I’ve gone outside at dusk, as the sun is fading and the day is about to get dark. It’s a beautiful time of day, and I like the idea of summing up at the end of the day. It was busy; I went to the chiropractor, shopped at the supermarket, wrote and checked on the animals on the farm, and went with Maria for the afternoon feeding and counting of the sheep. It is a beautiful time of day, and I am grateful to be able to walk around as I wish. It is exhilarating. Above, the sheep, led by our dogs, come back to have hay. The grass is turning brown, but they still try to graze with it before giving up.
The sun came down just at the top of the hill as I watched the sheep gather to eat hay. I love the soft effect of the last light.
Maria counts the sheep whenever she comes out; one or two older ones are slowing down, lying, and not eating much. Sick sheep rarely get better; we are preparing for another loss.
The Imperious Hens have returned to sitting by the Lilac bush in the wind after weeks of hiding or laying low around Zip. He seems to have accepted them, and they are slowly creeping back into the yard. I missed them.
I took this photo of Zip coming out of the barn in the sunlight. It was a strange shot in a peculiar light, but I liked it and wanted to share it. Time to have dinner, and to rest and maybe read. Have a good night, see you in the morning.
We only have a handful of sheep these days. Hair sheep. My husband is no longer able to wrestle them for shearing, and the wool wasn’t worth anything anyway. I did hand spinning and crochet for a time, but arthritis put an end to that. The hair sheep are a colorful lot, and I particularly like the black-bellied ones that look like an image from a prehistoric cave painting. The current blackbelly buck has a mane – far out!
I see you also have a colorful bunch of sheep.
We can see them come up right up out of our back windows where I throw kitchen scraps over the fence for them, and we enjoy watching them out back.
I’m mostly a bird person, and loved having chickens around the yard for company, but finally gave up having them because of the raccoons.
Handsome cat, your Zip. I like black cats, though neither of ours are. They are the latest cats dumped on our dead-end road who wandered in, looking for food and a home.
Your photo at the top of this post is wonderful.
Marcia
🙂
The Photo at the top is wonderful! Part of the essence of Bedlam Farm.
Wish you could show a pic of your sheep. I like how you admit to aging and how you are adjusting to the changes. I, too, am at that stage of life.
Photos of the sheep are in my blog every day and also in Marias