Heading up Susie Stephenson’s driveway in Edgecomb, the first thing you notice is the large, fenced-in sloping lawn up to the red Cape, and more fenced in areas beside and behind the house.

Then you see why Stephenson and her husband Tom Blackford have so many visitors, including many they’ve never met. Inside the fences are sheep, chickens, an alpaca named Wally, and goats, including one named Olive Rose. Around 36 animals in all.

Suddenly, something black and white and red pops up out of the mass of woolly coats.

It's a baby lamb. And it’s hopping.

Susie Stephenson has two big passions. One of them involves rugs. She hooks rugs that will knock your socks off, with themes ranging from mermaids to beloved pets, ocean-inspired scenes and drawings that her kids have done.

Her rugs are made from recycled clothing and hand dyed wool from her sheep. There is one on the floor in front of the huge fireplace. It features her kids' drawings of animals, and family hand prints. The colors are vibrant, and the subjects, simple at first glance, are loaded with detail.

The rug, a work of art, does what a rug is supposed do. It has been on the floor in front of the huge open fireplace for five years.

A second black and white and red lamb pops up. It’s the first one’s twin. They are Jacob lambs, and the red sweaters they sport are sleeves from a sweater that was purchased at a local thrift shop.

More baby lambs appear. Two more black and white twins in purple, and two white ones in plaid. Oh, and here come a couple more white ones, naked but for their lush curly coats. There are 10 in all.

Stephenson said that at around 5 p.m. each evening the lambs start getting playful. They jump, all four feet off the ground, and chase each other around. They frolic. It is a sight to behold.

Stephenson’s life is a busy one. In August of 2013 she and her husband bought the 1846 Salt Marsh Schoolhouse across the road from their house. They’ve been working on restoring it to use as a studio for her rug-hooking, and possibly a place to hold classes.

With that in the works, and her rug hooking, she really doesn’t have a lot of spare time to care for all her animals. But these sheep, lambs, goats, chickens and alpaca are her pets. They all have names.

Then there are the visitors.

A car comes up the driveway. A woman gets out and asks Stephenson if she and her husband can see the lambs.

The woman is nicely dressed and wearing dress boots with heels. Her husband looks like he just stepped out of the office, wearing good shoes and an elegant knee-length back wool coat. They walk to the pens through snow and some mud.

They brought six oranges. “Can we give them oranges?” She's a little breathless. Her excitement is evident.

When Stephenson asks if they'd like to hold a lamb, they don’t hesitate. They are oblivious to the possibility of getting their nice clothes dirty or smelly.

When the couple has had their fill of cuteness, Stephenson invites them into her house to wash the orange juice and sheep spit off their sticky, wet, icy hands.

In the sink is a bowl full of peeled hard-boiled eggs, fresh from her chickens. Earlier, she had been in the process of turning them into deviled eggs to take to a music event at Round Top that evening.

The couple takes notice of Stephenson’s work-of-art rug.

The rug hadn’t been vacuumed that day, and Stephenson apologizes, but not profusely.

She has her priorities.