More Dogs?

We’re off to the Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair today, just to look, as we have no money to spend! We’ve missed it the last two years, due to poorly timed beach trips, so all of us, but especially ED are really looking forward to it.

Afterwards we are going to pick up two (brace yourselves) puppies. No, they are not Border Collies—that really WOULD be crazy—they’re 5-month-old Great Pyrenees/Kangal crosses. And they will live with the sheep. NOT in the house. Because we are not actually dog hoarders.The field where ED grazes the sheep is pretty seriously coyote infested, so she only grazes them during the day now, and locks them up at night—good thing the weather’s been cool enough for that to work! It would be nice to leave them out grazing all the time, so hopefully the pups will make that possible.

Speaking of dogs, we have a couple of great prospects for a home for Lola—actually three possibilities, and all would be wonderful for her. And sometime in the next week or two, Bandit will be going home, which is going to be heartbreaking, but I think it will be a relief to only have the three BCs for a while. Split has not gotten bred, and if she doesn’t in the next couple of weeks, we’ll wait and consider trying again some other time.

Winter Wren

ED saved this little wren from the maws of Loverboy (aka Mr. Gorgeous, The Black Panther, or Stupidhead). It seems to have had a deformed leg, which would explain why Loverboy (aka Mr. Ineffectual) was able to catch it. It had no noticeable wounds and took right off when ED released it. Such a tiny little bird!

Fall Chaos

Fall is pretty messy here—I’m not the neatest of gardeners at any time of the year—but I like the colorful chaos. I am looking forward to cleaning up the garden and getting my garlic planted, though. We’ll probably have a freeze later this week, so after that will be a good time to get to work out there.

 

And speaking of chaos, all the animals on the farm are total freaks right now. We can’t keep horses or pigs fenced, the dogs have all turned neurotic, the cows are freaky and milk production is down—-seems like sometime every spring and sometime every fall, this happens—must just be the feeling of change in the air?

Hyacinth Beans

These are supposed to be edible if the pods are eaten young. I haven’t tried them—I grow them just because they’re beautiful. I love flowers, even though they have no practical value—they’re in the same category as music or poetry for me. Unfortunately I would generally much rather mess around with my ornamentals than with the much more useful vegetables.

Sassafras

I walked up to the mailbox yesterday morning, and had to get a picture of these sassafras trees in the morning sun.