Oops. I’m late. Actually, I have not been motivated to blog the last few weeks. Can you tell? The posts have slowed down. Between the sick lambs, and record heat, humidity, and thunderstorms we try to get work done in the barnyard. The muck seems like it is knee deep (but not really) and the llama dung piles continue to grow. (It’s hard to clean the barnyard when it is in a constant state of mud…) We have the fans running in the barn and plenty of fresh water and shade for the critters. As I fill the water trough, I spray several of the llamas with the cold water from the hose. Karma, Nessa, and Minah enjoy having their neck, legs and undersides sprayed. After that they roll in the dirt; water + dirt = mud. Caked mud in their fleece – is good to help discourage flies – but bad for the Shepherdess who has to wash it out!
In this photo, the weeds at the left are about eight feet tall. They are in an area which has not been reclaimed yet. The grass is much greener than shown in the photo. This lane leads to a back pasture of about eight acres. The good news about all the rain is that we will have forage for the flock well into October or November.
I thought of taking a photo of the rain gauge. But, quite honestly, I am sick of looking at it. It has another two inches of rain in it from Thursday’s storms.
On a good note – Australian Shepherd pup Molly is doing great! Here’s a photo of her lying low in the heat.
A Sustainable Life at Roundabout Acres 
Posted by Tammy on 08/14/2010 at 12:03 PM
I’m right there with you. I don’t think we’ve gotten as much rain, –just about the right amount to keep the grass growing. I went out to walk the upper pasture today before I turn the sheep on it (after about two months off) and I was dismayed to see one patch of ragweed almost as tall as I am! Anyway the heat and humidity are killing us, and it’s a struggle to keep the livestock going.
Tammy
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Posted by becky on 08/14/2010 at 3:18 PM
I love the title of this post. I thought we would be treated to a photo of those muddy llamas. : ) The photos you did share are nice.
I agree this summer has been a tough one. It’s hard to get any work done in the humidity and I’ve always worried more about the sheep in the hot weather than I do in cold weather. We’ve got lots of clean up to do here after the storms this week. And I just hope my ewes don’t get terribly sick from eating green oaks leaves all week after that tree fell in their pasture. So far, so good.
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Posted by Amanda on 08/14/2010 at 10:55 PM
But your daughter is coming in less than a week! And even better than that, your fabulous son-in-law is coming, too! That’s good news. *^^*
(We’re not doing farm work, for the record.)
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