A "state of the homestead" report

We returned from horse-camping to full-fledged summer. The pasture grasses have gone dormant; landscape plants and the garden need regular watering. The strawberries are about done; we ate a lot fresh and put 25 pints in the freezer. The raspberries are going strong now; lots of those are going in the freezer as well. The vegetables we planted are growing well and there are various blossoms and some green tomatoes promising produce later.

On the right, seven bales of "sheep & Larry hay"

In the middle, the remaining certified weed-free hay for horse-camping

On the far right, a small stack of valley hay

The horses and sheep all need hay to supplement the limited grazing/browse remaining, and the barn is nearly empty. We haven't purchased any of the local valley grass hay yet in hopes that the one local producer who irrigates to get second and third cuttings of orchard grass and alfalfa will have some for us (demand outstrips his supply). He called yesterday evening to say he has 54 bales of second cutting orchard grass and a ton of second cutting alfalfa. It's considerably more expensive than plain ol' valley grass hay, but also has far more nutritive value, so we'll take it. With the alfalfa, we can get by with the balance in valley hay for the horses. The sheep do best on third cutting orchard grass; hopefully we can get several tons of that from the same producer later.

Lambies three on halters be

Since the sheep don't think their pasture contains anything appetizing, I usually have to halter and lead them all to get them where I want them to go during the day. While a bit labor-intensive, it helps in halter-training the lambs and gives everyone else a regular "refresher course."

"Look busy – the boss is coming!"

The chickens are on summer break, apparently; two eggs in one day (from EIGHT hens) is cause for celebration. :-/  You can see July's pathetic tally over there on the right. I could understand this if we were suffering from the extreme heat that much of the rest of the country is experiencing, but we aren't. Humph.

We do have flowers; the daylilies are showing off now, my astilbe are revealing their assorted colors for the first time since I planted them a year ago, and the Centaurea continue to bloom. I noticed this pink flower among the self-seeded starts:

I'm thinking the blue and white varieties I purchased (you can see them in the background) cross-pollinated!

My token Tour de Fleece spinning continues except for the allowed "rest day;" I'm knitting frantically  on the gift shawl whenever I can. I started the last chart last night; I figure I have six more hours of knitting to do, plus washing and blocking. Yikes!

That's it for now from . . .