Random Farm Photos Again

This is my life–trying to work on everything at once, because it all seems important.

I just finished this scarf to have at Lambtown where I’ll be teaching Clasped Warp and Closed Weft

Spinning class Saturday morning. Three new spinners!

I’m trying to organize my life. The basket where I put gloves when I come in from the barn has been NOT organized. I spread all the gloves out to match them up. Then I gathered gloves from the barn. There are pairs on the left. All on the right are single gloves. Most of them are left-hand gloves, so where are all the right-hand gloves? I know that if I get rid of all the singles I’ll start finding others that should have matched. So I’ll probably put these in another box and hang on to them for another 10 years or so. Notice the boots at the top. They have had their last trip to the barn. I’ll salvage the shoe laces to use as ties on the net fence but the boots are going away.

This may not look like much, but it represents several hours of button making. First there is cutting on the band-saw. The cups hold groups of buttons that are all from one horn. I try to keep those together through the process so that they can be sold as sets.

This is the same batch of horns, but now with holes drilled. Now they will go back to the sander and then they will have a finish appleid.

The last three days I have sorted out ewe lambs I’m keeping and put halters on all. I’d like them to be at least semi-halter broke–then if I have to use a halter the sheep won’t panic .

Two Jacob ewes, one black and one lilac

While doing so I led some outside to get a better look at color. There is an obvious difference between the black and white lambs and all the lilacs.

Lilac twins, the last born this spring. I named all the lambs last night. These two are Cosmos and Dahlia.

I spent time today inventorying the hedgerow after replacing some of the plants that didn’t make it. These are rhizomes from Johnson grass a very invasive and obnoxious grass. I can’t dig it out of the whole pasture, but I can dig it out of the fenceline along the hedgerow. It is important to get the clumps and these tubers out. they continue to grow and sprout new plants–I’m sure that I didn’t get everything.

New Camera (or is it a Phone?)

I was able to trade in my camera phone for a new one and actually lower our Verizon bill! So I did it. Trying it out at chores time tonight:

Close-up of a vibrant pink flower with radial lines and a light yellow center, surrounded by green leaves.

Hollyhock.

Close-up view of a flower's stamen with pink and yellow petals.

Hollyhock close-up

Close-up of a vibrant sunflower in full bloom, showcasing its large yellow petals and central brown disc.

Sunflower.

Close-up of a vibrant sunflower with thick yellow petals and a dark brown center.
Close-up of a pincushion flower, featuring small white stamens against a blurred green background.

Pincushion flower, one of my newest dye plants.

Close-up of a chicken with distinctive feathers and red comb.

Chicken portraits.

Close-up view of a rooster's head, highlighting its red comb and wattles, with a detailed focus on its eye and feathers.
Close-up of a Jacob sheep with brown and white fleece standing in a field of tall grass.

Sheep named Roca.

Selfie with a two-horn Jacob lamb.

Selfie with Sparky.

Wide view of a grassy field with sheep grazing and a blue sky above.

Very wide angle view from the barn to the southwest.

A wooden owl box mounted on a pole in a grassy field, surrounded by trees and a fence.

Telescopic view taken from the same location as the wide angle photo. This is the owl box at the south end of the pasture. In the wide angle photo it is about center along the treeline to the left of that telephone pole. I’m impressed!

Lambing Season is between Winter and Spring

I’ve talked about this before–the seasons. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, and Lambing–right there between Winter and Spring. It’s a busy time. I wrote one blog post at the start and the one about Sparky two weeks into the season. It was an intense two weeks and now things have slowed down considerably. I’m waiting for three ewes to lamb by the end of the month.

March 9 three ewes had twins and one had triplets. This is Janna with triplets and Sandie and Beauty with twins.

The next day Juniper lambed with twins.

It was beginning to feel like the next new season–spring!

Janna and lambs moved into a stall a couple after lambing. This gives the ewes and lambs more space to move around, but it’s easy to keep an eye on them for a few days before they go out with the other sheep. That’s Farm Club member, Lisa, holding the lamb.

More signs of spring.

Flannel Bush is one of my favorites.

Cindy lambed two days after Juniper.

A cloudy sunset.

The rooster and one hen roost every night on this panel between the hay and the lambs.

Jazzie lambed that night with twins, lambs #22 and 23.

Amara seemed the most likely to lamb next and she went into the lambing area. That leads up to the post about Sparky.

Tiny Things

The other day I saw this on the ground…DSC_8526…and was inspired to change to my 40 mm micro lens. Then I walked around looking at things through that lens. Some are tiny and some not so tiny, depending on the view.GrapesGrapes just forming.DSC_8529The rope part of Ginny’s Toy.SheoakDried up “cone” from sheoak tree.Sheoak (1)That “cone” on the tree.SkullCan you guess this one? Answer below the next photo.RedwoodThis is the new growth on the redwood tree. That photo above is the joint in a ram skull.roseRose.BottlebrushThis bottlebrush is covered with flowers this year.Bottlebrush (1)This is what is left from last year’s flowers.DSC_8572Chain.Blackberry flowerI took the camera Across the Road too. This is a blackberry flower.Hoverfly on blackberryHoverfly on a blackberry leaf.Grass flowerGrass flowering.Buckeye flowerBuckeye flowers.

This lens isn’t just good for close-ups. I got some fun photos of Ginny jumping for her Toy in the canal. Those will be in Rusty’s blog as soon as I can get him to come in the house and work on it..

Jepson Prairie in Early April

Yesterday I visited Jepson Prairie, a nature preserve owned by the Solano Land Trust, that is only about 15 miles from here. This is the time of year to see the wildflowers in this remnant of native landscape. DSC_3716 DSC_3738 The patches of goldfields (Lasthenia species) are spectacular.DSC_3742 DSC_3772  View to the southwest.DSC_3819View to the west.DSC_3794 But there is more than just goldfields in this gold field.DSC_3802DSC_3789The yellow and white flowers are butter and eggs (Triphysaria erianthum)

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DSC_3816The purple flowers here are Downingia species. DSC_3806   Brass buttons (Cotula coronopifolia). I looked this up and its a native of Africa. The other flowers I’ve listed are CA natives.DSC_3823 How about the name of this one? It’s a species of Wool Flower, requiring a host support. Another species that grows in my pasture is shown here. (If you like this then google hippos and manatees in Stockton.)

DSC_3826Jepson Prairie is also home to wildlife.

Canadian geese I rather amazed myself by getting some decent shots of flying birds…maybe not National Geographic quality, but OK for me. These are Canada geese.

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I saw these birds walking across the gravel road to get from one part of the lake to the other. I thought that was rather odd…coots…but looked them up and found that “coots have strong legs and can walk and run vigorously. They tend to have short, rounded wings and are weak fliers”AvocetThis bird is an avocet. I will admit that although I know the Canada goose, I didn’t know the other birds. I ran into a docent in the preserve and asked him. Maybe I’ll remember these two.

I want to go back before the wildflower season is completely over. There are docent-led walks every weekend through Mother’s Day so maybe I’ll make one of those.

It Looks Like Spring

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. acacia The acacia tree in the front yard.almond and bee The almond tree near the driveway.crop duster Recent rain (two weeks ago now) and warm weather bring out “the air force”.DSC_2271 In the pasture.Shepherds purseShepherd’s purse in the pasture.DSC_2388 In a pot in the backyard.DSC_2394 Western redbud near my shop.

DSC_2396 redbud (1)  This one is not the best photo but I love the colors.

Flower or Weed?

Do readers of this blog and Rusty’s blog get tired of photos from Across the Road? I find an endless supply of subjects to photograph, no matter how mundane. When I was walking the other day I noticed the different colors of the morning glories. I Googled morning glory and saw that there were over 1000 species. However this is field bindweed and when you give it that name it becomes a weed.morning gloriesThis is growing at the edge of the corn field.DSC_7347 UC Integrated Pest Management Program states “Field bindweed, a perennial broadleaf, is considered one of the most problematic weeds in agricultural fields throughout temperate regions worldwide. It is abundant throughout California … is troublesome in many crops…  It can harbor the viruses that cause potato X disease, tomato spotted wilt, and vaccinium false bottom.” Yikes! Nasty plant.DSC_7350 DSC_7345  DSC_7338 DSC_7334 I was intrigued by all the different colors. Speaking of colors, these two birds, also Across the Road, have names with color even though from my photos you wouldn’t know it.green heron Green heron.white faced ibisWhite faced ibis. (Thanks to my birder friends who gave me the ID on this one.)

 

Waiting in Texas

I’m in Texas waiting for the birth of a granddaughter. My daughter and SIL live in the Texas Hill Country and this is some of what I see on my walks in the early morning and evening.photo 4This is the road to the kids’ house.DSC_6053I saw three of these when I turned out of the driveway early this morning and at first I thought it wouldn’t be a very long walk. They eventually meandered through the fence.DSC_5971 DSC_5978 Lots of deer in the area.DSC_5982 I don’t know what this bird is but it has a distinctive long tail. I need to google “bird with long tail in Texas hill country”. At Katie’s bird feeder there are a lot of cardinals and a very colorful painted bunting. DSC_6061

I want to look this plant up also. It was full of butterflies and some giant bees the last time I walked by.DSC_5984 MamaLu cooling off after a walk when Katie went with me.black buck in TX View from the kid’s kitchen window. This is a Black Buck, native to Africa. There is a herd in the area.Libby What do you do when the baby is a week overdue? Let’s go wash the horses. Libby is the horse that Katie got when she was in junior high. Libby moved with Katie to Cal Poly, to TX, to VT, and back to TX.Libby Slim Libby is not too crazy about baths, but her companion, Slim, loves the hose.Slim oak View through the oak trees.moss in the oak tree  Views from this morning’s walk before going to the hospital where we are waiting for a baby.

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