Sheep at the Fiber Fair

Finally a chance to get really close to sheep!

All different breeds and all groomed for the show.

A Shetland ewe

And a Shetland lamb ram

A big Icelandic

At the end of their competitions some owners had their sheep shorn, and here is a master shearer at work.  The sheep was relaxed and looked like it was lying back in a barber’s chair.  The shearer wore interesting Australian felt shearers’ moccasins.

Odd Duck

Three ducks — a male and a female mallard and the unusual green-billed duck above— were dabbling around the dock at Beaver Lake yesterday.  There are apparently many hybrids of mallards, who breed freely with other duck breeds as well as with geese.

The steers were very close to the fence ;  it feels like being in the middle of the herd.

Late afternoon on the farm.

Hydrangea, Late Phase

This bloom is from a hydrangea that put forth cream-colored flowers in July, which turned blue in August, then pink in September, and now light green with violet in October.

Trying Out New Paper

A tumbly pile of cheddar black pepper boules at City Bakery

Walking after yesterday’s torrential rain I found this downed cattail near the flooded lake.

Also right after the all-day rain, this late rosebud growing outside of my studio window

Pickeralweed

These jewel-like seeds cluster in their pods.  The seeds are edible as long as the water they’re growing in isn’t polluted.  They can be roasted or eaten raw for a snack, and they can also be ground to make a nutritious flour and added to your bread flour.  You can find pickeralweed in wetland areas.

Flerding 2.0

Lush grass keeps sheep and cows busy on this late afternoon.

This Year’s Disappointing Persimmon and the Hidden Life of a Peony

Every October persimmons appear at Whole Foods, and every October I imagine hopefully that this year they will be local persimmons and will have seeds in them,  and I’ll be able to forecast the winter weather according to the Old Farmers’ Almanac.  So even though there was no sign saying LOCAL— actually I’ve never seen a persimmon tree here— I carefully chose one and rushed home to cut it open.  Yet again it was a mass of bright orange quivering jelly-like pulp without a seed to be seen.  

On a happier note, M brought us a pink peony bulb/corm/root thing Saturday, and after I dug a proper hole for it I took a little break and drew it while it was still sitting on the grass watching me dig its new home.  It began to look like a Medieval hill town to me—

Heron, Fields

Saw this young great blue heron walking on mudflats and wading at still-low Beaver Lake Tuesday.

The mountain we live on and the valley below with my favorite gynomorphic tree stump.

Last of Summer

Perfection— drawing this last fistfull of orange-pink-yellow zinnias and oregano blooms while soft rain falls outside and P plays something in a minor key on his guitar in the next room.

Sweet Time

Maya is doing wonderful oil pastel drawings this past few weeks.  Yesterday I picked her up from school and we went out behind my house and sat up on the high hilly pasture and drew in oil pastels together till the sun set. Here’s my first drawing in my very small sketchbook.

Here’s Maya’s drawing, her first time drawing thesemountains  from life.  The ever changing light was interesting. 

Here’s my second drawing, of a row of trees along the road below our mountain.  

Really Trivial But At Least Not Political

M and I wanted to canoe yesterday but no luck.  The lake has been lowered so much ( in preparation for Hurricane Irma, which was more or less a shoo-shoo here) that the water is too shallow.  The dock goes from grass to mud!  Turtles were hanging out on an old tire that had surfaced.

And this morning these dignified,  at-leisure bulls lolling in the sun in the White Barn pasture, not giving a rat’s about anything past or future.  Had to draw them on the back of an old parking pass.  Single line ten second ink sketches.