A "State of Nearly Everything" address

Once again updating this bloggy has gotten away from me! And the more time passes, the harder it is to wrestle the updates into a post; I've been working at this for over a week weeks.

Sheepy things first; after all, that's why this blog was begun. 😉

Drumroll: skirting has started! I neglected to collect mid-side samples from two of my sheep during shearing, so I finally pulled and skirted those two fleeces (on two different days) in order to collect samples and get them all sent off to Texas A&M for micron testing. Skirting involves more standing than my knees can comfortably handle, just like too much sitting, but I need to tackle one a day whenever possible to 'git er done' so I can ship off reserved fleeces and advertise the rest. Here are Sanson's and Bonnie's fleeces on the rack:

Young Bryan continues to please and impress. He is getting a taste of 'flock life;' I've started turning the 'barn sheep' (Bernice and Bryan, Bridget and Bitsy) out into the middle pasture. Rick tilled and seeded it but nothing germinated; still, there are a few patches of grass here and there and around the edges for them to eat, and get some exercise and sunshine while doing it.

this one was taken on 5/26; the photos above on 5/21

The larger group of ewes are currently 'forest sheep.' The small wooded lot had a lot of grass, mostly decimated now, but there is a hay feeder there and lots of shade from our early summer heat.

Another drumroll: the day of my last post I did get the garden seeds in the ground: green beans, snowpeas, beets, carrots, and zucchini. Sprouts of all are up, and the starts we planted are looking good. The strawberries are producing big fruit which we are enjoying fresh for now, while the apples, prunes, and cherries work on their crops. Hoping for LOTS of apples, as we're getting close to using up all of the sauce in our pantry.

Last Thursday I had my six-week post-op appointment with my surgeon. If I had expected cheers or high-fives, I would have been disappointed. He thinks I'm doing well, but said I'll need to continue to work hard at PT since my goals are much higher than those of his typical patient. I asked about agility; he thought I should wait on that until the end of June. I asked about riding, and to my surprise he said, "Go ahead and ride; I'm not concerned about that." Woot! Of course I went home, saddled up Stella and rode (proof provided by Brian), and have ridden nearly every day since. Very short rides they are, just walking at first but now we are trotting just a little, too. To my relief riding is mostly comfortable, if I keep my feet in the stirrups (instead of letting my legs hang like I usually do during warm-up) and don't trot too long. Stella has been a good girl, although she would still prefer to go faster-faster-faster.

On Sunday evening when I led Stella to the arena to ride, a young buck was already there. He didn't seem to notice me and wasn't worried about Stella, so I managed to get fairly close using Stella as my blind. A week before that when I was doing groundwork with Stella, she noticed something in the bottom pasture. As I watched, I saw a doe, then a fawn, then a second fawn. I put Stella in the barn, called my neighbor, and together we relocated the two babies to my neighbor's side of the fence (their mom had already jumped over), where there is plenty of tall grass to hide in and no horses or terriers to worry about. Seems to be a banner year for deer; I may call them 'meadow rats,' but still enjoy seeing them.

Speaking of using up all our stock. As of Memorial Day, we were down to three bales of last year's hay, so picking up the small crop of first cutting our favorite local grower had in his barn for us was imperative. That necessitated a bunch of other labor first, though. Through various combinations of equipment and muscle, we had already moved the miscellaneous cabinets and bookshelves from Rick's old clinic out of the barn aisle and up to the new shop, but there was still old clinic stuff on our big trailer. This time, through combinations of borrowed equipment and muscle (and removing a header board to make room), Rick and I got the huge stocks off the trailer and into the shop (along with the old washer and dryer); then it was off to pick up two loads of hay and stack it in the barn. I helped as much as I could (probably too much); Rick did yeoman's work. Chuckie, of course, was chief inspector.

Crossing fingers that the coming month sees my mom relocated from TX to an apartment near my sister in Lincoln, NE. A date has been set; my BIL is flying down on June 21 to drive Mom and her car north. But lots of things have to happen before that, so my sister purchased a refundable ticket. She and I have both observed a steady decline in her cognition and memory, even long-term memory. I look forward to flying east to see her and my sister and family once Mom gets settled. It's been a long three years since Dad died....

That's all the news for now from . . .