The stormy days of May

The oldtimers are predicting a hot dry summer. It's greening up around here right now and the hay fields are still very wet. It's bears, birds and cloudy skies... Lots of bears around right now. We haven't seen any on the meadow but there was a calling card at the top of the drive the other day. Lots of bear sightings on the road to town lately. We've got a good tight place with lots of fencing but we keep our eyes open as we do have what might be considered a tasty smorgasboard of sheep here. We're still getting a good frost about every third morning so it barely feels like spring most days. The meadow and fields are awash with the bright yellow heads of dandelions and that's about it for spring flowers thus far. Birds! Hundreds of birds. Swallows and blackbirds and cowbirds, Canada Geese and swarms of hummingbirds who are feasting on the high test sugar water we supply for them. The cowbirds are constant companions to the sheep. Riding them like floats in a parade. Our little ewe lam 'Bella has become terribly independent. She's off on her own grazing and barely concerned about her mom's whereabouts these days. There's a storm brewing out there... Time to shut off the power till the lightening passes. Time to refill the hummingbirds sugar water.

Till next time ...

One morning in May

Today is Mum & Dad's anniversary. Wish we could be there to give them our love in person. It's the 12th of May and our little Bella is growing like a weed. She is strong and healthy and finding her way in the small flock of sheep that is her family. Her big sister ( born last year) has been a bit pushy with the little one but they are settling down now. Spring comes late here ~ followed closely by summer. There are still patches of snow in the bush and as recently as last week we were getting flurries of snow and morning frosts. Frosts are something we see every month of the year. The trees are due to leaf out any minute now. The finches and blackbirds have been back for quite a while. The swallows came home on the second of May. Their arrival always coincides with the arrival of the mosquitoes. I swear the mosquitoes are as big as bumblebees this year. The swallows (God bless them) are our first line of defense against the mosquitoes. When not dining on the little biters they are busy re-inhabiting last years digs and building anew in preparation for the little ones... They are such a delight with their constant chatter and busy lives. We filled and hung one of the hummingbird feeders on Sunday in anticipation of those little beauties return. Two days later there they were ... Just a few early birds but we will soon be abuzz with hummers at the kitchen window. This is such a busy time of year for us! We are expecting a hot dry summer and that means fire danger. We have acres of bug killed pine (standing dead) trees that have to come out. There is the irrigation to set up and maintain, hay fields to flood and manage, sheep to shear and chickens to tend to... Time to set up the greenhouse and get the gardens going. We look forward to feasting on our own homegrown greens. Chard and spinach, romaine and beet greens ...ahhh. Yes. But first the work. Since our scenery here doesn't offer much colour as yet, here are a few flowers from a friend. My email-pal in upstate New York has been sending pics of her garden ... she is an avid grower of hot peppers and all manner of flowers & shrubs. She just sent a beautiful bouquet of lilacs ~ deep purple lilacs. So pretty. And her lovely little azalea with it's first open flowers. And on that note of colour ~ I'm back to work. Thanks Donna! And Happy Anniversary Mum and Dad!

Blossoms on you ...

Ahhhh cherry blossom time. This is a photograph taken by our nephew David Michael Finch. It arrived in an email from him this morning. I couldn't resist posting his beautiful photo. David lives where my David grew up - in the Similkameen Valley of BC. It is definately spring in the valley! Thanks for the blossoms David.

The greening snow

Even though we knew it was coming it was a bit of a shock to wake up to a heavy snowfall. There was at least 3 inches of snow on the ground by 8 am. A bit of shock for the birds and the sheep too - even the chickens were suitably subdued this morning. So we slogged outside and knocked the wet snow off the solar panels ... fed and watered the animals and reassured our little ewe lamb that although summers are short here - they are not as short as the one she just witnessed. It's just after 3 in the afternoon now and the snow has almost disappeared. It's still wet and cold but the hay brown grass of yesterday (in this pic) has been turned a whole shade greener courtesy of our late spring snowfall.

Thursday before dinner

April showers seem to be coming in the form of hail & snow. One moment it's a snow storm, the next hour it's warm enough to sit out on the back porch with a cup of tea while we throw the ball for the dogs. The ground is the colour of last summer's hay bales. The grass has a faint aura of green about it. All around us the meadow is a-buzz with springtime visitors ~ waterfoul and shorebirds, our resident moose and her yearling are to be spotted most mornings now grazing on the willows or wading knee deep through the water at the low spots on the hay field. We have welcomed back the blackbirds and kestrels, the mallard ducks and sandhill cranes, trumpeter swans, bluebirds, plovers, grouse, robins and Canada Geese. Along the road that leads to town we have seen marmots and black bears (two cubs and their mom just the other day) and of course deer, deer and more deer... We burned our brush piles this past weekend. We had a good cover of fresh fallen snow, an overcast sky and it was just the window of opportunity we had hoped for. This winter we (the 'royal we' for the most part) harvested our winter wood supply from the standing dead trees inside our fence line and over by the cabin. There were alot of brush piles and the resulting fires were impressive! The burn adds nutrients to the soil and rejuvenates plant growth. As a note to myself ~ The Massachusetts Audubon Society has an excellent resource on managing small grasslands for grassland birds. Life goes on apace. The sun was shining on the meadow this morning and we're expecting snow tonight. Right now it is raining and very welcome too. It's almost dinner time. Nice to have the wood stove on evenings like these ~ it's wet and cold outside and very cozy in the house.

Spring in earnest

We put the snow shovels away yesterday afternoon and brought the little ewe lamb and her mom outdoors from their winter shelter in the shop. Bella was born on March 9th. She and 'The Mrs' are doing splendidly. The little ewe is healthy and strong and the other sheep have been meeting and investigating the new arrival with great interest. The first dandelion has popped up her bright yellow head at the edge of the house under the kitchen window. We must add a little garden in that spot ~ plant some crocuses and hyacinths. . . Busy day ahead today. Rings to finish and lots of folks to touch base with in preparation for the next shipping day. It's overcast this morning and that's okay since it will be an indoor working day for both of us. We keep the camera close at hand to capture whatever wonders come into view today.

Trumpeter swans again ~ on a fly by

Four trumpeter swans made an appearance yesterday. A magnificent fly by!

Spring on the meadow

Some spring scenes... Moose on the meadow at sunrise, eyeing the hay in the hayshed. Our sunset on April 4th ... that kind of thing. out walking April 4th

Trumpeting spring

Just before sundown today, we had the magical pleasure of a visit by eight Trumpeter Swans. Without a telephoto lens we didn't get a good close up shot but here they are, just after they touched down on our flooded meadow.The Trumpeter Swan ~ a link to Environment Canada's Hinterland Who's Who ~ there is a great vintage clip on the trumpeter swan on their site. The photo here is from the website Venture North. We invited them to stay of course but after just about 20 minutes, they lit into the air and headed south west across the meadow.

Blue birds

Todays arrivals on the meadow; bluebirds, a redtailed hawk, robins, a couple of Canada Geese ... and a wicked spring storm. A flash of lightening and a great clap of thunder at about 4 oclock this afternoon was our cue to shut the power down. We don't take any chances with our power system. Our inverter caught fire one day a few years ago during a lightening storm. It was an expensive repair. With the power down and my laptop off, what to do? Reassure the dogs that the sky won't fall in, stoke up the wood stove, get dinner happening and bake a batch of cookies! I love my wood cook stove. There are challenges to living off the grid - cooking is not one of them. Okay, while I'm on the topic of cooking, I'd like to plug the world's finest kitchen knife... hand forged by Scott Richardson. He and Aki Yamamoto are the couple you'll meet at Cariboo Blades. If you need a good knife (or carving tools) this is where to find what you want. Check out Aki's artwork too. She creates the most amazing greeting cards and woodcarvings. It's Daylight Saving tomorrow and April Fools day too. Just a few weeks now till the hummingbirds return.