The Rain got out of Rhythm

I guess it is my fault that it hasn't rained in awhile--probably since my blog about how the rain was in sinc with my needs and plans. So today, John made a new stand for a 2nd rain barrel and I installed it. Now I have two rain barrels and no rain to fill them.

Guess I will drag the hose up but I never know how much water to put in because I don't know when the next rain will come and I don't want them to overflow. The one I have had for awhile isn't too much of a problem if it overflows but the new one is by the corner where the rain goes in and gets the barn wet.

I am hoping this new set up will help with that issue and I decided to use sand bags to divert water coming down the slope to the barn. I talked to the lady at the place that sells stone and sand and she is out of sand bags but is getting more. She said I should come there and fill the bags and put them on the truck instead of shoveling twice. Sounds good to me.

It has been so hot several days in the past couple of weeks. Too hot to shovel sand into sand bags and too hot to work in the barnyard except in the morning and evening. I was going to say, at least it cools down every night, but I don't think I will.

Chicken Troubles

AnotHEr white chicken is missing but this time there were some feathers. It is unsettling not to KNOW WHO CAME AFTER HER> FROM THE FEATHERS IT LOOKS LIKE SHE WENT THROUGH THE FENCE TWICE - once on the west side of the pasture behind the garage/barn and once on the south side. The most feathers were inside the south side fence. No feathers outside the fence really (maybe a couple). What does this mean?

After studying the crime site carfullY, it appears to me that something chased her outside to inside on the west fence and then caught up to her again at the south fence. It seems something either went through the FEnce (6 inch square) or over the fence, or swooped down from above. Not many feathers and no trail leaving the little pasture-- I am thinking hawk.

It is very sad as she was a sweet chicken. Now we are down to 3 chickens all brown. I ran into the guy that put me in touch with the guy who took the rooster. He said the guy really likes the rooster and gave him a few henS OF HIS OWN AND NOW THE ROOSTEr is very happy as well.

Maybe time to get a couple more chickens. Make a note* don't get white ones.

Reading with the Sheep..... and Beau

When I go out with the sheep and Beau, I am reminded of the book The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. Santiago was a real shepherd, not a one hour or two a day shepherd, yet I still identify with him.

When I read with the sheep, I think of Santiago reading with his sheep. He would travel from village to village and when he would finish one book he would trade it in for another. One of the passages I remember for some reason was about how he would pick thick books to read-- not because he had so much time but because he used his book for a pillow and thicker books were more comfortable.

In the morning when they go out, I take the time to clean the barn, fill the water buckets, pick up around the barnyard and such but in the evenings I take my book to read. The other-side-of the-fencers have decided that they don't need to do that so much anymore and the animals have fallen in to a routine so I don't have to keep a real close eye. Besides Beau is there.

Reading is something I really enjoy but I feel guilty reading when there is so much to do so I usually limit my reading to late at night before going to bed or when I am out with the sheep.

Lately, it has been really warm so it is sometimes after 7 in the evening that we go out. It is such a peaceful time -- one of my favorite times with the sheep.

And then we come back to the barnyard and I get to go back to a comfortable home with a bed and a real pillow. I am not a real shepherd.

confession: These pictures were taken on a morning outing but the routine is the same.

Bye Bye Dreads

Karen got new bunnies so in order to try and keep up with her we got a giraffe. Yesterday, Beau got a hair cut and we decided it was time to say goodbye to the dreadlocks too.

It was in the 90's yesterday, the warmest day this year, and I didn't realize how hot it was and how intense the sun was and I got over heated. I went in to cool off, rest, chew on a lime, and recover. John offered to greet Jonathan when he came to shear Beau and help him set up. I slept. The boys did a fine job without me. When they were done, John told me Beau looked like a giraffe-- he kind of does but he looks very cool.

I am glad all the hair came off before the heat. Now Beau can stay cool and I won't have to have him chew on a lime though he might not mind-- he likes pickles and peas.

The Rhythm of the Rain

A year ago (almost to the day), I was blogging "Enough Rain Already". This year we have had plenty of rain for sure, but it has had a different rhythm. We had 2 weeks with maybe one day that it did not rain, then a couple of dry days, and now rain again but there aren't rivers in the barn and I don't sink 3 inches in muck in the barnyard.

Each day it seems to rain at a different time. Some nights we are awakened by the sound of rain and wind and then it dries in the morning. Some days it is overcast all day and then we have a late afternoon rain. Some mornings it rains out of the blue and when I start replaning the day the rain stops and the skies clear.

We haven't had to think about watering the gardens. It seems to dry out a bit when I need to work in the soil. Yes, it seems there is a rhythm to the rain. I think I shall suggest to James that he write an ode to the rhythm of this spring's rain. It would be a nice compliment to the piece he wrote about the Hawk.

I do have to mention that another reason all the rain has not bothered me so much is that the new improvements to the barnyard have helped greatly; the drainage system Adam and I put in and the wood chips I put down in front of the barn where there used to be animal bedding raked from the barn that turned to muck. I think I should get some more Boxerwood wood chips. That reminds me that yet another reason that the rain is fine with me is that every day this spring when I have worked at Boxerwood or done a river trip the rain has held off until the last 15 minutes of the session or rained very briefly or rained in the early morning and then stopped.

The local farmers finally got a 2 day window to get the hay up even if they had to work at night (yes, tractors have headlights).

I know this rhythm has not been shared by many other areas of the country. I don't remember ever having so many areas of flooding in one year-- the Midwest, the Mississippi delta, and I heard today that Lake Champlain is 2 and a half feet above flood level and Montpelier and Barre VT have rivers running through them.

Hopefully, other areas will soon start to get a rhythm to their rain.

It Was Suppose to be Easy

Today was the day to finish up hooves and do the second round on tetanus shots for the lambs. I called Karen because we just haven't seen each other in awhile and I thought it would be easy.

It seemed like everything went wrong, though. We had all but a couple in the barn just as planned but then when we went to close the door several escaped. I think we ended up with a bunch of ewes that did not need anything done, no Annie, and one lamb. We gave that one a shot and then had to round up some more. We got a few more lambs in but when I went to pinch the skin to put the needle under it but it went out the other side into me baby finger which started gushing blood. I went out and found a plantain leaf to wrap it and proceeded on. After that all the lambs got wound up and we were chasing and wrestling. The lambs were so squirmy and I volunteered to hold one and let Karen trim hooves. She cut her hand with the hoof trimmer and went to find a plantain leaf. She went back to holding and one of the lambs scraped her leg good trying to get away. Kids and shots. Seemed like it was much easier the first time around before they knew what was coming. Trimming Annie's hooves seemed simple compared to catching and treating the lambs.

In the end we were tired, bloody, filthy and gouged. It was suppose to be easy.

It was very warm today but this evening wasn't so bad so John and I let the animals go down to the lower pasture when we came home from dinner at the fire house. We sat by the gate and watched them graze. It was so peaceful and everyone returned on cue when it was time to go back.

Last evening they returned but Beau was taking his time so I had the sheep in the little pasture and had the gate between closed. I forgot to put the bungee on the big red gate and they got together and pushed it open and went up by the house and ate leaves off the fruit trees.

That took a while to sort out. Many a gate had to be opened and closed.

Some things are easy but others just seem to unravel. I hope Karen will come back.

To Eat or Not to Eat

Last night we laid in bed watching lighting flashes and listening to thunder, first from afar and then it rumbled in. Strong wind blew rain sideways at the wall behind our heads.

We were watching the Red Sox and Cubs with Boston leading in the 8th inning when we lost satellite connection. We never heard any especially close cracks but thought the animals had probably headed to the barn to seek protection. They love the rain, as I have said before, but don't like thunder storms.

I was surprised, when I went down to the barn this morning, to see a sizable piece of the big wild cherry tree had fallen on Beau's stanchion just outside the barn. It came off from the top of the tree but I don't know if it was a lightning strike or a weak spot in heavy wind. None of the animals were hurt from the limb falling but I knew I needed to remove it quickly as wild cherry is poisonous to sheep in its wilted stage and I could see some of the leaves had already been eaten by someone/s. John took a chain saw to it and we removed it promptly.

What if we had not been here. Make a note: when we leave for more than a day and someone is watching the sheep they need to know that if a storm falls any tree limbs- wilted cherry is poisonous to sheep. I don't know about Beau.

Generally, animals know what they should eat or not eat regarding herbaceous plants but I don't know about woody plants because they eat the leaves of poisonous trees when they are fresh and I don't know if they know about the wilt factor. I do know many a sheep have died from eating wilted cherry. (hydrocyanic acid)

Wild cherry are everywhere so it is difficult to get rid of them all. When sheep have their choice of abundant plant material they only eat the good stuff but they love to browse on tender leaves and most in the main pasture within reach have been consumed so if a big limb suddenly becomes available it is tempting.

I took Beau and the girls down to the lower pasture this morning where there are plenty of safe leaves. I haven't seen any ill effects today.

Red Sox 5 Cubs 1 , sun came out, -- all seems good.