May Haying

It's been warm and dry. The hay's ready to be cut and baled. We're hoping for rain AFTER it's all under cover.

Consultation in the field about the dryness of the hay.

The ducklings and goslings have graduated from the kindergarten brooder into a large wire coop. New ducklings are coming tomorrow via a friend, so the duckling brooder needs to be readied. The brooder in the chicken house is all ready for the new chicks that started hatching today. In the meantime, they're in a cardboard box under a brooder lamp.

Cool Rain

We got some rain yesterday -- much needed. Lettuces are coming up in the garden. Today, I'll plant seedlings, as more rain is predicted later.

The air smells of clean multiflora rose, which is blooming in our pastures. When the wild rose blooms, so does the wild brambleberry, promising new wine.

The irises are fading; peonies in glory; daylilies budding out. It all happens so quickly.

Meanwhile, I ponder the familiar phrases uttered by those who don't really have an insight into the meaning of:

"Setting duck" (sitting duck)

Don't put all your eggs into one basket.

Make hay while the sun shines.

Quick Update

Iris are blooming beautifully all over the farm. There is a nice, big vase full in the house, wafting the pleasant old fashioned fragrance through the room. Peonies are just starting to open, as are African iris types. Ditches are filled with purple Sweet William and a couple of Columbines have opened up.

We've got three new calves since I last wrote: Blossom, Persephone, and Daphnis.

Some ducklings and goslings have hatched and chicken eggs and a few guinea eggs are in the incubator.

Lettuces are coming up in the vegetable garden and I continue to harvest asparagus.