Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Taking advantage while we can

HA! Lookee what showed up as a draft this morning -- the one missing post from last week, when Blogger was having technical difficulties! Goodness knows where it's been for the last week. So here's the missing post once again.
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In the midst of our soggy boggy spring, we had two days of sunshine. Two glorious sparkling DRY days of sunshine. The temperature even got up to 75F yesterday! Unbelievable.

Sunrise, as I discovered, is at 5:30 a.m. right now. I say "as I discovered" because it's been so long since we've had sunshine that it took awhile to figure this out.


Some early bars of sunshine across the fields, with dawn mist creeping through the canyon that surrounds us.


Seen in actual sunlight, suddenly everything is wonderfully green.


The livestock just soaked up that sun. Here's Thor and Polly taking full advantage.


Even our strip of daffodils glowed in the weather.


For some reason the calves love lying in the garlic boat, where I planted my garlic late last fall. The garlic is coming up just fine except the calves keep pressing the greens down, the little turds. This is why we need to do some serious infrastructure work on the garden...like build decent fences!


The entire population of north Idaho exploded outdoors. Everywhere we went, we saw people spilling outside on the slightest excuse -- working on yards, roofs, cars. People were hanging laundry and mowing lawns in droves. In town, the playground was heavily occupied, and some people had just pulled chairs outside and sat soaking up the rays.

We were no exception. Don decided to work on clearing out the spot where we plan on putting the bull pen. It's piled high with manure from the winter. He's moving the fresher stuff into a separate pile to compost...


...and he moved the lower layers, which are fully composted, onto the strip of garden I'll be planting. He couldn't bring the tractor through last year's plowed up ground because it's too wet and he'd sink the tractor, so he had to drive along the unplowed edge to spread the manure.


The day ended with a subtle but glorious sunset that got prettier and prettier.


And that's it for the sunshine for awhile. Last night clouds moved back in and rain is expected for the next few days. The running joke around here is, "Hope you enjoyed spring, are you ready for winter?"

7 comments:

  1. I know it's kind of silly, but I love how you refer to Thor and Polly. Makes me laugh every time.

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  2. Yes, we have been taking advantage of the beautiful North Idaho weather too and getting the manure into the raised beds and putting the black plastic on them! Checking pasture fences (and the finally growing grass)and cleaning. Even our Jersey cow, Miss Tilly got in on it yesterday and presented us with a beautiful purebred heifer calf 5 days early! Okay, so we had to stop everything and oogle the new arrival, Fiona. We weren't quite ready, but she was!
    Paintedmoose

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  3. I'd like to curl up on the hay with Polly and Thor.
    Kay

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  4. yes sunrise is earlier now...and i am thanking my lucky stars that i do not live in a flood zone or anywhere near a flood zone. i am noticing bird and wildlife migration from the flood zones here in mississippi to our hill country..so time to get a fence up around the garden and nets to protect fruit. keep on posting those sunrise and sunset photos- they are so beautiful.

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  5. Looks like you really enjoyed yourselves. We enjoyed yesterday for the opposite reason: we had a good storm and much-needed rain. I wish we could channel some of the flooded Mississippi over here to Oklahoma!

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  6. There may be more truth to that joke than I care to think about.

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  7. I am loving your blog. I grew up in a small rural mountain community and I am now "stuck" in the city. Reading your blog makes me long for "home". I really miss raising animals, having a garden and the serenity that comes from the country life. I never thought I'd be raising my boys in the city, it was never in my plan. I hope one day to be able to take my family out of the city and enjoy the blessings that come from working together side by side. I pray that the day will come soon, but until then I will read blogs like yours that keep me connected to my roots and keep me on the path to my goal. Thank you. May you and your family continue to be blessed as you bless the lives of others. PS...the "simple" life people refer to IMO is not that it will be "easy" but simplified from the complications of the world, like exposure to liberal imagery, overexposure to technology...

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