Pastures New

     The sun smiles on Owyhee County this morning.

     Or at least endeavors to. I came across a bit of agriculture in action this morning. And with great pleasure was able to bring another post to the site.

     The sheep have come down out of the hills and are now currently grazing in whatever pasturage their owners can arrange. Generally these are fields of what was alfalfa seed.

     There's not much to eat on these plants since the harvest so the shepherds must keep the sheep on the move. The shepherds live with the sheep, thus the camper in the photo up above. The sheep know what's going on, so many of them will stick close to the camper as it's driven to the new pasture. (Note the funny lines on the sheep above. They've been recently sheared, and the shearing tool is flat while sheep are roundish. This leaves behind a bit at the edges.)

     The rest follow behind with a couple more shepherds and their more helpful dogs. (A couple of the dogs got distracted sniffing around in the fields nearby.)

      With this fellow bringing up the rear. These gentlemen came all the way from Peru. They don't speak much, (English, anyhow) but they're quite friendly. They'll always smile and wave, if a bit shyly.

     Constantly on the move, these sheep know how to travel and are quickly past. In the more remote corners of the west its not uncommon to come across these bands. If you do, be patient. The people and animals here are just as eager to be off the roads as you could be for them to be off. Just stop your car, open the windows, and enjoy the pleasant sound of hundreds of hoofs on the road.


     A little side note: The total page view history of this site passed 5,000 the other day. I realize that as far as the Internet goes, this is not very many. But all the same, I'm surprised and very grateful to reach this number. Thank you all!

Something New

     Good morning readers. When I started this blog, if asked what the worst thing that could happen to it would be I might have said: "The blog becomes more about me than about agriculture." I feel that this is, in fact, the case. So I have made a decision. Today will be the last regularly scheduled post of Owyhee Agriculture. But if you are fretting, do not. I'm simply moving to another blog page where I won't be muddying that brand, so to speak.

     The agriculture of the Owyhees is still near and dear to my heart and, given material, I may return from time to time to share information, culture, and images.

     But for now, I hope you will join me at my new site. It can, and most likely will, contain just about anything I find interesting or worth sharing. (This entire section is a link to the other blog.)

     Thank you all for stopping in. As always, I hope to see all of you again soon.

Moon & Sun

     Still feeling quite poorly and having a bit of trouble getting some software to work so I've done a simple panorama. These pictures were taken at dawn this morning.

      In retrospect I should have taken these pictures a couple of days ago when it was a full moon, but I didn't have the idea until this morning.

     I'm considering switching gears, blogwise, so there will probably be some big changes for Owyhee Agriculture in the coming days. I'll keep you posted on just what exactly they will be.

Frosted Friday

     Short post today. Due to battery issues and being quite ill, I'm going to more or less phone it in this morning. But first, I would like to thank and congratulate the folks in Finland who were the first country to ever top the locals in hits to my site this week. Kiitos!

     Pleasant, right? A photographer can travel quite a while before finding something to photograph. Not only that, but it's pretty cold too.

     The best thing to do is to stay in and have a nice breakfast with a friend. (It might be brunch, considering the time at which the picture was taken.)

     It is a world devoid of contrast. The frost and the fog basically washout most of the color. In many ways, it's pretty cool. All the same, I'm going to have a rest and see if I can't kick this cold. Stay healthy, readers!

Something To See

     Today in Owyhee County through photos:

     Those horns almost look like handle bars...

     The Zuni say: All cats are jaguars after dark. Out in a cut hayfield, I think cats get a similar delusion.

     When we were kids we used to call these giant worms. They are, in fact, massive silage bags.

     Nobody's home.

     Is your mama a llama?

     Those are the highlights, (Of what I saw, at least.) Enjoy!