Take a number

Last Friday through Monday it hit 90° or above and didn't cool off much at night, breaking all kinds of weather records here. We employed open windows, ceiling fans, ice water, fresh strawberries (Rick bought a flat of local berries; heaven!) . . . and all of us continued to work (except on the blessed rest day). I finally utilized the heat pump A/C to keep the house at 80° on Monday; don't ask me why I didn't do it sooner. Yesterday 'moderated' into the 80s, but today nearly reached 90° again. Where can we file a complaint???

Since it cooled off nicely Monday night, I actually used the oven yesterday. Not for lunch; I made myself a big salad with arugula from my deck pot;

but for supper I made a loaded baked frittata and a rhubarb/strawberry custard 'pie' (no top crust, and I cheated on the bottom crust with a large flour tortilla!). This got rave reviews; NO one complained!

As I said in the last post, I rooed Blaise on Friday, then rooed/sheared Bree on Sunday. Yesterday I sheared Bernadette and fully intended to shear Bette today, but decided a long overdue newsletter had to be tackled so Bette is still sweltering. On top of that, I found a foxtail awn on one of the lambs Monday, so no more pasture time. No more bottles, either; I used up the last of the milk replacer earlier this week. Not that Blaise's twins need it anymore; the supplemental feeding did its job and Bijou and Bauble are as fat and sassy as the rest of the lambs (their mom Blaise, however, is too thin). They miss it, though. Trust me; the shepherd is not a popular figure right now. The ewes and lambs are wondering where can they file a complaint!

sweet Bauble after one of her last bottles

Bree at last rib, mid-side; luscious!

Blackjack shimmied through the gate to be near mom while I rooed her

I'm not sure why Bernadette's belly is so big!

I had no complaints about Mothers Day. Rick made us a wonderful breakfast (my choice; I didn't want to go out), Brian gave me a very sweet card and two kinds of chocolate – and then weed-whacked for hours as the other part of my gift! While he did that and I did laundry and rooed Bree, Rick worked on the riding lawnmower and old tractor. He finally got the mower working enough – barely – to mow the lawn, and then brought a ladder in to change the battery in a chirping smoke detector and vacuum out the air intake vents high in ceiling and wall of our vaulted great room. Nothing warms my heart better than everyone pitching in to accomplish a bunch of work around the place! (I'm trying to be patient about the untouched garden plot....)

the old Kubota is still sitting in our driveway in pieces

Late Mothers Day afternoon, the first of our bearded iris opened:

I had noticed the large number of buds on the iris in the island bed,

but that one in the actual iris bed took me by surprise. Two days later, two more varieties added their beauty:

They are blooming later than usual because of our long, cool, wet spring. Ahhh; that kind of weather sounds so refreshing right now!

That's it for now from . . .

The clock is ticking

😎😎😎

The end of pasture time for the sheep is in sight. The foxtail is heading out, and the current summer-like weather will accelerate its maturity:

So while I can, I'm letting them have as much pasture time as possible:

supplemental bottle-feeding is ending very soon for these two, too

testosterone poisoning has begun

The horses are enjoying pasture time, too, just not as freely as the sheep because of the risk of founder:

Several of my sheep are reserved already, and other placements look promising. Bree, Bling, and Blackjack are going to join Berlin's and Boomer's fiber flock, and Bridger (the big, graying chunk below) is going to be a future flock sire:

The warm weather has moved shearing to the top of the to-do list. I rooed Spot on Tuesday, sheared Boop on Wednesday, and rooed Blaise today. Just three more to go . . . and then to get to work on skirting and marketing.

Spot enjoying a post-rooing dandelion snack

Couldn't capture Boop's rich, dark color; so soft, crimpy, and LONG!

I haven't been too busy to appreciate the beauties of the season. The new leaves of my potted Japanese maples, the lilacs and wood hyacinths, and the apple blossoms with their promise of later abundance:

coordinated spinning 😊

my young Braeburn

one of the two big pasture apple trees

No garden work yet; Rick has been working to get both our riding lawn mower and our worn old Kubota tractor up and running again. Fingers crossed  that happens soon!

That's it for now from . . .

Pretty perfect

I've been home a week as of last night and like the burgeoning biomass outside, my photo files/blog fodder are running rampant. Today is my best opportunity to wrangle those photos and thoughts into a blog post so bear with me; it'll likely be a big 'un.

On the flight home, my itinerary included a long stop in Austin, TX. I'd never been there, so I walked from one end of the smallish terminal to the other while I waited, seeing much to appreciate. Local eateries, lots of art installations, equal-opportunity parenting facilities, cupcake vending machines (plural), and live music.

A friend saw this on Instagram and asked if it was me and Poppy. 🧐

Landing in Portland always raises my spirits. Beauty can be found anywhere, but NW Oregon resonates with my soul like no other place.

Instead of bustling off to work the next day, I stayed home. I figured my boss had managed without me for two weeks; she could manage one more day and I would just go in on Thursday as usual. Nearly strained my arm patting myself on the back I did, it was so blissful to take a day to check in with all my animals and ease back into my home responsibilities. The lambies have grown, of course, and all three of them got 'snuggle time' before I let them out to graze along the driveway edges.

Bad photo but wonderful moment; heretofore Boop has been very skittish.

I realized after that first day, though, that the foxtail awns weren't mature yet, so the ewes and lambs have been getting lots of pasture time. That is a great blessing as our sheep hay supply is running very low and the cost of hay, if one can even find any, is running very high.

"The grass is as high as a Shetland ewe's eye"

When the sheep are out, Poppy doesn't get to run around the property. She thinks it's great fun to 'play' with sheep and horses, but that is likely to end in disaster for either other animals or her. I took her for a walk one day and Bling was close to the fence when we returned. Poppy was so excited to see her (not as) little friend; Bling was far less sure. Another time Brian had Bling out when Poppy and I headed to the barn; visually they are about the same size now, although Poppy weighs more.

I've gotten two more fleeces harvested since getting home. Berlin's first shearing is just stunning, even though she was a complete idiot on the blocking stand. (She's now back in with the other ewes and behaving herself.) Blaise's fleece lifted off with barely a tug; she had a complete break in her fleece, no doubt from nearly dying back in March. She is still thin, so she got wormed and is getting extra groceries. Next up is Bing, so he and Spot can go out into the wooded lot and graze on what's grown up there instead of eating precious hay....

Both yearling Berlin and petite Blaise are wearing size C coats after shearing

Chuckie was as happy as ever to have me home and paying attention to him:

I don't like the brownish cast of Chuckie's coat. Poppy's 'beauty treatment' (grabbing Chuckie by the head or neck and rolling him around on the wet driveway) isn't helping his appearance any!

Let's finish up with some beauty shots from around the place:

Japanese maples mingling

the last of the apple blossoms

That's one big update from . . .