The seasons turn on, and after summer's last hot hurrah, the temperatures have dropped appreciably. The rains have returned, which many are grateful for after the long, unusually dry period. There had been local fire watches and a couple of mercifully small bush fires along with a full-out burn ban which has yet to be fully lifted until it's known whether the rains are here to stay.



The cats are appreciating the change in season, idling while we humans work. A fence has been erected around the garden area,
enclosing the chickens' area. While it needs to be shored up, still, it is sufficient to keep the eight hens and one rooster in - and has been pressed into triple service as a clinic for ailing sheep and lambs.



One lamb from the cull flock had been stricken by likely anemia and parasite load, so he was taken out and determined to be potentially savable. A friend was taken, and the two ram lambs put
in the enclosure with ample sweet feed and mineral and access to grass and water. Ailing lamb was treated with Ivermectin (a standard dewormer) and while it has taken time, he has gradually grown stronger with a minimum of further assistance. We are


hopeful that within the next few days, we will be able to return him to the rest of that flock.

With the cooler weather, the sheep water consumption has dropped, although we farmers still must see to it that their water is topped off (along with our coffee). The bachelor flock has shown signs of smelling the first hints of rut, with Northern Spy going at it with the two blond rams at times.

So far there shows no question but that he will win out over them, every time. The larger rams in there - Kingston Black, Hercules and Bolivar - show no real interest in their fighting, for whatever reason. We do intend to deworm everyone sooner rather than later - the cull flock especially, to give them time to pass the dewormer out of their systems prior to culling. For Ivermectin, this is 11 days. We have an additional round of deworming to do, however, and we are still discussing what the most effective way to do this is.

Currently we are making progress with our licensing paperwork, and if all goes well, this autumn will be a busy one for us. We hope to be in a position to crush a ton or so of juice for blending with honey in our fermentation tanks. Even if it is delayed, however, the process of paperwork and preparation for inspections combined with deworming nearly 80 sheep will keep us quite busy
indeed.


We intend to face down the winter with a freezer full of lamb and mutton raised ourselves, and hope that with nestboxes to be built, there will be eggs and chickens for months to come. Should all else fail, there are also the ducks and geese, and one of the two mature duck hens has gone broody under the porch, so we are hopeful of more ducklings to come. Even in lean times, country folks conspire to eat and drink well.


For now, it's a return to the work of the day, and with cheerful looking forward to the long snoozy evenings with mulled cider, perhaps, and something savory to snack upon; hot apple pies and mutton stew, full of potatoes and root vegetables, fresh-baked loaves of bread and slices of aged cheddar. Old Man Winter's breath is on the pane, but the farm continues on.