{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.

Headlines

More haymaking on Saturday and 762 more bales in the barn!

Sunday evening brought a good, soaking rain storm that lasted into Monday morning.  It was much needed, as growth in the pastures has been slow.  We are reminded once again that really, first and foremost, we are grass farmers.

Lena's 4-H market lambs have arrived.  Meet Katniss and Primrose!

Yesterday

422 bales of hay from the graveyard field yesterday!  It is the field where we run the lambs after weaning and winter the hoggets.  This was a very good yeild and much better than our first day of hay making. 

We're back at it today, as we've already got the old barn field down.  But first we're off to bring the ewes and lambs in from pasture for a health check and second round of CDT shots.  Maybe we better get a little breakfast first. ;)

If you haven't already, be sure to comment on Wednesday's post - it's a give-away!

Almost Summer

After weeks of seeing relatively few deer, mostly bucks and yearlings, they are back out in full force and new life seems to be everywhere. During the last week, our family has come upon a fawn hidden between fence rows, ran over one with the hay mower which miraculously was unhurt except for a very small cut on its leg, carried a very shaky newborn out of the road and up a bank and almost hit one while brush-hogging. When a mama deer tells her fawn to stay put... it stays put! We are so glad all these encounters had happy endings.

In other news, our haymaking season has begun.  Saturday was a beautiful day to get the first 215 bales in the barn.  The two frosts and snow we had in April really set the broad-leaved plants back and our yield was significantly lower than last year.  We're hoping for some good grass-growing summer weather and a thick second cutting.  We are so thankful for family that helped... from the mowing, tedding, raking, baling, stacking, unloading and more stacking...all the way down to the littles who cut up tomatoes and mushrooms for the meal that Mom and Lena had ready when the field work was finished.  We are blessed.

Feeding Time

The sound of the ranger with the daily hay delivery, brings sheep from the far corners of the field.  They are a  very pretty sight running to the hay; their long curly locks of wool flowing in the breeze.  (click to enlarge the pictures... all that beautiful wool.. it takes a shepherdess' breath away.)

[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.

Weaning Day

We weaned the lambs on Monday.  We did FAMACHA tests on all the lambs and ewes, and weighed all the lambs.  Only two lambs were somewhat pale but we gave all of them wormer because of the stress of weaning.  We only had to worm a couple of the ewes.  A great improvement over last year *knocks on wood*. 

As always, we had a lot of help... Erma insisted on coming in with the sheep and helped with inspection.

Spot and Muffy helped move watering troughs.

The ewes went out one door into a paddock and moving lane,

and the lambs went out another into the corral and then on to the graveyard field which hasn't been occupied since early spring.   The ewes were moved in the evening because another task awaited us.

After lunch we hit the field and made 586 bales of hay.  We are over 1,400 bales and not quite finished.  It has been a good year for hay.  We probably won't have to buy any this year if the 2nd cutting is as good as the 1st.

A very hot, long day but very productive... think we are still recuperating.

Getting Ready

Making hay...

skirting fleeces...

carding spinning batts...

and getting ready for The Merrimacs - join us Sunday to enjoy great music and good company!

Farm Geeks

Farm Geeks? 
You know that person
:: who stops to wonder at the display of ring pin fasteners everytime they go to the farmstore
:: thinks that zip ties, bungee cords and rachet tie downs were just about the best things ever invented
:: whose Boggs barn boots are among their most prized posessions
:: has at least one Joel Salatin book on their night stand
:: slows down to a crawl when they pass a field containing a baby farm animal

Then, of course, there is their unadulterated admiration of hay!  Is there anything quite as pretty as that interior layer of hay where the bale naturally falls open after the baler twine is cut?  To delight in the charm of the tidy rows of timothy and alfalfa... but oh, to behold the beauty of the perfectly preserved red clover on a cold winter morning... it can take your breath away. 

The expectant ewes share that appreciation of a good bale of hay.  They come running, stealing mouthfuls on the way to the feeder.  They are not very patient or polite this time of year -  pushing, shoving their way in, trying to make sure they get their fair share of the goodness - very much the pregnant ladies at the salad bar.  Samson stands guard, ready to re-establish order should things get too rowdy.

Beautiful... life-sustaining...and we haven't even mentioned the weight-lifting program they provide... maybe this post should be re-titled "Ode to the Square Bale"

Many thanks to Verde Farm for hosting the blog party - Farm Friend Friday #5 - you can visit them here.

Hayfield... Pasture

With the click and rattle of the bottom gate opening, our quiet roadside pasture suddenly turns into a very excited stampede of ewes and yearlings.  The word passes quickly and loudly from one to another, "Baaaaa... baaaa... the gate is open to the hayfield!"

The Old Barn

Great Aunt Nellie and Grandma Lena
family barn built 1900

We are so excited to have been working on our old family barn this summer. Terry has been doing some of the work, and we have also had the help of the crew from EcoStructures.   When we were growing up it was full of dairy cows and calves.  There was a tall silo, a grainary and a pigsty out back.  Right now we use it to house most of the hay that we have harvested for the long winter ahead.  Five generations of our family have made use of this sturdy shelter.  We hope that given a good dose of TLC a couple more will have at least the opportunity to build upon this legacy within its comforting walls.  We love this old barn full of friendly ghosts and fond memories.

One Thousand Two Hundred Sixy-Eight

First cutting of hay is almost done. Just a small field behind the old barn left to do. Our hay bale count is up to 1,268. All that June rain (over 9 inches) produced substantially more hay than last year. We also set-up some temporary fencing last summer and pastured the sheep through some of the hayfields. Looks like that will be a good practice to continue.

Many, many thanks to all the field hands, the barn crew and Mom and the girls that fed us at the end of each day!!

{this moment}

{this moment}

A Friday ritual.

A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week.

A simple, special, extraordinary moment.

A moment to pause, savor and remember.

(participating with the SouleMama blog)

One Thousand Two Hundred Twenty

Beauty in the Field

Hebe and her boys




Daisy and Noinin (noe-neen meaning daisy in Gaelic)