Miscellaneous farm "stuff"

"Oh, oh, Violet, she's in here again - what awful thing do you think will happen now?"

Pearl and Violet (in the front, isn't she pretty?) are surmising that since The Shepherd's Wife is in the barn with him something nefarious is about to happen -

"Don't worry girls, it's only worming paste - and it tastes like green apple, I think you'll like it."

With the barn door shut, everyone is easy to catch with the help of the shepherd's crook that I got The Shepherd for Christmas a year ago. He wonders how he got along so long without it It certainly makes things easier on the back (his, that is) I stand, pressed against the wall so I don't get knocked over and when he's got someone caught - "Blurp" there's your worming paste for the spring - on to the next one.
The swallows have nested in the barn again - I couldn't quite reach high enough to get everyone in the picture. It's only been 5 days since I took this picture and they are already out flying with their folks. I love watching baby swallows learn how to fly.





So, with worming fait accompli, the girls were turned out into their new pasture - but they couldn't help munching down a bit of grass along the way.

Speaking of munching, this year we've had a huge problem with bunnies munching everything they can get their little lips around. It is very apparent that Neelix kept the bunny population at bay. We sure do miss him.

He probably kept the raccoons out of the corn too - They have cleaned out The Shepherd's first planting. He is very discouraged!
He was also surprised to see a yearling buck bound into the girls pasture this a.m. The young fellow stood around and munched on some cherries for a bit and looked like he was going to make his way into the barn to see what was in there - but The Shepherd waved his arms and shouted and the little guy decided the better of it and bounded back out of the pasture an on his way. Cleared that 4 foot fence like an Olympic hurdler.

No, the new sign is not for the deer, it is for the neighbor's grand kids who had beat a path down the creek and were throwing sticks into H.B.'s pasture and taunting him. All we need is for one of those little buggers to get hurt - so we have two new signs on the creek to let them know that they are not welcome on our property. I think we should string some electronet along there, but, then again....

The whole creek bed behind our house is full of cherry trees. They are a tart cherry - but we never get to harvest any because the starlings seem to sense when they are coming on and beat a path to our back yard. They sure can get rid of a cherry crop in a hurry. Darn things.

I loved this picture of the cherries though - and yes, I picked that dark one and ate it right after I took the picture.

And a parting thought -

Do you think we should change his name from Cooper to Flash?

Happy Anniversary to us!

Here's to another 15 years of peaceful co-existence.

We celebrated with a dinner of leftovers and fresh baked rhubarb pie.

Saturday we'll go on a trek, ending up at Gretchen's Wool Mill Spring Fiber Frolic and Spin-In. Should be a fun afternoon.

Happy Anniversary Sweetie.

Baby, it's COLD outside!

New York, you can keep your "haute couture" - here on the farm, we have "oat couture"

The temps are supposed to hit lows in the teens tonight with an Arctic blast moving down from Canada. The Shepherd went shopping at Value Village this afternoon - Since it is not supposed to rain, he went with heavy fleeces (ironic...) H.B.'s new coat fits him like a glove.

We think that he thinks he's got casts on his front legs because he walks all stiff legged, but he seems to appreciate the warmth of his new duds as he snoozes in the late afternoon sun.


Like any teenaged boy, Taylor wasn't too sure about his new sweater, but he seems to have gotten used to it pretty quickly.

It was snowing a blizzard this a.m. when it was time for me to leave for work. Since snow equals no work for The Shepherd/Landscaper, he played Chauffeur and took me to work. I was glad for the ride - cars were slipping and sliding all over the place!






Hey Danny - you look pretty good in red.

Pearl and Luna got Ladies size M - The Shepherd said he thought the M should stand for Maternity - they are pretty snug around those bumpy bellies.

The girls are locked in the barn with the heat lamp on tonight - he said they looked pretty comfortable when he went out before bed.

Even in the few minutes that I've been writing the temperature has dropped a few degrees and the wind is picking up. I'm really glad that he decided to do this.






The shepherd resisted the little pink hoodie that said "Princess" on the front for Miss Violet.

The funniest part about his shopping trip was explaining to the ever helpful sales clerk that he wasn't buying clothes for his daughters but for his sheepie girls. I'd love to have heard the coversations that brought up this afternoon.









I think Jewell looks kind of like Jennifer Beals in Flashdance, don't you?

Moni update:
Moni is still in the hospital. (cha-ching) They were going to "turn off" her IV's over night in hopes that her body will start normal functions again, if that makes any sense. It sounded like her rumen system had shut down too, so they have given her something to get that back up and running.

The shepherd drove there this a.m. in the blizzard to take her some of our hay, as she wasn't eating. Everyone agreed that leaving her there overnight was safest considering the weather. We're keeping our fingers crossed.




Well, it is a neighborhood legend that when we have lambs in the front pasture, it stops traffic. I'm sure that these two running around in their new sweaters will give everyone a good chuckle on their way to work in the morning.