pictured, not pictured

pictured:

1. One of my three ewe yearlings.  She and her sisters will be bred next month to a neighboring ram, Galileo. They are looking so good, if a little fat. They are tremendously efficient off even the poorest grass.
2. Goldenrod, bee balm and black-eyed susans. The hummingbirds take to the bee balm, the cows eat the goldenrod. I haven't seen anyone but the goats eat the black-eyed susans.
3. Spider-dew-webs everywhere in early morning.
4. To add chaos to an already full summer, we are building a barn....or rather hiring people to build it for us. Winter is nigh and the animals humbly require shelter from the cold.
5. My gorgeous sister milking my gorgeous -but muddy- cow.
6. These quadrupeds are back from their summer in the Western pasture. It is good to hear their synchronized bleats at bedtime again.

not pictured:

1. My small victory of being the only one who could convince the sheep to jump the stream while we were moving them to their new pasture. It is really incredible to feel useful again out there in the fields. I was an insufferable braggart for the rest of the afternoon.
2. The first raspberry from the 17 bushes that Rachael gave us as a housewarming. Some year, it will be many more.
3. The slow rebuilding of a broken bridge which has effectively made an island of the Western pasture.
4. Nick's pasture management of chickens following cows coming nicely to fruition with beautiful grass recovery and a decrease in cow flies.
5. The solar coop door we now have for the chickens. Opens at sunrise, closes at dusk. Saves feathered lives. Allows farmers a more leisurely cuppa joe in the am and a more generous glass of wine in the pm.
6. Baby Leland who dominates my Instagram feed but who graciously ceded the limelight to the animals for today's post.
7. A river of labor-day revelers that are descending upon us starting this afternoon.
8. All those extra hands for holding, and burping, and bouncing the babe.