Baaaaa

Today was hot, hot, hot.
With humidity, a clear sky, and relentless sun, farming turns from a pleasant pastime into a whole other beast. So today, Day and I dropped our shovel and rake for something different: shopping! And we had good reason to pick up a few new things, with fresh members introduced to our humble farm just last night.
Lambs! Three sweet, lovely little male sheep (mutton?) now call our barn and grasslands home. Oh, to be a lamb and have the world as your salad bar. We've named the black fellow Martin Luther, the mottled one Wendell (after Wendell Berry) and the lighter, fluffier one with horns Moses. I believe that in accordance with some translations, there is a biblical reference to a horned Moses.
The threesome is now outfitted with harnesses and leashes, as well as cables to stake them out in the grass and clover. They bleat like the dickens, and sound a little too human with their wide vocabulary of B-A-A-AH to BLA-AURGH to MEa-ruGH. The question is, are they too cute to be eaten? We shall have to see.
Our plants are looking really lovely. The peppers are getting darker as they soak up the hot sun, which for Day is a relief from last year's sickly pepper crop. The tomatoes are getting bigger by the day, and you can almost see our transplants in the green house inching up from the soil. This morning, Rob and I saw a few sunflowers poking their way up, and by 3pm they were nearly all a thumbnail high! The only drawback to this weather is the issue of watering; we have a few new sprinklers from our shopping expedition which we hope will lessen the load.
After fussing over the lambs and tinkering with the sprinklers, we completed a few indoor tasks away from the intense heat. Nails were pounded, wheelbarrows were fixed, and a sweaty good time was had by all.