The Glacier is melting...

This is the stream that divides out land. In the winter we ice skate on it and in the summer we canoe and sometimes swim it it. It is beautiful!

I need a sheep here!

"No need to shear the sheep to make slippers. Just peck them till they sit down, this will take many times, then stand on their backs. Nice and warm, you can even sleep here, just nest on it. Hmmm, maybe the eggs will roll off....back to pecking and plucking!" - Loosey Goosey.

Late night surprise

I was fast asleep, at 10:30, last night when I heard Jacob say: "Mom, it's cold. Please warm it up!" So I lifted the electric blanket and took the bundle into my arms, registering instantly that this was not one of my children but a new lamb, wrapped in a towel." I was fully awake then, and the sweet little thing nuzzled my neck and started to suck my finger. So sweet and shivering with cold, it was freezing outside and it was so freshly born that amniotic sac stuck to it. A black Merino, who was identical to his daddy Merino, Goliath. I picked his name, Goliath's Ace.

Soon he was in a warm spot, on soft straw, with his mama. He wiggled his tail and nursed away, just like a pro. I went back to bed and snuggled my hubby. "MMMMmm!" he said. "You smell like a lamb, and that is so baaaaaad!"

(Jacob and Joseph, you are my heroes! Thank you for taking care of Goliath's Ace and his Mom. Also Jacob, thank you for capturing this inquisitive lamb and Freddy, today.)

We have two parrots, an African Grey, Davey, and a Blue and Gold Macaw, Drusey. They are in BIG trouble! Just recently, they have figured out how to open the latch on their cage, and get out and make a HUGE mess. It ticks me off... So much so, that when Gary heard that I was blogging about them getting out, he asked, "Are you allowed to use that sort of language on the internet?"

Well today was the last straw! I got home from church, to find them out of their cage, and Davey, the pest, prospective "Parrot Pie," had eaten most of my favorite magazine, just arrived in the mail. Have you ever heard of Mary Jane's Farm ? They also publish a wonderful magazine. I love it! I have every single issue, because they are filled with ideas and experiences of other Farm Girls. Check out their site, you won't regret it. The Forums are an education, all on their own, and you will never meet a nicer bunch of women.

So Davey and Drusey, meet a Carabiner, try and chew through that!

Simplicity

“As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler; solitude will not be solitude, poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness weakness.”
Henry David Thoreau

Mud Season

Did you know that we have a 5th season here in Salem? Mud season is serious stuff, the weather is warm enough to feel Spring-like but the mega snow has to melt. Since there is so much snow, it takes weeks to melt. Because we have several feet of snow, did I mention that we have lots of snow, it makes mud. Inches of mud! Today friends came over to play and all ended up taking a shower and wearing my kids' clothes because they were covered in mud. Not just mud, manure enriched mud!

Mud season also smells very farm-like. The aromatic ammonia is produced copiously by our horses, cows, sheep, chickens, geese, turkeys, guinea fowl, ducks (including the wild mallards that think this is home, they eat from the cats' dish outside the door), dogs (Layah, our old Springer Spaniel is the dog looking so woeful, Blue, our Australian Shepherd, is off rounding up the geese, because the sheep won't cooperate, and Harley and Emily, my Yorkies are taking refuge in the cabin because they sink and disappear into the mud), cats, bunnies, parrots and one lone tortoise. Ok, we can't blame the tortoise.

I LOVE Mud Season, it means Spring is almost here, and it has been a LONG, long, long winter.

Something to think about...

"Here is to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble makers. The round heads in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status-quo. You can quote them, disagree with them. Glorify or vilify them. But the only thing you can't do is ignore them, because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do."

I found this wonderful quote here.