Just thoughts....

This post written May 23rd.  This may be the last of the pleasant cool days of spring.  I am sad about that because I love the feel of spring fresh breezes and and the smell of new earth turned in gardens, and lawns crisply mowed. Perhaps we will have tomorrow too, but after that I believe summer temperatures will be here in more force than spring temps.  Already we have had several doses of what's to come: during the past three weeks we've had runs of several days each at 84* and above.  Add humidity and that puts me inside, except to tend to the sheep, cats and the garden.  I do a lot of work after 5 pm outside. Today I planted more vegetables: green beans, sugar snap peas, Swiss chard...a few herbs like dill and more chives.  My potatoes that went in week before last are planted in the upper orchard, but today I worked in the 4 x 4 raised beds and the deck containers.  Here in our garden, because of my great love for the mousing capability of barn cats and any cats they may have over for barn dances and the like who decide to stay on for the foreseeable future, we take precautions against my sweet collection of cats. I cut hardware cloth with tin snips to lay over the beds and containers until the plants have sprouted and gained a footing.  This is because the cats just think that when I till the ground I am preparing a nice litter box for them.  Our land is full of wooded area, fields, and dirt patches, but no, they must distribute gifts close to the house!
As I write, I sit in a section of the land we are cultivating into a forest.  This connects with our pasture and the sheep graze around me and some wander out into the upper pasture. The trees we planted in this little spot are just as many as the number that God planted.  We left whatever saplings or very young trees that were already growing here in place, cleared the weeds and brush around them, and then added 6 or 7 more of a few different varieties.  To that we added some shrubs and let some wild Russian Olive bushes  grow as they may.  It has turned out to be what we hoped- a natural looking wooded area with some spots open here and there, ready for the next young hardwood I see sprouting up around the edges of the old forest land.  I don't need to buy oak, hickory, maple dogwood, sycamore, pine, tulip tree, sweet gum, and holly among others.  They take root and spring up along side the wild honeysuckle, blackberry, mountain laurel, and all sorts of other green goodies all over the place.  Any of these are free for the taking and transplanting thanks to God's abundance.  This little forest we are seeding changes frequently as we add to the mix.
I am a closet tree hugger (no really, I secretly hug trees 😏) and so I would plant one every two feet in a big mass of bark and leaves, but Mitch reminds me they need room to grow.  So I patiently hone my patience (apologies English teachers) waiting for the future development of this beautiful bounty.

On the Farm Today

 This morning I thought, if you can't stand beside me, I can paint today for you to imagine. The sky was crystal clear blue, a light breeze tossed my hair every once in awhile, and the sun warmed my skin just enough. The temperature was smack in the middle of spring coolness (between 65 and 75) not hot or humid, which is my favorite kind of spring day. The grass fairly lept  off the land with bright green vivacity.  The air so fresh and clean, even though I know the pollen was thick because I can see it wafting across the front lawn from the forest when the wind blows.  The pollen lies in a light green layer on the table even on our screened in back porch.  I wipe it off each day, but it returns daily.  My little white Siamese kitten follows me around today, playing catch me if you can with any bug I unearth as I turn the soil in my planting beds.  The shovel makes a crunching noise as I slam it down into the dirt with my foot. As I move the soil around the deep smell of the rich earth makes me want to plant twice as much as I have planned. Bees of all sorts buzz around the farm, busy on their assigned tasks spreading pollen so flowers and fruit trees can produce beauty and delicious tasty treats for us.  The geese on the pond set up a racket, honking to call everyone to attention before they all take off seemingly simultaneously from the pond's surface.  As they pass overhead, they are so near me I can hear their wings flapping in a low whoosh, whoosh. Wondrous.  The sheep find tons of delicious green options from which to choose for food: pasture grass, clover, sticker bush leaves, Russian olive bush leaves, low creeping vines and tiny plants whose name I know not. Chaucer's wool is so perfect. I can't wait to spin it. The stream behind the pond tumbles over rocks, trickling lightly.  The barn swallows scold me for entering the barn while they are nest building. I think they are beautiful and I smile and sing them a song called "God's Beautiful World" from my childhood. Across the pasture at another house a child squeals in playtime delight. A squirrel tosses leaves around in search of last year's nuts.  Ketzal our small dog barks at two cats playing in the birch tree out front.  Ants scurry with purpose around the driveway.  The onions I saute for our evening meal are from the store, but I will plant this year's crop tomorrow in the upper orchard. The dew alights in evening as the farm falls to sleep.

Why I Am Called The Singing Shepherd

This is a post I wrote last week for something else, but thought you might find it interesting.
As I type, one of my ewes, Winnipeg, nibbles on the iPad cover.  She leans against my leg and lets her eyes say "pet me."  The humidity clings to my skin as the clouds approach to deliver a spring rain shower. This evening I feel relaxed in this task that is so comfortable to me: writing.  Not so earlier today as I wandered around in the internet world.  Today I began the tasks which, this past weekend at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, I learned were necessary to move my sheep enterprises from sheep in the field to wool in the hands of spinners, knitters, and crocheters, felters and crafts artists, yarn purveyors and other interested folks. I took a class that taught me so much about the social media world of these talented people and so I began to set up accounts and explore forums, websites, and blogs. I established myself as the "Singing Shepherd" and will use that name throughout.  I am still figuring out how to interconnect everything.  But tonight I thought in this post I would tell you why I chose the name "The Singing Shepherd". 

Singing is my second language. I was humming tunes in the womb I am sure because I can never remember a time when music wasn't threading its way through my mind at all hours of the day and night. I think in terms of melodies and harmonies, breathe in all kinds of music like oxygen, see the beauty of music in all of nature, and love love love to sing.  So many songs, so short a lifetime to sing them all (or at least listen to them). Saying that I love to sing is understating my life's every moment, all my days and years. Each day I wake up with a song running through my thoughts and often sing songs to myself in my head to lull myself to sleep at night. Without thinking, I add a song to many tedious daily activities; and often in sorrowful times, I find myself remembering the words to an old well loved hymn from church. From my conception I was embraced in music.  My mother and father both loved to listen to music, mostly orchestral or choral, or what we now call "easy listening" music.  Mom had lots of records of Broadway classics, all of which saw many a turn on the old record player.  As I mentioned, hymns also were instrumental (no pun intended) in my upbringing.  I was listening to  hymns many times a week in church services before I could speak, and definitely remember singing "Jesus Loves Me, This I Know", an old Baptist standby,  as a toddler with mom.  Singing became as much a part of me as breathing.  And thus it has been these 54 years.  I grew up a vocalist before I ever was identified by someone else as one, and eventually became an opera singer. From opera to sheep-wow what a journey!  That's a story for another day.
Suffice it to say, I sing even when I don't realize I am singing, always humming around the house or as I walk around outside.  So one day long ago, it seemed like a fun idea to use a song to call my cats to mealtime, instead of "here kitty kitty".  So as I put out the cat food, I sang "You are my Sunshine", and the rest, as they say, is history.  The daily repertoire varies, they like anything, and so whatever I'm feeling that day they get music wise.  Sometimes it's a Mozart aria, sometimes it's a nursery rhyme.  Therefore it seemed only natural that when we became sheep owners, that our sheep family join in on our musical farm tradition.  They love it-I can tell of course-because they come running.....that bucket in my hand has nothing to do with it :-)
So there you have it- How I got the name, The Singing Shepherd.  Wanna join me in a song?

Greening up and Mowing Down

Things are really greening up here- fields and lawns have sprung to a growth level that requires mowing and trees now are in almost full leaf.  The pasture grasses are tasty to the sheep and they contentedly graze all day, reducing their hay intake drastically over the last month. Who wants dry hay when succulent grasses are to be had?   Although this blog will focus on our farm and its impact on our lives, it will also most likely always contain a bit of me just sharing my thoughts as regards observations I make of life around me. I will often wax philosophical here (apologies). See, my mind is constantly looking at day to day things in the light of their symbolic nature because metaphors surround us every day.  Often I can see God's messages to me that way.  Daily things like mowing the lawn......I thought today as I sat atop the mower that these grasses we cut might be a good metaphor for the events, both positive and negative in our lives.  The busyness of our lives sometimes grows and grows.  We agree to add this or that to our schedules, thinking one more thing can be managed. But, eventually, all that activity adds up and we find ourselves, our lives, overgrown, needing a little trimming. If we let it go as it is, things would get out of hand, the weedy, needy parts taking precedence and the sweet parts getting crowded out.  Did any of us find ourselves in the last year saying oh well to the loss of another quality family experience because the "tyranny of the urgent" changed our plans....again?   Sometimes, rather regularly in fact, during certain times of the year, we must get out the mower and give the lawn or the field a good cut. It's necessary for the balance to stay intact.  Did you know that even the sheep don't like the tallest grasses?  They will gravitate to those shorter grasses, with young, lush taste and high nutrient levels.  Maybe we should take a cue from their God-given instinct.  What is the spiritual, moral, or physical nutrient level of our life's different regular activities?  Would the balance be more healthy if we brought the mower into play and did a little trimming?  Just every once in awhile so the weeds don't get out of control-or think they are IN control.  Hmmm...I'm already thinking of some things I'll cut, in favor of something else more important. Keep your mower handy. 

This Blog Under Construction - Pardon our dust...

still designing this blog, please bear with me.  I am learning  what each design element entails, where to put photos, how to move elements around, etc.  thanks for your patience.

Midnight notes

Frequent posts-fair warning!  You'll read Lots of observations about the world around me as the farm changes with the seasons. You know, everyday stuff. But if you're wishing you could be a "fly on the wall" to life here on the farm, these should get you picturing yourself here. Tonight the world around me sleeps. All I hear is one lone bird singing his love song to his listening paramour....love under the stars.  My mind is a whirl with the things I want to share with you, my new reader friends.  This blog has sparked my love of writing anew.  Fun times ahead!

My First Blog Post Ever--- Vulnerability Personified!!

Hello family; friends; acquaintances; fellow musicians, dramatists, writers; fellow shepherds and fiber enthusiasts; curious onlookers; and anyone in the rest of the universe who may be listening in.....everyone and anyone. You are invited to wander around inside my mind every now and then! Whenever I open the door, be sure to walk on in and make yourself at home. Curl up in the big comfy chair by the rock fireplace;  or wrap yourself in a vintage patchwork quilt and shiver deliciously on the back porch while snow falls beautifully all about; or scatter the falling autumn leaves with me as I chase them to the ground; or push your fingers deep into the warm spring earth as we plant herbs side by side; or pick that corn off the stalk and right there and then bury your teeth in its sweet kernals as we stand in the garden, arms full of ripe tomatoes and green beans, the summer's bounty; or watch the sheep being sheared and wonder at the lovely, silky, soft curls of wooly fleece. Sit with me in the kitchen at my old farm table, have a glass of my sweet ice tea made with my mommy's mint, walk around the house and look at the primitive wares, pet my many cats, have a conversation with my old dog Ketzal, pick an apple in our orchards, or a plum or a pear, go fishing in the pond, climb into the loft of the barn and howl at the moon,  walk the trails to the lake, or wander across the meadow with my sheep. There is so much of life to live, so much and many things to experience...oh it's too splendid to describe! 
A window into my heart and mind will find us in myriad places, as we walk in the wind, play in the snow, dance in the rain, soak up the sun.  Come read, sing, play, or cry with me...run, walk, crawl, or fly with me.  My thoughts run amuck and happily so. The inside of my mind is ever developing, always wondering, loving learning, and constantly thinking. It is colorful and monochrome-vibrant in either case. It is full of everything this amazing world offers, and yet roomy enough to add even more. I get lost in there sometimes! But I love it because I love to engage in the act of living, and I hope so will you. It's more than a little scary to open myself and my heart/mind up to you-be it magnificent or miasma or anything in between. So please be considerate, gentle with your comments, amused but never hurt, and understanding of the words of this weird, wacky, whippersnapper. I can't be normal so you can't read with normal expectations.  God has made me unique, as He has you-ain't that great? I can't wait to explore life with you my new family of readers.  Let's jump in with both feet!