A breather of sorts

pre-mowing

post-mowing

sheep enjoying

the upper pasture is really greening up!

With the end of State Fair, some rain and cooler temperatures (the 90° forecast for tomorrow excepted), and the acquisition of 24 bales of second-cutting alfalfa from our favorite hay guy, I am feeling more settled. With the grass is growing again and the sheep out every day (thanks to our neighbor mowing the middle pasture and Brian strimming around the perimeter a couple weeks ago), I think we have enough hay laid by for another year.

the gap in the middle is access to the remainder of last year's hay

Poor Chuckie. Last night after we stacked the alfalfa, I realized he wasn't feeling great. A little investigation revealed stinky discharge from a ruptured abscess somewhere in the region of the base of his tail – he wouldn't allow a more precise diagnosis. We'll put him on antibiotics and hopefully he'll be back to his interactive self soon.

In the midst of State Fair, with an eye to approaching breeding season, I got Boop and Broadway into bigger sheep suits (E and D) and trimmed their feet. Their fleeces were duly admired; Spot left a lovely, lasting legacy.

Boop's color is more accurate in the side shot, as is Broadway's below

Of course, a change of coats was an excuse to be buttheads:

It's not clear when he's in front like this, but Sanson is considerably smaller than the yearlings

And not just to each other. On Labor Day I turned Sanson out with them as planned, and they promptly ganged up on him. Fearful that he could end up fatally injured like Bling, I rescued Sanson and put him back in the Ram-ada Inn with Bench and Bijou. When he and Bridger got in with the yearlings back in July, I suspect it was Bridger's bigger, heavier, more pugnacious presence that kept smaller Sanson safe. Since there is a possibility that they were bred back in July, I've asked Rick to ultrasound them; there's no point in endangering Sanson if they are already bred (and if so, almost certainly by Bridger). If they prove to be pregnant, I'll have to decide whether to try Sanson on a different ewe; I would like to see how he produces, (along with Bench and Bijou so they can be sold as proven yearlings). So breeding season is on hold here for now.

cuddle time with Broadway today; she was my buddy

Broadway's neck fleece showing accurate color

Boop being standoffish

On the harvesting and preserving front, I should be running at full steam instead of puttering along. The prunes are ripe and ripening; so far I've mostly frozen them to make up for the peaches that were hard to source this year. I have room to freeze a few more pints; the rest will likely be dehydrated. I've already lost a lot of apples from the first of our trees to ripen; canning applesauce and apple pie filling needs to start and now. Where do the days go?

these are not super-ripe; I like them better at this stage

I have more to share, but this is long enough already. I'll close with various shots of the sky.

Big Dipper over Boulderneigh

That's it for now from . . .

My final Fair post

"Saturday night in Toledo, Ohio...." John Denver fans will understand; another low-key evening at the State Fair is right up Rick's and my alley for Saturday night entertainment. There was a rousing marching band, The Beat Goes On (you can tell from the puddles that it rained some more):

but the rest of our time was spent looking in on animals mostly at rest:

there's a lively one in every crowd

sleeping cheek to cheek

spooning

this girl would spend the night there if allowed, according to her mom

This cria looked so sweet...

...until it woke up. Why ARE camellids so crabby???

such a good-looking doe

one last wood carving

Sunday afternoon Rick and I headed down to the Fair with intention. He, of course, had his official duties to fulfill, but we also planned to go to a Greek food cart (not the gyro stand that has long been a feature at the Fair) that we had been too late to patronize twice before. We intended to eat and then watch the Draft demo at 7:00, but the food was in such demand that we ended up having to pick up our order and run back to the horse show arena to eat while watching.

We had gotten wind that the Draft exhibitors planned to show off hitches of one to eight horses, the latter a not very common sight these days. A one-horse cart didn't materialize, but there were two, four, six, and eight-horse hitches. But first the color guard to open the evening's events, and then a "magic carpet ride" demo by a lady in costume:

Perspective is deceptive; four teams pretty much filled the arena.

The eight-up driver demonstrating how you maneuver to the out-gate.

After the draft demo was done, I made a beeline to the building housing the photography, calligraphy, and fine art exhibits, the last 'State Fair must-see' left on my list. On my way, I caught a cool view of the FairLift:

At the exhibit hall I did think to take a "proof of visiting" photo of a painting with glorious use of 'golden hour' light; mostly I just inspected and admired.

After that, it was time for one last stroll through the small animal and livestock barns. I have a special fondness for dairy goats; I had a couple Saanen does in the past just as pets (plus one companion pygmy). If it were up to me, I'd probably have a milk goat....

The show over, one can settle into comfy 'jammies.'

Golden Guernsey

Oberhaslis

Toggenburg kids playing 'king of the straw'

And with that, I bid adieu to our wonderful State Fair for another year!

Now it's time to catch you up on the home front . . . when next I can find the time to put another post together.

Until then, from . . .

A red-letter Thursday

On the last day of August we got RAIN! Such bounty in summer is unusual for us, and oh, so welcome.

Nice of the rain to stop long enough for me to bathe Stella, haul to the fairgrounds and get everything unloaded Thursday afternoon. It rained again as we rode to the warm-up arena before our class, but that just added 'sparkles' to our outfit. The coordinator for Team Morgan took our photo before we went in the show ring (we all had the Morgan saddle cloths and neck ribbons to distinguish us):

There were only three breed teams this year (Morgans, mules, and Saddlebreds), so the show ring wasn't nearly as crowded as it was last year. Stella was much better, too, at times truly looking the part of the dressage representative on the team. I got to wear my recently refurbished shadbelly (now lined and pointed with blue to coordinate with my cravat and Stella's browband and saddle pad). Rick and Brian were there to watch (and confirm that Stella was much better), along with a friend and her family. Rick took photos and video with his phone, but what I've seen is blurry. Still, here is proof that Team Morgan won the Battle Between Breeds again!

We got a bit more rain yesterday before Rick and I  headed down to the Fair in the evening and after this rainbow. Lots of lightning visible throughout the evening, but it was all too distant for thunder. Again, quite unusual weather for us!

I'm going with Rick again tonight, so there will be one more post full of Fair photos to come. You've been warned. 😉