Always a pleasure to do something new. My husband got me going, and I used the disc mower to cut hay this afternoon. I left lots of "rooster tails" (areas I missed on the corners), but maybe I'll do better next time.

This is very, very late first cut, with little or no nutritional value. But, we're getting what we can get. At least it may keep the sheep's rumens going, and keep the sheep warm this winter. Almost everyone around here is in the same boat after the long, rainy, cool summer. We're all scrambling for hay. I figure that I'm not likely to be able to buy much better. The great hope is that we can bring in a bit of second cut later this month or in September, to have something with some nutrition for January and February. In any case, we'll be feeding more grain than usual.

The vegetable garden didn't fare much better. I'm going to pull up some of the electronet fencing around it tomorrow, and use it to get some sheep out on part of the lawn that looks particularly tasty. It will mean less mowing for my husband, and more nutrition for the sheep. Their pasture is plenty large enough, but with all the rain, the buttercups really took off this year.   Buttercups are no problem in hay, but when they are green in the pasture, they are caustic.

Bobolinks

I was walking home from the back of the hayfield this afternoon, and flushed several birds along the way. Several looked like they were the young from one nest. I was a bit concerned, especially since they headed way over to some woods. I walked a bit away and stayed and watched. Those few were joined by a few more, and a few more - maybe 25 to 35 eventually. They weren't very organized, but seemed to be working on getting things together as a flock. Based on a couple of adults that swooped closer to me, I think this group may be the Bobolink young from several nests. Perhaps they are getting in shape and practicing before taking off for South America. I wonder if the adults lead the young down the first time, for this species. If anyone knows, please let me know. I thought the Bobolinks left by mid July, so I'm not sure if the birds I saw were Bobolinks. In any case, they were a lot of fun to watch, learning to fly together.

There would never have been so many Bobolinks, or any Bobolink young, surviving in a normal year on the hay field, because their nests would have been destroyed when haying. Bobolinks are one of the few ground nesting birds that will not try to re-nest if a nest is destroyed. They just head for their winter home in South America. Because of all the rain this year, haying is very late and it seems to be a very good year for Boblinks. Bobolink populations have been declining rapidly over all, so as much as I'm worried about winter feed, I have to be happy for the Bobolinks.

Gray foxes and hay

Went out to check how wet the hayfield still is, and saw two gray foxes hunting mice in the tall grass. One saw me before I saw him/her, and moved off toward the woods. The other one didn't see me, and kept leaping up and pouncing down on mice, just like my old dog used to do in the winter, when she would hunt mice in the snow. They looked very happy on a warm, summer, afternoon.

Likes lots of other people around here, we haven't been able to hay due to all the rain. Clay soils take a long time to dry out, and there hasn't been a long enough break to allow the soil to dry, and enough days to cut, cure, and bale the hay. August brings its own risks, with afternoon thunderstorms, and September has morning dew to contend with. But, will get some in some how. We don't need much for the sheep, but we need some.

Nest

I found this nest with five, small, speckled-eggs in a corner of the vegetable garden. It is about 1.5 feet above the ground, in thick grass (I'm behind in the weeding), and uses some of my old tomato cages and stakes for support. I found it when I went looking for the tomato cages, but I don't want to disturb the nest.

Wednesday evening - break in rain

I was away for a couple of days. Got home just as the rain finally broke to blue sky, though it isn't expected to stay clear for long. There is so much moisture rising off the fields that there is a beautiful low layer of fog over everything.

Monday (Rain)

It has been raining for two or three years. I was wondering to my husband the other day if this is what Ireland is like - all wet and multi-colored green.
We didn't have all our hay equipment in May, so couldn't have hayed then, but people who did were definitely ahead of the curve. I wonder if there will be a hay shortage this year around here. What we put in the barn is not doing well - may not be able to feed it due to spoilage.

Bright side: if you want to eat lettuce, you and your 100 bunnies should be swimming pretty. The garden lettuce is happy with the cool and wet days.

Three sheep sheared and two to go. I'm starting to think about trying one the proper way, on its backside, instead of on a stand. So far the sheep have been remarkably patient with me using the stand, considering none of them has been on one before. Well, I could say that until the last one, Ophelia. She fought it all the way through. But, she is the daughter of my deceased lead ewe, so I actually appreciate the attitude.

Saturday - the cats

A word about the cats. We have four. Possible is an old girl whom I've had forever. She is tiny, and so fierce at fighting wandering cats that I didn't realize she was declawed (in front) for a long time. Then, I was in awe. Perciville (aka Garr) and Baxter are two very old fellows that came to stay after we moved to Rock Island Farm a couple of years ago. They both had always been indoor cats. but have now mostly transitioned to indoor/outdoor cats in good weather. One has become a good and appreciated mouser. The second only started outside recently, and is still at the cricket-pouncing stage. He may hold there, but it is ok, because he rules the other cats, and that is a job in itself. The fourth cat, Capacitor, is the only young one, and she is an indoor cat. She won't be going outside unless we find some extra money for the necessary vaccinations, and I can bring myself to overlook the commensurate rise in local bird mortality rates. In the meantime, she is in charge of fetching whatever my husband happens to throw, at lightning speed, fur-tail flying. Who says you can't teach a cat tricks?

Friday

We now have a little bit of very green hay in the barn, requiring lots of monitoring. Lost most of the hay we cut to rain. Things we learned: (1) hyraulics can do a lot of damage quickly; (2) we need a fourth day to get the hay cured to where we want it, or we need more sun, or we need to ted or flip with rake again or something; (3) we can get about X many bales from a doubled windrow Y long; (4) shouldn't cut more than can reasonably bale under given conditions; (5) the bobolinks won't make it, because we need to cut more hay. They seem to be using the driest part of the hayfield for nest(s), which makes sense, and that is where we need to cut more hay. Lovely, musical, amazing flyers, which I don't want to run over with a mower. Wonder if they will come back next year.

Thursday morning

The picture is from part of the hayfield this morning. I raked it yesterday, and my husband cut it the day before. Will it get baled? It depends, on lots of things. A good try will certainly be made.

We tried to leave a particular part of the front field for a pair of nesting Bobolinks. Their population numbers are diving. We don't have enough storage for all the hay, and were planning to leave part of the field fallow each year in any case (cut but not bale) to reduce fertilizer needs. But, we hadn't initially planned on a "Bobolink-avoidance" cutting pattern. I'm hoping we didn't hit the nest, but since they hide it well to avoid predators, we're not sure.

Sunday afternoon

A rainy Sunday afternoon. Good day to remember good things. Last weekend was Fiber Frolic. Fiber Frolic is a small but very nice fair, which is held in early June at Windsor Fairgrounds. It was started by a small group of volunteers nine years ago, and is intended to help promote fiber arts, fiber animals, and fiber farms and products. This year, the current, expanded group of volunteers had their biggest gate ever on Saturday.

The picture of the border collie working some sheep and goats at Fiber Frolic is from the sheepdog demonstration of David Kennard of Wellscroft farm. If you know enough about sheep to be wondering why they aren't all staring at the dog in the picture, it is because David was working more than one dog.

If you are interested in learning more about Fiber Frolic, go to http://www.fiberfrolic.com/

Saturday afternoon

I just finished hand shearing a sheep on a stand. I used to raise a few sheep, but now just have five geriatric sheep to keep the weeds down in the pasture, provide manure and, well, they are pretty.

At this new place, we don't have a wooden floor for shearing, and with only five sheep I feel really guilty calling a shearer, and it would be expensive. So, I'm trying to do them on a stand. I just did the dark ewe on the left. Missed that spot under the throat.

I still need to do the bellies, but will wait until I have the heavy fleece off all of them. I'm really late shearing. Luckily, we've had a very cool spring. Hard on the tomatos, but good for people who procrastinate on getting the shearing done.

Thursday evening

Just catching a couple of minutes while the water boils for the macaroni.

A fellow stopped by a short while ago and bought several bales of mulch hay (total $30). I had been engaging in a short spurt of Olympic free-style weeding in the vegetable garden when he arrived, and was glad of the break to help load the truck.

Two of the cats brought home dead mice today, and a tire on the baler is losing air, but the big news is that about 30% of the new rasberry plantings, which my husband and I were pretty sure were dead, have shown some growth. Hmmmm, I can dream about rasberries again. It gives us hope for my husband's small planting of horseraddish, which has also been holding its own in the obituary column.

Yikes, I better get back to the kitchen.

Picture from 5/30/2009.