Wickedly hot temperatures for the last month of June. Our average June high is 79 degrees, but it was over 90 for several days in a row, with a high of 98 on June 23rd. The humidity was also up there. We spent a lot of time hauling cold water out to the pastures for the sheep. They seem to drink a lot more if we place random buckets in the field for them. Now, it's almost chilly, with highs in the upper 60's! Nice... 
Salem the llama got a much needed trim, just a rough looking barrel cut.
We continue to enjoy a nice amount of rain, so the pastures look good.
Delphine and her triplets, hanging out in the shade.....
just Isn't this just the cutest little smiling Icelandic badgerface ram?
The girls will sometime get into a bit of a tussle, but it's too hot to get serious about it this time of year. 
The yearlings are getting big, and starting to challenge some of the older ewes. Without lambs to nurse, they are maturing beautifully and have been very carefree these past few months.
Even though we've lived on our farm for nearly 15 years, we still find new creatures. I noticed this bird, the Eastern Townhee while I was up in the secret garden. It had a different call, and was large, like a blue jay. Both the male and female were upset, causing quite a stir. Then I saw why, their nest of newly hatched babies was hidden on the ground, in danger of being trampled by grazing sheep. 
Just yesterday near my milk house door, this HUGE cecropia moth had just hatched. I was amazed at the size of it's six inch wingspan-wow!
Garden work continues as well. We have several of the "Endless Summer" hydrangeas. They really are lovely hydrangeas for northern gardeners, since they bloom on both old and new wood. They can be in all shades of pink to lavender to blue, depending on your soil. This one is under one of my blue spruce, and was a nice lavender shade. I gave it a bit of mir-acid and the blue shade on the blooms just popped! 
Delphine and her lovely daughter Geranium
Fudgy boy!
I think it's time to start thinking about weaning some of these lambs!
3 comments:
Why does Salem have a barrel cut? We just got Fuzzy (not our choice for a name) and she is cut all over. Im new to all of this. Your sheep are beautiful. I love the triplets nursing!
Kelly
The barrel cut gives them some relief from the heat, without expossing too much skin to the flies. Flies seem to like llamas even more than sheep! Plus, Salem was getting very impatient with us.
Your grass is lovely! We have dried up quickly here this year.
I need to shear my llama still and the barrel cut is looking very appealing! I never knew that flies were one of the reasons for shearing in that manner. I know he was a lot more comfortable last year when he wasn't sheared. He doesn't have a lot of fiber, so he just needs done every other year.
It definitely feels like summer here :)
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