Living it up

(Meanwhile, back at the homeplace, Aslan and Peegee contemplate nature)

 I've been absent from this space so long, you might be justified in wondering if I've had a relapse or become incapacitated, when in fact, it has been just the opposite.  If there is anything this past year has taught me, it's that I want to seize opportunities when they present themselves. So, I've been living it up. Sometimes that means stepping outside my comfort zone, pushing on through some discomfort and extending myself beyond what I think I'm capable of at the moment. That's exactly what has been happening this past month and I believe I'm better for it. I've been participating in a workshop extravaganza! Three workshops in four weeks!

(Nicola demonstrates lay-out for eco-dyeing)

First, I took a two day eco-dyeing and felting workshop with fabulous Irish felter, Nicola Brown. Nicola is not just a wonderful teacher, but someone who is a friend and I'll seize any opportunity to spend some time with her. (Mike and I spent four days at Clasheen, her beautiful farm in Ireland, last September, on our way to Scotland, and hope to go back in the future.) The first day of the workshop was spent felting a vessel or purse and the second day was eco-dyeing our felted items along with silk scarves. Eco-dyeing is so much fun because you can never quite predict the results. Nicola encouraged us to bring different plants and leaves to press onto our felted items. I gathered leaves from our Catalpa tree, some sprigs of crown vetch growing on the roadside, ferns and rose leaves. We dipped the leaves in iron water before arranging them on our items, then rolled them into tight bundles and steamed them. The results were fantastic - all different, all equally beautiful.

(the "hinge" is the secret to the bust adjustment)

Next up was a trip to Nashville to Anna Maria Horner's new shop, Craft South, for a workshop on pattern fitting with Liesl Gibson. If you ever have the opportunity to take this workshop, do it! Don't even hesitate to sign up if you are at all interested in making garments that actually fit you correctly. I've complained here often enough so that most of you know, fitting has been my downfall in sewing endeavors. Now I know why and believe I have the knowledge to prevent my mistakes. (Ever heard of a full-bust adjustment?) Liesl also has some great classes on Creativebug that should keep me from forgetting everything I've learned. I can hardly wait to get back to my sewing machine (and I might have made a few fabric purchases in Anna Maria's beautiful shop). Oh, the fabric ... beautiful Liberty, Nani Iro, Cotton and Steel!  It was too much good stuff to resist.

(And here we are, proudly displaying our perfectly fitted muslins)

(a little detail on my muslin)

The workshop was filled with the usual mix of beginning to very experienced sewers. I would guess I fell somewhere in the middle and I tried not to be intimidated. I met some really nice women (Hi Karen!) and thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. One of the bonuses in spending time with a group of like-minded women is the generous sharing of information and sources. It was also a joy to spend time with Anna Maria, Liesl, and the young women who work for Anna Maria (Pierrette and Anna Michelle).

(here's a hint)

As soon as the Nashville workshop was over on Sunday afternoon, I loaded my car and drove straight to Sewanee, Tennessee. Until recently, I had never even heard of Shakerag. Cal Patch taught there last year and it was her blogging about it that got my attention. Here was an incredible workshop resource within 4 1/2 hours of home!  I'll save the details on my week-long natural dye workshop for next time and I promise it will appear in this space within the next week. (I promise!)

I have been overwhelmed with catch-up work since my return. Of course, Mike kept all the animals alive while I was gone, but this is an extremely busy time of year for him, so not much else was done. I spent all day Monday mowing. The garden has a glorious assortment of healthy weeds. (Have I mentioned how much I hate wild morning glories?) and I'm not at all sure I will ever catch up with the laundry and ironing, not to mention filing all those patient records. It is taking all the discipline I possess to stay away from the sewing machine and the dye room until I can bring some semblance of order to the rest of my responsibilities.

(Then there's Midgie, always looking for a little attention)

Checking in - finally!

*(Won't be long till shearing time-I'm trying to ignore the vegetable matter)

Apparently, I decided to take a break from blogging, though it was not a conscious decision, as such.  I've considered coming to this space at least once a day and then somehow never made it. It's not that I've been particularly busy, though life on the farm never seems to be really slow. I've been thinking a lot and that takes a fair amount of energy!

The holidays are behind me and right now, it seems that they barely happened. No more shortened work weeks for Mike and I can feel what is left of January and February stretching out before me.  At the moment I have a to-do list that needs to be accomplished before mid-March. It's a long list, to be sure, but there is plenty of motivation to get things done. I'm currently scheduled for knee surgery on March 16 and will be physically out of commission from my regular life for at least a few months (no driving for 6 weeks! Is that even possible?). I don't have an accurate picture of what those months will look like, except that there will be plenty of physical therapy.

I am one of those (among many thousands) who recently read a little book titled 'The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up'. (Ha-evidently, I'm not alone. Amazon is currently out-of-stock!) I'll admit to some skeptical eye-rolling while reading it, but something about it has lit a fire under me. I've been on a mission to clean out, sort, purge, donate, organize and dispose of an untold amount of stuff.  It started with the decision to move my dye room out of the studio and into a storage room in the barn.  I didn't feel free to make a mess with dyeing in the studio. I was afraid of spilling dye on the tile floors (for the record, I hate tile floors-they are deadly to glass bottles and my back). In order for the move to take place, I first had to empty the storage room. If I'd known how bad that would be, I might not have suggested it in the first place! Now that it's mostly done, I can say it was a good thing. I've been forced to sort through pictures, much ephemera from both mine and Mike's past lives, thousands of photos and stuff that should have been never put in there in the first place. I told friends before the holidays that what I truly wanted for Christmas was a dumpster! (That didn't happen.) Mike moved the big commercial stainless steel sink from the studio and installed it in the barn dye room.  I've repainted the walls, scrubbed the floor, brought in shelving, moved all my dye-stuffs, undyed yarn and brought in last year's fleeces (which are also on the list to be taken to the mill before March 16). As I told my friend, Diane, I can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear because it is, after all, a room in the barn and so I'm going to feel free to make many messes in it!

Another activity that has been occupying me is sewing. Just before the holidays, I bought a new Bernina and have taken a few classes at Q-Quilt First Kentucky. It's been fun to get back into sewing.  I haven't felt a great deal of confidence and the new machine has been slightly intimidating, but I'm starting to feel more comfortable with her and ready to get started making myself some clothes. I'm a terrible clothes shopper, hate going to the mall, never know what size to order on-line, so this seems like a totally reasonable pursuit!

*(Aslan is on the job!)

Animal-wise there is nothing new around the farm. Well, except for Mike declaring all-out-war on the starlings that are determined to nest in our barn and all the farm equipment. He's gone from boarding up every opening possible, to covering the tractors and bobcat with bird netting, trying to shoot them (they are much too clever) to now having a recording of starling distress calls and hawks screaming that plays 24/7 in the barn. I worried that the other animals would be as disturbed as I am by hearing it, but they seem to pay absolutely no attention to it. Even the chickens and peacock seem oblivious (though to be fair, chickens are often oblivious). I'll let you know how this plan plays out!

*(Carson loves napping in the studio bathroom sink)

 Instagram is my new best friend. I nearly always have my phone with me while I'm feeding and I take pictures all the time. They are not beautiful pictures, but do depict every day happenings here. It's a little dose of instant gratification to post something and see what other folks are up to in their daily lives. You can follow me by clicking on the link on the sidebar and see what the animals are doing nearly every day.

*(Carson is also on the job-when he's not napping!)

On the knitting front, I have a few things that I need to take photos of before I can post. Post-surgery should allow me plenty of knitting time, so am thinking of something big I can work on start-to-finish, maybe an aran sweater. I've been enjoying keeping up with Karen Templer of Fringe Supply Co, working on the KAL for her Amanda sweater. Her sweater is gorgeous and is just the kind of sweater I know I would wear forever. Often, I have difficulty staying faithful to a big project, so we'll see how that unfolds.

So, that's a bit of a catch-up.You see, you haven't missed much by my not being here for a while! I'll try to make things a little more interesting before I'm back here again.

*Just in cast you were wondering, none of these photos have anything to do with this post.  I just thought you all might like to see a few of the usual suspects. 

Biding our time

Jim Dandy is wearing his spring finery

Oh boy, has this ever been a winter.  Just two days ago the temperature here at the farm was 73 and this morning it was around 15. Back and forth, back and forth.  Just when we start to believe that spring is really going to happen this year, we get jerked back to reality.  That one day of warmth was so encouraging. I wanted to be outside all day, digging in the garden, setting up the lambing pens, straightening up the barn.  Of course, I did none of those things.  My right hand is still wearing a brace and I had to be at physical therapy for my neck at noon. :-(  To say that I'm not happy with the situation would be a huge understatement!  I've always been a person who believed I could just push on through, but that philosophy is not really working for me at the moment and patience is not one of my strong points either, so these last two and a half months have been physically and mentally challenging.  I'm clinging to the hope that warmer weather will bring some relief and then I can get back to normal (normal for me, which I realize is quite abnormal by most standards).

Luna most definitely needs a haircut!

I've had the call from the sheep shearers and they''ll be here in within a week.  I'm excited to see what the girls fleeces look like.  It's a whole year of work for them and me, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they are as nice as they usually are.  Having all that fleece off should reveal the status of pregnancies, too.  Assuming both boys got the job done this year, Gabbie should go first, as she was the first one I put in with the Wensleydale ram and I actually saw him breed her.  Her udder looks as though she'll give us the first lambs in about two weeks.

Aslan will not be getting his summer "do" just yet

I have hopes of getting the lamb-cam back on-line sometime around the first of next week.  Then everyone will have a chance to see the girls, first in full fleece and then shorn with only an inch or so of wool.  It's amazing how much more room there seems to be inside the pens, once all that fleece is gone.  We'll do some rearranging of pens, so that the pregnant ewes can be seen on camera and, if you're lucky, you may even get to witness a birthing!  No matter how many years I've gone through lambing season, I'm always excited and a little anxious until all the babies are on the ground.

While you're waiting for the lamb-cam to come online, check out the workshops we have scheduled for the Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Festival this year.  They are really, really good, if I do say so myself.  We've got some big names that you might expect to travel quite a distance to learn from and some very popular Kentucky folks offering a wide array of classes.  Don't wait too long to sign up.  We've already had a good response and you don't want to miss out on the fun.

Happy Day!

 

Yesterday was a really happy day for those of us here in central Kentucky.  We finally saw the sun and the temperature got up to around 60 degrees.  To celebrate, I wore my recently finished happy socks (Kroy sock yarn in Sporty Stripes) and my favorite clogs!

The sheep celebrated in their own way.  Instead of huddling in the barn all day, they went up on the hill and snoozed in the warm sun, most likely dreaming of green grass.  Aslan was on guard duty, as usual, but might have been sleeping on the job just a little  :-)

Buddy always assumes the "large and in charge" position.  You'd think that he and Mr. Bates might pal up, since they are the only males in the group (they're both wethers, otherwise they wouldn't be in with the girls at this time of year), but they pretty much ignore each other.

So, besides a little sunshine and mild temperatures, why is this a happy day?  Because today I'm going to make one of you happy.  Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway for Katie Startzman's "Knitted Slipper Book" and two skeins of Cascade 220 to get you started.  It was fun to read all your comments and I especially want to thank Susan Anderson for sending so many of you over this way (and aren't Mary, Millie and Morgan the cutest knitted dolls ever? I'm in love with their clothes!).  Susan is the most kind, gracious and encouraging person I think I've ever met.  She's so generous about sharing information and talent.  She's a gift to the knitting community, for sure.  I'm honored to be considered her friend.

Anyway ...... on to the news you're waiting for!  After going through and eliminating any accidental duplicates, the random number generator picked number 84.  That would be Kathy (aka woolyeyes on Ravelry).  I've sent a message to notify her that's she's the winner and if I don't hear from her within 24 hours, I'll go back to random.org and pick another number. Those of you who didn't win, go on and buy the book!  I promise you won't be disappointed.  If you end up knitting a project from the book, please let us see it.  Send me a message and we'll get your picture up for all to admire.  

Thanks again to all of you for coming here to comment.  We'd love to have you as regular visitors here at Sheep Dreams.  Pretty soon we'll have actual green grass and some new babies.  The lamb-cam will start up in a matter of weeks and you can watch the big girls waddle around til their turn comes to give birth (and sometimes it happens that you get to actually see the birth as it happens!).  Once they start arriving you can enjoy watching the lambs romping around in the barn at all hours of the day and night.  Lambing is best time of year here at Tanglewood Farm and makes all the hard work worth it. 

Rowdy

Today is glorious here in central Kentucky!  Fall is coming and that makes me so, so happy!

(The Rowdy boy - 2014 lambs depend on him!)

Our regular shearers, the Haudenschield's have not had the occasion to come to the farm for summer shearing because we didn't have any lambs born this year, but we bought a new breeding ram candidate from Robin Nistock in upstate New York and I wanted him shorn so he'd stay cooler and thus eat better and grow faster.  He needs to be a little bigger in order to get the job done this fall.  I'm just a tad bit worried about the situation because of Mr. Bates failure to produce, but since I've used ram lambs many, many times in the past, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we'll have babies next spring.  His breeding is Border Leicester/Cotswold and he has a gorgeous fleece that I'm hoping will cross nicely with my half Wensleydale girls.  I'm inclined to name the new boy Rowdy.  He's quite full of himself at the moment.  He's being chaperoned by poor old Buddy, who gets stuck with the babysitting duties for anyone new to the farm.  Strawberry and Pippi are tolerating Rowdy and trying to teach him some manners. (He's been a little slow to figure out that they do not share their food!)  Anyway, lucky for me, Mark, our very-first-ever-summer-farm-help, is an experienced shepherd and was able to shear him, so he's been cool and comfortable (if somewhat dirty!).

(Strawberry prefers to supervise from under a shade tree.)

More than a month ago, I noticed that Aslan was getting a hot spot on his neck and once we got into cleaning it up, we decided to clip him down all over.  I've heard lots of conflicting ideas about whether it is good or bad to clip Pyrenees in the summer, but decided that his comfort was more important than anything else ..... and, he's definitely more comfortable.  He's been acting like a puppy and is so much more active and happy acting.  His coat is growing back in nicely and because he always has shelter available, I think he'll be just fine.

(Aslan is not easy to get a picture of because if he sees me, he likes to come stand beside me and lean on me!)

Changes

(Aslan was still watching after his girls, even though they were on the "wrong" side of the fence)

The weekend brought some changes for the usual inhabitants of the barn.  Nearly since they were born, my "little" girls have had access to the barn at night.  First at their mother's sides and then, after weaning,  as part of their own girl gang.  I do this because I like to keep a close watch on them and observe their personalities and how they are growing out.  I enjoy having close interaction with them several times a day, so they know me and that I'm here to take care of them.  The time has come for them to be big girls and be assimilated into the main ewe flock.  I've been procrastinating, but now that we are getting closer to lambing time, I needed to simplify the routine and open up a space in the barn for the pregnant ewes.  So, the little girls have moved to what we call the driveway lot, which is a small field that contains the road that leads to be back 100 plus acres of the farm.  They will probably stay there for a week or so, then move into the field with the adult ewes.  So far, they don't seem to be giving this plan their approval.  There's been a lot of hanging out right by the gate and my appearance starts up a chorus of baas.  Of course, the real unhappiness set in when they didn't get to come inside that first night.  I told Mike that "the Little Princesses" were out there thinking something had gone terribly wrong.

(Aslan is just a little conflicted here)

The first few days I put them in an adjoining pasture and brought the pregnant ewes into Aslan's field.  It's his job to guard the groups that are in the pastures connected to the barn and he's done a great job watching over the girls from the time they were born until now.  Before he came to live with us, Aslan started his sheep guarding life behind electric fences, which we don't have.  Holly comes in and out of the pastures (squeezing herself through the upper section of the gates).  It has not seemed to occur to Aslan that he could actually leave the field he's in, if he chose to do so and that is a good thing.  He was a little confused when his girls got moved away, but seems to have settled in with the six ewes that are supposed to lamb starting in about 4 weeks.

We took advantage of the crazy mild weather we're having and broke down all the sheep pen panels and Mike used his Bobcat to completely strip out all the old bedding.  We'll be getting several loads of gravel delivered and it will be spread to create a lovely, clean barn floor.   Of course, I'll immediately put down fresh straw, build a pen for the pregnant ewes and the process will begin all over again.  This yearly cycle is one of the things I love most about raising sheep.  It changes a bit from month to month.  I'm already excited about the birth of new lambs.  I promised Mike I would only breed a few this year and I've kept my word.  (It's so hard for me to let them go, it's better if I don't have 50+ lambs born!) 

This weather ...... is ridiculous!  It was 73 degrees when I finished barn chores this evening.  I've got daffodils blooming and I actually heard a few peepers at the pond as I walked to the house.  We're under a severe weather watch tonight and tomorrow because there is a big cold front headed our way and it's predicted to be 15 degrees on Thursday.

My apologies for being absent from here so much lately.  I'm still dealing with the rotator cuff injury and getting comfortable enough to sleep has been elusive.  I'm going to town for physical therapy several days a week, which I don't like doing because it wrecks my whole day.  I'll admit I'm struggling a bit with my resolve to be a more positive person this year.  (Now that I've written that I realize I need to buck up and try harder.)  So, I guess there's my reminder.  I'll try harder!  I'll be back soon.

Grateful

This is a pretty good picture of what has been going on around here - in the barn,  in the fields and in the house, too.  (I have no explanation for why some of these girls are inclined to climb up on the hay feeders like that.  It's as though having it at face-level is just not enough.  They have to bury their face in it!)  Eating,  eating and more eating.  I'm thinking a fast or some kind of detox might be just the ticket until Christmas.  Of course,  who am I kidding?  That will never happen.

(We are nothing, if not enthusiastic about mealtime around here!)

I'm feeling guilty for not having written a beautiful, poetic post expressing how thankful I am.  It's not that I'm ungrateful.  Believe me,  I know how blessed I am to live the life I live.  It's a life I could only dream about as a child and one that certainly seemed an impossible dream.  My problem seems to be that I can't settle down to write that kind of post when I'm so busy actually living my dream life.  Do you know what I mean?  That's where I've been for the past week and a half.  There were so many well written expressions of thankfulness all over the blog-world and here - nothing!  A wonderful young woman I met at Squam last June (hi there, Laura-Lynn) has been writing daily posts of gratitude on Facebook and it has inspired me to make an effort each day to be thankful for some specific thing in my life.  How do you remind yourself to be grateful in the rush of living?

(Aslan giving me the stare-down while waiting for his food)

Some gratuitous lamb shots

The lambs are growing so quickly now.  Their play-times get more rambunctious and personalities begin to show.  No surprise, Gabby's two boys are very self-confident and seem to be the ring leaders for all kinds of trouble activity.  They're the first to jump on the hay bales and to try getting into the ewes feed bunks.  The famous Graham Lamb is their uncle (he and Grabby are twins), so I'm thinking there is something "special" in their genes. 

This pretty girl is one of only two single lambs we had born this spring.  We had four sets of triplets, two singles and the rest were all twins.  Out of twelve ewes, that makes for an over 200% lambing average.  That's a pretty good average since I'm not raising Finn sheep or some other breed that routinely have small litters.  One of my favorite things to do is go into the pen at night and just sit down and wait for the lambs to decide whether I'm a friend or foe.  I'm not sure how many more years I'll want (or be physically able) to keep having lambs.  It makes me sad to think of a spring-time with no bouncing lambs to watch.  The really hard part comes in a few months when I have to start deciding which lambs stay and which lambs go.

(another set of twins - boy with the tag in the left ear and girl with the tag in the right ear)

Holly always has a favorite ewe that she likes to hang out with.  I've never figured out how she chooses which one it will be, though it nearly always is one of the black sheep. One really good thing that I've observed this spring is that Aslan, who came to live here last fall, has been terrific with the lambs.  Though he's five years old, he'd never been on a farm where there were lambs being born and I wondered how he might react.  He's learned to slow down and hang back a little a feeding time, so that all the lambs come into the barn before him. 

The sheep are sleeping away most of the daylight hours because it is so dang hot!  Who ever heard of mid to upper 80's at the beginning of May?  Makes me worried about what kind of temperatures we will be having in July.  The sheep are already asking for the fans to be set up.  Those of you watching the lamb-cam might have noticed that I'm not shutting everyone in the barn at night.  I've been leaving the gate open to the outside, so they can go out where it is cooler.  They are in a very secure field and Aslan is in with them, so I'm not worried about predators.

Our last planning committee meeting for the Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Festival is this afternoon.  It seems nearly impossible that it's just a little over two weeks away now.  I've been in the dye pots for several weeks now and have finally finished dyeing all of the yarn from our sheep/alpaca blend yarn.  If you come (and I hope you do), please stop by my booth in the Livestock Pavilion and say hello.  We have a wonderful line-up of workshops and vendors, so there will be plenty of pretty things to buy and lots of interesting things to do.  I hope to meet many of you there.

In the air

No matter that the calendar still says February.  Spring is most definitely in the air here in central Kentucky.  It's not just a renegade daffodil here and there that's blooming.  There are a host of them up and glowing in the sunshine.  I just keep picking them and bringing them inside to enjoy because the worrier in me is afraid that one morning we'll wake up to all the accumulated winter weather we've missed this year.  Today the sun is shining,  the birds are singing and,  I swear,  the grass is starting to grow.  The best sign of all ?  I heard the peepers last night for the first time !

The bees are getting a treat today... leftover honey frames from last fall.

This stuff is the bane of my existence.  It's all over the garden beds.

It was a rough weekend around here.  Some varmint got into the chicken house and killed two big chickens and partially ate them.  Saturday night,  I set a Hava-heart trap inside the chicken house and left the chickens loose in the barn,  thinking they might have a better chance of escaping the murderer.  One of the banty hens made the mistake of settling into a hay feeder used for the lambing pens and got picked off.  I'm really mad now,  but am at a loss as to how to catch the thing.  I'm thinking it might be a mink or weasel because it seems to be much smarter than the average stray possum we've had to trap.   As if that wasn't enough,  my little Luna has been feeling poorly.  She's had an elevated temperature for several days now.  This morning,  I'm finally seeing some improvement from the antibiotics and Banamine.   In the meantime,   I've allowed her to do something I'm certain I'll regret later.  For a few days the only thing she was really enthusiastic about eating was Aslan's dry dog food and I let her clean up what he left in his bowl.   Aslan and Luna seem to have a special friendship.  If I don't fasten the gate to keep her out of the pen where he is fed,  he will step aside and let her have the whole bowl.  He doesn't let any of the other sheep get away with that.

Here's another sign that spring is in the air.  Poor Junior !  Remember that song from ' Urban Cowboy ' that goes ... " lookin' for love in all the wrong places " ?  ( Yes,  I do know how much I'm dating myself here,  but it is what it is. )  That's what I think of every time I see him showing off for the chickens.  Obviously,  they are not impressed.

Hey,  girls ..... look .. look ... look  at me !

Hey !  Where's everybody going ?

Morning

This time of year,  the routine is the same every morning and yet there is always something new.  

 

So many personalities ...... the possibilities are endless.

Maybelline

Isn't she pretty?  This is Maybelline and she is one of my little girls produced by Henry.  Belle,  her mom is one of my favorite ewes.  Belle is not the friendliest ewe in the flock,  but she's no ding-bat either.  She's friendly when she wants to be,  but otherwise doesn't have much to say.  She is a wonderful mother to her lambs and is calm and easy to work around,  all good traits in a ewe.  Belle has a beautiful silver fleece and she's passed on the character of her fleece to Maybelline.  Combined with genetics from Henry,  this little girl has got a fleece to love.  Maybelline is a triplet and I kept both of her siblings,  so that should tell you that Belle and Henry made a good match.  ( I sure wish Henry was still around,  so I could play matchmaker again. )

 

 

We are most likely in the last days of having color on the trees.  The weather is supposed to be much colder the next few days and in the 20's at night.  It will really start to look like winter,  once all the leaves are down.  I'm thinking about and planning for Thanksgiving this week.  I'm hoping to get a jump on some of the manic grocery shopping that takes place the week of Thanksgiving and be finished early next week.  I don't know about where you live,  but around here,  grocery shopping seems to be an olympic sport!  Unless you've been training hard,  you don't want to go to Kroger's during Thanksgiving week!

Up and at 'em

Things are better around here this week ... on several fronts.  I am on my feet and the crutches have retired to the garage attic once more.  I'm thrilled that I was able to get back up and running ( so to speak ) so soon.  This time last week,  I wouldn't have wanted to put any money on how long it would take me to resume my regularly scheduled program.  Any other time,  I might have taken advantage of an excuse to stay couch-bound ( with knitting time ) as long as possible,  but the wedding to-do list waits for no one!

Remember her?  It's little Olive!

Best of all,  we have had rain.  Beautiful,  slow,  all day rains.  The grass is green again after being given up for dead.  All humans and animals are much happier,  even if it does mean I'm back on the mower.  The only down-side to the rain is that the greenhouse construction is not finished.  The builder still says it will be done before the wedding.  I have my doubts,  but at this point,  I'm not going to stress about it.

Holly standing - Aslan reclining

So,  how about a Holly and Aslan report?  They are best buds.  Holly goes in to Aslan's field once or twice a day to visit,  maybe have a little romp,  and then back to her group of ewes,  who are still in the "outfield".   Aslan is still with the little girl lambs,  plus Strawberry and Pippi,  and is doing great.  His first day here,  he barked at the llamas because he'd never seen anything like them before,  but once he was in the field with them,  he accepted that they were a normal part of his new world.  Great Pyrenees are sometimes a little weird about their routines and surroundings,  but Aslan has adapted very,  very well.  Our dear,  sweet Holly is probably the weirdest LGD  ( Livestock Guardian Dog ) I have ever owned and having Aslan here has made it even more obvious.   That's okay.  We love her anyway!