Fleece and serpent and flowers, oh my!

We had a jam-packed Mother's Day here. Immediately after morning chores, Rick and Brian took their mothers out for a delicious repast at our favorite local breakfast spot. Then we all came back to Boulderneigh to work off the rich food at the skirting table (me) and in the garden (the other three). I got Browning done; two more to go!

While Brian was carrying out garden debris, he happened upon a little snake near the island bed. I went over to take a look – to see it taking a look, looking like a periscope!

You can see its size compared to the garden hose; it's very small

He's rather cute!

Early in the afternoon we took off again in a different direction – over the river and through the woods to Schreiner's Iris Gardens. The gardens were at their show-stopping best, live music was playing, the weather was cool and overcast – perfect for photography! I played snap-happy with Mr. Lumix until his battery died; then Rick handed over his real camera (Pentax DSLR) and I continued with that. Unfortunately, he had the ISO set too high, making almost all the photos I took with it unacceptably grainy. But I will be playing around with it again, after spending some time with the owner's manual. Here are some of my favorite shots out of both cameras:

That's it for now from . . .

Prime real estate

The pullets have decided that the top of the hay feeder in their pen is their roost, even though the concrete blocks in the lower left corner support a very nice branch for perching:

All six are up there, even though only five heads are showing

This afternoon we were at a church member's house for potluck. Sitting on her back patio we noticed a chickadee couple flying in and out of one of her bird houses. They were ever so much more entertaining in real life than shows in my photos! They had to do a little shimmy to get in and out of the hole; it was a hoot to watch.

Taken from my first vantage point; too close for their comfort

Oooh, someone's getting flowers for Mother's Day!

That's it for today from . . .

Dear Blog....

I miss you! I think about you a lot, but can't seem to manage the time or energy to formulate my thoughts for meaningful communication. My photographer's eye isn't seeing much inspiration to spark a conversation, either.

I know every relationship has ebbs and flows. What's frustrating is when you want to connect, and life gets in the way. My life – the demands others and I myself put on my time – was pretty packed as it was. Now that my MIL has moved to town, it is even more so. I am fighting despair verging on depression over all the things that need to be done that aren't getting done – not to mention having no time to connect with friends IRL or online.

So right now I'm sitting down to share some disjointed thoughts and photos – even though I'm being interrupted by a reluctant homeschooler, demanding dogs, moving garden/landscape irrigation frequently, and thoughts of all that I should be getting done today.

Here is my little patch of albino maple leaves. If you look closely or biggify, you will see some typical green maple leaves in the background. If I had time, it would be fun to learn how to propagate this unique anomaly; maybe I'd get rich by patenting a new maple variety and selling albino maple saplings!

In three short weeks, Bonny and Cadbury are leaving. It is always hard to part with members of my little flock, and these are two of my friendliest sheep. :-(  I especially like Cadbury's personality, now that we have worked out satisfactory living arrangements. He's active and playful, loves attention but is very respectful (nevertheless, I always carry a staff around the rams); I love his small size and pretty head, too!

Cadbury needed to have his tight snail scurs trimmed before he and Bonny move on to produce fabulous fleece and awesome offspring for someone else. Rick helped me do that this morning, along with trimming scurs on Bart, Bing, and Bittersweet. Here are Cadbury and his (equally friendly) son Bittersweet; the other two declined sittings with the photographer:

All trimmed up and ready to meet his new lady friends!

Bittersweet only needed his right scur trimmed; the left broke off long ago.

Despite their negligent caretaker and the weeds and grass trying to choke them out, some of my iris are determined to bloom. Maybe their bed will get a thorough spring cleaning next year....

Well, that's all I have for you right now. It's been great to sit down with you for a spell; I hope you've enjoyed it, too.

From the harried shepherd at . . .

Want a part of Bart?

I got Bart's fleece skirted today. Someone reserved half of it last year, so half is still available. I may have a couple other fleeces available as well; someone who asked for all my remaining fleeces has gone incommunicado.

That's it for today from . . .