Random Farm Photos

Just sharing what I see here. I have things on my mind now that will result in a future blog post. But these photos have been lined up for awhile.

This photo is from this morning after moving to fresh pasture. These paddocks on the east side are are looking so much better after being able to irrigate and then getting warm weather. We didn’t have nearly the normal winter time growth because there was so little rain. It also helps that Dan has been mowing after grazing to take down the stalky parts that are left.

It’s mostly about sheep here but the goats are photogenic. This is how I usually find the goats in the morning. Ellie and her daughter (mostly white) are together and Amelia’s daughter (brown) has now joined the pair because Amelia is distracted by this year’s kids.

Two of Amelia’s triplets that have decided the feeder is really a goat play structure.

This is what my dahlia garden has looked like for a month. The plants finally started sprouting and then they were attacked. I don’t know what is getting them. I put out rolled up newspaper to see if earwigs were there. I put out a game camera (only for one night though) to see if I could catch ground squirrels in action at night. I have sprinkled diatomacous earth around. I don’t know if that is helping but some of the plants look better. The funny thing is that we have this one bed and there are big tractor tires at each end with more plants growing in them. The ones in the tires aren’t eaten as much—does that mean there is some creature that won’t cross the rubber tire?

Speaking of bugs I was sitting outside talking to my daughter on the phone and I noticed movement on the ground. There were dozens (hundreds?) of these bugs.

I checked iNaturalist and Google and I think they are boxelder bugs. They are under the maple trees and locust trees. Maples are listed under the description for these bugs. I have never noticed them before so maybe its something about this year or its just that I don’t usually just sit under a tree and do nothing else. These are redder than the ones I see in the photos but I think it’s because they are the juveniles. When I looked later I found ones with more brown on the back.

This is a selection from my recent ecoprinting. They are for sale in Davis at the Artery and on-line on my website and the Artery website.

This is the AVL loom before I threaded. That’s 50 yards of wool for a custom weaving project.

Its hard to make out the pattern while I’m weaving because the value of the warp and weft are similar and it’s a very open weave structure. After wet finishing the yarn will bloom, the holes will disappear, and the piece will look more like a blanket.

That is about 15 blankets woven so far. After they come off then I need to cut them apart, trim all those threads, and look for errors to fix. Then I need to do it all over again for another 20 blankets.