Spring Splendor

April broke many records for rainfall, and yesterday brought as much rain as we'd normally have in the entire month of May! It definitely makes me more appreciative of every bit of sunshine we have, and I try to focus on how deliciously colorful and green (my favorite color!) it is everywhere! I can't imagine anywhere else being more lush than here right now.

Along with the spring rain and storms come the creatures of spring, wild and domestic, with all of their flirtations and joy! Here is a sampling of some that have been seen on or near the farm in recent days... The peacock photo was taken at a friend's farm nearby. As impressed as I was with his plumage, the peahen didn't seem to care much!

A wild tom turkey was going through the same motions flashing his showy tail for some hens in front of our barn... not sure if they were any more impressed.

One of our spring crias was delighted to get outside after being cooped up in the barn on the rainy days.

I saw this behemoth walking from a little pond to our larger stocked pond... hmmm, I wonder how he or she shows off for a mate?

It was lovely to end yesterday's gloomy day with a touch of evening sun.... there's so much strife and violence in this world and I know that we are very blessed to come home to peaceful spring scenes like this.

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Ice...sometimes nice!

... well, not to some that I know (one friend still can't get out her steep farm lane!) but I hope that lots of other people were able to appreciate the beauty of this recent winter storm. The weather people have been uncharacteristically accurate lately,and we got exactly what was predicted! (Fortunately on the lower end of the snow part).The studio view was pretty dark and undramatic the day after the ice arrived, and it wasn't until today when the sun came out that the lingering ice "turned to diamonds" as one friend observed. A quick trip around the farm gave me the chance to catch these photos. (Be sure to double-click on them to enlarge).

Some of them reminded me of Horton Hears a Who, or the dream world of my artist-friend Marti who recently wrote and illustrated an awesome book entitled HapiLani- The Natural History of a Dream Land. I hope you are able to find time during this hectic season to see the beauty in the small things around you (even if the ice is a real pain in the X)&$!*!)

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More Winter Wonder!

We had more snow than expected here in Kentucky on Saturday, and I loved being home with a fire in the fireplace and lots of time to spend in the studio felting last-minute items for the Jingle and Mingle Gift Party. I did get out in the morning to give all of the animals some extra hay, and got a nice hodge-podge of snow shots.
Above, the century-old pear trees that greet visitors to our farm...The alpaca girls at the top tobacco barn (notice that some had chosen to sleep out in the snow, "Silly girls" as one friend remarked!)Fawntastic, looking out in wonder...
Snow on the pumpkin, time to get out the Christmas decorations and feed this to the chickens!
Snowmass XXman (owned by RobAsia Alpaca Ranch in Wisconsin), looking very disappointed that this is the winter in the south he had been promised!Snowhorses, Gringo, Strawberry and Sunday.Felt birdhouses, don't they look like a snug place for a bird to hole up on a snowy day?! I'm planning to list some of these for sale on my facebook page later in the week, so it's a great time to join up! Pin It Now!

Wordless Wednesday

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Llamas and Daffodils and Lambs, Oh My!

My days have been filled with mostly-pleasant spring things, and I'm not even minding today's showers as the ground was getting mighty thirsty. Here are some of the first daffodil's "friends" that have VERY quickly painted the woods with cheery color! Taking the time to plant all those bulbs years ago was definitely one of the best investments of time I've made on the farm!
My friend Dianne had the good fortune of having triplet ewe-lambs born and Mirian and I went out to see them. Talk about CUTE!Mirian is going to be getting one of Dianne's ewes soon after it lambs in a few weeks, and it was fun to see Dianne light up as she explained some of the basics of shepherding to her. Here, she shows Mirian a fleece from her recently-shorn sheep.It's always fun to visit Dianne's farm, and the special light of her barn highlights her beautiful animals in such a lovely way.Yesterday, four new llamas arrived, delivered by my friend Karen who sold us our very first llama 18 years ago! They're super-pretty boys, but will need a fair amount of handling to get them tame enough to use on our treks. That'll be a great project for the kids on spring break! (They don't know it yet)"Bandit" had broken out of his pen by this morning, and he reminded me of how llamas are a bit smarter than alpacas as we herded him back into the barn!
I've been working on our farm marketing, and would love to invite you to join the Seldom Scene Farm page on Facebook! Become a fan by our shearing day on April 10th, and you'll win a free Llama Trek for 4 with a deluxe lunch! Pin It Now!

Going to the Barn...

Sometimes it's a real pain to go up to the barn to bottle feed the cria, but then I remind myself to slow down and look around...

It sure as heck beats fighting traffic! Pin It Now!