A breather of sorts

pre-mowing

post-mowing

sheep enjoying

the upper pasture is really greening up!

With the end of State Fair, some rain and cooler temperatures (the 90° forecast for tomorrow excepted), and the acquisition of 24 bales of second-cutting alfalfa from our favorite hay guy, I am feeling more settled. With the grass is growing again and the sheep out every day (thanks to our neighbor mowing the middle pasture and Brian strimming around the perimeter a couple weeks ago), I think we have enough hay laid by for another year.

the gap in the middle is access to the remainder of last year's hay

Poor Chuckie. Last night after we stacked the alfalfa, I realized he wasn't feeling great. A little investigation revealed stinky discharge from a ruptured abscess somewhere in the region of the base of his tail – he wouldn't allow a more precise diagnosis. We'll put him on antibiotics and hopefully he'll be back to his interactive self soon.

In the midst of State Fair, with an eye to approaching breeding season, I got Boop and Broadway into bigger sheep suits (E and D) and trimmed their feet. Their fleeces were duly admired; Spot left a lovely, lasting legacy.

Boop's color is more accurate in the side shot, as is Broadway's below

Of course, a change of coats was an excuse to be buttheads:

It's not clear when he's in front like this, but Sanson is considerably smaller than the yearlings

And not just to each other. On Labor Day I turned Sanson out with them as planned, and they promptly ganged up on him. Fearful that he could end up fatally injured like Bling, I rescued Sanson and put him back in the Ram-ada Inn with Bench and Bijou. When he and Bridger got in with the yearlings back in July, I suspect it was Bridger's bigger, heavier, more pugnacious presence that kept smaller Sanson safe. Since there is a possibility that they were bred back in July, I've asked Rick to ultrasound them; there's no point in endangering Sanson if they are already bred (and if so, almost certainly by Bridger). If they prove to be pregnant, I'll have to decide whether to try Sanson on a different ewe; I would like to see how he produces, (along with Bench and Bijou so they can be sold as proven yearlings). So breeding season is on hold here for now.

cuddle time with Broadway today; she was my buddy

Broadway's neck fleece showing accurate color

Boop being standoffish

On the harvesting and preserving front, I should be running at full steam instead of puttering along. The prunes are ripe and ripening; so far I've mostly frozen them to make up for the peaches that were hard to source this year. I have room to freeze a few more pints; the rest will likely be dehydrated. I've already lost a lot of apples from the first of our trees to ripen; canning applesauce and apple pie filling needs to start and now. Where do the days go?

these are not super-ripe; I like them better at this stage

I have more to share, but this is long enough already. I'll close with various shots of the sky.

Big Dipper over Boulderneigh

That's it for now from . . .