o canada

I have finally been outside of the U.S. for the first time ever.

And if I can help it, it won’t be the last!!

With a group from my church, my sister and I got to spend the weekend in British Columbia at an amazing conference that was spiritually rejuvenating and just all-out fun. :)

I learned so much about my God—through studying David in the Psalms with an amazing speaker. I also learned that it is warm, sunny, and springy in some parts of the world…

They even had blue skies.



The Vancouver, B.C. area is a nice temperate, wet place, so everything is so green. I love green. It’s like… the world’s best color!


I love aperture too… fyi.


Some serious moss, eh?


They even have green streams!

I love it…

(cold) and fuzzy

Spring equinox has come and gone. No surprise, then, that the weather has been particularly cold lately… that’s just Goldendale rebellion for you. I was outside in the sunny weather a few days ago, marveling that the lilac branches were already budding with leaves.



Within thirty minutes of when this photograph was taken, a massive front of blue-black clouds came roaring in. This particular bud quickly looked like this:


Honestly. More snow?!


This is where it's nice to find a nice fuzzy kitten (with fuzzier fat feet) to help you warm up. Jane works very nicely for this sort of thing.



If that doesn’t warm you from the inside out, nothing will.

Going back to my recent lamb theme, I now have pictures to share of “the Hobbits” (Britta’s triplets)!

#1

This big boy is Merry. (Specifically, Meriadoc Brandybuck.) Though we weren’t present at the birth, we have elected him oldest because he is, by far, the biggest.

#2

Here’s the assumed second-born, a midsized ewe lamb named Goldilocks. Apparently Goldilocks was some Hobbit in the actual books of The Lord of the Rings, which, sadly, I have not yet read. Maybe someday when I don’t have to read things for grades, I’ll get around to it. My suggestion for this lamb was Rosie, Samwise’s wife, but my sister prefers Goldilocks, though there is absolutely nothing blonde about this lamb. Except the fact that she is a sheep and thus has a sheep’s IQ…?

#3

Finally, this odd little creature is Peregrin Took, or Pippin. He’s the tiny one who has had to overcome a few obstacles, but is now doing well. He’s also the friendliest of the group.


Two of my girls… Rosalind is on the right. Can’t really decide if the other one is Ophelia or Juliet. They look SO much alike!

And the magpies are back. Sigh. At least nicer birds like bluebirds and hummingbirds are on their way back, too…

triplets times two

 

Another exciting announcement: My sister’s 4-H ewe, Britta, had her lambs as well—another set of triplets! Unlike Brietta’s triplets, which were all girls, Britta’s are two boys and one girl and graduate in size: tiny, medium, huge! We’re watching them closely because the littlest one hasn’t been quite as energetic as the others, and has what is called “entropion.” This means his lower eyelid is turned under, causing his eyelashes to irritate the eyeball. If this doesn’t correct itself he’ll have to have a penicillin shot directly into the skin beneath the eye. It’s a risky maneuver—not my favorite thing to do! All six lambs will get their BoSe (selenium boost) shots this evening, which should help keep them all energetic.

I haven’t gotten pictures of Britta’s brand-new lambs, but I was able to get some better ones of Brietta’s girls this afternoon. :) (I’m still debating on names for them. Big thanks for all the suggestions!! I’m taking Shakespearean heroines’ names into consideration, having just read Hamlet. Ophelia, Juliet… I need one more but I’m not really familiar with the other plays.)

Anyway, if I didn’t say it before, three lambs are quite difficult to photograph. It’s not so hard to get individual portraits, or even sometimes a pair, but getting all three into the same frame is really hard!

See what I mean? They’re all in the picture… but never all facing the right way. The nice thing about this picture is that they’re lined up oldest to youngest.

You’ve got to feel at least a little sorry for Brietta. Although I don’t know which would be worse—toting three lambs around inside your gut or having to keep track of them once they’re born?!

Okay, now for introductions. (Not sure you can “introduce” nameless lambs, so I’ll just do them in Spanish numerals. That’s what I’m calling them most of the time anyway.)

#1

Meet Numero Uno. At least, I think this is Uno. She and Tres look very, very, very much alike. She definitely has the superior/mature air of an oldest child.


#2

This is Numero Dos. She’s a precocious little imp, and her hilarious personality reminds me of a walking blooper, especially when combined with her little cocked ear.


#3

And finally, little miss Numero Tres. Although, she really isn’t little. All three are close to exactly the same size. Tres is one of the friendliest.

And yes, they are in desperate need of better names…



They’re crazy little things.