A Beautiful Sunday Afternoon in April

We had the horses grazing around the garden in a temporary electric fence this afternoon. About 7:30 p.m. we went out to put them back in Kara's Pasture with the cattle.  I glanced down the hill and saw a flash of water around a cow's knees as one of the girls waded the wet-weather stream to munch on some brush along the fence line.

"Look!" I exclaimed.  "There's water in the stream.  Let's go take a look."  So we shut the pasture gate behind us and set off down the hill to explore.

The horses and cattle all followed us.  After all, we're the Food People!

We left them behind as we went into the Back Pasture and over to the pond.  With all the rain we've had, it was full, and to my delight the wild azaleas were beginning to bloom on the far bank.

Thick moss along the edge of the pond glowed golden green in the afternoon sunlight.

The azaleas made a splash of bright pink among a bunch of young pines that have sprung up on the bank.

Halfway along the far side of the pond, I turned around and looked back.  Kara's house is hidden behind the two light green Bradford pears in the distance.  The barns and our house are hidden by the bright green Valentine Tree at the right of the photo.

I meandered along toward the head of the pond, still on the far side.  I haven't been back here in over a year, and I'm making a mental note to come more often.  I love this view of the farm!

Here I'm standing almost at the fence line where a tiny stream flows from the hunting preserve onto our property and widens into the pond.  I'll have to look up a photo taken from this angle a few years ago to show how things have changed.

We came back into Kara's Pasture and walked along the stream, surprised that it was still flowing so full after the big rain four days ago.  This is a wet-weather stream that only flows when we've had plenty of rain.

Who knows where these jonquils came from?  I'm guessing a squirrel stole a bulb from somewhere, buried it here--and forgot where he put it!

We decided to let the animals into half of the Lower Pasture.  The horses had followed us hopefully so we let them through the gate.  As soon as Sara and Siobhan saw the gate swing open, they both burst into a bucking gallop as fast as they could come!

I just caught the tail end of Siobhan kicking up her heels and stretching her nose toward the finish line.

Hero heard the pounding hooves and came running.  He never passes up a chance to join a race!

This is one of my favorite photos I've taken in a long time.  Look at Siobhan with only one foot on the ground and that grin on Hero's face; Sara has only one thought in mind:  "The grass is greener on the other side of the fence!"  When it comes to food, no one can say about this gal:  "Always behind, just like the old cow's tail!"

The minute everyone got through the gate, their heads dropped to the ground like they were pulled by giant magnets.  Who knew grass was magnetic?!  They're all like kids getting turned loose in a candy factory!

Up on the hill in the Home Pasture, the sheep got excited by the running down below and went bounding across their pasture in a parallel race.  The front runner was already into the wooded copse before I realized what was happening.

It only took a few bounds for this guy to join his buddy.

As the Alpha Animal, beautiful Brandy gets to go graze in someone else's spot if she decides it looks better than hers.

I think I'll entitle this photo:  "Does this pasture make my butt look big?"  Butts is all you see of anyone with their heads buried in the new grass.  This is one thing I love about spring:  The animals' glee the first time they get into a fresh pasture that hasn't been grazed since last year!

By this time it was 8:15 p.m. and someone else was clamoring for his supper, so I had to grab my last few photos in a hurry.  I could have happily stayed and soaked up this beautiful sight for quite awhile if I hadn't had a hungry hubby champing at the bit!

Even the sight of his orchard in bloom barely slowed him down!

While Herb fed the dogs inside, I went out to tuck up my baby birds for the night (that's another post).  Rambo and Obaama heard me and came leaping up the hill.  They were kicking up their heels, not for the grass they've been enjoying for several weeks, but for the bit of laying crumble I give to their avian pasture mates, Ping and Grace.

Grace had already put herself to bed in the coop, so I poured a bit of crumble underneath for her breakfast . . . or not!  Here are two more busy butts--attached to two heads reaching under the coop to eat Grace's crumble.

By 8:40 p.m. all the animals were fed and tucked in, so I headed back to the house.  I'd dawdled as long as I could in the beautiful spring evening, and there was one last mouth to feed before everybody would be a happy camper!  After all, if Papa ain't happy, ain't nobody happy!