead, as she is a bit flighty. She is the black lamb more minutes after midnight. We did not end up naming her [Mister Black], as previously joked here on Bluesky. Her sister is Splash. Their mother is Nori, who is all black, but has greyed in a pattern called islet. They have two older half-sisters, Tobiko and Maki. Although Maki now lives on a farm in Pennsylvania. This maternal line is named for food. Midnight is an exception, although I do like Midnight Milky Way chocolate bars. Her sister, Splash, was named for a splash of cream added to dark coffee. Birch is a white and black sheep who represents two patterns. She is a gulmoget, which means she has a light underside and socks. She is also a yuglet, which is a light head and large spots around the eyes. While it cannot be seen well here, gulmogets also have small white "tears" in front of their eyes, which Birch has within her dark spots. Birch also has a black muzzle. She is standing next to her mother, Quercus. Also a black sheep and a gulmoget, although Quercus underbelly is grey, and her socks are brown. In the background is Birch's sister, Willow, who is entirely black. She has proven difficult to take photos of. While Birch keeps running up to us for cuddles, Willow is comparatively shy, and is often maneuvers to be inconspicuously behind her mother when the farmers are about. This maternal line is named for trees. Quercus is the genus of the oak trees. We also considered Betula (Birch) and Salix (Willow). Alice and Cheshire are moorit (brown) lambs. Cheshire is a ram with large white splotches across his face. Alice is solid brown. Alice is seen from the side, largely in shadow. Cheshire is staring at the camera, with light across his back. They are part of a maternal line named for children's books. Their mother is Matilda, also a solid moorit. They have an older half-sister, Mrs. Frisby, also a solid moorit. Alice was born with a distended belly, likely a hernia. She was eating and walking just fine, so the vet told us this was low risk and she might grow out of it. Thankfully, it appears to already be reducing.
May 3, 2025 at 5:20 AM
cartogriffi.bsky.social
An unlabeled screenshot from season 4 episode of The Simpsons, Kamp Krusty. The camp director glowers at the camera, while standing next to a televised introduction from Krusty the Clown (absent from the camp bearing his name). Krusty's introduction has the camp director's name badly dubbed over, resulting in a nasally "Mr. Black" when mentioned.
April 21, 2025 at 6:17 PM
cartogriffi.bsky.social
I also wanted to post one photo of them as newborns, with this little fellow sploot-nursing because his legs were too long and wobbly to figure out how to stand while doing this. He got the hang of it not long after.
A dark moorit (brown) Shetland lamb lies on the ground, under his mother. His legs are splayed out behind him, and he reaches up to nurse. He is about 20 minutes old, and is too tall and unsteady to nurse otherwise. He figured out his legs later that day. In the meantime, we can enjoy his sploot.
April 19, 2025 at 2:45 AM
cartogriffi.bsky.social
2025 lambing season is upon us! Ms. Frizzle had twin ram lambs on the 10th, and they've been happily scampering around with her since. We have three more very expectant mothers due any day now. For the next three month, this account will primarily be posting photos of lambs.
Two moorit (brown) Shetland ram lambs hang out next to their mother, who is eating from a trough. The darker one, closer to the camera, has a white speckled head. The other is a gulmoget (light underbelly) and is licking his nose after nursing. Two moorit (brown) Shetland ram lambs hang out next to their mother. In the foreground is a darker lamb with a white speckled head. The spots are mainly around his ears and forehead. He has been photographed mid-baa. His brother is behind him, a slightly lighter and richer brown. Two moorit (brown) Shetland ram lambs hang out next to their mother. In the foreground is the lighter of the two rams. He is a gulmoget, which means he has a light underbelly. This extends up his neck, including white around his throat and mouth. He also has lighter socks up to his knees, and small chevrons near his ears. This little lamb is standing up, and inquisitive about being photographed - or perhaps the photographer. His darker brother is behind him, and his mother is checking them both out. Two moorit (brown) Shetland ram lambs hang out next to their mother, enjoying the fresh grass. One of the other adult ewes, Nyssa, is checking them out. She is also moorit, but a much lighter color, as she's older. These two little lambs will lighten in time as well.
April 19, 2025 at 2:44 AM
cartogriffi.bsky.social
A screenshot of Michael "Lurch" Armstrong, the very large trolley boy from the movie "Hot Fuzz." He looks surprised. Lurch is iconic for saying little except for his catchphrase, "yarp" for yes. It's later implication that he says "narp" for no. I think if Lurch got into VFX, he'd like Lerp. Another of actor Rory McCann's best known characters, The Hound, likely would not enjoy VFX.
March 30, 2025 at 12:18 AM
cartogriffi.bsky.social
Futurama screenshot. Fry turns to Leela and states, "He was just using space travel as a metaphor for beating his wife." This clip comes from the second episode of the series, during a historic tour of the Moon landing. The presented history is heavily garbled. Just prior to the exchange in this screenshot, they witnessed an animatronic recreation from the 1950s TV show "The Honeymooners" where Ralph tells his wife. "One of these days, Alice. Bang! Zoom! Straight to the Moon!" The tour suggests this demonstrates mankind's interest in traveling to the Moon. Fry's comment is correcting this, as Ralph is actually threatening his wife.
March 27, 2025 at 7:12 PM
cartogriffi.bsky.social
A screenshot from the Star Trek Lower Decks episodes "I, Excretus." Beckett Mariner stands in a holodeck training module and the name of the exercise appears three times around here. The exercise is titled "Naked Time." Mariner expression sits somewhere between unimpressed, bored, and dubious. She doesn't realize the horrors she is about to witness.
March 21, 2025 at 4:41 AM