Wicked Witch of the Wool

My adventures in knitting and my daily life on the farm.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Weird Weather and Weaning Woes

Time to update, it's been over a week since my last post. Funny, it reminds me of "Bless me father for I have sinned, it's been 3 weeks since my last confession", doesn't it? Lost Roses just had a nice entry in honor of her Blogiversary where she comments on the similarities between blogging and the penpal writings of yesteryear. I guess I see blogging more like a confession, whether it be to a diary or a priest. I never kept a regular diary growing up, and I never confessed my sins to a priest. My mom came from a catholic family, and my dad from a protestant. They never got involved with a church, so neither did I. I had a mormon girlfriend at one point, and her family took me along to their church on several occasions. I've been present at a few catholic services, and some protestant services too. I've read quite a bit of material on Buddhism, Hinduism, and even excerpts from the Koran. There ar also several books on Nature Religions in my library. I do believe in a higher power, but I have a hard time with the dogmas of religion. My philosphy is to be the best person I can be for everybody at all times.
How's that for a confession?!

Lots of things have happened since last week. It is currently weaning time here at Goat Central. Poor Barney is almost 3 months old and could potentially become "interested" in his mom, aunt, sister, and half-sister. Since we are planning on keeping him intact, the only option for him right now is to go live with his dad. Barney is not too thrilled about the new living situation. He would gladly trade his family jewels to be able to spend time with the ladies and just be a baby. The cries are tearing at my heart strings. Not only is Barney crying, but Pebbles, his sister, is quite upset, as is his mom, Leslie. I'm surprised that I haven't had any calls from my neighbors yet, asking what on earth we are doing to those poor goats. It sounds like we are slowly strangling our little goats.
This is Little Barney in happier days, 2 weeks ago when we had some visitors here to pet the goats.....



This winter and spring has been strange. We have had countless snow storms, a very wet spring, and now it looks like summer will be odd too. 2 days ago, this is the sunset we had....



It looks like there is a fire going on, but although there are some wildfires raging in our state, none of them are in our area. Then last night we were treated to a spectacular light show, amazing colors, and a decent downpour.





I can't withhold these two pictures of 2 of my kitties.....
Here is Miss Mini Bikini playing the "Princess and the Pea". Due to the rain we have been getting, I've been storing the pillows from the deck furniture under the covered porch. She absolutely loves sleeping on top of the pillows, but she looks slightly miffed, as if there is a pea underneath there somewhere bothering her to no end.



And here is Moby Wan Kanobi, claiming my new sheep skin. If he could talk, he probably would say "This is MY spot, lady, find somewhere else to sit or I'll pierce you with my Daggers of Death".



Finally, I had promised you some pictures of my garden in progress.

My 1st clematis is blooming. I need to make some kind of trellis to support it further.



I love the purplish-blue color of my Sea Holly. The picture is slightly blurred, for some reason my camera has a hard time with close-ups.



The potatoes are really starting a growth spurt. I need to start hilling them up this week.



The Tree Mallow is blooming like crazy. The color is great, and I only hope it will survive the winter.



Cabbage perfection!



Here is my row of 18 Magnum Sunflowers. They have been positively exploding this past week....




That's it for now. I need to go spend some time with poor little Barney.

6 Comments:

Blogger Bev said...

I'm with you Ellen, I was raised Catholic and remember as a child I was so frightened going to confession that I used to make up "sins" just so I would have something to say!

Cute story about Barney. Talk about a couple of guys batching it! Sounds like you certainly have your hands full with all of them.

LOVED seeing your garden photos. I don't have a sea holly and enjoyed seeing yours. It looks healthy.

My tree mallows come up all over the place and overwinter with no problem at all, so hopefully yours will also.

Fantastic weather photos!! How about that lightning display in the middle of the night? It was really frightening. We got a small but adequate amount of rain and I was literally holding my breath that it wouldn't turn to hail. I almost went out in my nightie to cover things up, but decided to chance it.

Tue Jun 26, 03:06:00 PM 2007  
Blogger Etha said...

Your garden looks great :)
Love that cabbage!!

Wed Jun 27, 11:17:00 AM 2007  
Blogger Bev said...

Ellen, I love hearing from you. If you ever want to email me direct you can use bevgardens@comcast.net.

PS... forgot to mention how I love your kitty photos. I only have one cat and will do a post about her one of these days.

As to the ants, I don't know what to tell you. Soooo... I did what I usually do and did a search on Google. I entered "ants on sunflowers" and the first item led to a site that lots of ideas. Give it a try and see what you think. It does sound like they will eat your sunflowers. I hope you can find something that works.

Oh.. and the Salvia... No, don't cut them back until they are through with this first bloom. You will know when they begin to look like they have quit. Cut them down to just under the old blooms. I use hedge shears and have my way with them.

Wed Jun 27, 02:43:00 PM 2007  
Blogger LostRoses said...

That was a good confession, Ellen, now say three Hail Marys!

I hope your goat woes are almost over, it sounds heart-breaking! How many goats do you have altogether?

Those are some fabulous sunset views. I'll bet the smoke in the atmosphere contributed to those gorgeous colors.

Your veggies and flowers look great, but I see Miss Mini Bikini is unimpressed by anything but her pillow kingdom. Too cute! Is that a stone sink in the background? Looks intriguing!

Wed Jun 27, 11:38:00 PM 2007  
Blogger Ellen said...

Etha (Maus) - thanks for the nice comment. Yes, I am really intrigued by the beauty of something as mundane as a cabbage. It just looks so stunning n its perfection.

Bev - thanks for the tip on the salvia. I'll be sure to whip out my hedge trimmers and give them a good hair cut once they start fading.

Lost Roses - yes, that is a stone sink fountain. Unfortunately the interior hose is all clogged up, so I have been planting flowers in it for the last couple of years. I'll take a full picture of it soon and post it to the blog so you can see it in its full glory.

Fri Jun 29, 09:58:00 AM 2007  
Blogger Patricia said...

What beautiful photos. I don't think I have ever seen a sunset quite so vividly orange.
Your garden is pretty spectacular as well. I look forward to future visits.

Thu Oct 18, 04:52:00 PM 2007  

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