Our LDS sister missionaries came over this week and we gave Ysildur a haircut. We got stuck in a torrential downpour mid-shearing, but still had a great time. :-) The wool was so matted after what I suspect was 3 missed shearings, that we had to do it all with scissors!
Relieved to have him cooled off for summer!
Under that thick brown mattress was beautiful grey wool mixed with the brown moorit coloring around his head. I could hardly wait to get it off him, washed and spun. Check out that before and after!
I'm keeping the first skein for myself! I also spun up some of Ysabels cream wool which is much softer. See her head peeking in the photo back there?
We have 2 breeding pairs of Black American ducks which my hubby and boys decided to take down for a swim in the creek. They paddled around happily for a few minutes, then climbed up the steep bank and went back to the barn to hang out with the chickens...I hope that means they wont migrate and disappear forever in autumn. ;-) I don't know if they sneak off to the creek to swim or not...I hope they do, but they seem to prefer being with the sheep and the coop.
Happy, happy, happy!
Tried to get our farm sign up for the 4th of July, but the rock hard dirt by the highway means it will hang out a little longer by the front porch. :-(
My oldest daughter painted this for us for fathers day! :-)
1808...Wow, this old place has seen 205 July 4th celebrations! Thomas Jefferson would have still been president when it was built...that tremendous man who authored the Declaration of Independence...it takes my breath away at times, to imagine our home, less than 2 hrs drive from Monticello, is a small part of that history.
Love...we have more than enough of that to share here! :-) Lighting sparklers with the family after watching Woodstock's fairground fireworks show from our church next door.
A few of our hens waiting for July 4th leftovers...
Meanwhile, in the (finally) summer garden, butternut squash & baby Mary Washington Asparagus
Tomatoes...this is my 3rd planting! It's been so wet that most of my starts have been drowned out. Now that its finally hot and drying out, they are making a comeback. I have about a dozen different varieties of heirloom tomatoes!
First vegetables of the season...yellow zucchini. Go figure!
Seeds we'll have plenty of this year... Connecticut field pumpkins.They are doing great!
Now that I've cooped up the hens, my corn is getting a break and it is taking off with the beans. Those pesky girls just really loved nibbling off the tender leaves!
Sadly this years garden is a little disappointing. Since it's our first season at our farmhouse, our soil is still heavy clay. We're composting everything we can, adding straw and horse-rabbit-sheep-chicken manure...but all things considered, it's not a bad start! Fortunately I have a freezer half full of heirloom seeds stored from the last 2 year growing seasons...we'll get there!
Many of our ewes are getting fat, and I don't think it's just from our lovely Virginia grass...I hope it's because of twins or triplets! We are expecting our first bunch the first week of September.
Celebrating the 4th of July here on our historic farm filled my heart with gratitude to God for the freedoms we still enjoy in this country (despite so many slipping away) the sacrifices made by those 56 men who risked everything for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We also celebrated the one year anniversary of my husbands baptism into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on the 4th of July...(and incidentally, the 32nd anniversary of my baptism on the same day.) :-)
With that in mind, I have to say that I am grateful for the chance to be learning to be a shepherd, and to gain just a little tiny bit of insight into the life of the greatest man who ever walked the earth. <3
For more information on our farm, please visit http://samsbillthepony.wix.com/getting-liberty#
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