Um. So it's June 2020. I'm pretty bad at keeping up with this blog stuff. If you've paid attention to the news lately, you know 2020 has had a pretty rough start for the world at large.
However, the farm still stands. The sheep still lamb. The hay still grows. The sun still comes up and sets each day. Perhaps I'll try to be a little more diligent this year with updates to the website. I'll start with this blurb and hopefully won't forget to add the photos of this years lambs, the ewes and lambs we have for sale, maybe updates to some of the other pages in general. The shearing is finally done for the year. Hubby and I started them in March and did a couple at a time as the weeks went on and as we had time or could fit one or two into hubby's lunch break during his work from home time amid the pandemic/stay at home order. We got all (we're up to about 50 right now) but 7 done over the last three months and my dad (the former professional shearer pulled from shearing retirement to help his daughter out) came for a post quarantine visit and to finish the last few up, 65 and still able to get a fleece off in less than 5 mins and that's while having a conversation about world issues and stories of his younger years. As for the bees, the hives are still here but the bees are not. Beekeeping is not for the faint of heart. Not only could we not seem to keep the hives alive over winter every year, no matter what we tried, it got more expensive each year to purchase new bees just to have them eat the poison on the sprayed fields that surround us (can't control what the neighbors or big farmers spray) and waste away each year. It's sad. Humans always want bigger, faster, cheaper more... Unfortunately the bigger, faster, cheaper, more tends to destroy, waste, and leave behind a lot of wonderful and amazing things. We've tried in our small corner of the world to make a tiny difference, but unfortunately the devastation of all those tiny lives was just too much to bear and I needed a break from the devastating feeling that we were just raising these creatures to die. Hubby says we'll try again soon, maybe when my taxi driving days are over (4 active kids = mom has no life or time of her own) and hubby is around more to deal with the heavy lifting and moral support. Till then we let the dandelions grow in the the yard instead of mowing and we enjoy the occasional visit from the wild honey bees that we've seen enjoying the spring blooms and we leave an empty hive sitting by the barn in case they come looking for a cozy place to move into. Hoping for some fruit this year. The past few years have been rough on the fruit trees. Warmer winters and late frosts are not a fruit tree's friend nor the owners who'd like to make peach pie and applesauce. However, the blueberry bushes are looking better each year. Hubby has made it his mission to get those berry bushes in immaculate shape and he's well on his way. They are loaded this year and I'm looking forward to a bumper crop and hopefully can offer a day or two of pick your own berries to some of the our local friends and acquaintances, but we'll have to wait and see how we fair out in the battle of the berries in the ever ongoing war with the black birds. A large netting system is in the long term plans but as we all know, good things take time (&money), so until then I'll keep moving the plastic owl and hawks around and hanging the pie tins and assume we are simply servants in God's plans. Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Mat 6:26
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June 2020
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