Tag: summer

Sunday Muse

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Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean—
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down—
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

The Summer Day by Mary Oliver 

Berry Time

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It’s berry time!  The first of the berries and one of our favorites, the blueberries, are loaded with goodness this year.  There is a great contest to beat the birds as they ripen and the constant stormy weather leaves small windows of opportunity to pick without getting soaked.  But we are determined.  Summer and blueberries – bring on the pie!

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Rotating Pastures

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The summer, thus far, has been a very stormy one.  Within a few hours we seem to go from blazing hot sun to severe thunder storms and back to the hot sunshine.  We moved the ewes and lambs into the knoll pasture last week, and they spend a lot of time under the shade trees.  They venture back out to eat after a storm rolls through, but head back to the shade as the sun quickly heats things back up.  We are very grateful for the rain, but we really need are really excited to get back to the hayfield.
Check back tomorrow when we will start another giveaway!
 

Meanwhile

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 Meanwhile, new life is springing up everywhere around the farm.  In the barn, the mama and papa barnswallow have raised a brood of fine looking fledgings.  After a couple weeks of dive bombing the barncats, they’ve left flown out on their own, sometimes returning to roost at night near the nest. 
The turkeys are making their way through the pasture, cleaning up bits of corn and oats, parading through morning and evening, sometimes with little ones trailing. 
Then, there are the twin fawns born in the pine grove paddock.  What a smart mama to have her wee ones in such a protected area.  Everyone is enjoying catching a glimpse of them now and then.

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In the Pasture

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The pasture is a very busy place this time of year.  The ewes are hard at work raising their growing lambs.  We’ve been lucky the past couple weeks that although the sun has been hot, their has been a lot of rain.  The pasture grass has been growing at a pace that it’s keeping ahead of the flock.  Another pasture rotation is in the works, and the ewes and their lambs are moving into the knoll paddock.
Although the rain has been a real blessing for the pasture and the cisterns, it has prevented us from getting any more hay in the barn.  We’ll just keep watching for a three day break in the storms.
Don’t forget to comment on yesterday’s post for an opportunity to win a 2014 Sheeps and Peeps Farm Calendar!