A Dreary Day

Wet and cold. Wind. Repeat. What to do on these dreary days. I weeded the beds out front. Now I'll be wearing wet gloves to work. Hattie is going stir crazy with so much indoor time. The afternoon pasture and barn cleaning becomes the highlight of the day. The boys were happy to see us but instead of the fresh hay and treat they expected, we took a little walk so Hattie could work.

 An away.

Come bye.

Walk up.

And a good down to let the boys grab some weeds.

Busy eating. Don't bother us.

No more stuffing net bags with hay only to find the bag unopen and the hay all over the ground. I bought a hay feeder and after the initial shock of a new thing in their barn the sheep seem to be happy with it too. Anything that makes eating easier.

The girls, acting like puddle ducks. The molt is almost complete. They do get cranky with the new feathers coming in.

Toadstools

So I'm making my own mushrooms now. It involves a little slab work and some wheel work utilizing the last bits of this golden clay. I could have smoothed out the fine stress lines on the stems but I like them. I think they'll add texture when they're glazed. If I was a little more on top of things I might have used a slurry of paper clay to make raised spots to glaze them like Amanitas. Now that I think of it, that's a good project to use up the last of my porcelain paper clay if I can find a reliable red glaze.

Frosty Morn

Frost on the rose and frost on the boys' backs this morning. Winter is coming. Time to replace the worn out Muck boots before I freeze my toes.

Yard work has slowed to mostly keeping up with weeds but we moved the Twisty Baby Locust that broke in a wind storm two years ago to a spot in the back yard where it can be given special attention and put a new Sugar Maple where it was out front. Looking forward to the maple's fall colors.

Bob's having trouble with his back again (another surgery probably needed) but does what he can to help with chores. I have an itch to replace a flowering currant that's in the manzanita bed with a James Roof Silktassel - if it's still at the nursery - and that will probably be the last of the yard improvements for the year.

Maybe I can put some time into working with clay.

Winter is coming

The ground was frosty this morning and the ducks were not pleased about it. They burst out of their house in search of worms but there were none to be found. I suppose the cold on their feet and frozen water didn't help matters either. It warms quickly though and they need to toughen up for the worse to come. Egg laying has stopped and feathers are being renewed. 

A good exercise for Hattie. She holds the sheep out of the barn while Bob fills the hay bags.

Here is Boots who has finally decided a little cheek and chin scratching is perfectly fine. He is a clever boy, curious and always investigating new things. 

Timmi is still not convinced being touched by human hands is a good thing. An occasional chin scritch is OK but only if he's in the mood.

Hattie waits outside the barn for sheep work to be done.

Meanwhile, Stomper keeps an eye on Hattie.

Neighbor news

The huge shelter in the lovely pasture that we thought was for the mini horses has new occupants. And they aren't minis. They are two very friendly regular size horses. One is eighteen months, the other a few years older. Lean and leggy. The poor minis aren't allowed on pasture, we're told, because they don't know when to stop eating and will get too fat. Life just isn't fair.

This is a shot of a neighbor's sheep. They are a hair breed but quite a bit smaller than my Katahdins. The black ones are very attractive and I may sneak off with them some day.

Fun Fungi in the Yard

It's rainy, days are getting short and fungi are popping up everywhere.

These look like puffy lips in the field but here they look like bagels

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White thready things

Tiny Bird's Nest fungi

Pretty blue fungi

Blobby and weird

Yellow caps

Delicate fruiting bodies

Fun Non-fungi in the Yard

Tux!

Fruit on a strawberry tree

Crabapples