Sunday smorgasbord

Smorgasbord . . . now that's a word I rarely hear these days. Maybe it's just not a West Coast thing. It brings back childhood memories, though; only natural, I suppose, with a Swedish grandmother and a dietitian mother. Anyway, I have a smorgasbord of snapshots for you today; I hope you find them tasty!

Mother's Day bouquet; flowers fresh from the farms they grew on!

For Mother's Day I treated myself to fresh starts for my hanging basket

My herb barrel is still waiting to be properly filled...

...but the hostas (and astilbe) are finally starting to fill in their island bed

At last, an accurate color capture of my purple iris!

Simple beauty – and the promise of boysenberries to come

In revisiting my marvelous white maple leaves...

...I happened upon this slimy fellow, no doubt enjoying his own smorgasbord.
At least it's not a scary snake, like Mary Ann or Audrey have to deal with!

Big-Fleece Bart (5lb4oz skirted!) has been babying his right front leg. :-(
We checked him over and think it's just a strain, but ALL the sheep are
dining at the hay smorgasbord in the fold for now so he can rest and heal.

That's it for today from . . .

The grosbeaks are back

We haven't bought seed for the wild birds in quite awhile because of budget constraints, but Brian discovered that we still had some cracked corn and put it out. The Evening and Black-headed Grosbeaks have discovered it; yay! Yesterday I perched at a crack in the deck doors to see what I could capture with my camera. This female Black-headed Grosbeak obliged very nicely. :-)

"Would you leave me alone to eat now?"

That's it for today from . . .

What you get when you encourage me

Probably too many photos.

Oreo was lolling with abandon on the gravel in front of the barn this morning while I was doing chores. I can't get good candids of her if she sees me, so I played sneaky and hid in the sheep fold to take these.

As you can see, she eventually spotted me and then had to act all regal. Cats; always worrying about their image!

So I turned my attention to the pullets. They are growing into their legs – and their puffy petticoats are adorable!

I finally figured out why Brian named this one Two-Tone:

See the two shades of red alternating on her chest? It's quite distinctive once you notice it!

Speaking of Brian, he is spending the night at Grandma's apartment.

From a quiet . . .

In the pink

Yesterday's Textiles class went really well – but I forgot to take photos! The peg looms we made work SO much better for the kids than the mattboard ones I made last year. I shouldn't have to do much supplemental weaving for the kids to be able to finish their projects next week, which is our last class. ACK! I've GOT to take pictures next week!

Today's specials:

Newly opened

Freshly adorned with raindrops

Yes, we are getting a little moisture! Not a lot, but every little bit lessens the amount of watering I have to do and the demand on our low-output well. It's cooler, too, which is welcome.

Did the sound of showers on the shed roof of the Sheep Sheraton inspire a spa day? The pullets were vigorously "dust-bathing" in the sheepfold bedding of their pen this morning; at one point all six of them were crowded into one spot on the floor. I went and got a scoop of diatomaceous earth to give them something beneficial (and dusty) to bathe in, which, of course, they were all afraid of; ha! I sat and watched their entertaining antics for quite awhile, and took a lot of photos (which I then proceeded to delete from my memory card after downloading the iris pix; sigh). The pullets are getting bigger and starting to cluck occasionally. Pretty soon we're going to have to think about integrating them into the flock. Rick thinks our present set-up is big enough for 15 chickens; I am sure we need to enlarge it.

That's it from a cool, gray . . .