A Quiet Afternoon on the Homefront

It was a gorgeous afternoon, sunny and brisk, after a rather grey and foggy morning. This is what I call seasonal weather - clear and bright, but not really very warm. We often get a few weeks of beautiful sunshine in early spring, which raises everyone's hopes until they are inevitably dashed by another month of hard rain. This year has had more sun than usual - I hope that doesn't mean more rain than usual to come!

Since I am one of those odd people who seldom gets cold, I was out all afternoon in a t-shirt and felt perfectly comfortable as long as I wasn't in shadow, but I assume that for most folks it was jacket-weather. The ponies and the goats are enjoying the first growth of spring grass. Today I let the pig out, and he is also enjoying the grass. Pigs graze just like horses! They eat grass and clover - it just makes up a smaller percentage of their diet. They eat everything - grass, grain, meat. They are omnivores, just like people.

The new neighbor came by to inspect progress on his enormous house. I like the guy, even though he is building a giant monstrosity that will entirely block my view of Mount Baker. He's a very friendly fellow, and he has a nice family. We talked for a few minutes over the fence about where he intends to plant his fruit trees and the best kind of fencing for goats (10-foot chain link!).

I took a few pictures, while sitting in my sling-back chair and gently waving a stick in the direction of the goats if they got too close to the garden.

A sun-dog in the western sky

Newly planted herbs - two kinds of rosemary, english thyme, and grapefruit-mint.

Bush of unknown variety (something in the rhododendron family) in full, vibrant purple bloom. Note daffodils at bottom.

Polyculture. A pony, a pig, and a dairy-goat all peacefully coexisting near my kid's playset. I was thinking about this and decided to count: the species of domestic animals on the farm number seven: goat, pig, pony, chicken, dog, cat, and human. Earlier on, we would have had nine: alpacas and rabbits!