All Things Bright and Beautiful

"All things bright and beautiful, All creatures great and small, All things wise and wonderful, The Lord God made them all." Anglican Hymn by Cecil Frances Alexander     Hi folks!  It's well and truly spring here now, and I love it.  The redbuds, one of our very favorite trees, are in bloom now, along with crabapple trees, cherry trees, and the dogwoods are opening out now, too.        Yesterday Hal and I drove out to my mom's house to pick up some pine needles we had purchased from a lawn service she uses, and we saw some pretty sights along the way.  We also have 20 bales of pine needles to put out, but we'll worry about that another time.  😉   

   One the way home from my mom's, I asked Hal to go a different way so that I could get some pics of these cutie pies.  My mom and I had discovered the new lambs earlier this week, but I didn't have my camera with me then.  Like a dummy, I didn't think to use my polarizing lens to help with the glare from the sun, or my zoom lens.  😎  Hal wouldn't have made that mistake.  At any rate, we'll make the best of it.   

   You can see part of the farmhouse in the background of this picture.  This is Stauber Farm, and it's so pretty.  It was settled originally by the Conrad family and later rebuilt by Samuel Benjamin Stauber in 1852.  Here are a couple of pictures of the farm from our local newspaper --   

  

  

    You can read more about Stauber Farm here and here.   They also have a Facebook page with more good pictures.   

   Sorry the sheep are such a glaring white.     

   Since I forgot my zoom lens, I cropped some pictures to achieve some closeups.  Hal and I decided that the boy lambs are wearing blue collars and the girls are wearing red.  I see two girls and a boy here.   

   This closeup is absolutely my favorite!  😊  I love the little one looking at me over his/her brother's back.  They are just too precious!!  These are St. Croix sheep by the way, and they are on the endangered species list in the U.S.  The people at Stauber Farm hope to get other farmers interested in breeding these sheep.  Unfortunately, it seems they're sold for their meat, based on what I read, and I'm really glad I don't eat lamb.  I did try it in England years ago; it was very good the way they prepared it, but I wouldn't normally eat it.  Not judging folks -- just sayin'.     I could have watched these cuties for hours.  I'm a big fan of James Herriot, and I remember him writing about lambing season in one of his books.  He said that all baby animals are cute, but lambs seem to have gotten more than their fair share of charm.  I would certainly agree with that observation.      

         

  

   I thought perhaps this little guy might be napping?   

      I chose these two pictures to show you the sheep's protectors in the background --  donkeys.   

   Donkeys are used around here (and all over the U.S. I imagine) to protect livestock from coyotes, and we do have quite a few of these predators in our area.      Since my previous post, I dead-headed and pinched back some of my pansies and that seems to have helped them.  They look more chipper, I think.    

      I am so enjoying this array of colors -- love the one with the pale, violet petals and the deep purple face.   

  

    and another one.      

   I also love this pinkish-mauve bloom,   

and these that are almost a periwinkle blue.        There are so many, many pretty colors found in nature, don't you agree?  We planted three small azaleas last fall, and they're covered in buds, with a few already open.  We were told they would be a coral color, and I wasn't sure if I would like that, but these are really a beautiful, warm pink color -- I'm thrilled with them.  I hope we get blooms on our limelight hydrangea this year.      What's blooming at your house?  I'd love to hear!  Thanks so much for visiting here, and I hope you have a lovely week! Hugs,