More Spring Scene

The spring drought continues.  The menial rain forecast of 20% has been getting pushed forward from Monday, to Tuesday, now Wednesday:  the good news is that the percentage has increased to 80%.  We are keeping our fingers doubly crossed.

Even with the lack of much needed moisture, spring continues; but now, more at a snail’s pace than the early spring frenzy.

Flowers continue to bloom slowly; our first iris is nodding it delicate lavender head.  These first irises are the garden-variety type, not the showy, more formal blooms.  The upside, and it is a biggy, is that these common iris produce the sweetest, most profound scent of any of my other iris growing in my garden.  I am glad I have a combination of both fragrant and flashy to appreciate.

I noticed the pawpaw in bloom.  A person really needs to know what to look for; or, this gorgeous, brownish bloom will be missed.  I have been lax in looking for this flower over the past several seasons, but I am glad I came upon it by chance yesterday.  I was out checking on the ewes and lambs with Glenn and there it was…a small tree I had never seen before.  I informed Glenn that he was not to cut this little gem down.  Glenn can get carried away with his chainsaw when he is clearing/cleaning up the pastures.  He promised.  I will have to remind him!

See all the little, brown flowers?  You have to look very closely...

Did I mention the baby oak leaves; so cute and fuzzy, the size of squirrel feet.

Lambs continue to increase - singles, twins, and more triplets that I thought was possible based on probability alone.  Calve births have stopped for a few days.

We use to calve in January and February (the industry standard); dealing with cold temperatures, wind, ice, snow.  We moved calving into April to coincide with the lambing.  What a pleasure to deal with difficult births (cow or ewe) when the sun is shining, the breeze warm, the grass green…and the normal births are a delight.

Next, from the house, I saw movement down at the pond.  A quick rush for the binoculars yielded a view of a stately heron and two Canada geese. I am a sucker for herons.  If I am driving along a country road that is next to a creek and I see a heron, I stop just to watch.  I should get one of those bumper stickers that say, “I stop for Herons.”  Does anyone actually make a bumper sticker that says that? Probably not.

Excuse me..but, this is my section of pond!

Every day produces another special moment - isn’t life grand!