Stream Work

Now that the 4 older ewes have lambed we have a little break to get something else done. (Well, around giving supplemental bottles to Beyla's twins and making Mama Sadie stand still so her ram lamb can nurse.) We finally got the arborvitae out of the stream. The big overgrown branches of arborvitae fell into the stream a year before we bought this place and they really needed to be removed.

The leaves and rocks collected by the branches were starting to divert the stream and erode the bank. Most of the branches were so big and weighed down with debris we needed to haul them out of the stream with the tractor.

We overfilled our trailer three times with all the branches.
The pipe that takes the stream under the road was getting blocked too.

But is now looking much better.

We could have used the nice warm weather we have been having, but this day was blustery, cold and had intermittent snow flurries. But what an improvement!

Updates

Lots of little things going on here.
Alan has been working on the bridge. All that is left is the decking and a board along the top/railing.

The goats have been working on clearing brush.

They get quite acrobatic to get the tasty bits.

Mama Sadie is working on shedding, and looking quite shaggy.

The lilacs are working on perfuming the air with their amazing scent.

This long stand of lilacs is on the bank behind the house. With the patio doors open the smell of lilacs comes right into the house. It's heavenly.

And Stumpy is working on getting to used to her crate. She has been eating in it for a few days and has even gone all the way in. 

The hard part is figuring out the best time to catch her and her kittens. She moved them a few days ago and I know the general vicinity but I think I'll let her raise them up a little more. But we can't wait to see them!

A New Bridge!

Maddy and I went to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival today and when we got home we found this nice surprise!

According to Alan, who designed the whole thing, it is a Howe Truss bridge, a design seen in covered bridges. Hopefully in another weekend the bridge will be complete. Do you think we can bribe the sheep to cross it? The rams will be spending the summer in the pasture on the other side of the stream so they had better be able to navigate this bridge.

The Kindness of Gardeners

I met a fellow gardener who lives about two miles from me. She had too much Siberian Iris and needed it thinned out. So I went and dug out a lot of iris!

I planted a few clumps in the front yard gardens but most of it went along the stream.

She also had an amazing rhubarb patch and had just dug out some plants and offered them to me.

I added four plants to the five I had before. Hopefully, this will be enough rhubarb!

Stream Work

The stream has been eroding its banks since we moved here and today Alan had a chance to work on diverting the stream. Here are two examples of the worst of the erosion.

It was amazing how quickly Alan was able to begin to change the course of the stream.

In the photo below the new stream course is to the left and the old to the right.

We thought the stream originally followed the course to the left and after a few hours of water movement the stream found the old stream bed and the water was running clear again.

Now very little water is flowing through the old sections of stream and the new (old) course looks great. Now I just have to wait to see if any of my yellow flag irises were disturbed.

My Own Heron

The gift shop at work sells some very nice items. I spotted two heron sculptures a few weeks ago when all the spring merchandise began arriving. Unfortunately, they were pretty pricey. Wednesdays are usually special sale days and this past Wednesday was 20% of all Spring merchandise. So I asked if the heron (by this time my favorite one had sold) would count as spring merchandise and the ladies running the shop said "Of course!"  So he came home with me!

I couldn't get him to stand next to the stream since the ground is still frozen and the spike to hold the heron upright wouldn't go into the ground. But the leafy debris under the Rhododendron would accept the spike, for a little while, so I could see how the heron would look.  We are wondering if he will attract more herons or scare them away!