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 . . .

First, a fat ol' 'farm' report...

...followed (very soon, I hope) by a "Full meal deal Fair report." (I know; promises, promises!)

The zucchini have finally won. I've got big ol' summer squash lying languidly about, smug in their victory of getting ahead of me. Little do they know that the chickens will be happy to peck their innards out, so they won't get to reseed themselves and take over the world.

In an effort to utilize other foodstuffs ripening apace, I've pressed my OLD dehydrator back into service. The basil and prunes mentioned in the last post were somewhat dried in a unit I had traded one of Rick's clients for. It LOOKED like it would hold more and do a better job, given its design and all-stainless-steel construction (first photo). But it took the basil forEVer to dry (and some never did, even though it's just leaves), and it wasn't drying my prunes any better. Then it quit, dead. Rick's client gave me back my old plastic Nesco Gardenmaster (which she really didn't need as she has one already) and it has dried eggplant (pictured), tomatillos (both of which are tasty enough when crispy to snack on out of hand, but I intend to use them in winter curries and stews), and prunes. I am going to keep it humming with everything I can't incorporate in immediate meal planning this year (including zucchini!!!); it feels good to be preserving, especially with the uncertainty of nearly everything in the world.

Back to chickens. The 'peepers' are making more grown-up sounds now and are certainly growing. Lottie is the biggest (and calmest) and Splash (pictured) is the smallest; Spangle is the flightiest and Kate is shy. Periodically I pick them up and foist attention on them to keep them kinda-sorta tame. This morning I couldn't catch Spangle so scooped up one of my beautiful Australorps instead.

'Tis the season: the henhouse is filling with feathers. The fall molt is on and egg product has slowed to a trickle. The peepers' contributions in another couple months will be welcomed – plus I can't wait to see those True Blue eggs!

Foisting attention is how I tame sheep, too, and it has worked well with Berlin (it also helps that she sees her mother get twice-a-day goodies from me). Berlin is still a petite little girl, maybe because her old dam dried up early. I've taken to calling Vienna "Grandma;" she looks so thin and frail (at back in top picture). But I'm keeping her going on alfalfa and rice bran pellets which she demands from me loudly; she is clearly not done with living yet.

The Nightcap girls

Bridget

Blaise

'Tis also the season to be thinking of baby sheep. That's right, breeding season is upon us! I've settled on four ewes to put with Spot (the wethers say that can't be soon enough); my three maiden four-year-olds (Bridget, Bette, and Bernadette) and Blaise, who's seven. Or put another way, my three Nightcap daughters (Blaise, Bette, and Bernadette), and Bridget (Blake x Sarai). I've had several inquiries about sheep for sale the last couple years; hopefully I'll have some available next year from this breeding group. But if I get a quality black-based ewe lamb from Blaise, she'll be staying here – especially if she's spotted!

The shepherd (that's me) is holding up. My frozen shoulder is finally making some slow improvement after 18 months. The scar tissue of the Morel-Lavallée Lesion on the back of my right thigh is also slowly diminishing, as is the area of numbness. I had an acute but less consequential setback when Stella stepped on my right foot; somehow my one bad toe took the brunt of her weight:

The good news is that I had recently purchased what may possibly be the world's most comfortable shoes, even for a mashed toe:

Somehow, somewhere, I heard about allbirds, and did some investigating. After reading this review I was convinced enough to check eBay to see if I could find a less expensive pair to try, and found these Wool Pipers. Oh, happy feet; happy, HAPPY feet. As in, walk-around-on-pavement-at-the-State-Fair-for-seven-hours-with-a-mashed-toe-and-still-have-happy-feet happy feet. I have a feeling they will be my go-to footwear for indoors, in town, and travel; alas, they are not field-and-farm appropriate.

Out and about on the hill, the neighbors' house has been painted and a lot of hardscaping has been taking place. They are determined to use ALL the boulders (reinforcing my flock name), and the trackhoe operator has been doing a masterful job of placing them. I'll get more photos tomorrow when I take care of their dogs.

Sunrise (first photo), sunset (last three, taken during last night's walk); swiftly flow the days. Crows, vultures, and starlings are gathering in groups now; the horses are shedding their summer coats so their winter hair must be coming in, although still imperceptible. The calendar says we are running out of time to get our roof replaced and the piles of firewood under shelter; not sure what is going to happen there. If a certain young man doesn't have work lined up for after State Fair, ideally he would be put to work. Well, ideally he'd be heading back to college for his sophomore year about now.... Still workin' on that Serenity prayer!

That's it for now from . . .