spring color – fenceline – pastures
joining Jan and Jer for Friday’s Fences
Tag: spring
solstice to solstice :: rise
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I’ll rise.
~ from Still I’ll Rise by Maya Angelou
response to week three of spring – rise
the solstice to solstice project with urban.prairie.forest
more responses in the flickr pool here
Spectacular
We can’t remember a spring where the trees have been so bright… so vivid… so spectacular. Perhaps the mild winter and spring have combined to produce this abundance of bloom in the trees. The path of sunlight during the day presents one breathtaking view after another. It’s as if our mountains are singing a song of spring!
Finally
We finally got the yearling ewes and two of the wethers, Moe and Larry, moved out of the barn pasture and into their new paddock… again. We gave up on Jack and he will stay with the bred ewes, probably through lambing.
It was a very exciting day. They played follow-the-leader with Davita. This very quickly evolved into a chase-the-cats-out-of-the-pasture game. We are assuming that the yearling ewes won as Davita and Muffy ended up on fence posts.
They discovered the goat tree, just as any animal we put in this pasture seems to do. Sheep, goat or dog they all seem to love this little crab apple tree.
The rams discovered that they now have neighbors, and had to show off a little for next season’s ladies with a minor head-butting, neck-wrestling tussle. Not to be outdone, the yearlings had to do a little showing off of their own.
What was a very exciting day for the yearlings, finally ended with some peaceful grazing… yes… finally.
Happy Easter
The air is like a butterfly
With frail blue wings
The happy earth looks at the sky
And sings.
~ Joyce Kilmer
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
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!
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!
Out and About
After a quick decision to come home by the river road, and a climb over the guard rail, we found a pretty spot not already taken by fishermen. The river was not really high but was running fast and loud, providing some beautiful scenery and moments of peace. Just as I was taking some final shots of the river canyon, that peace was suddenly broken by the appearance of a helicopter from Camp Dawson. The decision to leave was hurried along a little, as I told myself that it was hovering nearby just to make sure that I didn’t fall down and break my crown as I climbed back up the steep bank. 😉
We thought we might as well continue our adventure and come up the back way… up Rowlesburg hill. Spring time is a great time to see the wildflowers emerging along the roadside, and as you can see from the picture below, without summer’s dense forest undergrowth, it is a great time to capture the true character of the road . It is no longer maintained by the state road so it is full of ruts and bumps, but you are definitely not bothered by a lot of traffic.
So it was not a problem to stop along the way and enjoy the wildflowers… the yellow coltsfoot is still blooming but fading. Bloodroot is now putting on the show with its delicate white flowers. Spring has definitely sprung… everything is blooming about three weeks earlier than usual.
