Making...

   washcloths and dishcloths, out of an old towel. I was just going to throw it in the garage for my husband to use as a rag, but decided to make it more useful.

I feel like I am accomplishing something today!

And later, I will spin some wool.

Shearing and castrating...

DONE!

Saturday was sheep shearing day here at Outback Farm! We usually shear in March, but with pregnant ewes, we decided to wait til the lambs were all born. Kind of wish we hadn't waited. But these guys will not have any more lambs!

I had them all in the back yard, waiting, for 3 days. Saturday morning, I fed them, then put the cattle panel up to keep them in this little corner.

Matt decided to shear them right in there.

We got Amarillo first! I was SO glad to get her sheared. It had been 14 months for her. It took a good 5 hours to get all 8 sheep done. He trimmed hoofs and I wormed them all. They all had very pale eyes and gums. And it was so hot too. It really wore them all out.

When the ewes were all done, we started grabbing ram lambs to castrate them. One by one, we got all 7 of them castrated! But it sure was horrible. Those poor baby boys laid flat on the ground for a few hours. I was going to put them all out back right after, but I had to wait a few hours for the boys to recover. I held them and petted them for a long time. But they are all just fine now. I am so glad to have both these jobs done!

Not too long after I got them all out back, it looked like a big ole storm was coming. The sky got all black and grey. The wind started blowing really bad. I had milked the goats a little early and put them up front. They were being a little mean to the lambs. Then I got all the sheep and lambs and alpacas in the barn and shut the fence so they'd all stay in for the night.

Well, I thought they were all inside. Til I saw 3 lambs and a momma up on the hill. They didn't seem concerned at all. So I got them down the hill to the barn, opened the gate and they all went right in! And none of the others went out. I was amazed.

I was taking hay and water to all the animals and it was lightening and thundering all around me. It was scary! And stupid. But I have to take care of my animals, right?

We made it through that crazy storm. But the power flickered on and off for awhile. There were big trees down all over the place, from here to Tn. Real strong winds. And it was all over the country, apparently. Crazy weather. I hope everyone made it through ok.

Now on to some more projects...

Babies!

Sam and Rosie have 4 babies that I can see. There could be another on the other side. They had 5 last spring and they got so big that one of them fell out and was dinner to one of the cats. Poor baby. I love Barn Swallows! But my goodness, these birds and I are going to have a head on collision one day. Me going in the milk room and them flying out!

And today I was going to check my bee hives and saw a Mockingbird fly from the little tree beside the bee yard gate. There's been a nest in it but I thought it was an old one. I have always cut branches out of the tree and there's also a wild rose in it that I whack on all the time. Then the sheep are out there and they eat the leaves. The nest is only a few feet off the ground. But aren't these eggs beautiful? My favorite colors together. I hope they make it. I still have 2 old cats and I've seen a few strays cats around lately.

I also have a redbird couple nesting somewhere near. They come around in the morning when I feed the chickens. I gove them sunflower seeds too. Then of course all the sparrows.

And a few days ago I saw another favorite bird in the apple trees as I was leaving. The American Goldfinch. I LOVE them. So lots of birds around. And I am not planting a single flower this year. For the birds or the bees. And I see the hummers are back too. I need a new feeder for them. My old one had lost all the yellow filter things and honey bees were going up in the feeder and drowning.