Another Very Enjoyable Day

My friend who came to spin yesterday, went with me to demonstrate spinning at a County Fair in the county south of us.  It rained hard down there this morning before we got there, so things were pretty soggy.    It was a one day small county fair but until last year, the fair organizer told me, they think they hadn't had a county fair in probably 50 years.   So all things considered, I think it was pretty successful.

We were set up next to 2 pigs who were having a splendid time in the rain and mud.  Beyond that were the dairy goats that you could milk or feed.  4H ers and Future Farmers were showing their animals which I think was the main focus of the fair.  Fortunately, there were no rides so everyone was checking out the animals. One day is not enough time to set up rides.

With all the rain and wetness, there weren't too many fair goers in the afternoon but those who did come by were very interested in our spinning.  Some people stayed for quite awhile and my young friend taught at least 3 people how to spin.  I think we both enjoyed "being a part of the change you want to see in the world"…something like that is the bumper sticker you see around.  People need to remember why wool is so important, as much as they need to remember the value of real whole foods over imitation stuff and processed stuff (right Gail?)  What's cool is that people do listen and seem genuinely interested.

What surprises me, is two age and gender groups that seem particularly interested.
In the last five years, doing what I have been doing, I have found that boys between 8 and 12 and men in their mid thirties to mid fifties are fascinated with the whole wool process.

John and I both returned from our different adventures around 5 P.M. and later mentioned that the first thing we did on arriving home was to see where Sal was.  She was standing next to Cyrrus on the inside of the fence, which is great, since the first thing this morning she flew over the fence around their run.  It looks like she followed my instructions not to fly out of the barnyard but maybe she had an enjoyable day flying back and forth and all around.

Goose on the Loose

A friend came over to spin today and as she and her mom and I were talking I heard some squawking and saw a Big blur.  We went to investigate and found Sal walking along the driveway.  She followed me right back to her run and I's mom was quite impressed.  I don't know if Sal really knew what happened. I think she was just flapping around with Cirrus and accidentally went over both fences in one swoop.

When I told John about it, I told him I felt like I just handed over some car keys to a teenager.  Oh Boy. I knew it was coming but I am not ready yet.  Are we ever?  I have decided not to clip wings. The feathers grow back necessitating repeated clipping and when I checked out how to do it, I read that it is a 3 person job and if you are not SUPER careful you can cut the goose and they can bleed to death.

I guess I just have to do all I can do, pray a lot, and have faith.

I still haven't let the geese go in the barn with the sheep resting.  That is the last stage before letting the geese be out all day.  I wish the geese would get over all the teething stuff.  That is what it seems like; everything goes in their mouths.   I was sitting in the barnyard during happy(?) hour, talking to my friend Betty on the phone.  Cirrus came over and chewed on my pants and gnawed on the plastic chair most of the time we were talking.  When one of the sheep wandered near, he would go and harass whoever and then come back and chew on me again.

Tomorrow, I am going to be away most of the day and John will be as well.  I hope Sal doesn't fly the coop then or she will be out alone and distant from the rest of the animals who will be in their run or in the barn resting.  Cirrus, is a little heavier and hasn't taken flight yet.  Maybe, if Sal does fly, she will just go over the run fence and still be in the barnyard where she can go and harass the sheep in the barn.

My friend who was spinning with me today asked if I could put a collar on Sal and do an invisible fence or something like that.  I will have to put my inventor friends to work on that one; electric air space.

Wrong Side of the Fence

Fences are a farmer's best friend and obstacle to get beyond at the same time.  Farm animals are constantly on the wrong side of the fence.  Take yesterday for example.

I have been letting the geese out of their confined area when I can watch them.  The sheep and the geese are not easy going like the sheep and the chickens.  The geese peck at the sheep, which the sheep seem to enjoy up to a point.  But then Cirrus and Sal both gang up on one sheep and peck their ears, nose, legs, and tails all the while squawking loudly.  So I like to arrange get togethers in the morning as the sheep are coming back from the pasture and in the evening when they are getting ready to go out.  Visits in the barn when the sheep want to lay low are not good times.

 Yesterday, I wanted the geese to go out further toward the pasture in the morning but Cirrus wanted to take his morning swim.  If I go out with Sal, Cirrus gets out of the tub and goes to the closest point to us as he can, but inside the fence.  He doesn't know how to go around.  So then I took Sal back to the gate to have Cirrus follow us but this time she goes in the gate and wants to take a swim, so I closed the gate with both inside.  When I went out to where the sheep were, Cirrus and Sal came as close as they could but still on the wrong side of the fence.  Later in the day, I let the geese out and they came down by the barnyard gate where the sheep were.  Charlotte, decided to go into the geese area and see what they had to eat.  I am trying to let the geese know that the sheep are above them in the barnyard hierarchy  and I am the queen so I wanted to give the sheep a treat before I fed the geese and put them in for the night.  Charlotte was on the wrong side of the fence so I had to lead the sheep up to the geese gate so Charlotte would join us.  First though, I had to lead the geese to their pen and close the door (without feeding them) so I could get Charlotte outside the run fence to eat first.  Maybe, I should have let all the sheep in the run area and fed them just outside the pen.

Many would say, I worry too much and I should just let them work it out.  I am, but with supervision.  At first I was standing between them refereeing, now I stand with the sheep trying to get the geese to be nice.  The sheep do head butt the geese but the geese keep coming back for more squawking louder.

I want them to all be on one side of the fence, the right side, together.  I hope that day comes soon.

Garden Dream

The night I blogged about "why do I plant a veggie garden?", I dreamt I was leading a garden group (kids and adults).  It was the 1st day and I was expecting an intimate group of 9 and found myself before 15-20 students.  We did all the exercises about "What is a Garden?" like,
    close your eyes and think about a garden-- what do you see?
    notice as you walk along what vegetation combinations please you.
    get down on the ground and look at an 8"X10" plot-- what does it look like?

What I remember most about the dream, was how excited I was to introduce these people to gardening.

Once, when I was doing a holodynamic tracking, I was tracking - why I had a disconnect with my veggie garden in MA.  Turns out it was about not being grounded.  Hanging out with the animals and spinning wool are two activities that help me get grounded these days.

I think EVERYONE should have a garden or gardens.  I recently overheard a young boy proudly telling some people about his garden.  His favorite crop was his pumpkins and they were already, by his hand gesture, bigger than a basketball.  It was only the end of June, but it turned out he was talking about the leaves.  Anyway, he was very excited about his garden.

I have thought about making gardens for the sheep.  I started a hedgerow, but they ate most of it.  I realize that is what gardens are for but they need to be sustaining too.  That was back when I was using fences the sheep did not respect.  I guess I should try again with different fencing or protection.

Cooler weather is coming soon,  I should make a plan or have a dream about sheep gardens and explore what kind of gardens I should have.

If Life Gives You Cucumbers.....

"When Life Gives you Lemons, Make Lemonade" is a phrase everyone has heard.  In the past week, 3 people have given me cukes, and each, at least 3.  So today, I made bread and butter pickles.  Charlie brought me more today, so I gave him a jar of pickles.  Why do I grow cucumbers?  Actually, I planted late so I don't have any yet.

It hasn't been raining much lately and I don't like to water the vegetable garden.  There isn't alot of water pressure and it takes awhile and I have animal chores in the morning and I am too tired at night and......
So, I have been thinking the last few days, that I should plant veggies in the compost pile where they never seem to need watering and plant something else in the vegetable garden.  I keep coming up with different ideas of what I should plant; it has to be something that doesn't need much watering- or maybe just much mulch.

I think the key is to plant something this fall when the beds are empty and it rains more and then when next spring comes I won't think I have to plant a bunch of vegetable seeds because there won't be any room.  Then, I can throw the seed in the compost pile.

We have 2 farmer's markets, 2 organic health food stores, a farm to you store, and a few CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) farms in our county, why do I need to plant a vegetable garden?  Just because I have for the last 42 years, it doesn't mean I have to next year.

"The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men......

They Are Getting Bigger

Sometimes when I am waiting for someone to blog, I read old entries and see how things have changed.  I hope anyone out there waiting over a week for me to blog does the same.  Many times I read my blog of a year ago near this date just to see what I was up to.  Last year, I was struggling to get to the barn with a broken ankle.

Cirrus and Sal have grown SO much so we built them an elaborate set up.

They love to practice flapping their wings.

The only problem was that Sal escaped twice the first day.  We thought she was flying over but then I thought maybe she was squeezing through a square in the gate so I put some smaller fencing over the gate and she hasn't been out since.

It is great that we don't have to move the pen every day like we were before we built the play yard.

They haven't gone in the boat pond yet

but they love to hang out in the little tub.

So far they have been going in their pen at night, bribed with grain.  I hope they will continue a little longer before I have to except the fact that I won't be able to protect them forever and they are going to have to take care of each other.  They are such a sweet pair of geese.

A Peaceful Summer Morning

 

It is often foggy when we wake up.  Sometimes up to the front porch but this morning was just partly foggy.  The chicory greeted me as I walked out the door.

 

 The Mullein appear to be on guard in the dyer's garden.  They  are some of my favorites.

A lovely delicate Queen Anne's Lace

 and the gift the hungry birds of winter planted for us.

Then out to the barn and pasture.

by way of the cabin which somehow did not appear to be hiding in the fog.

Peaceful Foggy Mornings are such a treat.