Category Archives for Signs of Fall

Rain, Sunshine, and Llama Alopecia

September 28, 2010

After a couple days of rain. . .

photo of frog

Raindrops keep fallin' on my head. . .

… this morning we woke up to fog which burned off to reveal a sparkling fall day.  The weather is cooler, the sun is shining brightly… it’s my kind of day!

One of the roosters stood on his favorite gate and flapped his wings a bit. . .

picture of rooster

A little warm-up exercise

Then did a little crowing to greet the day. . .

picture of rooster crowing

Good morning to you!

He was not impressed with my presence.

photo of rooster

"What 'cha looking at?"

The sheep were out in the main pasture enjoying the sunshine.

photo of sheep

And our little goat went out to join them.

photo of red doe goat

Our llama, Keira, also went out to join the party and graze in the sunshine.

photo of 2 sheep and 1 llama

Enjoying the sunshine on a cool fall morning.

And how about a closer look at my poor llama girl. . .

photo of llama

A bald spot here, a bald spot there...

Yes, my poor sweet llama is losing her hair.  I’d totally freak out if I hadn’t seen this before.  The sheep in front of her had a rough pregnancy once, and I wasn’t sure she was going to make it.  Lots of TLC and meds, and she pulled through… but she lost all her wool.  She was a pink-toned sheep with a little white fuzz.  Trust me, they look a lot different when they’ve lost their wool as opposed to being sheared.

So here it is, getting cooler and my poor llama is losing her hair.  We may have to get her a blanket so she’ll stay warm this winter!

First Frosty Fall Morning

October 19, 2009

Okay, The Farmer says he saw some frost yesterday morning, but I didn’t see it, so I’m counting today as the first frost of this season.  Which I’d call a good sign of fall!

And yes, I know.  Some places have already had snow.  But then some places will never see frost.  As the real estate people are fond of saying, “Location, location, location.”

When The Farmer left for work this morning, the pond was steaming.

Steam Rising Off Pond

I thought that was kind of cool, so I grabbed my camera and went out to see what other signs of fall I could see.

Frosty wool on sheep seems like a pretty good sign of fall.

Sheep With Frosty Wool

They actually seem to enjoy the frosty weather, and get rather frisky this time of year.

There are still some blooms hanging on the camellia bush.  I took a few pictures of frosty blossoms, but then I noticed this one particular flower in the shadows with a cold critter in residence:

Frosty Camellia Blossom With Cold Bee

I think the bee is in semi-hibernation there, waiting for the sun to warm it back up.

The sun was quickly melting the frost off plants, but there was still a little on the tea viburnum:

Frosty Tea Viburnum (Viburnum setgerum)

Down in the bottom pasture, sunlight was shining and little frost remained.  However, at the edge of the woods, a frosty vine was looping through one of the trees.

Frosty Vine

As for other signs of fall, well, the leaves have fallen off the walnut trees.  They’re the last to get leaves in the spring, and the first to lose them in the fall.  Go figure.  And of course, there are walnuts all over the ground, not to mention acorns and hickory nuts.  And we have a little fall color:

Red Leaves

Unfortunately, that may be ALL the fall color we get.  The leaves around here are more prone to just turn brown and fall off.  I do miss the vibrant fall colors seen further north!

Cooler days and dead leaves and occasionally some frost . . . I guess that’s as much signs of fall as we’ll probably see!