Mothers Day 2022

Spending this one with my mother was special, even though I saw her only briefly yesterday morning and evening, just like every other day I've been here. I can't remember if I've mentioned that the reason Mom asked me to come for these two weeks is to be with Dad while she's gone. Months ago Mom had committed to being in charge of feeding a group of 30 people lunch and dinner every day while they did a mission project at their church in a nearby town. So she's had to leave every morning, work all day (with help), and usually do some grocery shopping every evening before coming home very tired. (The refrigerator at their church is a small residential model, insufficient for holding more than a day's worth of ingredients to feed a group of that size.)  The only time I get out of the house and 'off duty' is in the morning when an aide comes for three hours, when I go for a walk around the neighborhood, and once when Mom got home in time to take me with her to the grocery store before the evening aide left (I needed to get her something for Mothers Day since I didn't plan ahead of my arrival!).

Daily walks help keep me going – fresh air, exercise, listening to a good audiobook or sometimes talking to my honey, and looking at the yards and birds and assorted animals. There are four obvious birds here that we don't have at home: Great-tailed Grackles, Western Kingbirds, White-winged Doves, and Blue Jays (we have Scrub and Steller's). I've seen one jackrabbit, several cottontails, and the occasional squirrel. In addition, there are neighborhood dogs known and unknown, cats, cattle and a horse in one side yard, Boer goats in a small lot, ducks in a backyard that I saw and heard for the first time yesterday, and chickens I heard for the first time today. Mind you, I walk the same block and the alley that divides two of the streets every day, but still I see and hear new things after almost two weeks! The photos I've managed to capture on my iPhone are junk, but better than a page full of words. ;-)

I've captured one memorable sunset,

and one mellower one:

Most importantly, I've spent lots of time with Dad, and thankfully thought to document a tender moment between him and Mom at the end of a day:

Oh yeah, and I've spun yarn:

Tomorrow morning I start the journey home, leaving hot, dry Amarillo for cool, wet Boulderneigh (spinning all the way). For the past several days it has been a full 50° hotter here than at home; that'll be a 're-entry adjustment'! How many more times I will be moving back and forth between these climes in the coming months is unknown, but trips will doubtless be necessary. I am not naturally a 'rolling stone;' this uncertain fluidity is not the life I'd choose. But we play the cards we're dealt.

SO looking forward to being back home again at . . .

Four down, five to go

In fleece harvest, that is. In lambing, it's still three down, one to go. Bridget was clearly not going to lamb before I left at o'dark thirty Wednesday morning, so maybe she'll wait until I return. But I did get her sheared, and also rooed Bernadette and Spot. I've never been able to roo Bette and Bernadette before, so that was a pleasant surprise; nice to have a couple of those (pleasant surprises, that is) this year for a change. Rooing is faster and thus easier on my back, and there are no second cuts. From the tattered look of others, I'll hopefully be able to harvest additional fleeces that way when I get back. Lambing and shearing in May, oh my; that's just the way this strange, discombobulated year is going.

 Bridget in the waning light after a several-hour shearing

Bernadette, half-rooed

Her c-section site blends in now!

Bernadette after rooing

Bernie's fleece

Spot the handsome lambic-daddy

Spot after rooing, showing the little white streak on his lower belly

Fresh sheep suit in the twilight

Before I left, I got the ewes and lambs out on pasture as much as possible, both because it saves on hay (which is running low) and because the foxtail was already heading out. By the time I get back from this trip to Texas, pasture season for sheep (because of the wicked foxtail awns) will be over. So here are likely the final spring photos and videos of sheep on lush grass:

Here in the Texas panhandle, it is slightly greener than it was last month, where some lawns have been watered and some trees have leafed out. It's 30° warmer than it is back home, but I packed for that. The last photo is one of the three redbud trees in front of my parents' house. It took me awhile to realize what they were; flowers seem to shrink from the arid wind here, instead of flaunting themselves 'loud and proud' like they do in the Willamette Valley.

That's all I've got for April!

Of weather and wool

A current screen shot of my weather app wouldn't look much different than the one leading off my last post, but there has been a lot of water under the bridge, sunshine over the bridge, and snow ON the bridge in the last nine days! Those of you who follow me on Instagram saw our sticking snow three mornings in a row last week; it didn't last long here but set records throughout the area for latest snowfall. As with my farm and family life, there is no point in asking "What next?" because I clearly don't have enough imagination for all the possibilities. 😳

Snow on lilac buds

Time for a flock update. The sheep have been out on pasture several more times, and on Easter I even managed to slip away from Bling instead of having to babysit. (But she much prefers it when I stay.)

Bonded lambs and dams

Estranged mother and daughter

Got a lot of nasty tansy pulled while lamb-sitting

A 'bluebird day'

Bling still thinks us two-leggeds are her 'flock'

The day I slipped out Bling stuck tight to Bernadette and Broadway

Now they holler to be let out ALL the time, but it's turned very wet again and I'm trying to keep fleeces dry so I can harvest when there's opportunity.

On Sunday I rooed Bette, whose fleece was starting to fall off on its own. (Available for purchase.)

Now Bette doesn't look much bigger than Boop – or maybe I should say that big Boop doesn't look much smaller than her dam now!

Also on Sunday, Rick preg-checked Bridget with ultrasound and confirmed she is carrying at least one vigorous lambie, so I put her in with the other ewes and put wether Bing out in the Ram-ada Inn to keep Spot company.

Ewe's not just fat and fluffy!

Ewe's interested in those lambies? Just wait!

Yesterday yearling Berlin persisted in being a butthead to Bridget, chasing her round and round and bashing her in the butt and side. The little brat got put in with Bing; I don't need her to precipitate another lambing crisis. I suspect she might also be mean to Bernadette, Broadway, and Bling when they have to trade spaces with Bridget.

Another thing that will help prevent problems is getting Bridget's huge fleece sheared; we'll be able to keep a closer eye on her progress and her udder (when and if it ever develops) will be more accessible. I was going to shear her today, but it's been too wet and cold for that several-hour process. Maybe later today....

Please let Bridget lamb before I leave for Texas again  – or wait until I return!

That's it for now from . . .