More Pasture Plants

This is a continuation of What's in the Pasture. I have a lot more plants to go. I changed the fence to move the sheep from the south half of the Horse Pasture (no horses for a long time) to the north half. They came running.

They were ready for fresh feed...

...because this is what they left behind. I have moved the net fence a few inches off the fresh pasture. You can see what it looked like on the other side of the fence.

I think this is orchardgrass, but I'm not 100% sure.

When you identify grasses it helps to look at more than just the seed head. This photo shows the ligule which this publication from the Wisconsin Cooperative Extension (which also has a good diagram of grass parts) describes for orchardgrass as "prominent; cuts or splits on whitish margin".  Yeah, I can see that. This one from UCD is also a good resource.

Lately I have left my 40 mm lens on the camera and get a kick of of looking closely at things that I see better on my computer than through my glasses.This one is Curly Dock.

Here is the not-so-interesting photo of it.

I have made good progress at getting rid of Spiny Cocklebur, but it will never all be gone. I continue to chop any of these that I see. Obviously I haven't dealt with these along the corral fence but need to take a shovel instead of a camera when I walk out here. 

You can see why it is undesirable and the reason it thrives even where everything else has been eaten. Besides the thorns the flowers develop into nasty burs that stick in fleece and hurt fingers.

Speaking of thorns and eating, I'll deal with the thorns when the eating is this good. And I won't complain that the bushes are completely covering the electric fence.  I had my first ripe blackberry this morning.

Sprout Yarn Scarf

Friends and customers told me that I should start carrying sock yarns so last winter I chose a few special yarns. One is Sprout, a fingering weight superwash Merino yarn that is dyed and marketed by The Fiber Seed, the business name of a delightful couple who live in Florida.

This colorway is called Quicksilver and is  dyed in one of several dye patterns they use.

Chris saw me photographing this and commented that I was going to weave something to match my cell phone.

Here is what it looks like after winding into a ball.

Too many people think that you can't using "knitting yarns" for weaving and vice-versa. To me, yarn is yarn. This yarn is very stretchy and you need to plan for that from the start. I measured the warp on my warping frame under a light tension, also taking time to match up the color repeat. That way I have a warp where the colors don't mix, but move from yellow to gray and repeat (which you will see in the finished piece). That may not work with every dye pattern or warp plan, but it worked perfectly for this one.

Notice how open this is. I sett the warp at 12 epi (ends per inch) and wove it with a very light beat. Beginning weavers often BEAT, instead of beat press the weft in. In this case that would completely cover up the warp and not make fabric appropriate for a scarf. This yarn is under tension and when it comes off the loom a lot of those spaces will fill in.

I could have chosen to weave this with a solid color to maximize the effect of the color movement in the warp, but one of my goals is to show what can be done using just one skein. The color repeat in the skein means that when using this yarn for weft the color changes after about every fourth weft pick. Notice also how the color changes over-ride the pattern of the weave structure. This is one of my favorite weave structures, but in this piece I used it for the drape and texture it would give the piece and not because you'd see the design it makes when I use solid yarns.

I knew this wool wouldn't "full" because the yarn is superwash, but wet finishing will still change the look of the piece. I soaked it in water, agitating as if I was fulling it. I should have taken a photo but it was late at night. After that process the scarf looked pretty awful. The yarn reverted from being lofty and squishy to long and stringy. The fringe looked bad. I laid the scarf out to dry as I usually do and it was very disappointing. Then I remembered--Superwash! I put the scarf in the dryer with a big towel. That was the answer!

This scarf is lofty, bouncy, and very soft.

Here are the stats:

On the loom: 7.25" x 81" measured under tension

Off the loom: 6" x 68" (Remember, I told you it was stretchy!)

Wet after washing: 6.25" x 72" (and not looking very good)

After drying in dryer: 5.25" x 58"  Perfect!

Another cool thing for you knitters is that each yarn comes with a QR code that links to a knitting pattern using the yarn.

I guess I need to get these yarns on my website, but there are so many color and dye pattern choices that will be difficult. I'll work on it. In the meantime, if you are interested you can always ask me to send photos or come to the shop.

Glimpses of the Farm

Slowly by surely I am trying to get organized with Lightroom, my new photo software. Does learning new software count up there as a stressor along with changing jobs, spouses, or health issues? Here are some random photos taken over the last month while doing chores.

Our new signpost on the way to the barn, in case visitors are unsure of where they are. Not really. It is on the way to the barn but was constructed by my husband for the memorial service we had here for his dad. Our birthplaces are at the top, followed by parents', siblings', and our kids' birthplaces or current locations.

Speaking of the barn I call this Dog Toy on the Roof.

Wood from a tree my son took down for us.

Brewer's Blackbird feasting on mulberries.

I think I got this ID right--Western Kingbird.

This is Hot Lips making an announcement.

Ginny hoping to be called into service.

Did I mention when I got the tractor stuck? This is a dry field, or it's supposed to be. There must be a leak in a pipe and this corner is sopping weight. I was mowing foxtails and made a tight turn to do a thorough mowing job as far into the corner as I could.

Do you see that the mower on the back of the tractor is right up at the fence on one side and the bucket is resting on a fencepost. There is no way to maneuver this thing out.

Dan spent about an hour jacking and digging...

...and jacking and digging, each time trying to wedge another board under. Every time he'd remove the jack to wedge in another board the weight of the tractor rested on  the fence post which creaked ominously.  The boards that the jack was on kept squishing down in the mud, but eventually he got the wheel up to almost ground level. Still, there was no way to drive the tractor out without some help.

My 2-wheel drive pick-up was called into service and Dan chained it to the tractor. When he put the tractor in gear the truck gave just enough assistance, pulling sideways, so that the tractor wheel got out of the hole and onto dry ground.

At the Loom

I haven't posted many weaving projects lately. I've been focused elsewhere, but here are some things that I've finished.

I wove 16  baby blankets on a mostly blue warp in May.

This one isn't weaving but it is a textile project. My friends found out that I planned to  sew flower girl dresses for my granddaughter and the other flower girl in my son's wedding. They offered to help. I am grateful that they did because it took three of us all day to sew two little dresses!

This view shows the back and the front of the dresses.

Unfortunately I never got a good shot of both the girls in their dresses.

Back to weaving.

The wedding colors were navy blue and yellow and I wove a chenille throw in those colors as a wedding gift. Another friend suggested some how using wedding details in the weaving. I used the date (5/20/16) to design the stripes. The yellow stripes have 5, 20, and 16 threads (doubled and reversed for symmetry).

Next up was a rug for my daughter. My friends always hear me say "I am not a rug weaver." I think there is a special skill needed to weave a really good rug, but this one turned out OK and it was a fun project. Two years ago we had a baby shower for my daughter and I bought fabric to cover the outside tables instead of using plastic tablecloths. The colors were those that my daughter was using in the new baby's room (kind of a forest scene with pink). My plan was to make a rug for the baby's room. That didn't happen before she was born. It didn't happen before Christmas, or the second Christmas. I finally wove it and was able to give it to my daughter for her birthday in June.

The little bits of yellow were leftovers from the flower-girl dresses.

Next project is to weave a vest using handspun yarn that I just finished. That will be another post.

Lambs in Silhouette

It's hard to get a photo of my bottle lambs because I can't get far enough away.

What's in the Pasture?

The pasture is not a lawn. It is not a monoculture. My brother says it is more of a salad bar for sheep. Unless you walk around out there you don't realize the number of plants that grow there. I am embarrassed that after 16 years of living here I don't know the names of all of them. I have decided to change that. I am going to combine my enjoyment of photography and my recently dredged up college hobby (and class projects) of pressing plants and create a personalized herbarium of sorts. These photos are a start.I irrigated this weekend. The sheep were just moved off the paddock to the right and when it dries up enough they will go on the one to the left. Can you see the difference? It took only two days for them to eat that feed.One of their favorite plants is Birdsfoot Trefoil.  It is a legume which means it is one of the plants that converts nitrogen in the air to a form that can be used by the plant. It is actually not the plant that does that but the bacteria that live in nodules on the roots of legumes.Clovers are also legumes. This is a variety of white clover.This morning I noticed just a few of these flowers.  I can't decide if this is a variant of the white clover or is a different species. The leaves are similar. I'll have to do some more checking.Do you see how most of the other plants have been eaten and this one has not been touched? The sheep avoid plants that are toxic to them. This is Narrow-leaved Milkweed (Asclepias fascicularis). Not only is it a favored species for the monarch butterfly but according to a Plant Guide published by the NRCS "Zuni people utilize the silky seed fibers, which are spun on a hand-held wooden spindle, made into yarn, and woven into fabric (especially for dancers)...Milkweeds supply tough fibers for making cords and ropes, and for weaving a coarse cloth. Milkweeds stems are collected after the stalks dry in late fall to early winter. The dried stalks are split open to release the fibers. Milkweed fibers are sometimes mixed with fibers of Indian hemp, Apocynum cannabinum." Sounds like a good challenge to my fiber-loving friends.These are Narrow-leaved Milkweed flowers in various stages......and a close-up.Field bindweed (Convolvulaceae arvensis), also known as morning glory. It is, according to a  U.C. IPM website, "a perennial broadleaf, is considered one of the most problematic weeds in agricultural fields throughout temperate regions worldwide".Soft Chess or Soft Brome, a non-native annual grass.

Hare Barley. Also from the U.C. IPM site, "It is a useful livestock forage early in the season before the flower spikes develop. However, at maturity the spikelets have stiff, barbed, needle-like awns, and sharp bases that can injure the mouth, eyes, nasal passages, ears, and skin of animals." Those are one of the many grass seeds we call foxtails and spend a fortune getting out of dogs ears and noses and agonize over when we find an otherwise beautiful fleece full of them.Medusahead as it is drying out. Medusahead covers thousands of acres of California foothills. It is not normally found in irrigated pasture, but it is in the easternmost paddock here which sometimes does not irrigate well. I have reclaimed part of that paddock, but I continually fight this plant. I find patches of it in other areas of the pasture and, although this is not an effective control technique, I pull it up by the handfuls as I walk by, coming back to the barn with it stuffed in the pockets of my overalls. It is a nasty plant that is "...among the worst weeds: not only does medusahead compete for resources with more desirable species, but it changes ecosystem function to favor its own survival at the expense of the entire ecosystem...Because grazing animals selectively avoid this plant, and because medusahead thatch tends to suppress desirable forage species, infestations often develop into near-monotypic stands." From the U.C. Davis Medusahead Management Guide.

 I have ID'd this one as Blunt Spikerush (Eleocharis obtusa), not a grass, but a sedge that is  found on poorly drained soil and marshy areas. That's my pasture...poorly drained soil. There is a lot of this sedge in  the middle and south end of three or four of the paddocks. It looks like foot-tall grass, but that is why it is important to actually look at what is out there. This does not make good forage.A rather artsy shot of Buckhorn Plantain, found throughout California......and a photo in which you will probably more easily recognize it.

Well, that's nine species of plants in the pasture. There are dozens more to go.

Wedding Dress Blues

I like jeans and sweatshirts or shorts and t-shirts. I rarely go anywhere that I need to wear more. There was an upcoming wedding. Not just any wedding. I'm the Mother-of-the-Groom and will be forever more in photo albums and on Facebook. I figured that this may be the last time in my life that I have to wear a dress. I am not a shopper. What to do? I was telling Farm Club friends the story of the dress I wore to my oldest son's wedding seven years ago. There was an "aha" moment...I'll do it again. Here is the story.

This is our wedding day in 1986.  We got married at the dairy where we lived and worked and I made Dan's and Matt's matching shirts. I don't remember where I got the dress but it wasn't a "wedding dress". It was just a white dress that fit me. 

This is Matt's wedding many years later. I'm wearing the same dress. I dyed it and made a shawl to go with it.

When my daughter got married a few years later the wedding was to be an outdoors wedding in Vermont in the fall. Based on normal weather patterns I chose a wool dress and boots and made a chenille shawl. There was a heat wave and I probably could have used the same dress but who knew?

My aha moment came when I realized that I could use this dress for another wedding. I like the dress and it fits me and I Don't Have to Shop. Why not?

The wedding colors were navy blue and yellow. The bridesmaids and the Mother-of-the-Bride were all wearing navy blue. I was discussing colors with a friend and she offered to help me dye the dress with indigo. Realize that we're about 5 weeks from the wedding date at this point. Dottie brought a car-load of supplies. She put indigo in a tea strainer and we watched the water turn color. We also noticed a metallic sheen on the water and weren't sure what to do about that. We forged ahead......sampling with cotton fabric that Dottie had brought with her. The metallic stuff showed up on the fabric but it seemed that we could wipe it off easily.So we went ahead with the dress. When dyeing with indigo you don't want to stir up the dye bath because indigo dyeing relies on a chemical reaction as the fabric comes out of the dye and reacts with oxygen. If you introduce oxygen into the dye bath you lose some of the effectiveness of the indigo.When you bring something out of an indigo bath it is green at first.As it reacts it turns blue. Usually you rely on several dips to darken the color, but this one came out fairly dark the first time. However, we saw unevenly dyed areas where I had been too careful about lowering the dress into the bath and the dye didn't get into the folds. There was also that metallic stuff in spots. I decided to hose the dress off (no pictures at this point) and see what it looked like. Not good. Very splotchy and not in a good way. So I tried again, this time stirring the dress in the pot with my hands.  It was more important to get an even dye job than to save the dye bath for later.Here is the final product. But we weren't done. There was another step and that was a surprise to me. First though the dress had to be completely dry, so that step was going to have to wait until later.No, one of us didn't grow an extra hand. Dottie came with a friend who  took some of these photos while we were working.

The next step involved a process that indigo expert, John Marshall, describes in a booklet about using soy milk when dyeing with indigo.

This seemed very involved and I put it off about a week but knew that I had better get moving because it was a lengthy process. Dottie had brought soaked soybeans and I had put them in the freezer. I thawed them and followed the instructions in the booklet to prepare soy milk. I put the soaked beans in the blender and added water.

After blending I poured the mixture into a cloth lined colander. This process is repeated three times, adding water each time to make more soy milk.

Eventually I had a bucket with enough soy milk to cover the dress.

This is the leftovers from the process (which, by the way, I fed to the chickens).

I soaked the dress and put it on a hanger. The dress was supposed to cure for a minimum of two to three weeks to ensure that any leftover indigo would not "crock" or come off. (Picture washing brand new jeans with white things and the dye running...or me hugging the bride and leaving streaks of blue on her dress.) Time was running out and about a week before the wedding I dunked the dress in a bucket of water with synthrapol (a detergent that is meant to attach to unfixed dye particles). Low and behold, there was very little discoloration of the water.  Dottie, you nailed it!

The big day arrived and the dress was just fine. You can't tell from this photo but I belted it with a silk scarf that one of my Farm Club friends dyed with our eucalyptus leaves. I chose shoes that matched the sash and when I looked back at the other wedding photos I realized that I was wearing the same shoes that I wore at Matt's wedding!

The Main Event

The girls were beautiful, the guys were dressed (see last post), and it was time for the wedding. After enjoying sunny skies at the beginning of the week we were a bit concerned about the weather forecast. The prediction changed daily whether or not it would be partly sunny, partly cloudy, or mostly cloudy, and whether there was a 10% or 50% chance of rain, and would that rain come Friday or hold off until Saturday. I don't have photos of the actual procession or ceremony but there are plenty on Facebook now. The classic has to be when, after trying to get Flower Girl #2 (Kirby) to walk up the short aisle, Daddy carried her down the aisle spreading flowers from Kirby's basket as he went.

It was a beautiful ceremony with a beautiful couple. Afterwards there were all the official photos.

Kirby was willing to be included in these...well, sort of. She was focused on picking up all the flower petals.

My kids and their spouses.

While the wedding party was busy with photos guests played games and used the photobooth. Dinner was served. Chris pointed out that his family sat at Tables 1 & 2 and the other 14 or so were Meryl's family (and other friends). His point was that he was glad to become part of such a large family. But the practical aspect of that turned out to be that Tables 1 through 4 had been served dinner and then the huge dark clouds that we had been watching come in from the northwest let loose. The rain was intense and everyone made for the house, which was supposed to be for only the bridal party and not all the guests and certainly not for food. (Later the owner of the venue told us that she made an exception because of how pleasant, responsible, and easy-to-work-with our kids and their friends had all been.)

As thunderstorms do, this one passed, leaving things wet and soggy. Chairs were wiped off and the festivities continued, albeit cold and windy. (I had loaded the car with blankets and jackets in anticipation.)

 

Kirby (or her parents) had the foresight to bring appropriate clothing in case of rain.

A little rain didn't stop the dancing.

 

Kirby took her Dad to the dance floor.

Brothers.

Chris' new grandma was given a seat at the bridal party table.

Speeches were made.

The cake(s), made by a special friend, were cut. Chris wanted chocolate and Meryl wanted white. So there were three cakes, one with a big C and a Starwars quote ("I love you...I know"), one with a big M and a Harry Potter quote ("Always"), and a marbled cake to cut together.

The storm had made for perfect conditions for photos...

...including those at sunset.

These are just a sampling of the photos that I took, but there are so many more taken by friends and family to help us remember this wonderful occasion. I've seen hundreds on Facebook already--isn't the digital age wonderful when used in this way?

Wedding Day Morning

On-site preparations began the day before but there was still plenty to do on the morning of the wedding.

No shoe polish? No problem.

The tables were decorated.

The kids' table included bubbles,and crayons.

Pictures were hung.

Games were arranged.

While all the preparations were being made outside...

...upstairs in the Bride's Room there was a bustle of activity. Two professional hairdressers were kept busy...

...while others did their own hair and make-up.

Flower-girl, Tatiana, waited patiently for the time to get dressed.

Meanwhile, downstairs, ...

...the guys didn't seem too concerned about getting ready.

Eventually it was time and they all cleaned up very nicely. There seemed to be some confusion about what to do with the pocket squares, but they mastered the folding technique by watching a YouTube video.

Inspection time for the pocket squares.

Back upstairs, Flower Girl #1 got help with her bow.

Flower Girl #2 skipped the morning activities, staying with Daddy and the other grandma and getting through naptime uneventfully. She showed up in time to get dressed, but took some convincing to participate.

We gave up on the pretty white shoes with the bows in favor of the purple crocs. It was a big step for her to hold the bouquet, however temporarily.

While the women were making their final preparations Kirby found the room set up for photo shoots. She made herself right at home there.

Ready to go!

Getting Ready

Getting ready for a wedding. The kids worked for  for months on this...and that included having to change venues, due to no fault of their own, six weeks prior to the wedding. Then it was the day before. Chris built one 8-foot and two 10-foot tables for the use of the wedding party. He also made assorted game pieces and a very cool guest sign-in board.Chris getting advice from his sister.More advice. Stout tables.Some of the bridal party who helped the day before. They were all there--what a great group of friends Chris and Meryl share.Table inspection by the resident cat......who, having done his (her?) job, needed a nap.Wedding rehearsal. I didn't get all the guys in the photo because I was seated in my mother-of-the-groom chair.The girls minus the bride.

Kirby was there also. She was a bit worried when Uncle Matt put her purple Crocs on his feet, but she recovered quickly once she got them back. Do you know how many more cute photos there are of Kirby? But I'll restrain myself.Meryl's parents hosted a dinner the night before the wedding and here are my three beautiful daughters!

Another Season

I talk repeatedly about seasons. Lambing Season. Breeding Season. Spring, etc. There is another. Baby Bird Season just ended.This is one of several Brewer's Blackbirds' nests in the barn. This one is on a convenient shelf just over my  lambing calendar. I've read that Brewer's blackbirds eat seeds, grains, and insects.However, our blackbirds do quite well on the mulberry tree that overhangs the ram pen and is loaded with mulberries right now. This bird hatched on April 30. Anytime we walk in the barn, the parents harass us relentlessly.This photo was taken two days later on May 2.May 6.May 8. They grow quickly.This is May 9. The first baby is 9 days old.May 12. Out of the nest. There is a day or two when I find babies out of the nest. The parents are frantic. Maggie needs to be restrained because she is truly a varmint dog. She things that anything small and alive is fair game for her. Now the birds are out of the barn. I don't know if there will be a second crop. Last year I felt as though Baby Bird Season lasted a lot longer.

Car (Buying) Adventures

I started to write an email to Farm Club about my recent car shopping experience and then I realized that I was writing a story. Today's adventure is really nothing  out of the ordinary for most people, but for me it takes on epic proportion. Do you know how many cars I’ve had in my life?

1: During the first year of college I got a ’67 Camaro. Too bad I don't still have that one. 2: White car that I can’t remember right now. (No photos of this one.)

3: Then there was the big red Ford van. I have many fond memories of that car.

4: This maroon Safari mini-van was the only vehicle we bought new. I remember that the day I got it I drove to school to pick up Chris and he was shocked when I walked over to this strange van and opened the door. 

This photo was taken at CNCH (Conference of N. CA Handweavers) when it was held in Grass Valley and Katie and I camped at the fairgrounds.

5: Although I put about 100,000 miles on it I never really bonded with the ’04 Explorer. I bought it in 2008 and just sold it at CarMax because too many things were falling apart.

6: I bought the '02 Ford truck from my son when he upgraded. Dan made the cool box for the back so that I could haul sheep to Black Sheep Gathering in Oregon. This is the first (I think) Farm Club road trip to BSG in 2011.

We took another trip in 2013 and again in 2015. I still have this truck.

My husband drives my mom’s ’85 Honda Civic and his ’99 Ford truck that he got when his dad moved to Hawaii.

So you can see that we’re not real big car buyers. I needed something in addition to the truck. I mean I really need to have a truck and I didn’t want to keep driving that one because I need it to last. So I started shopping about a month ago and had the proverbial sticker shock. This is embarrassing but we thought that we might spend $10-12,000 on a vehicle. It turns out that would buy me something like I just got rid of . I still need the ability to carry Things and Dogs (3) around with me and we want at least one vehicle with 4-WD so we aren’t limited about visits with our son in the winter or in our own travels......although last Christmas the Explorer wasn't adequate to get up the driveway. (That could have been because, knowing we were going to sell it, we hadn't got new tires.)

I revived the hunt two days ago and realized that I needed to keep moving forward this time or I’d have to start all over again. After lots of time on the computer I had finally narrowed it down to a Honda CR-V. I searched through dozens of listings from Sunnyvale and Lodi to Sacramento. Nothing really struck me as the perfect car—what’s with all the black and sliver SUV’s out there? How about a little color? And price was still a big issue—that and the combination of price/mileage. I keep being told that 60,000 miles on a Honda is not like 60,000 miles on a Ford, but still. I wanted to go to the local Honda place to see what they had first. I like to support local business and I don’t like to Drive to The City. There were no 4-WD CR-v’s in the price range, but they asked, “have you tried a RAV-4?” No, I hadn’t. They brought one out and I liked it. But I hadn’t researched it like I had the other. I didn’t know which models had which features, what the extras are, etc. I told the guy that it’s like trying on shoes—even if I think the size 10 fits I need to try the 9 and the 11 to make sure.

So I went home and started researching it. I looked at the photo I took of the specs of the one I drove and realized that it was a 2WD, not 4 after all. By then I was immersed in the RAV-4 world and decided that maybe that really was the car for me. I spent all evening trying to organize the cars I found with year, price, miles, location, and color (still mostly versions of black, white and silver).

I was looking at 2011 and 2012 because I liked those versions. Mileage was mostly in the 50K to 70K range. I really wanted Someone Else to go on this car hunt with me, but that wasn’t happening right now, although my sons both gave me pep talks about bargaining.

This has become a long story. I came home with a car today. Last night I found a 2011 RAV4 with only 21,000 miles within the price range of the others I was looking at. I went to Sacramento this morning, drove it, and made the deal. I got some money off the asking price—maybe not as much as my kids would have but I think that getting 40,000 MILES off was just as valuable. This is not a very good photo but the one I took to show my husband what I bought while he wasn't there.

Now I just have to get back to Sacramento to pick up my truck.

#563

Tonight I searched  my thousands of photos for Lambskin #563.Found it. I needed to get it on the website since it is now here for sale. But look what else I found! This is just a small selection of memories.1999. Flash, my first Border Collie, who helped with dairy cows, and Benny who we got as a puppy when we first moved to our current location.

A gorgeous wedding day in Vermont.Amaryllis.A  line-up of the girls plus Faulkner, the BFL ram.Rusty moving sheep.My tent when backpacking on the Lost Coast a few years ago.Taken 4 years ago. Look who got in with the big boys!Speaking of big boys, this is a bear that Dan and came across when hiking in Grand Tetons National Park. She has a cub nearby and didn't back down. Black bear or grizzly? We were never sure. We assumed it was a black bear but some people who saw they photo said grizzly.My granddaughter taken about a year ago. That's the "little chicken". Could that be the same one as in that photo with the sheep?I took this photo in December when we were with all my kids and their spouses in Hawaii.

That's #563. I could spend all evening here if I keep looking for other numbers.

Tiny Things

The other day I saw this on the ground......and was inspired to change to my 40 mm micro lens. Then I walked around looking at things through that lens. Some are tiny and some not so tiny, depending on the view.Grapes just forming.The rope part of Ginny's Toy.Dried up "cone" from sheoak tree.That "cone" on the tree.Can you guess this one? Answer below the next photo.This is the new growth on the redwood tree. That photo above is the joint in a ram skull.Rose.This bottlebrush is covered with flowers this year.This is what is left from last year's flowers.Chain.I took the camera Across the Road too. This is a blackberry flower.Hoverfly on a blackberry leaf.Grass flowering.Buckeye flowers. This lens isn't just good for close-ups. I got some fun photos of Ginny jumping for her Toy in the canal. Those will be in Rusty's blog as soon as I can get him to come in the house and work on it..

Another Morning & More Sheep Photos

This morning I was going to take three sheep to be shorn at a friend's house. These three were born at the State Fair in July last year and I didn't want to shear them at our early February shearing. So I went out to take photos of the ram so that I'd have photos in full fleece for registration paperwork. Then I got carried away with other sheep portraits.This is the 9 month old ram. He needs a name.This is Meridian Nash. These rams have the same sire so I don't need both. I think this one will be for sale.Puddleduck Ringo is also for sale. I have used him for two seasons and he needs to move on.Meridian Rotor. Isn't this a beautiful stylish ewe lamb? She was born a month before everyone else because the ram lambs weren't weaned soon enough. Too bad I don't know her sire. Her very cute baby pictures with her brother are in this post.Lamb in early morning light. Meridian Vanessa x Meridian Rotor.BFL-cross lamb. Love those BFL faces.I'm keeping this lilac lamb. Mud Ranch's Foxglove x Meridian Nash.Not sheep, but the sunflowers Across the Road.  

Morning at the Barn

The sheep were all locked in the barn/corral area while I was irrigating. Here are some morning photos.Ginseng and BFL-X lambs.Fandango with lambs.Hot Lips and lamb.Alexandria and her lambs.Isabelle with lambs.Melinda and lambs.These were the last ones born this year.Amaryllis.Sheep looking hopeful as I climb back over the gate.

Irrigation Season - Part 2

In the last post I showed photos I took while getting ready to irrigate the pasture.This is the ditch that runs north-south and brings the water from the upper ditch to the one that goes from west to east along the bigger pasture.This photo is looking the same direction but from a little bit west of the first one. You can see the same row of overgrown blackberries along the fence. The standpipe where the water comes in is in the upper left corner.  In the lower center of the photo is one of the cut-outs that lets the water flow from the ditch into the field.Looking to the east as the water is flooding the pasture from north to south. In this photo the water hasn't gotten very far into the paddock where the sheep are.Here is that tarp I showed in the last post.There are things to see besides just water and grass. One of the first things I noticed after the water filled the ditch was buzzing. These insects were everywhere over the water. I tried to ID it on the internet but didn't find it. Anyone know what this is? This is one of the pair of Swainson's hawks that lives nearby and hunts in our pasture.We have enough gophers to feed an army of hawks. I was hoping to see the hawk catch something but it continued to soar higher and higher. When I saw the buzzard (upper right) it reminded me of watching airplanes that you know are in different flight paths, although they look as though they'll fly right into each other.

Irrigation Season - Part 1

I keep talking about seasons and everyone has their seasons that are important in their lives.  Lambing Season for me may be  Tax Season for someone else. Some of these seasons overlap. Last year Fly Season began to overlap with Lambing Season. It's not fun to see lambs born and have flies everywhere. (I could comment on Global Warming here...). Fortunately Fly Season has held off. It is now Irrigation Season. I live on the western edge of the Central Valley. We are supposed to have wet winters and dry summers. Here are some facts gleaned from the USGS website.

"The Central Valley, also known as the Great Valley of California, covers about 20,000 square miles and is one of the more notable structural depressions in the world...

Approximately 75% of the irrigated land in California and 17% of the Nation's irrigated land is in the Central Valley.

Using fewer than 1% of U.S. farmland, the Central Valley supplies 8% of U.S. agricultural output (by value) and produces 1/4 of the Nation's food, including 40% of the Nation's fruits, nuts, and other table foods."

Irrigation is the only way that we have green plants in the summer and fall. So Irrigation Season is important, but irrigating isn't as simple or as easy as just turning on a faucet. Here was my irrigation prep this week.This was taken from standing in the northwest corner of the property and looking west. When SID (Solano Irrigation District) opens the right gate the water comes down that canal, through a gate in the cement structure at the bottom of the photo and......comes up through this standpipe. It goes out that hole on the left and...into this ditch. At the end of the ditch it turns south and goes into the other part of the pasture. Later in the year this ditch will require weed-wacking for the whole length to allow the water to flow. This time I didn't need to do that.This part of the ditch has old pipes that take the water under the burm. I can find two of the three that used to be functional.The first job is to dig out around both ends of these.As I walk through the pasture I find thistles that need to be chopped.The rest of the pasture doesn't have those pipes, but instead has cut-outs or places where the burm is cut away to allow the water to flow from the ditch into the pasture. I didn't get photos of those. This photo is a cut-out (under the fence) that I had to fill in because it was where we had cut through the burm to allow water flow INTO the ditch in the winter to help drain the rainwater that was all around the barn. Here is the place at the northeast corner of the pasture where I have to put a tarp to keep the water backed up in the ditch. After this point the ditch turns south and drains at the southeast corner of the property.I can never remember what size tarp to get. I bought 2 sizes and took this photo to remind myself that this one is just fine.The idea is to set the tarp so that the edges are buried in dirt and those boards behind will keep the water from pushing the tarp down flat. I did this twice. The first time the dirt that holds the tarp down on the bottom was too high. That means when I released the tarp at the end of irrigating there would still be a dam. I have a hard enough time getting the ditch to empty that I don't need to impede it more.This is a second tarp that I set just around the corner in the ditch that goes south. I shouldn't have to do this, but due to gopher holes, tree roots, and maybe my lack of irrigator skills it seems that one is never enough. Two tarps hold the water back better. Or at least one is a back-up for the other.While I was working in the pasture I saw that a couple of lambs had their heads through the electric net fence and didn't seem to care. That prompted a search for the problem with the electric fence. I found a broken wire at the south end. I got new wire and fixed it but then found several more places where I had joined new wire to old. The more times you do that the less conductivity there is. So I took out a long stretch of the old pieced-together wire and replaced it. Low and behold, my tester showed higher strength than it has in years!One thing leads to another. While I was at that end of the pasture I was bothered again by the old dallisgrass that effectively mulches my pasture. It's one thing to mulch a garden to keep weeds from growing, but mulching a pasture is counter-productive. If you search dallisgrass in this blog you'll find many attempts to deal with this. This time I was simply knocking it off the electric wire that is about a foot and a half up on inside this fenceline. It broke and pulled away so easily at this time (this is last year's dry grass) that I started pulling it away by the armfuls. I didn't have any tools or even gloves, but threw mounds of it over the fence--hey, I'll mulch the outside of the fence and maybe keep the growth down there. That felt somewhat productive although it may not be useful at all. But at least I could see a difference in the before and after.

More about irrigation in Part 2.

Playing on the Manure Pile

Light is fading as I try to get shots of lambs at play. 

Across the Road Again

Now that it is not raining anymore I can walk Across the Road with the dogs again. It's actually been a few weeks and there have been a few walks but I'm behind on blog posts and organizing my thoughts.This was taken on the first walk a few weeks ago. The dogs are on the leash until we get off of Meridian Road.The field was bedded up and planted about two weeks ago.Can you see the sprouts when you look at one of the lines almost right in the middle of the photo? Those are sunflowers.The most exciting thing for the dogs is that the canals were filled about a week ago.On the last walk I noticed that Rusty spent more time than usual in the water. He usually just goes in when he's hot and gets out again, but this time he spent time cruising (the best way to describe his half walking/half swimming) up the canal. I think his hips are bothering him so much that it felt better to move that way.He also needs help getting out now. Last year I helped Ginny out. This year it will be Rusty. Wet dog.The alfalfa has been cut and baled once already and is now being irrigated.Here is another week's growth of the sunflowers.The best surprise for Ginny I think is that she got to chase the Toy into the water again. Rusty will have more of these photos on his blog.