Turn, turn, turn

That's what time does, it just keeps turning, which puts me in catch-up mode here on the ol' blog once again. So here are photos in date order, with explanations along the way.

The winner of the lambing contest, Marlane, chose one of the Fair Isle hats as her prize. Here it is blocking, before I shipped it off to CA:

My spindles and needles have been set aside for awhile now, so there is nothing new to report on that front. Oh, I did purchase this year's Shetland Wool Week Fair Isle hat pattern (love the two-color option!) to add to the list of ones I want to knit.

Bridger in all his beefy glory

Bench, another handsome flock sire prospect

Bree with her 2023 lamb, and her grown daughter Bette with her twins

Bette's black girls

Never fear; Chuckie is still here!

I've managed to make friends with all of this year's ewe lambs

Spring trees

Green pastures, flowering cherry trees, and Mt. Hood in the distance

Hangin' with the gang; this is my pal Blackjack (who will be wethered)

Taken on a Sabbath walk to the other end of our lane and back

Just in time for May Day

On Sunday, April 30, Poppy and I headed out bright and early for our first agility match. We had to get there before the first class started so Poppy could get officially measured, which determines her allowed jump height. The club putting on the match, Oregon Canine Agility, goes by the acronym ORCA:

There are several national organizations that put on agility competitions for their members, each with their own rules and focus. I opted to join Canine Performance Events rather than a more cut-throat, "in it to win it" association. CPE's basic philosophy is for the dog and handler to have fun while competing for titles. I felt welcomed and encouraged while learning the ropes of both competing and volunteering, and enjoyed meeting people and admiring dogs of all kinds. This pair were a great team:

Poppy and I ran in three different 'games': Fullhouse, Snooker, and Standard, in that order. In class we have only run obstacles in numbered order which is what you do in Standard, so the other two games were new to us. I messed up in Fullhouse, so although we accumulated the most points in that class, we failed to qualify. Oh well, it was fun and a good warm-up!

In Snooker I managed to think on my feet better and we completed the required elements, so I was hopeful that we qualified in that event. Imagine my shock when I learned that we not only qualified, we won the class!

When you get your first-ever qualifying score, you get a special ribbon

In our last class, Poppy was apparently tired of focusing solely on me. She took side trips to visit two different jump judges, and then visited the timing table at the end. Still, we did get through all the obstacles in order eventually, so I thought we might get another qualifying run. Second shock of the day: we had the fastest time and won that class, too!

Beginners' luck???

The end of an awesome day!

Back to more spring scenes:

Blaise and her twins are often off alone

Remember our hike at Silver Falls State Park? Along the way, Rick picked up a soiled piece of clothing discarded along the path. It wasn't until we got back to the trailhead that we realized it was dog clothing. We took it home, I washed it  – and it fits Leo!

One of the many things on my ever-more-pressing to-do list is shearing the rest of my flock (I sheared Bling and Bridget earlier this spring). Today I tackled Broadway; she's the one sheep I never got coated, so her fleece is trashy:

She looks good under all that fleece, though, and is now coated to keep next year's clip much cleaner.

Later this afternoon, these little hooligans went on the lam. They are independent enough now to squeeze under the gate and go exploring, ignoring their dams' worried pleas.

For the time being, our weather has normalized. Until last week, we've been consistently colder and wetter than average. Then we got blasted with three days of SUMMER – temps in the upper 80s that broke records, made flora go 'boom' and fauna sweat or pant. Thankfully, that ended just in time for our agility match, and now is perfect spring weather, including a little shower after dark tonight to settle the dust (yes, dust!).

On my way to the barn to do chores tonight

That's it through tonight from . . .