Spring

One of the wonderful things about this part of Oregon is how very much the landscape changes throughout the year. We get snow in the winter, rains in the spring, and heat in the summer before autumn arrives and cools us off again and the cycle begins anew. The most striking contrasts occur between spring and summer. This spring has been exceptionally long and exceptionally wet, so the contrasts promise to be even more striking. Probably the best way I can explain this is to share a couple of photos.

This is the back creek now.

This is that same creek last August. The photo was take a little bit further downstream than the one above, but you still get the idea.

Quite the difference, huh? Yes, it gets hot and dry here by late summer. But, the hot dry only lasts a couple of months, just like the bitter cold in the winter. In between, we have lovely mid-range temperatures that are perfect for spending the day outside. Besides, we knew that when we decided to move home. That's why we installed central air conditioning and heating.

In other news, I was getting some grain for the mamma sheep and went into the part of the barn where we used to shear the sheep. We aren't out there very much, and I made two discoveries. First, there is a kitten out there that I didn't even know had been born. Looks like we're going to have some actually honest-to-goodness barncats that fend for themselves. The other discover was not quite so cute, and while it illicted some chuckles on my part, Steve's reaction wasn't nearly so......civil. I think I'll just show you.

Yes, that is a pile of eggs in the barn, rather than in the chicken coop where they belong. 18 of them to be exact. I don't know if you've noticed that all of the rebel chickens are laying fairly dark brown eggs, but I have. Steve thought he wanted to go for brown eggs instead of the green our first breed choice produced, so he purchased a brown egg laying hybrid chicken. These hens range much farther afield than our original flock, and are obviously not as imprinted on the coop. Further evidence of that fact was offered to me last night. Sarah had found a mostly eaten chicken (if anyone knows what predator eats everything from the stomach-side and leaves the skeleton and wings all intact, let me know), so I had decided to lock the coop at night. It was full dark, and all of the chickens should have been inside. But, I found five of these little buggers huddled on the old stump by the old house. They were sound asleep, so it was a simple matter to pick them up one at a time and carry them into the coop, but still......the coop gate was open, and that's where they should have been. Stupid chickens.

Yes, the lambs are still doing well, and now I have to go off and write on my thesis. Have a great day.