Bee hives are done!

Finally got the bee hives painted and they are finished! Ready for bees now. What do y'all think? Is it too much? Will the bees get all confused with too much going on? Or will they even care? I don't know.

I've noticed a lot of people name their hives. So I need some suggestions for hive names. The small hive will go out back at the top of the hill in the goat pasture. The bigger hive will be in the South garden. Somewhere out there. I'll paint the names at the top.

I still am not sure which way the entrance should be facing. I'm thinking South, but that might be too hot? Which way do all you bee keepers face your hives? Or does it matter? The hive I had last year faced East.

All kinds of kinds...

Sometimes I have so much to do, I don't know where to start. I have a list and I know what needs to be done. Like my Trooper has had farmer's market stuff in it for a few weeks now. I have markets on Wed. and Sat. so I just leave the tables and canopy and baskets in there. But it needs to be cleaned out. I won't be going to market tomorrow or next Wed. so it will be cleaned out. The 30th is the Spring-a-ma-jig at Main St. market and I get to bring my 3 bottle lambs! And probably Mirabelle too. I've been going with lots of eggs and dandelion greens and flowers and chives. But I only sold 1 dozen eggs the other day and only 3 on Sat. Everyone has eggs and has had them all winter, so people already have their people they get eggs from. But last year, I sold every one I brought. I always sell the greens and flowers and chives, but that's little money and now that it's gone back to 2 hours, it costs $15 and that hurts! So I think I'll wait til I have collards and kale and radishes and lettuce to bring.

The other day, I had let Mirabelle out in the back yard. Went to get her back in and couldn't find her. She was hangin' with her boys. And they were so gentle with her too. I was so afraid they'd kick her on the head and kill her but nothing happened. She's out back now with her brothers and cousins playing.

I don't know if ALL the ants in the world have been at my house since last fall, but I think they were. I am SO SICK of seeing ants in my kitchen and bathroom. I have tried everything I can think of, including sprinkling cinnamon all over. So I got these any traps and I thought they were not going to work because for a few days, I never saw an ant near them. Then whamo, there were millions of ants in the little containers. For a few days. Now I think they are either all dead or left. I HATE ANTS!

And just a pretty shot of green for all of you who might still have that awful white stuff hanging on. Y'all have a great weekend! I'm off to work!

I'm a great grandma!!

 My daughter's dog Daisy had 9 puppies yesterday. Jason had to take her to the vet for a C-section early and brought her home later that afternoon with 9 puppies. 5 girls and 4 boys. She's a bit sore and overwhelmed, but doing pretty good for her first litter. And they're all so cute! She's a Boxer and a Shepherd got to her. But the pups all look like they have that cute Boxer nose. Adorable! And she's the best little momma ever. Constantly licking and cleaning.

I love this. She's such a good dog. And has always been so gentle and nice to everyone. These puppies will be good dogs.

Anyone need a cute adorable little puppy soon?

Around and about the farm

 It's been crazy here lately. SO much to do and not enough ME to do it all! And now another bottle baby. I had to take her to the market with me Saturday. Everyone loved her. She followed me all over the place. I had some other things to do before going back home. Like stopping to check on my very pregnant grand dog Daisy. She got to meet Mirabelle too. She's such a sweet dog.

This is the goat playground. A pile of big rocks. There has been a whole lot of baby goats playing right here over the years. Little Mirabelle got to play too.

                       All 10 apple trees are in full bloom. And now it might freeze tonight. Crazy weather!

We finally got all the hive boxes put together and the old ones cleaned up. Put all new frames in them. I've painted them all too but will show that in another post when they are finished. They look so pretty. Hope the bees like their new homes!

                   We had 2 of the grand kids for the weekend. This is Chloe, feeding Mirabelle a bottle.

And I had no idea alpacas liked to get wet. There's a hole in this hose and when I was filling up the water buckets, I saw them doing this. Sugar just laid right down on the water, silly boy! I turned the hose on them and they loved it!

It's Tuesday. My day with mom. And it's rainy and so cold out. I hope you all have a nice warm Tuesday.

Little Miracle

 Tuesday evening, Zeeboo had triplets. Just like I thought she would. I wasn't here to help though. When I got home, she had the 2 boys all dried and fed. But there was another baby. When I found her, I thought she was dead. She hadn't even been cleaned off and it was nearly dried. I picked her up and she was breathing. So I put her up to Zeeboo's udder and she got a few good swallows of colostrum in.

I grabbed Zeeboo and took her into the back stall then went to get the kids. She wouldn't have anything to do with the poor little doe kid. Just the 2 boys. So I went ahead and took her inside. I milked Zeeboo and got about a good quart of colostrum and got a bottle to try to feed the little baby. She would hardly even try by then. I tried to tube her but couldn't get the tube down far enough and it looked like it was hurting her. So I used a syringe to get milk in her.

I really didn't know if she'd make it or not. She was leaning to the right really bad and could not stand at all. I was at the point last night when I just asked God to let the poor baby die. I guess that's why Zeeboo didn't do anything with her, something was wrong and she knew it.

But then something happened and the little girl got up and stood on her own! Without leaning! And took a whole little bottle of milk! All at once too. Then she stood on her own for awhile. We were all so happy for her. And relieved too. It was just a little more than I could take at this point. Like I had so much to do and I needed to care for a handicapped goat too?

This is when I took her back out yesterday morning, to see what would happen. It was so sad.

                                                        Here's her 2 brothers. So cute!

                            This is last night when we saw her standing. Kansas was so happy for her.

                                                  So today, I've had her outside several times.

She went to see her brothers and mom. Zeeboo almost bit her one time so I knew she didn't want her.

              Then she went out to meet the lambs. Look at the size of Carabella next to her! Like a giant.

      Then she met Misha. He was so interested in her. And was so nice too. He's just a big teddy bear!

                                                         He was such a nice big guy.

And here is little Mirabelle, getting some sun. It's a beautiful day here today. Great day to be outside soaking up all that warmth.

I am so glad she's going to be ok. I was really worried. I had said I was going to take her to a vet today. But guess I won't have to now. I think the little gal is going to be fine. And she weighs 4 1/2 pounds today.

Forgot to say that this is John Henry's 3rd set of triplets this year! My friends up the road used him on their 2 does and one of them had triplets but 1 was still born. Then another friend brought her doe here and she called a few weeks ago to tell me Trudy had triplet doe kids. They are all doing great! And then Zeeboo. Also had a call today from a friend who has goats and has used John Henry before but not this last time. But one of her does just had triplets.

Zarah had twin does!!!!

Look what I found this morning! Zarah finally had her kids. And they are both little does! I just new the tan one would be a buck, but it's not. They were born probably about a half hour before I got out there. They were all cleaned off but a little damp. Both nursing and look really good. And so cute. I put them all in the back stall so I could give her some warm molasses water and feed. It's supposed to rain later again so I'll leave them in awhile.

I found these pictures from last year and wanted to show how much they look like her new kids. The little black one is a doe and looks just like her mother. The tan one is the buck and looked just like John Henry. He's the dad of the new ones too. Almost identical kids this year.

                                                  So yay, 3 does had 5 girls and just 1 boy!

Now just waiting on Zeeboo. Look at this fat girl! I am liking the looks of her udder and teats. I think she'll be an easy milker.

Still waiting...

Oh my goodness, these 2 goats will not have their kids! What is wrong with them? Zarah, in the 1st picture, has a very full tight udder but still hasn't had kids.

Zeeboo, the black doe in the back, is huge and waddles all over. But still nothing going on with her either. And it'll be a week since Sandy had hers. It's just crazy.

It started raining this evening and is supposed to rain til Tuesday around noon. I betcha these 2 goats will kid sometime in all this rain. I just betcha. It's just like a goat to wait til the most crappy weather possible to have kids.

I have no idea what little Woody is doing, so don't ask! It looks bad anyway.

All is well!

                                           Jewel finally got the hang of it! I am so glad she did.

                                (I didn't realize this was such a bad picture when enlarged. Sorry.)

Goat kids and farm visitors

 How does life get so busy all of a sudden? I hardly did anything all winter. Now, it's like every day, there is something that needs to be done or somewhere to go. Or animals being born. Or markets to go to. Things to get planted. It just goes on and on and on lately.

But today, I stayed home. I told my husband I am not going anywhere. I had bought 3 big bunches of onions and a 9 pack of cabbage that I was going to plant and that was about it for me. Well, besides the house needs cleaning SO BAD! And all the farm chores. And lamb feedings. And farm visitors.

And now I seem to have another bottle baby. I noticed this little cutie of Sandy's yesterday, looking rather small and wonky looking. They were all outside yesterday afternoon and this little gal just didn't look right to me. So I scooped her up and brought her inside. I gave her some Vitamin E oil and a bottle of milk wixed with colostrum. She sucked it down! She was SO hungry. And SO tiny. She was born first and her sister is way bigger than her. I figured out that Sandy's teats are just too big for her to get in her mouth. So she hadn't been nursing. And I had been too busy to notice. So I gave her another small bottle after market, then again at 11 pm. And already today, 2 bottles. And now she thinks she belongs to me.

She is so adorable. Yesterday, when I picked her up, I called her my little jewel. So that her name now. Jewel. I am hoping that if I keep her with Sandy and her sister and the others, that when she gets a bit bigger, she'll be able to nurse from Sandy. Will that happen though? Has anyone had success with this? I don't know.

A few days ago, I started driving up to my friend's farm to milk their 2 does. I am getting up early to go milk them first. Their kids are about 6 weeks old now. And need to be sold as soon as possible. So I have gotten a half gallon both days. I did keep most of the first milk for me. It's the first goat milk I've had since Penelope dried up. And it was SO GOOD! Other than that, these lambs and Jewel get ALL the milk.

I sure wish Zarah and Zeeboo would have their kids and get this over with already! Zeeboo is huge! I am thinking she's going to have triplets. Wouldn't surprise me at all. John Henry has already had 2 sets of triplets from this breeding.Not my goats though.

This is Jewel's sister. Yesterday, I picked my grand daughter Kansas up to help me at market. We were talking about cute goat names and she said she likes the name Aslan, that it sounds magical to her. It does, doesn't it? So this little girl's name is Aslan now. I think that is from The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe? And it was the lion's name? But I like it for her anyway.

Here are Penelope's kids, all stretched out. They've had a busy morning. I think Emmy Lou is going to be naturally hornless, like her momma! But Woody's horn buds are already showing.

This is one of the little girls that came to the farm to see all the animals. She wanted to gather the eggs. She did such a great job getting them all one by one and placing them ever so gently in the basket. Cameron wanted to help her! She got to help feed Jewel her bottle too. Such a fun time on the farm! These are some people I met at the market. I love it! I had a really good time at market Wed. Met lots of people. I love this market in Chattanooga. Such fun people that come shopping there. Can't wait to start bringing produce soon.

My sister Heidi has been in surgery today. The moved her to another hospital and are doing this surgery to try to get her lungs working better. My mom and Heidi's middle daughter, who lives in S. Ga. are going to leave Sat. morning to go be with Heidi for a week. I am so glad mom's going. Heidi has a long recovery ahead of her. And I would want my mom there with me. I know Heidi will be happy to see her.

And Tiny went to the wound care doc this morning. It's infected. AGAIN. More antibiotics. I'm beginning to wonder if this ankle will ever heal. Ugh.

 Hubby went back to town to get tires for my car. I went to drive down the drive way this morning and the back right tire was so flat. So we need new ones anyway. Gotta get dinner fixed now. Y'all have a great evening!

This is a first!

I woke up earlier than usual this morning because I had a busy day with mom and Mrs. T. so wanted to get all my chores done quick. When I went outside, I heard that familiar sound new momma goats make when they are talking to their babies. I looked all around the barn and saw all the goats but Sandy. Went to look for her outside.

She was under the pine trees with a little wet baby. I went back in to get towels and when I got back out, I saw feet so knew another was coming. The dark brown kid was first. Then the little blond kid came out. I caught her. Got them all dried off. It was cold, so I moved them over to a sunny spot.

I was really surprised. Sandy is always the last to kid. Always! And she didn't even look that big and her udder wasn't anything to brag about last night. So she fooled me!

AND they are both does! And they both have 2 toggles each! They are adorable. This makes her having 5 doe kids in 2 years now.

Sandy is the best mother. So I didn't worry about leaving her outside. It was a very warm day, nearly 80.

But this is where all the kids end up, under the ledge in the first stall. Aren't they so cute? I am thinking I'll name the dark kid Joanie Mitchell and the blonde kid maybe Carly Simon.  Still thinking though. Could be Judy Collins. Joanie and Judy.

It was a great day to have babies! I hope you all had a great Monday too.

Still waiting on Zarah and Zeeboo. I so hope they have theirs this week.

Lambs and bee hives

It finally stopped raining and is a beautiful Sunday. Still a little nippy. We had to turn on the central yesterday, it was SO cold. And wet and just plain dreary. But today is beautiful.

So, I took the lamb babes outside to meet the rest of the flock. And their mothers. Hah. They didn't even know them. Well, Adelaide did follow Carabella and sniff her. But that's ok. They ran and played with the other lambs for awhile. Then started whining for me.

I am just feeding them 3 times a day right now. 8, 2 and 8 again. I really need to get some bigger bottles so I can give them a bit more. I have those big long gray nipples that fit on water or soda bottles. Just need to get some. Then after this week, I'll go to twice a day. I am also giving a bottle twice a day to Click and Clack the Tappitt bros. Amarillo is not the best mother. I do catch her letting the boys nurse but not for long. So for now, they get some extra milk. Plus it makes them more friendly.

It's hard to get good pictures of these guys. They are either running to me or turned around!  Right here, they were still interested in the bottles!

But they are having fun outside. I might put them back inside tonight. It's going to be cold again. But Tuesday, I'm going to get a new sewing machine. So the room they are in will be turned into my sewing room!

And I went to the bee store and got another hive plus 30 frames and these wax things for the other old hive. That's a lot of frames we have to put together. 60 I think. That'll give the old man something to do while he's awake and sitting in his recliner. The would care doc told him to stay off his feet because he has a diabetic ulcer on his ringt foot. Darn it. But he can put some hives and frames together sitting down, right!

Hopefully, these will be put together and painted and in their spots ready for 2 packages of bees the first of May. I'll keep y'all posted!

Would you all please send up some prayers for my sister Heidi? She's my younger sister and has so many medical issues. Friday, she had to be rushed to the hospital. Her left lung had collapsed.  So she found out this morning that she has emphysema. Plus she's allergic to dogs and cats. And she has 5 dogs and several cats in the house! She's agreed to get rid of all the dogs except her oldest dog Duelly who she's had forever. I don't blame her. And she's got a lot of healing to do. So please send up some good healing thoughts and prayers for Heidi. Thanks so much!

1st milking!

I milked Penelope this morning and got a full qt. It was so amazing, hearing that milk hit the bucket again. And see it fill up with good warm goat milk. Both dogs were right back in their spots, waiting for their squirts of milk, just like they'd never had a break of nearly 5 months. It was great! I sure did miss milking. And Penelope is a milkers dream. Just to be back in the milking routine again is just great. I'll milk her again tonight. She's so big and needs to be milked. I do not want her to get mastitis.

Isn't that just a beautiful sight? I'll be feeding this to the lambs. I never liked goat milk til after 2 weeks. It has to be just right for me. And I know the lambs will love it. Straight goat milk now for the little ladies!

Oh happy days again!

1st kids of 2014

I know this is gross, but if you enlarge this photo you can see the bucks rear end. It's nasty! And a pale yellow color and runny. He was a mess when I went to check on them this afternoon. The little doe is pooping the orange normal color and seems fine. He also had a runny eye. I got a bucket of warm soapy water and cleaned the poor boy up and he looks much better. I just wonder if he's getting too much milk or it's too rich? I keep checking them to see how he's looking. I don't know if I have ever seen this before and I've been doing this for 14 years now.

Here he is all cleaned up and frisky. He's so cute. I'm naming the goat kids this year after '60's and '70's folk singers.

                                                        His name is Woody Guthrie.

                                                  And this little lady is Emmy Lou Harris.

I need more suggestions for names. I have Joanie Mitchell, Peter, Paul and Mary, (I hope I don't have that many bucks though!) Bob Dylan. My brain is frozen right now and I can't think of any more. I'm going to Google it now.

1 down, 3 to go!

Yay! Penelope had twins just awhile ago!!!!

The one that looks like her and John Henry is the first born and a buck. The little black one is a doe! She's so small. They both have little tiny Gopher ears too. So cute.

So yay, we have goat milk again!!!! I am so happy! And all is well. They are in that back stall, all warm and away from the March wind that's blowing like crazy out there today.

And in a few days I can start milking her for the lambs too. She has so much milk.

Hopefully, the other 3 will follow and we will be done with babes.

What a crazy day!

Tuesday is my time with my mom. We go have lunch and go shopping and do errands. Sometimes we miss a day here or there. But I look forward to my time together with her.

Today, she wanted to take both her cars in to the Dodge dealer in Ringgold. She's had her eye on a new Jeep Compass. We got there and we test drove a dark blue one. She loved it. So we went in and talked. She wanted to trade both her cars even for this new Jeep. It didn't quite work out the way she wanted, but I do believe she's a happy woman tonight!

She got a totally black Jeep Compass. I mean all shiny smooth cool black, even the wheels. Really nice vehicle. The interior is tan. And the best part about it is that it has HEATED SEATS!!! And believe me, we sure did enjoy those babies on the way home way later.

Because it SNOWED most of the afternoon! Really snowed like crazy snow. It started about 1 or so. We left the car lot and did a few things while they were getting her the black Jeep. They didn't have one there so had to go get it from another lot. And they got it all clean and shiny for her. And a full tank of gas. So while we were in Chattanooga, it was snowing so hard we couldn't see Lookout Mt. Then it would stop. Then start again. All the way to Ft. O and then there was nothing. Blue sky and sun. Then on back to the car lot and it was like a flippin' blizzard! It was coming down so hard and fast, we couldn't see up the road. It took about 3 hours to get all the paper work done. By that time, the sun was back out. But it was freezing. So those nice warm seat warmers felt wonderful. My butt was quite toasty. I want seat warmers now.

And my husband lamb sat for me. He even gave them their 2 o'clock bottles. He love them. They follow him around. I had taken them all outside before I left and had to call him to put them back inside because it had gotten so cold. He's good like that. I think I'll keep him after all. By the way, his left ankle is completely healed and the right ankle that's been giving us so much trouble, is almost healed. Just a very small spot now! He's been going on motorcycle rides on Sat. with his "boyfriends". And he has a Wed. night guys night out thing with some other friends. I enjoy this, believe me. So he is still around and doing great.

I got home about 6:30 and had to move sheep back over to the stalls for the freezing cold night. Supposed to be 24. Good grief already, winter. You can go away anytime now, ok? I am over this. I sure hope none of the goats decide to have kids tonight. I've told them all to please wait a few more days. So far they have.

Wed. I start the Main St. farmer's market again! I made dandelion jelly tonight. I hope it jells so I can take it. I'll also pick dandelion greens and flowers in the morning to take too. Also want to try to get some herd shares.

I have had several people stop when they drive by. They want to know what I have here. Some buy eggs and a couple got one of my chickens I butchered last fall. So we really need to get this place cleaned up. We have been gradually clearing off the fence along the driveway. Just need it to look inviting. I also mentioned to my friend up the road about an "open farm" day. We will be working on that for maybe April and have several farms out here involved. Like on a Sunday afternoon. I am excited about that. One couple came out because of a local magazine that has info about local farms. So this is exciting to me. Lots going on now and a busy time here.

I'll have pictures next post. Sorry this is so long. I am going to bed now! Good night all.