Got a tiny bite from the 'cleaning bug' again. This time the budding daffodils prompted me to tackle the island bed, cleaning out dead grass and weeds, pruning what I could reach of the flowering plum, and cutting out a volunteer English walnut. It looks much tidier than it did, in fact than it has in some years, thanks to Rick spraying it last year. I'm not a fan of chemicals, but it did kill the grass that had nearly choked out the daffodils. Now the ones that remain can shine. (That bright green patch on the right side are other flowering bulbs that have never been impressive; they look like the white and yellow ones in the photo below but much more sparse and inconspicuous.)
The hens have been more productive this week than I have. Spring must be in the air (or day length), because after weeks of one, two, or rarely, three eggs a day, they've given me four eggs two days and five eggs another! And just when my two most frequent egg customers are on vacation. Oh well; eggs keep and I have a big fridge.
Rick and I both had medical appointments this week, his an MRI on his problematic shoulder and mine to determine the advisability of further diagnostics (the answer was 'yes'). Brian brought home a new toy which may bode more medical appointments. He says he got a steal of a deal and it doesn't work yet, but when he still owes us money (among other issues), such an acquisition doesn't increase our confidence in his good judgement.
I haven't gotten my loom warped for the next rug yet. I had to switch back to winding the natural wool for warp as I didn't have enough of the three colors; they will now be the weft. I bought some more long stick shuttles so the rug should go fast once the warp is ready.
You know it's the spring after a breeding season when I stare intently at certain ewes, looking for telltale signs of pregnancy and approaching delivery. None of the latter yet, but I imagine I am seeing the former in all four ewes who were put with ram lambs last fall. The last two to convince me are first-timers Broadway and Boop. The other morning they slept in, something they haven't done before, and Broadway (left) showed a noticeable bulge. So tick-tock, the clock is ticking! Now the question is, will lambing work out so I can go on the annual church women's retreat at the coast Easter weekend?
That's it for this week at . . .
8 comments:
Good morning, and blessed Sabbath!
I really enjoyed your post. And I'm really looking forward to lambing, and pray that all goes well!
Your flowers are lovely!
Good morning to you, Jeanne! I am praying for an uneventful lambing as well, but I wonder if Blaise will be short of milk again this year.
No matter how many times I see it, I always grin when I see your girls in their coats. Why? I have no idea - it just tickles me.
We're having 'false spring' right now, as the weather guy calls it. I grew up here and remember some of the worst blizzards in March - so I'm just enjoying each day for what it is.
Cheers from Oakdale Farm.
Nights are cool in the 20s here but days are up in the 40s. Very odd for Chicagoland in mid-February. I always enjoy 'Lamb Watch.' :-) Sure hope you and Rick are both OK and that tests and further tests don't bring difficult news. My daffodils are trying to come up from the few days in the 50s we had a week or so ago. It's way too early and they seem to have slowed their roll with the nights being below freezing again. Crossing my fingers. :-)
I have no idea why the coats are so funny to you Tim, but hey, it's cheap entertainment!
A, for such a short gestation period (five months), 'Lamb Watch' can drag on forEVer to me! I'm sure it's "watched pots" and all that.
Michelle, I have no idea why your sheep in jackets makes me smile either. Sometimes a guy just needs a grin without having a reason. I grew up with my Dad raising sheep. To me as a kid at the time, one was just as dumb as the others. Maybe seeing a 'sheep elite' in wardrobe has something to do with it. Who cares though. As you say, cheap entertainment.
I was invited to a wine tasting last week. It was a Public TV fundraising event. As I'm not much of a drinker and I really don't like wine, it was all wasted on me. I told the host it was a lot like buying an expensive ticket to a philharmonic concert and giving it to somebody who wore cheap hearing aids. They were explaining to me what I should be tasting for and afterwards and how it should look and how it should smell, etc. ad nauseum. So, like the sheep; if somebody has to instruct me as to why wine tastes like it does, it isn't as much fun. I just like seeing your sheep - and the beautiful yarn they can produce. Other than that, the wine just tastes like vinegar with yeast and alcohol in it to me.
Cheers! Smile whenever you can.
Your second paragraph made me almost laugh. I have a very good nose, and a (related) good sense of taste for food, being able to parse out the seasonings and ingredients better than some. But the stereotypical descriptions of wine tastings, with "notes of this" and "essense of that" always leave me skeptical. I've never tasted wine (although we have made plenty of fresh grape juice from wine varietals), but I smell it in production much of the year when walking by the big winery on our deadend end lane. IT STINKS. Your "vinegar with yeast and alcohol" sounds about right!
I can't wait to see your plethora of daffodils when they come up! We used to have a bed full of them, but the gophers got them. I was not happy!! I'm also eager to view all the new lambs!
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