Duck soup delights

This is not a post about supper or recipes. It is about the wonderful wet weather we've been having. There is water just laying all over the ground. More of that precious resource falls from the sky every day. I wish we had better ways to store this abundance for times of shortage, but for now, we'll just appreciate it. 

The sheep are enjoying their pasture between storms. We are checking the frequently for parasite issues. 

The figs, tomatoes and other fruits are splitting their skins from the abundance of water. 

The rain is dripping pink off the poke berries. 

Boomer's spring suit

It rained all night last night. Mostly a steady, plant feeding, green-feeling rain. There were occasional downpours and very few lulls. Still it is raining steady and I'm wondering if there will be a break for me to do chores this morning. I may just have to wear a rain coat and convince the goats they won't melt on the run to the milk barn.

Boomer's not to sure about the stand.

Yesterday, before it rained, we got a lot of shearing done. The old boys are so big, it takes two of us to get them on the stand. We wanted to shear Dapper Dan while Shawn was here to help move him through the flock. As good as he is, he's still a ram who loves his ladies - and many of them are very fond of him. I also wanted to see what Boomer's fleece was like.

Wow, it looks like a carnival!

Boomer was a gentleman on the stand. He still loves to be petted and scratched, so shearing was no problem for him. His fleece is nice, it would be good to spin, but I have several very fine soft spinning fleeces this year, so I would put it in the bedroom rug catagory - a rug that you would want to walk on with your bare feet. The colors are a wonderful true black and shiny white. A very nice fleece.

Dan-man, Mi-mou and Bones also had good fleeces this year, a bit coarser than some years, but far cleaner than any since we moved here to town. We are getting the cockleburr issue dealt with.

The ewes we bred to Boomer are due the end of May and they are starting to show a bit of belly. We have all of them except Finesse, sheared. Greta has a  very nice spinning fleece. Any of these fleeces that I haven't managed to use in the next two weeks will be for sale at our Shearing Days Open House on March 31.

Boomer's new clothes - very comfortable for summer.

We'll also have rugs from our sheep for sale, goat's milk soap and maybe some handspun yarn and Lena's knitting needles. I'll have goat cheese and some herb blends for tasting. Mint tea will be here to keep you from getting thirsty. And we'll be shearing sheep and angora goats throughout the day, weather permitting.

Over the next week, I'll list the lambs we currently have for sale and you are welcome to reserve yours at Shearing Days. You can also visit with the ewes still expecting and see if you might be interested in one of their lambs.

Boomer's first fleece. I'm thinking of putting it into the
green warp I have on the little loom tonight to weave
a Boomer rug.

We'll do drawings for some knitting books and audio books on cd and have lots of fun. If you have any questions about the Shearing Days Open House, email me or leave a comment here.

The rain seems a bit quieter - I'm heading out to do chores!

Mr. Bones ready to donate his mostly white fleece to the cause.

Dan-man says, "Just get it over with!"

Wet drops

The sheep don't get out too often, they tend to drift out to the neighbors pasture looking for grass. They are very much grazers. When I am out working at the farm I let them loose for an hour or two. The pic above is the sheeps in the meadow.
The goats on the other hand, rarely get locked up. They are happy to browse right around the barn and help clean out the underbrush that is close to home. They seem to fit better on Foxbriar as it is now.

I've been waiting for a bright sunny morning to take a picture of the bee houses. (And then I was going to photoshop a ribbon on them for Summer!) but it hasn't happened yet. So here is a quick preview pic of the bee hives in their little clearing. They are in the spot where we will eventually like to put our house. The hive door face east and they have a nice wind break from the ridge behind them.
The bees are loving the black berry blossoms. They are out thick right now. blackberries survived the frost and are only a few weeks late. The grape came back, too and is growing new leaves.


They say the Eskimos have 50 some odd words to describe snow - I think our vocabulary should have more words for rain.
Rain covers the basics - drops of water falling from the sky.
But then we have to add all kinds of adjectives - soft, gentle, driving, hard, heavy, cold, warm, blustery... and the list goes on. It would be nice to be able to let people know if it was a good rain or a bad rain with just one word.


Right now it is raining a good rain - soft, gentle warm rain, just the thing for the new baby plants in the garden, perfect for healing the last of the frost damage on the trees and delightful to curl up in a chair with a cuppa tea and read to... so I'm not going to kick myself too hard for not being out digging sheep pasture postholes at the moment. Besides, with the new Postal rate change coming on Monday, I have enough computer work to do to keep me in my chair until then. The rain is nice to walk in, though...

Shawn's current fascination is mushrooms. Oddly enough it is one that I don't really understand or share. Morels are delicious when you find them, and pretty distinctive - but I have no intention of experimenting with eating fungi! We do have lots of them though and are finding new varieties every day. These are probably Inky Caps... maybe.