Hail, hail.

     We discovered yesterday that following the very quick hail storm on Sunday morning, that we have quite a bit of hail damage in the orchard.  I guess the hail hit several orchards in the area. This is not a good thing.
The only thing we can do now is wait and see how the crop will be. Hail pocked apples can only go for juice, not the fresh market. It's an apple farmer's nightmare.

     You can see the little brown marks on these little apples. Most of the orchard is like this. It is really hard to tell just how much damage has been done.
     On another topic, the exercise "walk" classes, twice a week, are doing me some good I think.  I just got home from walking "3 miles", sort of on the spot.  It's a pretty good workout but it hurts most of the time, and it seems to take a day in between to return to "normal", whatever that is. I shall try to keep it up because some movement is better than none.
     The new sign is coming along. One side is finished and I've begun the other side. The deadline is the weekend, so I have to keep at it.
     Sadie doesn't know of course, but tomorrow she's off to the vet for dental work. Hope that goes well.

Sadie and her buddy, Lindsay





     Must get back to work.  It's a beautiful day, and the sun is shining.

Getting busy

      I feel I had better get this blog written now, as the next two weeks are going to get very busy.  I am under a deadline for painting a new sign, a big new sign for a friend's family farm market. A challenge.
     I spent a wonderful afternoon with Heather last Saturday, when we went to Gaspereau Valley Fibres again, this time to check out their "Back to Back" events.  We watched a very talented lady shear a sheep.  That is really something to see. Amazing!  I bought some more wool for my felting, which of course will have to be put on hold for a while.
     We are starting to get Adopt a Tree calls, and that means signs and certificates to be done up. I have a few new ones to do.
     Sadie had a rough time of it for about ten days or so. She had a very bad reaction to Bordetella, and had a hacking cough for several days.  Medicine helped, and she is back to normal now.
     Everything is beautifully green now. Of course the green is dotted with yellow, dandelions and buttercups.  The hay in Sadie's field is getting quite high. It isn't our field, but as in the picture in my blog header shows, she likes to survey the field from atop a bale.

Amazing

The ewe almost looks like she's enjoying getting shorn.

And the coat comes off all in one piece.

    
     I guess this is it for now.

     The blossoms don't last very long in the orchard. They last just long enough to entice the bees to the trees to do their job of pollination.  In good weather, it doesn't really take very long for the entire orchard to be pollinated, and the sun has shone through most of the blossom time.  Now to wait for the set. Blossom fall has taken place and the ground is littered with the soft white, pink tinted petals, which having accomplished their task, have retired.

Gravensteins in all their glory



Macs and rows of raspberries

Flowering Crab Blossoms

     We took a road trip to Digby on Saturday. A nice day for a drive.  We stopped at a place called Bloody Creek.

Commemorates two combats between British Garrisons of Annapolis Royal and allied French and Indians in the half century of conflict for possession of Acadia: on the North Bank of the Annapolis River, 10th June, 1711: and here, 8th December, 1757.



Digby Warf

Point Prim and Bay of Fundy Beyond



Random thoughts...

     Well, we had two days of sunshine, which was very nice, and now it is overcast and quite windy, making the day cool, up here on the mountain. The nice days gave us a chance for mowing, fertilizing and more pruning.
     I had a few calls about adopt-a-tree, which means I had better get started on tree signs.  My poor little "flower garden" needs work. I bought a butterfly garden seed mat from my granddaughter in support of her school, and should get that put down soon.
     We had a nice visit from Brother in Law, Faus, who lives in Pictou.  I really would like to get up to Pictou some time this summer.  I also have other places I'd like to visit, like Blue Beach and Joggins, along with lots of visits to Ironwood.
     I've done a bit more needle felting, and am now working on painting two pins for a WINS group. There are lots of things to do.  Finding the time is not the problem, but rather finding the energy and endurance.  A  new pill for the fibromyalgia seems to be working, so here's hoping that less pain will mean more endurance.  I also had an xray done on my neck, to see if sore neck and headaches are from the fibro or perhaps I am being visited by arthur, as in arthuritis.

     Here are a few pictures I took when the sun was shining.  This wild cherry is amazing. Even after being broken off in one of the winter wind storms, the broken limb is still blossoming.

     Newly mown grass smells so good, and the willow is showing its leaves.

     This one shows the orchard and the North Mountain.  We have a great view.

     One more picture - the new little characters that I've felted.

Sunday Trip

     What a wonderful day I had on Mother's Day.  I went to Ironwood to see Heather, Rupert and the little lambs, most born at Easter time.  Dawn, Rae, Lindsay, Sadie and I piled in the car after church and off we went.  Sadie of course is always excited to go in the car.
     There were certainly lots of lambs, 10 in the barn and the first born twin Romneys, in the field with their Mom.  The older ewes were quite intrigued with Sadie, perhaps not able to figure out what she was.  She's black and white like Hazel, but........!
     Here are just a few of the pictures I took at the farm.  Hope you like them.  As I've said before, I just love Ironwood.
     Thanks to all my girls, for giving me a special Mother's Day.

the romneys

What's that?

Heather & Rupert checking lamb's sore foot.

Hard to get all wee ones in one shot.

 
    

Finishing Things....

     I'm not sure when I started the hall sign, but the first few hours were spent just giving the old board a new coat of paint.  Then came the painting of the picture, which took a while even before I started, just staring at it, and wondering what I could do with it. I had painted the picture on the sign back in the late '80s or early '90s.  I can't remember what the date said now, but my challenge was to come up with a similar picture for the "new" sign.  I didn't really have a suitable photo to go from, so had to use my imagination.  Today I put the last brush stroke on it, and called it finished.  I could keep dabbing at it, but sooner or later, one has to say 'that's it'.  Now I just hope that it is acceptable to the community club, as there's no going back.

     I have also spent some time on my needle felting.  I really enjoy doing this.  I can lose myself in it, and because I have no expertise in it, I am finding my way, making mistakes and creating, which is the best thing. I am so glad Heather introduced me to it.

    And, finally, my magnolia tree is in full bloom.  That is a sign to me that spring is definitely here.  Of course, I have seen it blooming and there has been a skiff of snow on the ground, but things are looking up, and the sun is trying to shine each day.  The drawbacks of the sunny days is that the black flies are starting to show up too.  Ah well, take the good with the bothersome.  That's life on more than one level.

Take Out Anyone?

     It appears I now have a take-out service.  Sometime last night, a bear pulled up to our green bin and helped him/her self to about a 1/3 of a watermellon. Usually, I put all my compost in paper bags, but the one time I didn't I had a "customer", a non-paying one at that.  And then, in my imagination, I can see him/her peering into the bin and spying a bagged lunch, deciding to take that along with him as he made his way across the backyard, sampling the variety of morsels, casting aside coffee grounds, filters and anything else that did not appeal to a bear's taste.  I have since moved the take out bin to a place far away from the porch, which is where it was last night.  I am not a good cook, so I'm hoping that the bear has stomach cramps, and the heaves, and makes a bear promise to never visit that green bin again.