Living in paradise

I am always busy, but never too busy for beauty. Yesterday I stopped the car while driving down our hill to shoot this photo of a cherry orchard in bloom with the Willamette Valley and Mt. Hood beyond. I never tire of our view, and the camera never does it justice.

"Blue blooms" are in - speedwell and rosemary. I planted the former among the daffodils, thinking it would spread and provide a nice ground cover after the daffies fade. It hasn't performed as hoped, in part because it is not as unpalatable to deer as reported. The rosemary, on the other hand, is a star. It's tough, evergreen, long-blooming, untouched by deer - and it tastes good to boot! The one pictured is a weeping variety; its half-barrel home is falling apart so I just bought a new pedestal pot to showcase it. I also bought four little "Arp" rosemary plants to put around an electrical box (not the pole) in the island bed. It looks like most of the dwarf rhodies I planted under the double-flowering cherry have died, so I may just replace those with "Arp" rosemary, too (they only grow 24"-36").

The sheep are "blooming," too. See how tight Rechel's and Dinah's coats are, and the tummies on those two girls? Don't worry; I've ordered bigger coats.

That's it for now at . . .

Tried and found wanting

In patience with a certain little person, that is. Lately Brian seems to be LOOKING for ways to provoke me (yes, I'm seeing red!) - maybe based on the premise that negative attention is better than no attention at all. Yesterday he took my pruners to the "Tasmanian Tiger" euphorbia hedge outside his bedroom window, mutilating it severely. (The photo below is the scene of the carnage AFTER he had carted some of the damage off to the burn pile.)
Fortunately, he left the little "Forest Flame" pieris planted next to it at the corner of the house unscathed.
In spite of his efforts, I did manage to finish skirting fleeces today. Dinah's was one of the easiest to clean, and at 4 lbs. 4 oz. skirted weight, the heaviest. That was nine months' growth! I'm thinking about shearing her every six months; I'll see how her fleece looks in September.

Here are the four bags of Boulderneigh fleece ready to be taken to Salem tomorrow, where I'm meeting a person willing to transport them north to Franna, who will take them to the Shepherds Extravaganza check-in. From left to right: Valentine, Rechel, Bella and Dinah.
I'd better go see what Brian has gotten into now, while I've been on the computer.

That's it for now at . . .

Rearmed

Yep, I bit the bullet, spent the money, and got a new camera. Same brand as the old one so it uses the memory cards on hand, but with three times the megapixels. Woohoo!

Now, if I just had time to open the box and take photos of the six pounds of Merino superwash mill ends I received today. But there's no point in tempting myself when spinning is something I can only do in my dreams right now. First comes skirting (one more fleece before Thursday!) and work (both graphics and training a horse -- I shouldn't complain).

That's it for now at . . .

Awash in flowers and fleece

I know it's April, but I thought I'd grace your screen with the last of the flowers of March. This time of year there are so many, I didn't get them all posted last month. Besides, I have no camera at the moment to take photos of anything else! For that reason alone I guess it's good that I don't have lambs popping out all over the place like many of the Shetland shepherds. I sure am enjoying seeing everyone else's wooly bundles of joy, though!




On the skirting front, Bella's fleece is still on the wire "table;" it is taking a LOOONG time. I knew it would; she should have been named "Pig-Pen." Dinah's fleece is waiting its turn.

That's it for now at . . .