The air is like a butterfly
With frail blue wings
The happy earth looks at the sky
And sings.
~ Joyce Kilmer
Happy Easter
{this moment}
A Friday ritual.
A single photo – no words – capturing a single moment from the week
A simple, special extraordinary moment.
A moment to pause, savor and remember.
Participating with the SouleMama blog.
solstice to solstice :: color
‘Everything is blooming most recklessly; if it were voices instead of colors,
there would be an unbelievable shreiking into the heart of the night.’
~ from Letters of Rainer Maria Rilke
response to spring week two of the solstice to solstice project
with urban.prairie.forest.
check out all the wonderful contributions in the flickr pool
solstice to solstice :: new
Earth is dry to the center,
But spring, a new comer,
A spring rich and strange,
Shall make the winds blow
Round and round,
Through and through,
Here and here,
Till the air
And the ground
Shall be filled with life anew.
~ from Nothing Will Die by Alfred Lord Tennyson
Mayhem
Mayhem ~ a collective noun, at least around here. It seems to be a name given to the yearlings each spring. Here you see them – calm, relaxed, enjoying the post-shearing sunshine. But this is not the paddock they are supposed to be in. This picture is post-mayhem.
In the hours preceding this, the yearlings, their watering trough, and mineral feeders have been moved, Moe, Larry and Jack (the three very large wethers) have been re-caught and moved, fences have torn down and re-built – twice. This at the end of a long shearing day… we gave up. They are in the barn paddock with the expectant mamas, and there they will stay until we get our plan in place to out-smart them. The worst of it is — they brought the wethers back with them… sigh.
Right here, that girl looking us right in the eye is Grace… the ring-leader. Just look at that innocent face.
Shearing Day
Thank you so much for all the good luck wishes for shearing day. Everything went very well except for Larry, one very large six-year old wether (above), who behaved badly. He finally calmed down, and that heavy year-long coat came off. Many, many thanks to our shearers, Joe and Melvin, and to all the family and friends who pitched in to help! We have 42 bags of beautiful wool just waiting for a turn on the skirting table. You should have heard the oooohs and aaaahs as the wool came off each sheep.
We thought you might enjoy a couple before and after photos. Daisy is pictured above and Juliet below. It will take us about a week before we begin to recognize the sheep in the field again. They look very different without those heavy winter coats. It is now so much easier to gauge the condition of each sheep as we go into lambing… just a couple of weeks now.
Shearing Today
We’re heading to the barn to finish shearing preparations… always a very exciting day! It’s a good thing we got everyone into the barn early yesterday because we were hit with several severe thunderstorms and heavy rain late afternoon and through the night. You just can’t shear wet sheep so we were lucky. Family and friends are coming to help and Rebecca is coming to look at some yearlings. Our shearers, Joe and Melvin, will be here at 9:00, so off to eat some breakfast and then to the barn!
{this moment}
A Friday ritual.
A single photo – no words – capturing a single moment from the week
A simple, special extraordinary moment.
A moment to pause, savor and remember.
Participating with the SouleMama blog.
Getting Ready for Shearing
We are busy getting ready for shearing on Saturday. The cooler weather has been a great relief to everyone, but the sheep will be quite happy to shed their heavy coats. In the meantime, we thought you might find this story interesting. Our Mom ran across this while doing some research for the church; reading old newspapers on microfiche at the Terra Alta Library.
Warning! It is not for the faint of heart…
Queer Accident
Dr. Potter Nearly Loses His Life Shearing Sheep.
On Monday while Dr. W. R. Potter, who resides on the old homestead, a mile from Kingwood, was shearing a sheep, the animal suddenly kicked, struck the shears, and knocked them out of the Doctor’s hands. They went over his head, struck a beam above, and the Doctor dodged them with his head, they came down and the blade entered the calf of his leg, and made a deep and horrible gash, severing an artery and a vein. The Doctor held on the the struggling sheep, unaware of the seriousness of his hurt; but presently, feeling his boot full of blood, he had it pulled off, and tried to stop the flow. Feeling himself weak, he sent the little boy who was with him to the house for help. His sisters came, but before they could get the blood stopped, Dr. Potter bled at least a gallon. He was removed to the house, and before surgical aid could be gotten, he had a spasm and became flighty. The Doctor came near bleeding to death, and it was some time before reaction set in. He is now getting along as well as could be expected.
~ from an 1888 Preston County newspaper (perhaps the Kingwood Chronicle?)
In other news, on that same page…
Wanted at I. Armstrong & Co.’s, Bruceton, W. Va. – 100,000 Lbs. Wool.
(presumably for the woolen mill that was located there)
Alright… after all that excitement… we will now return to our regularly scheduled programming…
pretty sheep pictures.
Good Company
Had some wonderful and very excited company on the quest to capture photographic proof that the pasture pear trees are already blooming.
Belladonna, our not quite two year old Maremma guardian, was quite the enthusiastic and entertaining partner.
You can see who took center stage… two pictures of the pear blossoms… probably thirty of Bella.
She sure is a beauty!
