Barn Adjustments

Hurray! Weather is back to normal after a few days of freezing temps.

A storm pummeled us with driving rain before the freeze up. We thought we had wind directions covered with the three sided barn but of course this storm was driven from the south. Half the barn got saturated, requiring a few changes.

Here is the new wall on the south side. I used the gate Bob made for the garden as a door for the other half of the south wall. The gate was removed when the garden fence came down and was just propped up against the garage being useless. Right now it is covered with a tarp (on the right) but that will be replaced with Coolaroo shade fabric soon. It doesn't quite cover the width of the opening when it's closed but that's OK because it will give the sheep a slot to get in and out of the pen.

Inside, much cozier and protected from wind now. We'll be bringing in gravel or dirt to raise the low spots that developed in the floor. Our sandy soil just blew away as dust with all the sheep activity this summer when everything was so dry. I have to make sure the sliding door is fully opened or the sheep will somehow close it. I've found them locked one side or the other several times now, and if they get separated they become quite distressed. It's a bit of a mystery how they manage to close it.

Soil in this corner of the pen disappeared as well. I'm filling the depression with wasted hay and straw. It can break down and add soil nutrients. Notice the double fence. We had to block off the trees in this corner when the sheep began to strip off bark. They do get into a bit of mischief.

They are no longer confined to the pen at night being big boys now, and they prefer sleeping out in the open as long as it isn't raining heavily. Our boys like fair weather and I do too.

Fall Chores

My little strawberry bed is overgrown and useful for little more than producing new plants so we built a strawberry tower. We used sheep poop/straw compost layered with soil in a welded wire cage and transplanted some of the strawberry starts. The white pipe set in the middle has holes in it and provides a route to water inside the tower. We'll see how well it works before building any more. Should be easier to pick berries and trim off runners.

We had a terrible rat problem in the greenhouse this season so Bob added a concrete curb inside the door to block the gaps where we think the little bastards were getting in. Hope it works!

Inside the greenhouse I am finally getting shelves where I can grow plants in pots and store supplies off the ground. Here is the first one, sixteen inches wide. We'll put another one like this on the other side and a narrower shelf above that. A winter project for Bob.

Here's Tux. She's getting gray and showing her age but is doing well.

We needed more space for hay storage so built this quonset hut using stock panels and a tarp. It's a  handy temporary shelter where the hay is stacked on pallets to provide air circulation and prevent mold growth.

Bob built up the garden beds for me. The soil just wasn't deep enough in what we had. Carrots grew down a couple inches, hit sand and turned sideways. No good. I filled these up with compost and sheep manure and hope we'll have good results next year.

Here are my duck girls. We removed the fencing we had around the garden and moved their house to adjoin the sheep pen (second picture). It took a while for them to adjust but now all is well.

Here are some pictures of Hattie bossing the sheep around. I caught Boots nose to nose with her this morning, just calmly sniffing each other.  This is Hattie's idea of heaven.

Happy Hattie

The boys are growing their winter coats, some long and curly, others short and straight, but they will be well insulated from the cold. I love digging my fingers into that thick wool, and they're so much cleaner than the mud-caked creatures we brought home. I can't believe they've only been with us seven months. 

Timmi

Right to left: Gimpy, Boots, Stomper, Timmi. Mocha in the rear.

Stomper

Mocha

Tag's Day

Born on Halloween of year 2000. Today is Tag's day.  Smart, loyal, silly.  Always at my side. I will never forget you. Rest in peace my old friend.

Fall Color and Chores

Our oak trees are turning red for the first time, according to neighbors. I am so happy. They are beautiful!

We've been trimming sheep feet again. Bob tipped them to immobilize them on their backs while I did the trimming. It went pretty well until we got to Timmi who fought like a demon and knocked Bob down, twisting his previously sprained ankle. It was the first time Bob had tried this technique and he carried on like a trooper to finish the job but is sure hurting now. This ranching stuff takes a toll on an old body. 

After trimming, Hattie helped get the sheep to a temporary pen out front where there is a lot of grass growing. She is really good with them and they are comfortable with her now, even walking by her to get to the hay while she sits in the barn doorway. I have to let her go in for a nip or a grab when they get belligerent, challenging her and stomping their feet, just to remind them she is boss. These boys are full grown now and pretty big but Hattie has a lot of confidence and isn't intimidated. And there is nothing she likes more than bossing these guys around.

Gray Sky and Peonies

The rainy season is back. During a weather break this morning I was able to plant some peonies in the new garden beds. I picked them up at the Peony Farm in Sequim yesterday. It takes a few years for them to get growing well so here are pictures of the varieties planted, so I don't forget.

Bowl of Beauty

Edulis Superba

Paula Fay

Walter Faxon

Two ITOH peonies I purchased online should be coming in mail soon to join them.

Bartzella

Cora Louise

Last week I planted irises from Shreiner's Iris Gardens in Oregon.

Pallida Variegata Gold

Cameo Keepsake

Decorum

Finalist

Grand Canyon Sunset

Happenstance

June Krausse

Makin' Good Time

Bellini

Androgyny

I am looking forward to lots of color next year!

I'm beat!

I finished the mulching today while Bob was in Seattle. He's getting a second opinion on back surgery at Virginia Mason. The gravel paths turned out really nicely. Now we'll see what plants survived the move. I'm planning to plant irises and peonies too. You can see there are mountains of mulch and gravel left that we'll use other places. Bob already started a project at the back of the garage to use up the gravel. I have a couple of rose bushes to move. One is the climbing rose at the front of the house. It's growing like gang busters but is prone to molds in spring so I'm going to try placing it someplace with better air circulation. I bought a lemon cypress at a sale last weekend to replace it. Hope to get to that later this week. My hands and arms are begging for a break.

Almost done

The plants are in just in time for rainy weather. A little more mulch and rock should be put in today and the rest is up to us. 

This bed was entirely replaced with just a few plants. Should make weeding easier. I love the new table top pine.

The big juniper or hebe that grew in this bed gave up the ghost recently so that was ripped out and I put the Japanese maple that wasn't doing so well in its previous location to that spot. A large heather was removed to make way for a little rhody. The landscaper reused some plants from other areas to save us money.

This is the bed where the cement slab used to be. Now it's growing a weeping blue atlas cedar and a weeping hemlock with some winter heather and a creeping ceanothus.

I love the way the trunk has been trained on the weeping blue atlas cedar.

My beautiful Cotinus Grace was dying from verticilium wilt so I had an opportunity to rework the flower bed in back.

This is the new bed at the side of the house where plants removed from the front were planted. Bob wants to build an arbor swing in the center.

Three cuties, Gimpy, Timmi and Mocha.