A Spring Morning in the Pasture

I was going to write this post about ewes and their lambs but found a lot more subjects to photograph--not all sheep. Loretta and triplets.Ginseng and twins. Look at the horn spread on that ram lamb. They all have lilac coloring.This is Foxglove's ram lamb, also a lilac.Puddleduck Melinda and one of her lambs. Alexandria.Eliza.It is balloon season. Rusty is hiding in the barn. These ewes were waiting for me to change the fence and let them into that tall grass but I was distracted by other things. Do you see the bird on the fence behind them? Don't look too hard for it. See it below.I looked it up. Western Kingbird. I know my birder friends will tell me if I'm wrong.I think there is pair nesting nearby. I was mowing the pasture later in the day and they followed the tractor catching bugs. They would zoom off toward the trees and then come back for more.  Balloon getting lower. In the meantime......I saw this hawk being harassed by another bird.I didn't know until I zoomed in on the photo on my computer that the hawk had something in it's talons.   Balloon has landed and now I can change the fence. Happy sheep.

My Weekend in iPhone Photos

What a beautiful weekend we had, although I'd rather be able to say that it's been raining and cold like winter is supposed to be. I wonder if this is the future. That will take some major adaptation. Regardless, here are photos from warm, sunny Solano County. I usually don't put the ewes out on the main pasture until late March when it has dried out. However, this year the water has drained away and I will take advantage of the grass growing now. If it doesn't rain more this will be it until (and if) we get irrigation water.Waiting for me to change the fence.Rear view of one of the ewes due to lamb in about 2-1/2  weeks.More rear views. These ewes won't lamb for a month or more.

 Thatch left over from the overgrown dallisgrass last fall. Nothing grows under it--at least not useful for sheep.This was growing inside that pile.While walking around the pasture I saw something (rodent) scurry across this obviously well-used path from one clump of grass to the next.

Speaking of rodents this is a view I see every morning when I go in the chicken house. Well, not this exact view. There are always new holes and new piles of dirt. There are only 2 chickens and I think I am feeding a whole colony of rats. I posted this photo on FB and was surprised at the number of responses. The overwhelming suggestion was to get terriers. Three dogs is enough and I won't get another. If Maggie gets a chance she will kill rodents but she will also kill chickens, which is why they are in the chicken house. Next suggestion was the old-fashioned snap type of trap. I have used those for mice, but for rats it sounds disgusting. I think I will get some though. I tried a sticky trap under that garbage can but they just covered it with dirt. Faulkner. I sent photos to someone who has been asked to supply rams to participate in a Year of the Sheep celebration in San Francisco this week. I suggested Faulkner because he is easy to handle (relatively). They want horned rams so I sent more photos....but probably not with spots. They are still discussing it and I haven't heard the final word.Even if the rams don't get to go to the city, some of them are having fun. It's time to breed my ewes that will lamb at the State Fair. This is Foley and Isadora yesterday. Today it was Crosby and Clover. I hope that this will be one answer to another rodent problem. This is a trial straw bale garden. The gophers have made it impossible to grow anything successfully in this part of the garden. Last summer I put two bales out here and started watering them the way you're are supposed to. Then I went to Texas to wait for my granddaughter to be born. I gave up the garden idea until now. I have planted lettuce and carrot seeds in this one and chard in another. We'll see what happens.

  I took a quick trip to Sacramento Weavers Open House to pick up the things I had on display there. These are a few of my blankets. This is the first year in many, many years that I did not spend the weekend there demonstrating weaving. It felt odd to show up at the end.A friend's purse that uses my horn buttons for the closure and to secure the strap.I tried this AVL loom with the e-lift. One step on the button and the shed changes. No lifting 16 (or in this case 40) shafts with leg power.