planting corn

covering the rows of seed

new chicks arrive

new chicks arrive

our long anticipated arrival of new chicks has finally come. the call came from the post office at 7:30 am that the package was ready to be picked up. all happy and healthy and noisy chirping little chicks. this time we chose white wyandottes, rhode island reds and cornish crosses with one surprise exotic chick. someone loves them. it may seems odd to get chicks by mail, but they travel really well and don't need food or water until they arrive. the breeders have a lot of varieties that you can't get locally and maine farmers have been ordering mail order chicks for generations. it helps the breeders continue to raise these heritage breeds when there is a need for them. we don't get new chicks every year but are anticipating a need for more eggs, so these precious little chicks will be laying hens by next spring. next year, we will be ordering more americaunas and cuckou marins. we love their beautiful egg colors.

may mist

it looks like summer is really coming. the new lambs are enjoying grazing in the lush new pasture and the apple trees are in full bloom. the days are still cool and the sun can't seem to burn off the fog that hangs over the marsh.

high tide

batson river at high tide

Cotswold sheep

the snow is now gone, for good, i hope, but i never completely count on it until the end of april. the fields are beginning to turn from brown to green. the trees haven't started to bud yet but it won't be long. the sheep nibble the new grass and enjoy the warmer, windy days.

april fool

no april fool jokes, but we had surprises, a heavy wet snow just when we and the daffodils thought spring had come and an unexpected new lamb. we thought lambing season was over but after putting the sheep away for the night i heard a noise coming from the empty shed. a new lamb? it couldn't be. i thought i was hearing things, but there she was, a tiny little lamb. either her mother forgot to take her with her, or the lamb forgot to follow her mother but it was getting late and dark so the lamb spent its first night in the house.