HZ Harvest

These are our two new Navajo-Churro lambs. I blogged about them in a previous posting. We are very happy to have them as this breed was almost extinct at one time. There is another type of sheep I would like to get. They are the Jacob sheep that I talked about in an earlier blog also. They are white with black spots. Although others might be born with spots, they loose them as they age. The Jacob sheep don't. They maintain the beautiful coats which are sold as pelts.

The bull is a new resident also. He is very manly but doesn't have a name yet. Let me know if you have any suggestions. You can email me at HZHarvest12@yahoo.com.

It was very cold yesterday, but we still needed to go up to the "Back 300" (acres) to check on the cows and calves. We have been ear tagging the calves as they come along. These are little plastic tags with numbers on them. They basically get their ear pierced (even the boys). Yesterday we found 2 more that aren't tagged. We now have 15 calves. They are all so darned cute. I can't help but get excited every time a new one is born. I think that we are done for the year.

While we were up there, we were treated to a serenade by the meadow larks. These birds have the most beautiful, sweetest song of any (in my opinion). We are truly blessed to have so many around us. The dove are really thick also. I bet we have about 100 of them right now. Although our ducklings grew up and flew away, we have a couple of new ducks that have flown in to enjoy the pond.

It was scheduled to rain today, but it is beautiful right now. The sky is the prettiest color of blue with fluffy clouds floating by. I think the storm may pass us by (hopefully). Although we love rain, it can come another day that isn't a holiday.

We had a visitor on Tuesday. Ralph Barrett came over to see us with his care giver. He is a joyous 91 years old this week. His cousin used to own this property in the early 1900's. Ralph is sharp as a tack and full of information. When we first moved out here, he shared his concern that this farm wouldn't support any crops. He has definately changed his mind and in fact was surprised to find that we have very rich soils. Although we do have sandy areas, the majority of the land is actually rich, loamy ground. He was very impressed with all that has been done. This is so nice to have an "old timer" who has so much experience tell us that we are doing a good job. He is such a wealth of information. I can listen to him for hours talking about the locals and the history and the events. I always want to preserve these treasures.

Hearing the meadowlarks reminded me of this:
"The child whispered, 'God, speak to me'
And a meadow lark sang.
The child did not hear.

So the child yelled, 'God, speak to me!'
And the thunder rolled across the sky
But the child did not listen.

The child looked around and said,
'God let me see you' and a star shone brightly
But the child did not notice.

And the child shouted,
'God show me a miracle!'
And a life was born but the child did not know.

So the child cried out in despair,
'Touch me God, and let me know you are here!'

Whereupon God reached down
And touched the child.
But the child brushed the butterfly away
And walked away unknowingly."

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