jonathan and james

I had the delight of meeting two very handsome young men this week. My good friend Becca Anne invited me over to take baby pictures of her new brother, James, and when I arrived I discovered that her little cousin Jonathan was visiting. So I had two babies to take pictures of! Jonathan is quite a bit older than James, though, as you will see…

I had a great time playing with the natural lighting, depth of field, and soft baby skin and hair. They were barely even crabby for me. ;)
Jonathan:

James

Cute, cute, cute!

of lamblets and tulip leaves and daffodil buds

 

Our only breeding ewe, Brietta, had triplets about a week and a half ago. The delivery was pretty difficult, but I’ll spare you the gory details and just say that we now have three healthy lambs—Gilbert and Philippa, the oldest and youngest, and Dorothea (Dolly), the tiny bottle-dependent middle child.

Feeding Dolly is my little sister’s new favorite activity. I remember having a similar enthusiasm when I was younger—I guess the enthusiasm of a six-year-old just has more natural endurance than the enthusiasm of an eighteen-year-old, eh?

Bottle babies are notorious for their messy faces. Contrast Dolly’s face with Gilbert’s and you’ll see what I mean:

Just goes to show that God’s feeding mechanism works a lot better than man’s! I’m very thankful that all three lambs are alive though... Gilbert had to be yanked out with one of his forelegs turned back, and Dolly is still a runt, but all three pulled through. :)

In other news since my last blog post (too long ago)—the daffodils are budding! Every day when I run by the poplar grove in the corner of Dad’s alfalfa/orchardgrass field, I look for the annual splash of yellow among the trees. Haven’t seen it yet, but I know it’s coming…

We’ve still got windy days, snow flurries, frosty mornings, and biting-cold air… but every once in awhile we get splashes of sunshine and hints of warmth that promise the pink-tulip days to come. :)

rain, rain, don’t go away

 

Waking up in the morning to the sound of rain pounding on the roof and pouring out of the gutters just makes me smile. Even if the sky is leaden gray, my day somehow turns out brighter.

I suppose if I spent more time on the west side I might lose my enthusiasm. But in Goldendale, we don’t have beautifully coal-gray skies or big fat raindrops often enough.

I love the way it sounds, tapping on the roof or blipping on the windshield or plopping in the puddles. I love how it smells, fresh and clean and almost like the seaside. I love how it feels, cold and wet and splashy against my cheeks. I even love how it tastes when it drips down my nose to my tongue.

Rain makes me happy. :)

the corgis

 

I am a cat person. In fact, I can emphatically say that I am not a dog person. I got cast as Aunt Pearl Burras in the high school’s spring production of Greater Tuna, and I have to admit that the one trait I can best relate to in that completely insane old lady is her manic hatred of dogs.

However.

There are a very few dogs that somehow, somehow make me almost want to reconsider. Ranger and Roger—my cousin’s corgis—are two of them.

They are so much fun. Ranger (blue leash) loves to play tug-of-war with sticks, and my little sister Amy never gets tired of walking Roger on the red leash. :)

oh, what a beautiful day

 

Sixty degrees, blue skies, sunshine, new calves, bare feet, and shorts?

Sounds fantastic to me. :)

It’s coming, people… finally!