Signs Of Fall

Finally it seems like fall might be here, temperature wise.  Today is a lovely sunny day with a cool breeze.  Fall chores have commenced with a vengeance now, trying to get the many things taken care of before winter sets in. 

Today, participating in a fall ritual, I worked on cleaning out the garage of the accumulated hay and other debris that tends to collect even when I am looking.  I've started a little pile of things to burn when the wind dies down.  The old hay leavings will go on the gardens.  Soon the garage will be ready for the winter's supply of hay. 

Lots of laundry today too, since it's a prime day to hang it out and dry.  Slowly I'm pulling up or cutting back plants, as most of them already look straggly even before we have had a frost. 

The sheep are starting to get feisty and lots of ewe fights breaking out.  Not sure how things will go this year, since this is the first time I'll not be putting any of the ewes to a ram.  I have four wethers in with them so will see how that goes as well.   The Shetlands in particular can become quite the handful at this time of the year.  I should be able to rotate them one more time on to grass in the lower pasture, which will hopefully keep them in enough pasture until November.  If that pans out, then this will be the latest that I've ever managed to not have to feed hay. 

It really seems very odd not to be making plans to set up breeding groups!  

 

The other night I picked four pounds of wild grapes.  There are more, but I'm not sure I'll get to them.  I de-stemmed and washed the picked ones and then crammed them in the freezer to make jelly out of later on.  I'm astounded at the size of these wild grapes!   All that rain we had over the last few weeks must have been timed perfectly for them.

There are also a bunch of pears that need to be worked up that someone gave me...and some apples on the tree that need to be picked. The pickings in the garden are slim to none.  I did eat a small tomato off the vine today, but most of the fruit is small, and withered looking--even the green ones.  There are a few onions that have had a resurgence of  growth after I cut them back in early summer.  The peppers are doing outstanding right now, with quite a few nice plump peppers on them. 

This little flower is a volunteer...although I'm not even sure where it came from.  I believe it might be an impatiens, and I believe I might have  had some in a flower pot last year.  This plant sprouted up on the concrete, where the wall meets the ground, and seems to be rather proud of itself.  It was a nice little surprise. 

This little guy falls in the 'uh oh' category.  Supposedly the more black a woolly worm has on it, the harsher the winter.   So what does it mean when they are all black?  This may not be a positive sign.

"Homecoming" is tomorrow at the church and cemetery that my Mom's people are buried at.  Another sure sign of fall is this yearly tradition.  I have chicken and noodles in the crock pot and a pear crisp to go in the oven soon.  

Vacation will be in just two weeks and that is a very good, very definite sign of fall!  

The leaves are slow to turn, but I have a feeling they are going to be really showy this year. 

And finally a sure sign of Fall and cooler days and nights---the cats start to gather and puddle up in a pile with each other. 

 

 

Gabe says--me too! 

Hope your weather is lovely this weekend, wherever you are!

Autumn Musings

Our Autumn season has been brief this year, with the colors not quite peaking before rains and wind took the leaves down. The weather, for the most part has been mild and unseasonably warm with a killing frost finally closing out the month of October. Once the frost came, many of the final leaves showered down like rain.Still, here and there , unexpectedly there were stunning glimpses of color; sun reflecting on ambers, golds, and scarlets, refracting light so it seemed the whole world glimmered in that moment; storms rolling in with dramatic cloud formations, shadow and dark highlighted by the sudden breaking through of a shaft of sunlight.Last night the 'time changed' or at least we humans pretended it did, and now the long nights begin. The dogs and I meandered out through the field for a soon to be rare evening walk. The weather is lovely and warm, maybe a bit too warm, but at this time of the year I won't question it. The breeze was soft and the earth smelled warm and damp.

Sunset

Ariel

Ariel wobbles about, not strong these days, but happy to be able to potter about with her 'pack'. Boone travels fast and strong across the field, checking out new scents and bit of sheep poo here and there.

Boone

The sheep are quiet, in from the pasture and munching on hay or fallen leaves. They are restless these days and quick to voice their opinion. Soon the breeding group will be broken up, and the main flock reunited. Chores will be easier then, more streamlined, as winter sets in.

As winter creeps closer, I am still marking off 'things to do' from my list and it is actually almost all done! This weekend I managed to get plastic up on the chicken house, bathe both dogs and wash up all the dog bedding, pull up the frost killed garden plants and a few other odds and ends.

Some of the girls and their giant bale of hay
(that is Echo the cat on the top of the bale)

With the evenings inside becoming 'long', maybe I'll be more regular on posting. I hope. Troubles with teeth have set me back some the last week or so, but on Tuesday the worst offenders will be pulled and once healed I'll have a partial plate. Perhaps not the best solution, but a more affordable option and certainly better than abscessed teeth and all the time and energy they rob from you.

Sweet Chickie and I hope you have a great week.

Autumn

Just a few pictures as the foliage begins to turn. As it did last year, the Forsythia can't seem to make up it's mind whether it should display colorful leaves...or flowers! Hope you enjoy.

Winter Cometh

After a little bit of a warm spell, we got some rain and the weather has now cleared off, cool and crisp. It won't be long before fire in the wood stove will feel nice. Before that can happen though, there has to be some cleaning and preparation. First it was the wood stove itself---every bit of ash moved out, doors and outside scrubbed. For now this scented candle is the only 'fire' needed. (and there are my stubby bare feet reflected in the door--you can tell it was still warm!)I've been gathering up kindling for the last several weeks, before we got the rain. I cleaned out my kindling bucket, and it's filled with nice dry bits of wood to help get the fire started. The kindling in the white container is what I've gathered after the rain and needs to dry out.

Filling the wood box that sets in the hall took top priority, before the rains moved in . This box holds almost two weeks worth of fuel. See the kitty in the 'cage' behind the wood? That is Tibby, but she isn't really shut in a cage. This will be her winter house, and she can come and go out this end. I'll put plastic around the open sides and stuff it full of wool and blankets and her heated disc on really cold nights.


Here is the woodpile (what's left of it) after I got it all re stacked and covered. I've gotten a bigger tarp to put over it though, since this one is really too small to keep the wood dry on all ends. I have another, smaller wood pile over to the side as well, and quite a bit more that needs to be hauled up to the house.

And lastly here is the chimney---there were some Virginia Creeper vines that had escaped my notice and climbed the sides, so those were all torn down, plus cleaned out the trap at the bottom.

I'm getting closer all the time to being 'ready', at least physically for winter! The temps are nice and warm again, but it can change fast this time of year.

Observations

It seems like I have lots of things I want to post about, but the words just won't come. So until then just a few observations. My Internet randomly and repeatedly goes off and on, which is very frustrating, and not good for motivation either!

Autumn is here officially on the calendar and in the gradual turning of the trees. The garden is almost finished and the few remaining plants are tired and weary looking. The leaves on the trees are filled with holes from bugs and curl up brown spotted on the edges. The very air seems quieter, hushed as if waiting
impatiently for the cooling breezes and frosty nights.

Autumn on the farm means getting prepared for winter and putting things right for the coming cold months. It also means that another cycle of sheep raising has come. The lambs from the Spring have been sold, with only the keepers staying. In a few weeks breeding groups will be set up and ewes separated and put with the ram.

The rams, Blue and Jeff are noticeably stinkier, as they come into rut and make themselves attractive to the ewes. I find myself holding my breath as I pass by them. Jeff the little grey Shetland ram has developed quite a mane of 'scadder' (hairlike long fibers) around his neck, as he always does during the fall. He looks quite silly, but then he isn't trying to impress me.

I'm still awaiting hay delivery, with 16 big rounds due anytime. I don't know if there will be more square bales, but conditions have been favorable for it. So far, for the first time in years, I haven't had to feed hay to the main flock and shouldn't have to, until October.

The wood pile has to be tidied and re-stacked and is next on my list. I've already started working on it, and I think there is about a cord still left. I hope my wood guy comes through for me. If not, there is still quite a bit of wood stacked here and there from the big Ice Storm.

Sue (the chicken) seems to be doing okay without Eddie. She is lonely acting, and hangs out with Ariel quite a bit during the day. She has started crowing. It sounds extremely awful.

Ariel herself seems to be doing better these days, so I'm thankful for the extra time. When I was trying to get her to eat, I stumbled onto 'Cesar' wet food and she really liked it. Now can you spell spoiled rotten? (A-R-I-E-L) Cesar food comes in tiny little plastic bowls with peel off foil tops. She eats one in the morning, and one at night. It has to be topped off with something extra yummy as well (like shaved turkey). It can't be mixed in though, and she prefers there to be a couple little piles of turkey leading to the bowl, with some draped over the side and few pieces on the food itself.... Cesar food is also pretty pricey, but what can I say? In fact, I think Ariel is eating better than she has ever ate in her life (she has always been very finicky....).

I've been busy trying to update my website. With most of the lambs sold, it's now time to work on listing fleeces and some of the lovely roving I just got in.

Now is a good time to trim limbs, and the sheep always enjoy the treat. I borrowed my Dad's long pole limb trimmer to get a few more grapes down (success! now just to stem and cook them down), so while I had it up here, I trimmed limbs away from the house. The sheep have had a good couple of days snacking on leaves from the limbs.

There will be much to do over the next few weeks; putting a new tarp on the hoop house so it will be water tight, fixing fence to keep the breeding group secure, moving the ram over here (from Allena's), hopefully posting photos of the breeding group (just one this year, and only six ewes!), stacking wood, winterizing the chicken pens, trimming up the yard and gardens, and, well you get the idea. It's allot to get done, but there is always something pretty satisfying about tucking everything away for the winter. I'm hoping for a nice long cool fall, and vacation is coming up soon, so I'll have some time to work on those projects.

Have a great week!

We Interrupt This Blog

Gustav trailed into Missouri Tuesday afternoon, and it's been raining ever since. This is a good thing though. The rains for the most part have been steady but gentle. Because I keep forgetting to check or empty my rain gauge, I'm unsure exactly how much we've gotten, but I'm pegging it at least 4 inches, maybe a little more. We desperately needed the rain, even the weeds were wilting down to the ground. With this good soaking rain, it's looking very promising for fall pasture. The grass started greening up almost immediately.



I have much to blog about, but not much time or energy right now! Hopefully after this weekend. The Celtic Festival is Saturday, and as usual I have waited til the bitter end to get everything ready for it. The two Moorit wethers, Angus and Aberdeen, who will be representing the Shetland Sheep, have been getting last minute halter lessons, and learning the joys of scritches and cookies. Angus is all for it, but Aberdeen has some reservations. I've separated them totally from the flock, in the hopes that they won't baa all day! There is still roving and fleeces to pack, flyers and signs to make and other preparations. It does sound like the weather is going to be really nice though. The rain is suppose to move out today, and the temps will be in the 70s! Regardless, this year, we will be under cover in one of the livestock barns, so that will be nice.

The three day weekend was wonderful, and then Tuesday I got to meet for coffee with Michelle from Boulderneigh and Allena from Three Ring Ranch. That was pretty darn neat, and I hope to get that posted soon.

On a sadder note, Ariel, my little collie girl, doesn't seem to be doing too good. She continues to get weaker, (although as stubborn as ever) but is still eating good--as long as its special eats. We had some extremely hot, humid days, and I am hoping this contributed to her fading a bit. She seemed a little stronger and more alert last night, and even had a dry doggie biscuit and showed her concern that Boone had gotten a rawhide bone and she hadn't (of course she got one, even if she never touched it--it was the principle of the thing, you see). We will see how it goes.

Little wet Rouen, eating some 'consolation-cause-it's-raining' hay

Next week I'll try and get back on track. In the meantime, hope you all are having a great week.

Gracie's says "You talk about a bad hair (wool) day!"

Fall Colors... Or Say What?

Lilacs

Honeysuckle entwined on Forsythia bush

Forsythia showing both fall leaf color and blooms

Purple wildflowers alongside the road

White wildflowers profusely blooming in a brush pile

I did take these photos just this week, I swear! It's been a different year to say the least. We had a cold snap a while back and then allot of rain and very warm muggy temperatures--which evidently conspired to fool these lovely flowers into thinking it was Spring. While Lilacs, Forsythia and Honeysuckle in October isn't something you see around here very often, I'm enjoying their lovely fragrance and colors. Wishing there was some way to bottle up this wonderful sweet fragrance for the cold winter months ahead. Such a bonus--Lilacs in October!

In the last three or four days fall colors really have started to come to the Ozarks. One day the leaves were green and it seemed like the very next day shades of gold, orange and yellow were reflecting the sun. The weather continues mild with only a few chilly mornings so far. I expect that'll soon change overnight too.

Sumac in the fence row... true fall colors
(you can see how green the trees are behind)