Busy days with lots to write about

I follow Leigh Tate's blogs 5 Acres & A Dream and Leigh's Fiber Journal. Her last update of the first one had lots of updates and no photos. Point taken. One does not have to share photos, as much as one may like to. Since transferring photos still isn't possible, I decided to follow Leigh's lead, as much for my own record-keeping as for you. So here goes.

On May 23 I shared the photos I took on Mother's Day, partly out of frustration that I couldn't share the photos I took on the 23rd of Adelman Peony Gardens. We went with friends on a perfect Sabbath afternoon and it felt like being in the Garden of Eden. 

Rick's sister and younger niece flew in Sunday night, May 24. They stayed with Rick's mom, but we all spent Memorial Day together, first enjoying fresh strawberries over waffles at my MIL's, then going to Schreiner's Iris Gardens. We mentioned needing to get hay in our barn, and bless their horse-lovin' hearts, the visitors offered their help. So the next evening the four of us unloaded two trailers full of hay; Rick and I got a third load of hay in the next evening, and the last half-load in today.

And where was Brian? Taking it easy inside. On the 21st he punched a door and both broke and dislocated bones in his hand/wrist; he had surgery on it last Thursday. 😒

Between Friday, May 22, and today I got our garden in. Rick was going to amend the garden soil with compost but I got tired of waiting. I purchased some starts (six tomatoes, two sweet peppers, two eggplant, two six-packs of assorted salad greens, three basil, two curly parsley), was given some starts (two cape gooseberries, two cherry tomatoes, five assorted cucumbers), purchased some seeds (Detroit Dark Red Beets, Tendergreen Improved Bush Beans), and used seeds from my stash (Scarlet Nantes Carrots, Armenian Pale Green Cucumbers, Long White Zucchini of Palermo, Tricolor Zucchini, Butternut Squash). The salad greens and herbs went into the stock tank on the east side of the house; the rest into our little garden plot on the west side of the house. Oh, and Rick finally planted my poor potted fig tree up in our 'orchard' – and he's even watered it a couple times.

Recently one of our hens died after acting poorly for several days. One of my older ewes has also been ailing; I'm hoping the antibiotics we have her on now will turn her around. In spite of the medical problems the humans have racked up, all has been quiet with the animals' health (other than Lance's asthma flare-ups) for the last year and a half at least. Guess it couldn't last forever.

That's the update, sans photos, from . . .

Mothers Day 2026

Before my devices stopped cooperating, again, I managed to transfer my Mothers Day photos from my iPhone to my MacBook. Since it was a lovely day and it's what I have, here we go.

First, we (DH, DS, and me) met Rick's mom, step-father, and his oldest daughter at a restaurant in town for a delicious breakfast.

Lemon crepes, which I split with Brian

Veggie hash, with Brian shared with me

Then all but step-sister, who had to work, drove to Portland to take in the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Gardens, always a beautiful destination. And the enjoyment started before we even entered. We parked, I looked up, and there was a bald eagle over Portland! There were lovely flowers along our route to the entrance as well.

I'm sure I've shared photos from past years' visits to Crystal Springs. But since I don't think it is possible to take the same photos every time, perhaps you'll enjoy the following regardless.

For scale, my guys are both well over 6' tall

That's what I've got for now from . . .

Limping along

I have managed to transfer some photos, a few at a time, to my laptop so I can post "in the manner to which I am accustomed." However, I feel handicapped. Ah; First World problems.

I am also periodically limping thanks to the sheep. Not from shearing; that has gone more comfortably than I can remember, and I am grateful, both for my healed knees and my quieted sciatica. No, twice now I've been felled by my sheep. In order to take them out to sections of the neighbor's pasture every morning, I halter and lead five of them, letting the other three follow. Last week, my neighbor startled them from behind as I was doing that, and they bolted forward. Five ewes weigh considerably more than I do and are probably stronger, so I ended up on the ground; a secondary startle made me fear serious damage to my shoulder. Yes, I was still holding the ends of five leashes, a not-always good habit from a lifetime of handling horses; if I'd let go I wouldn't have been able to catch them again and the halters could have endangered them. This morning it happened again, this time in the driveway, wrenching my left knee. Don't judge them harshly; it is their nature as defenseless prey animals. The daily handling is making them easier to catch, halter, and lead, but doesn't change their instincts!

Speaking of the sheep, here are photos of all of them. I missed a few before and after photos until I got my act together. Let me know if you see a fleece you're interested in; Bench's and Bitta's are already reserved.

Bridget, after

Bridget's midside sample

Bench, before

Bench's midside sample

Bernice, after

Bernice's midside sample

Sanson, before

Sanson, after

Sanson's midside sample

Bethany, before

Bethany, after

Bethany's midsize sample

Broadway, before

Broadway, after

Broadway's midside sample

Bitsy, before

Bitsy, after

Bitsy's midside sample

Bette, before

Bette, after

Bette's midside sample

Bernadette, before

Bernadette, after

Bernadette's midside sample

Bitta, before

Bitta, after

Bitta's midside sample

Forty-six years ago while I graduated from a Nebraska high school, Mt. St. Helens erupted catastrophically. Most of my life's biggest moments have happened in the interim; strange to think about that!

That's it for now from . . .