Daniel's & Gwen's Big Day

Not many fathers get a new daughter for a Father's Day and birthday present.  I  did, one day early.  Welcome to the family, Gwen.  Congratulations, Daniel, you finally landed her.

Gwen wanted a picture with some evidence of Daniel's neo-hippy, homesteading roots, so we set them in front of the woodpile and the sheep netting.  Gwen has a strong dislike for woodticks, so she didn't want to get in the grass.  Would have made for an interesting wedding if she had noticed one on her person during the ceremony.  But ticks are part of life and when your kids start bringing them home they'll lose their power to inspire good drama.

The best way to take pictures is when someone else is taking pictures and your subjects are looking off camera. 

All dressed up and nowhere to go....

Somebody's laying it on pretty deep here.

It was a warm, humid day and the boys were lucky that Daniel didn't have them wear coats.

You need a wide church when the wedding party is this many.

Norman Rockwell's America

Mikenjeni

Samanda

Proud parents

There's a lot of love in this picture.

Alkukesa - Summer Begins

Tall and trim with impressive horns, Helga is one beautiful ewe.

Gunnar's horns are curling out nicely.

Tuovi at the Wiitala farm.

Sauna and well house.

Evening sun.

The old granary, now a woodshed.

So many good memories at this place.  It's always a pleasure to visit.  You can hear the quiet and really see the stars in the evening.  Thank you Peter and Patty, for taking such good care of it.

Portable electric netting allows us to move the sheep onto fresh grass.  It keeps the sheep in and predators out.  Our dogs have touched it - but only one time each.

Marja wanted to get all the sheep together for a picture so she tapped on an empty bucket.  When they all stood there baa ing she felt guilty and got some oats for them.  All you need to do is walk past carrying any kind of container and the choir starts up.

The Flock Expands

Sonja meeting her new flockmates, Ragnar and Helga.

Ragnar missed his fall shearing, so he was pretty shaggy.

Ever the ladies man, Gunnar makes his introduction in his typical straightforward fashion.  Alas, the lady wasn't in season.

Ragnar after he got his hand shears home haircut.

Spring Chores

Lolly getting her spring haircut.  She came in looking like a fuzzball and left looking like a cow.  If any hairdressers would like to use that as a slogan you're welcome to it.

Sonja getting fleeced.  You really appreciate that expression when you watch a skilled shearer at work.

This is why I could never be a shearer.  You have to be able to  touch your toes easily and work in that position.

Our shearer Paul Hornung is amazing.  He is gentle and firm with the sheep so that they struggle very little, and he makes the whole job look as easy as peeling a bananan - except that the fleece comes off in one piece.

You're not my momma!  Unfortunately Vappu did not recognize her own mother.  Sonja pursued her for the rest of the afternoon.  Vappu cried off and on for about 4 hours until she finally figured it out and began to nurse.  By then Sonja's udder was very full.

Jonathan digging a furrow for the potatoes.

Four fifty foot rows.

Grandpa splitting wood.  Going on 92 and still going strong.

He and Jonathan have already got over half of the 11 full cords of firewood split and piled.

Dandelions, the bane of all those shriveled souls who can no longer take a child's delight in their beauty.

Monarch in the lilacs

Tiger swallowtail.  Trust me, you need to take a lot of pictures of these critters before you get a good one.  They flit about from flower to flower so quickly.

Planting the other garden.  I've got to start giving them names because we have four of them now.  In the foreground the densepack strawberry patch that produced 70 quarts last summer. 

Approaching thunderstorm.  It rained all afternoon and intermittently hailed.  Got  an inch and a half of rain and the temp fell to 50  (It was 90 the day before).

The sheep appreciated a break from the flies, which had been pestering them in  during the hot weather.  Without their long wool they were particularly susceptible.

The Green Grass of May

Vappu has been home at mealtimes.  She weighed 8# when she was born, and here 16# two weeks later.

Now that we have the electric netting up, the sheep have plenty of new grass to  graze.  They've also been  scratching their heads on the lower branches of spruce trees so that a lot of dry twigs get broken off and tangled in their wool.

Chow time!

I wanted to get a closeup picture of the lush grass so I held the camera right up to the electric netting.  Right after this picture was taken the breeze moved the netting so that it touched one finger.  My whole arm automatically jumped back.  An 8000 volt pulse gives you quite a jolt.

Vappu is learning to graze.  It takes several weeks before a lamb's digestive system develops the  bacteria needed to digest grass, so momma's rich milk is still her mainstay.  Sonja has to eat for two.

Grazing is just a hobby for lamb, but it's serious business for a sheep.  They have to fill that big rumen to keep the fermentation going.

Vappu is easily the fastest runner of the flock now, but of course she will slow down once she develops that big "hay gut".