I just posted springtime photos taken near my house. Then I looked at my iPhone photos and found some from Across the Road. 
Almonds blooming along the canal.
Mushrooms.
Mustard.
Even thistles are pretty.
Wild radish.
The alfalfa field. Rusty has posted in quite awhile. There are a lot of dog photos so I’ll let him use the computer tomorrow.
I hope that winter is not over for California because it barely started. Our water situation is dire. However that doesn’t mean that I won’t admire the fabulous colors of an early spring. I took all of these photos within about 30 feet of my house. 
The acacia tree in the front yard.
The almond tree near the driveway.
Recent rain (two weeks ago now) and warm weather bring out “the air force”.
In the pasture.
Shepherd’s purse in the pasture. In a pot in the backyard.
Western redbud near my shop.
This one is not the best photo but I love the colors.
This year’s pre-lambing Farm Day overlapped with Stitches West so some of our members chose shopping over barn cleaning, thinking that their yarn stashes needed a little reinforcing. However we still had an effective crew and finished our scheduled chores in just a couple of hours. (Dona was shopping so thanks to Lisa for providing some of these photos.)
Lisa, Cindy, Alison, and Stephany helped clean the barn and vaccinate all the sheep. Betty came later and we skirted fleeces.
We gathered all the ewes in the barn.
Some are looking quite large.
We checked eyelids of the ewe lambs for anemia using the FAMACHA scorecard and dewormed those who scored 2 or 3.Amaryllis is always happy when Lisa comes.
Faulkner was all fired up after yesterday’s tryst with Donna, who spent the day with him in anticipation of July lambs, but alas, it was just us Farmers who came to call today.
After skirting fleeces in the afternoon…
…Betty and I treated the ewes to snacks.Usually Farm Day lasts well into the afternoon but today everyone had places to be (including me who went to Berkeley to see out-of-state cousins who had all gathered for a birthday celebration), but it was a beautiful morning to spend with friends.We didn’t do much hard labor today but someone was tired out.
What a beautiful weekend we had, although I’d rather be able to say that it’s been raining and cold like winter is supposed to be. I wonder if this is the future. That will take some major adaptation. Regardless, here are photos from warm, sunny Solano County.
I usually don’t put the ewes out on the main pasture until late March when it has dried out. However, this year the water has drained away and I will take advantage of the grass growing now. If it doesn’t rain more this will be it until (and if) we get irrigation water.
Waiting for me to change the fence.Rear view of one of the ewes due to lamb in about 2-1/2 weeks.More rear views. These ewes won’t lamb for a month or more.
Thatch left over from the overgrown dallisgrass last fall. Nothing grows under it–at least not useful for sheep.
This was growing inside that pile.
While walking around the pasture I saw something (rodent) scurry across this obviously well-used path from one clump of grass to the next.
Speaking of rodents this is a view I see every morning when I go in the chicken house. Well, not this exact view. There are always new holes and new piles of dirt. There are only 2 chickens and I think I am feeding a whole colony of rats. I posted this photo on FB and was surprised at the number of responses. The overwhelming suggestion was to get terriers. Three dogs is enough and I won’t get another. If Maggie gets a chance she will kill rodents but she will also kill chickens, which is why they are in the chicken house. Next suggestion was the old-fashioned snap type of trap. I have used those for mice, but for rats it sounds disgusting. I think I will get some though. I tried a sticky trap under that garbage can but they just covered it with dirt. Faulkner. I sent photos to someone who has been asked to supply rams to participate in a Year of the Sheep celebration in San Francisco this week. I suggested Faulkner because he is easy to handle (relatively). They want horned rams so I sent more photos….but probably not with spots. They are still discussing it and I haven’t heard the final word.
Even if the rams don’t get to go to the city, some of them are having fun. It’s time to breed my ewes that will lamb at the State Fair. This is Foley and Isadora yesterday. Today it was Crosby and Clover. 
I hope that this will be one answer to another rodent problem. This is a trial straw bale garden. The gophers have made it impossible to grow anything successfully in this part of the garden. Last summer I put two bales out here and started watering them the way you’re are supposed to. Then I went to Texas to wait for my granddaughter to be born. I gave up the garden idea until now. I have planted lettuce and carrot seeds in this one and chard in another. We’ll see what happens.
I took a quick trip to Sacramento Weavers Open House to pick up the things I had on display there. These are a few of my blankets. This is the first year in many, many years that I did not spend the weekend there demonstrating weaving. It felt odd to show up at the end.
A friend’s purse that uses my horn buttons for the closure and to secure the strap.I tried this AVL loom with the e-lift. One step on the button and the shed changes. No lifting 16 (or in this case 40) shafts with leg power.
The first day of our Farm Club Retreat was rainy and windy–a good day to relax in the parlor of the Home. On the second day the sun was out and we had a plan. But first we gathered in the dining room for our traditional breakfast.
Some of the group decided to stay at the Home and continue with their projects and others went to the Asian Art Museum. Some of us decided to take advantage of the beautiful day and walk to the museum.That was a good opportunity to see some of the beautiful old houses in this part of San Francisco.First stop at the Museum was the Museum Store. In recognition of the Year of the Sheep there were plenty of sheep figurines and trinkets. Alison showed me how this Buddha Board works. You “paint” with a brush and water. The image takes a few seconds to be seen and then disappears as it dries. Alison described it as a version of an etch-a-sketch.
We didn’t have nearly enough time to see all that is in this museum. We split up as we wandered the three floors that hold art from 2000 years old to contemporary that represents all the Asian nations. I found myself focusing on finding sheep and horse images–at least a way to narrow my photographs. Not sheep, but labeled “A Goat Pen” from the year 25 to 220. Now that’s old!
Here is a beautiful “glazed earthenware” horse (618-906).
Bowl (1662-1722)
“Horse with pack” (386-584).
There were a lot of other animals represented as well. Tiger netsuke (1675-1800) in ivory. Wikipedia says: “Netsuke [netsu͍ke] are miniature sculptures that were invented in 17th-century Japan to serve a practical function (the two Japanese characters ne+tsuke mean “root” and “to attach”)” Traditional clothing had no pockets so people used small containers hung around the neck with cords. Netsuke were decorative closures.
I love this one:
Buffalo (1800-1900) in rock crystal, but I think my favorite piece of the day is this one:
“Ewe with lamb” (1644-1911) in ivory.
After lunch at the museum we headed back to the home where we said our goodbye’s Some of us headed to Ribboneri, a store filled with any kind of ribbon you could possible want and some went to Lacis in Berkeley.
This was a great weekend and we already have a plan for next year!
I think that this is Farm Club’s fifth annual retreat to San Francisco where we spend the night at the Home, designed by Julia Morgan and owned by the Native Daughters of the Golden West. If you search for NDGW in my blogs you will find photos of our activities during past retreats and of this gorgeous Home. We usually try to find a farm-related activity for Friday afternoon, but couldn’t come up with one this year. Since a big storm was predicted we decided that it was just as well to curl up in the parlor for the afternoon and evening with our spinning and knitting projects. And that’s just what we did.
We arrived in the early afternoon from the North Bay, East Bay, South Bay and Solano and Yolo Counties. Since there were to be 14 (!!) of us for dinner we scoped out our favorite restaurant and the pie place (where we get pie for the next morning’s breakfast), were assured that there would be room for all of us at dinner, and returned to the Home (only a block away) to spin and knit for the afternoon.
This is an example of one of the 30 rooms that can be reserved for NDGW members and their guests. Each room is decorated and maintained by one of the many “parlors” around the state.The rooms are on the third and fourth floors. This is looking down the stairway to the second floor. To the right is the dining room and a huge kitchen available to all who stay there. The atrium is directly across from the stairs and I found out on this visit that originally there was a glass pyramid in that area directly over the museum that is beneath. How wonderful that natural light must have been on the lower story. There was also decorative painting (I have just blanked on what that is called) on those columns and around the ceiling. To the left is the parlor where we spend our time socializing (albeit in pajamas instead of flowing gowns).We walked up Baker Street to Green Chili Kitchen…
…where we had an early dinner, which left us plenty of time for our evening of sitting around in the parlor in our pjs.
There was a record 14 of us! Here are some of our projects:
Alene spun Teeswater wool.
Amy began a knitting project with help from Shelby.
Betty was knitting a shawl.
Wandering around the room to take a stretch break from projects one can find all kinds of interesting things. This is from an oversize journal in which donations to the Home were recorded. “Wool” caught my eye here. Other donations included tea towels, dishes, and preserves. Look at that penmanship!
Carol brought spinning and knitting.
Kathy set to work on deleting what may be an embarrassing number of emails that were bogging down her computer. She worked diligently on this all evening and made good progress.
Another break time with yoga for Amy and Shelby.
I worked on the Zoom Loom and on spinning Raquel’s fleece, bringing far more than I could possibly spin in a week.Joy needlefelted a guinea pig.Polly worked on rug-hooking while Janis took photos and worked on her computer.
Another break. This is a book on the coffee table edited by John Muir.
Kathleen finished a handspun knitted sleeve. Only one more and a body to go!
Lisa spun and knitted. If you look closely you’ll see someone else also wearing sheep pajamas.
Mary knit a colorful sock.
Shelby knitted and…
…Stephany worked on a sweater. She is wearing a Jacob sweater that she finished last year.
Stay tuned for the Saturday adventures of Farm Club in the City.
After a too-short visit here who was waiting at home:
This is what I did for the last 5 days. These are just my i-phone photos and it was hard to narrow it down. I still have the other photos to go through.
First taste of yogurt. Not a big fan.
Helping in the kitchen while I made cookies.
Sleeping on Mama’s lap. 
Carrots are better than yogurt.
Ready for the Superbowl.
Asleep with me.
Trying to catch a ride home with me.
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