Productive (Exhausted)

Our ewe Isabella continues to lose wool. The large bare patch on her side that I hoped was due to mean goat Annabelle now accompanies bare patches on her tailbone and her other side. Somehow, I doubt Annabelle could spear her tailbone. The angle isn't quite right.

Is it nutrition? (The sheep have their fancy nutrients still.) Or, perhaps, small bugs? Phil spread Diatomaceous Earth on her. DE comes from the fossilized remains of a hard-shelled algae. My understanding is that it gets into the soft parts of insects and lacerates them to death. Thus, it's an effective pest control in the garden. We're hoping it's effective for our ewe, too.

Phil and I planted eight trees before noon. Then we drove to the mechanic's to get our truck (the transfer case had lost all its bolts!). Before we took the truck in, Phil had filled it with much trash (Christmas wrapping paper, empty food cans, and all the non-organic detritus that builds up). There was a landfill on the way home, so he dumped the stuff.

After a quick lunch, we headed back up the hill to plant some more trees. Eight more, bringing the total to 41 (ten percent!). The children all played happily in the red clay, until the very end when Joe accidentally stepped in a wet hole, and the middle three children, all barefoot, all got cold feet at about the same time. Of course, their feet were very dirty, and the well water remains very cold to bathe in.

Jadon had a great day riding his bike all over the property. Uphill and down, along the cleared rows for trees, over the furrows Phil dug in the fall of 2008. He took a spill, but kept his smile.

Then to the Bessettes for our Saturday evening bath, and home for some final paperwork/work.

The sunny weather stayed in the low 40s, apparently, but it feels like marvelous spring. Apparently, December and much of January are more like this. How lovely!

I am thankful that tomorrow is a day of rest. I am tired out.

No digging for us tomorrow!