October 1 sunrise

 The sunrise this morning was stop-me-in-my-tracks stunning…

I had a nice pasture walk this morning too…

 I surprised a good sized group of deer grazing on the hill at the back of the pasture, and admired how everything is putting on new fall colors of every different variation of gold, orange, and red. And, for some reason, the whole pasture smelled like sage. It was a lovely walk.

Pasture Walk

 I took my first pasture walk since early summer this morning. During the busyness of the growing season with the early morning time needed for garden watering, weeding, and just generally getting outside things done before it gets too hot, there just wasn’t much time left for pasture walks. I’ve missed them and was happy to walk the pasture on this cold crisp morning. 

The fading almost-full moon was just visible over the big ponderosas to the east as I headed across the pasture and down the hill…

I loved how the barn looked with the sky just starting to lighten behind it.

I surprised some deer who were still bedded down, they didn’t hang around long…

I checked on the “waddle” fence I built last spring to use up some of the branches that had been left down there over the years. (This is the furthest corner of the property, and often gets used to dump branches that have fallen.) 

I always feel a little sad when the pasture grasses start to die in the fall, but there is beauty in the dried, golden grass too. 

I finished my walk at the chicken coop where I peeked in and found Sadie awake (ever the queen of the coop, protector of the flock) with Shirley… still asleep with her head tucked under her wing… beside her. It took just a moment for Shirley to wake up too, and I fed them and scattered their scratch and headed inside to start my day. 

Pasture walk

 First fawn of the season....

I found it curled up on the long grass between the main deer trail and the little trail that leads down from the small gully.

It didn’t move, even as I tiptoed close to see... it was either asleep or maybe “hiding”. I ran home, got my phone to take a picture and it was still there when I got back, curled up looking impossibly sweet.