Ordinary Time

As you pull into our driveway, the first sign you see is this. You'll notice that would be 'ducks' plural. But we haven't had more than one duck for several years. I love ducks and ducklings; I don't love brooding them. It's the biggest reason we have had just Duck for so long. L. promised she would be the one to take care of ducklings, so in February I ordered four Welsh Harlequin ducks.... three hens and a drake... with a hatch date of May 18. They have been eagerly anticipated. Yesterday I received the notice that they had hatched and shipped. All we had to do was wait for our post office to call and say they arrived. I don't like little baby ducks (or chicks) to have to live in their shipping box longer than necessary, so I was relieved when the post office called about noon to say they had arrived. L. and I immediately cashed out to collect them.  I'm always relieved when I peek in the box and see that everyone has survived.  Can you see the little ...

But it was an intense weekend with a lot of people-ing and I don't think I have the bandwidth to write much of anything. So instead, enjoy a couple of pictures of the bagels Y. made last night. There is jalapeno and everything. They are very good.

I've spent the day getting things at home ready for me to leave for the weekend. The laundry, kitchen, and food are all in order for everyone at home. I have even nearly finished packing, which is good because I have a flight leaving first thing in the morning. I'll be heading to New Hampshire to attend the Horses and Healing Symposium for equine assisted services professionals. It also means I get to catch-up with friends from Athena , which if I'm honest, I'm looking forward to even more than the actual symposium. I have no idea if I'll have time to check in here while I'm away. I will certainly tell you about it when I get back. I'll probably also post a few updates on the Bittersweet Farm Facebook page if you're really dying of curiosity. 

With me going out of town this weekend and the temperatures supposed to become ratter warm, it was time to finish shearing the sheep. I sheared Clark on Monday, though I don't have pictures, and I finished Fred today. Plus I was getting very tired of having to look at his ridiculous haircut.  The before: And the after: I get a little faster each time I do it, but I think I probably have years before it feels natural and easy. 

When I was doing demonstration weaving the weekend before last, many people were curious as to what I was weaving. The answer was dishtowels that were going to be sold at Fine Line. More than a few times, certainly enough that I started to become aware of it, the reply to my answer was, "Oh, that's too pretty! I could never use it as a dishtowel!!"  After multiple occurrences of this particular conversation, it started to rankle a bit. Because the truth is, the yarn for the loom was all bits of leftovers. There really wasn't anything precious about it. It was also 100% cotton, which is also a pretty ubiquitous fiber. Even me pointing this out and adding that handwoven cotton towels last a very long time and actually dry things, most of the commenters still insisted they were too pretty to use.  Why don't we allow ourselves to use beautiful things for utilitarian tasks? It seems that adding beauty to your life, even for such a pedestrian task as drying dishes, woul...

That would be otherwise known as Mother's Day. When asked what I wanted to do, I suggested going to see The Sheep Detectives, so that is what we did. It was good. It was not very close to the book (Three Bags Full) though. I think I would have enjoyed it more if it was. I now need to read the book again because I read it so long ago that I don't remember some details and it's driving me a little nuts.  Many children joined us and we played outside, had focaccia pizza complements of G., and just generally enjoyed the day. I can't think of a better way to spend Mother's Day.