the yin and yang of it

back home after the long trek from Australia.

 as Dorothy says "there's no place like home".

I walked into the kitchen in the early morning hours from the airport

to spy the box of ashes from our ewe, Jackie-O on the side table.

her tests (demanded by the state and here)
all came back negative, as I knew they would.
she died from natural causes
despite the frenzy to find a deeper reason.

although cremation for farm animals is over the top,

in this case I was not willing to have her 10 great years spent with us
 tossed into some firepit with all their other specimens.

so we took her ashes and spread them this week across the fields where she lived her days here.

and the last handful was spread near her old companion Ashley and another lost lamb. 

Luna has done it again...her gregarious, friendly self
met an abandoned barbed wire fence.
it is nasty and will take a month to truly heal at this writing.
I won't even dare to show the actual damage.
Luna is amazing. her heart is huge and her spirit soars.
she never complains and is always a happy soul.
she needs to teach me a few things!
but I do think she needs to find a part-time job
to help pay her vet bills

the composted manure has been tilled in for the 

Polygonum tinctorium (indigo) and Isatis tinctoria (woad) planting.

our planting timetable is still 7 weeks away 

but for now the manure and soil are

having a love fest.

our neighbors belted galloways have offered up a new calf

this week. it is a regular stop enroute to watch
him go from nursing to napping to sproinging.

our far field protected a family of goose gourds
all winter yet
showing their wear this week

I got the last round of sheep coats washed
and ready to mend before shearing next week.
ghastly job.

permanence.

although the stones shift in these old walls

it usually goes unnoticed to the naked eye.

a century plus and here they are.

solid, stable, comforting.
and a spring sun sets beyond.
there is balance.