Walls, floors, flowers and garden...

So here is the finished wall. That took 2 days to get done. It's not perfect, but it's up. I took the baseboard from the back corner, where a washer and dryer will be, and used it for the front. Then put a piece of 1x4 in the back. No one will see it. When I get the washer-dryer in, I'll just hang either a piece of PVC or galvanized pipe and hang a shower curtain on it to hide them. I think I'll look for some beads to hang across the kitchen too. Me and mom are going out today, so I think I'll look at Target for rugs and shower curtains and all that cute stuff. They always have a good selection and nice colors too.

So this is the floor color. What do you think? it's called Sandy Trail. Just a neutral color. I think it'll do. I put one coat on yesterday and another today, just right here and in the washer area, and used a whole gallon. I guess I will go through 4 gallons when it's all done.

Went out this morning and took pictures of my day lillies and gardens. The first pic is of the lillies in my front border. It's full of them. And English Ivy. It's taking over here. At least it's easy to pull up.

This middle row of dirt was planted with Butternut squash. Then we had all that deluge of rain and it's just a river right there. When I was out mowing yesterday, I saw about 12 of the seeds had sprouted at the end of the row. So I'll just replant at the top. Every single cucumber seed sprouted, so I'll have plenty of them.

I don't know if getting this little house going and all the work I've been doing over there, has affected me in other areas of the farm. I've not been working in the garden, except to pick things for market. The weeds are all over everything. I have this really fast growing viney weed that's everywhere. It's east to pull up when the soil is wet. I did plant some Calendula next to the tomatoes to the right. And 2 whole flats of them. They'll go in all the empty spots out here.

And I have decided to sell all the goats. I just need a break from them. Of all the animals, they make me the most upset. I think that's the word to use. I can't seem to get Zee over this worm problem. And it really is getting bad. She is the only one affected. But she is not getting over it. Every morning, her head and jaw and neck is swollen. I give her more wormer. More Red Cell. More B Complex. More kale. And she's still not better. She's just drying up too. And now Sandy has runny poop. I only had Pepto so gave her some last night. Didn't even milk her after being away from her kids all day. Seems like she's drying up too. Only one that's ok is Penelope, but she looks like she's starving. But she's still got both her kids on her too. I have a friend who wants Sandy and Penelope's buck Woody. But now, with her not doing too well, I don't know if she'll want her.

So, I really want to concentrate more on the sheep and wool. And bees. I just hope and pray the goats get well so I can sell them. Or give them away. That pasture out back needs a break too. It's had goats out there for 10 years now.

SO off to town now and shopping with my mom! Always a good day when I spend it with her. Oh, and my sister is going to be moving here probably the end of summer!!!!! We are all so excited about this. She had just applied for a position at UTC, in Chattanooga, last night. So we are praying she gets that job. It would be perfect!

Progress, a little bit at a time...

My husband and I have been working over at the little house this weekend. We went to Home Depot Friday and got some 2x4's and plywood, a new light fixture for the bathroom and the electrical thingy that turns lights off and on, and another fixture for the kitchen. It has a really old cool fixture I wanted to keep but I broke the glass. So I found another one that will work but it needs some rigging.

These pictures aren't in the order I wanted. So  here's the kitchen floor, almost ready to paint. I was going to leave the linoleum in there and just clean it up, but noticed a few holes right by the stove. And it stunk over in this corner, where the fridge was. So up it came. And, along the wall, they used glue. As well as the seams in the big room. So I have been scraping and scraping and scraping, the floors, for days now. I finally got the kitchen done. And wanted to paint the floor in there, but the sink has been stopped up for so long. I poured a whole big bottle of Draino in but it didn't do a thing. My husband kept asking if I had plunged it. No, I haven't. SO he did that awhile ago, and there it went! It's all fixed now! So in the morning, I'll go paint the kitchen floor! And hang some shelves and paint my soap drying racks. I have got to start making soap.

I put down those peel and stick tiles in the bath room last week. I did a crappy job around the toilet in back. I was getting a bit frustrated with it. And I used all the tiles from the box and needed just ONE more to finish behind the door. So I got a few more of them while at Home Depot and finished that little job. I need one of those toilet rugs now to hide the mess around it. And some caulking and the bathroom will be done! Of course it needs a trash can and mirror and a few other little things, like a towel holder.

The man, actually reading directions for the light fixture in the bathroom! Men do read directions, I have proof! He also needed to sit down and rest a few minutes. That's all he gets when he's working with me.

 


And the finished light! I love it. Except here, the wall looks brown. It's not brown.  It used to be. But the paint color is called White Pistachio, a very pale green. I love this color. Can you see that nail poking out of the wall just under the left light? It will not come out. And I didn't want a big huge gaping hole in the wall. So it will be staying right there. Hopefully a mirror will cover it up. Because it is not in the center.

And here is where we messed up yesterday. Don't feel sorry for him now. He had knee pads on and he can do this better than I can. Anyway, we were building the frame for the little 4x8 wall to hide a washer and dryer, when I get them.  I don't know if you can see the mistake already here or not. Those of you who have ever made a wall will see it. The board his left hand is on is in the wrong place. It's supposed to be on TOP of the other board, not INSIDE the other board. We didn't catch this really big mistake until we laid the plywood down to nail it on. And it was too big! Then we realized what we had done. And we were both hot and sweaty and tired. So we left it. Real fast like. And went back to the house to take showers because we had a wedding to go to. I felt like an idiot. Well, it was really HIS fault, because he knew how to do it. We did it right when we were measuring on the wall.

Anyway, we went back this afternoon and took the frame apart and made sure we did it right this time! And we did. And it's up and nailed and already primed and ready to be painted Turquoise Twist tomorrow. This is the wall I want to hang all those old pictures that were in the house when we bought it. Oh, and don't buy 2x4's at Home Depot. They were only 93" long. Not a true 8' 2x4, like we wanted. Ace sells true 8' boards, for just .70 more. So we wasted a few boards in this little project.

 

 And here's some bad dogs in my little house. They will NOT be coming in when it's all finished. NO dog hair in THIS house! There's enough in the big house to make dog wigs for bald dogs. They both need to be shaved.

I feel like we made progress this weekend over there. I hope to get all my soap making things over there this next week and be making soap. I have sold almost all my soap and need more fast. My dryer balls are a huge hit and I'm selling a lot. So I really need to get over there and get busy.

It's supposed to be in the 90's here all week. HOT! And it's really been nice so far. I may just have to put that little window AC in over there. I don't want my soap to melt, right?

Honey moon

Last night, I went out to see if it was out. We've had so much rain and the sky is always cloudy. But there was a nice break and here it is. It was beautiful. It did look honey colored.

A fairy village under an old apple tree...

Busy makin' stuff here at the farm...

Hello! Been a few days. It's been pretty busy around here for me lately. With farmer's markets, goats, making jellies and dryer balls. And painting the little house and trying to get it finished. I did get the bathroom painted and put down the sticky backed tiles. It looks horrible, because I am a really bad cutter. So I will have to put some rugs down and hope no one looks too close. I love the wall color though. White Pistachio. Really nice cool color. So I will get the floor paint I bought a few weeks ago colored and paint the rest of the floors. Then start movin' in! I sure could use the room over there.

So last week, I noticed Zeeboo's puffy jaw. Darn those barber pole worms. I hate when I see this. So I socked the wormers to her. I tried Cydectin and Ivermec, alternating them for a few days. Red Cell, B Compex, lots of good green kales. Then Sunday, after waiting 3 days with no worm meds, I gave her more Ivermec. By Sunday night, her whole head was swollen. So I brought out the big guns, Dectomax. I didn't want to have to use this because there's a 32 day milk withdrawal time. And I'm milking her. And she has the best milk right now. But, to save her and kill those darn worms, I had to use it. It's really the only thing that will kill the worms. So she got some. And she looks MUCH better. I'll continue milking her but throw the milk out or give it to Piper, the bottle kid. Then maybe after 20 days, try it.

I made some elderberry flower jelly. It's so good and pretty too. Hope it sells at market today. The flowers are just now starting to open, so I have plenty of time to make more for awhile.

Also tried my hand at wool dryer balls. It's so fun to see how they turn out after they're dried. I hope they sell as well. I can add a few drops of EO for a nice scent. They are supposed to help cut down dryer time, wrinkles and static. And last at least 5 years or more. I have 6 more in the dryer now, made with some brown wool and black alpaca. I need panty hose now!

This is the Outback hive. They seem to be doing good. Still have a few empty frames. I have been moving the empties to the middle gradually. Wondering if I should add another box yet? The weather has been so crazy the past several weeks here. Cold, rainy, wet, then hot. Poor bees.

And this is a new venture. Dandelion salve, Sure feels good on dry hard working hands. And is supposed to help with sore muscles and achy joints. But I am just loving the soft hands now.

I planted to flats with calendula flower seeds. Most are popping up! I bought 4 from Crabtree farm a few months ago and they are blooming. But not enough to do anything with yet. I want to make calendula salve and use some flowers to dye wool with. I should have plenty, the way it looks so far.

The garden is being over taken by weeds! With all this rain, they are loving it. Also have seen squash and zucchine out there. Should have some green beans soon too. And all the cucumber seeds I planted last week are all up! The butternut squash though, pretty sure it's all been washed away by the stream in the middle of the garden where they were planted. The bottom of the garden should be a paradise soon though, with all the different seeds that have been washed down there.

Going to Main St market this afternoon. I love this market. But it's hot there! The sun is behind my booth and so most of my canopy is worthless. So I am bringing a shower curtain and some rope today and putting it up at the back. So maybe I'll have some shade for my booth.

Sunday animal cuteness...

I went out yesterday in the sheep pasture. Just sat out there with them. Had my camera of course. I think I got some really cute pictures of the sheep and alpacas.

I love these guys. They are so funny. And they are so sweet with the sheep, especially my 3 bottle lambs. These shots are so cute!

My 3 girls. They are getting so big now! I weaned them a few weeks ago. They still come running to me though. I love them. And their wool is so soft.

This is Cassidy, the cute little lamb with the eyebrows. They've kind of disappeared and now she's just a wooly lamb. Here, she was really close to me so I reached under her to rub her belly and she let me. Just stood right there for a long time. She's getting friendlier each day.

This is Annabelle and  her daughter Buttercup. Their wool is really good. They are getting better about letting me pet them. Annabelle let me pet her face for about 5 minutes one day.

Here is Charlotte and Claire, the 2 ewe lambs my friend is supposed to have. He got them and then called and said he didn't want them. Then wants them again. He's crazy! So I don't know what's going on with him. He still has Bilbo the Hobbit Ram, at his farm. He was going to get his son to help him put up fencing for the sheep, so I hope he'll let me know something soon. This is getting old! But these are good lambs.

My little Campbelle. She's so sweet, just sitting up on a hay bale, chewing her cud. What a sweetie she is.

 
M big girl, Carabella. She's so sweet too. Just a big baby girl.

And the big boy Black Bart. He's the best rooster. He loves his girls and takes such good care of them. He finds good bugs and worms and calls the girls over to eat. He just backs up and lets them have it all. He's a good boy. I have him and 10 hens. I got 9 eggs 3 days ago and 2 eggs Sat. Then 1 egg yesterday.

I went over yesterday to the little house and primed the bathroom walls, to get ready for a  lighter color on the brown walls. So this morning, I went and got the bathroom all painted. It's called White Pistachio. Yes, it's a pale green. I thought it was a light pale gray. But it's ok and it's a very calming and soothing color. I like it. I will have to put some kind of tile down in the bathroom, so will have to decide what. And maybe in the kitchen. Not sure.

It's been a rainy day here so far. The weeds are taking over out there! It's a great time to pull them all up. But I'm making wool dryer balls. I have 9 in socks in the washer now and they'll go in the dryer next. Can't wait to see what they look like. I did white roving with colored wool around them. I'll take them to market to sell.

I hope you all have a great week!

In the garden...

As I was leaving this morning I saw this little bright sunflower, looking at the sun rising. It's so pretty. This is a volunteer plant. There are more scattered around.

These are the ones I planted from seeds I feed the animals. Half the row was washed away by one of the many rain storms we've had. But these are doing really good.

 

The 1st zucchini blossom!

And these little pretty sweet banana peppers were just hanging out, waiting for me to find them.

Look at all these grape clusters! This is just a few of them.

There are big green tomatoes too! I guess I've been too busy to see them.Hopefully soon, I'll be having my favorite bacon and tomato sandwich on sourdough bread.

And the dill plants are growing like weeds!

And bell pepper blooms too!

What's growing in your gardens? Or what are you finding in your gardens? I also found a rabbit.

Turquoise Twist...

 Hmmm... do you think Mr. Bell would like his little house now?

I LOVE IT! But that first swipe of the roller was a bit shocking, to say the least. But I kept on and did the whole house. Except the bathroom. It was dark and storming, so the color wasn't true yet. But this morning, it's amazing!

I was going to paint all the wood trim white. But not now. I am loving how the wood sets off the color of the walls. So today, on the way home, I'll get wood cleaner and polish and work on all the trim, doors and cabinets. I'll also have to do something about the wall behind the stove and sink. Plus a fridge will go there in the corner soon.

This corner will have the washer and dryer. We're going to build a little 4x8 wall coming out on the left there and then put up a galvanized piece of pipe to hang a shower curtain or something to hide them. I got those white plastic coated wire shelves from mom's yesterday, that we will hang on the wall over the washer and dryer, for storage.

I got a lot of good stuff from mom's garage yesterday. I love shopping at mom's! Her garage was FULL of garage sale stuff and has been for awhile now. She called a thrift store and they came and got most of the stuff. But she had a really nice tall shelf, a desk, several things that I can use over here. So we loaded them all up yesterday while Tiny was in town with the truck. Most will be painted and put to good use here. AND mom can now park her new Jeep in her own garage!! Yay Mom!

I will also use this little wall to hang that one box of old photos I kept from this house when we first bought this place. Perfect spot. And will be seen as soon as anyone walks in.

The big wall in the kitchen. I'll be using the kitchen now to make soap, cheese, jelly and jams. I can bring ALL my supplies and books over here now! Oh what joy that will be, to have all my stuff in one place! And to have room to work.

After I get all the wood cleaned, I'll pull up the nasty linoleum and get the floor all cleaned and ready to paint. Do you think I should go a little darker with this paint color or maybe go gray? I am thinking I'm gonna just paint the outside of the house a nice gray. The porch floor will be the same color as what I paint the inside floor. So let me know what y'all think. But I love it! I cannot wait to get it all done so I can move in and get to work!

Randomness

 I have been really tired this week. Just so sleepy. Went to bed about 5:30 Sunday afternoon after market. Woke up at what I thought was 8:30, like the living room clock said, and it was pitch black out. Tiny said the clock was wrong, it was 10:30. Then the night before last, I went to bed and woke up and it felt like I had only slept 5 minutes, it was that fast. I didn't feel like I slept at all. So all day yesterday, I was yawning and could hardly keep my eyes open. But had to get ready for farmer's market. So off I went picking and pulling and washing and bagging. Had a few stops before market. Had a great time and sold a lot. I had made fig preserves from some I had frozen last year. 9 jars, sold 6. Made dandelion jelly and salve. Sold some of those. Just did really good. But man, was it hot and windy!

Before I left for market, I checked the garden hive. The first pic frame is full of larva, big ones, and brood. Looks good.

These next 2 are full of honey! But I've been told, since these are new hives, to leave honey for the bees. So next year, I should have good honey.

Also got all the nasty stuff off the little house ceiling. They sure liked mud!

Got it all painted, with a few bad words thrown in here and there. Painting this part was crazy. It kept peeling off of the white mud part. So frustrating. But got it all done. Now off to the paint store to get the wall and floor paint. I think I have decided on colors. An aqua on the walls with darker on the floors. Also the outside will be gray with the porch the same as inside.

So will update later with color on the walls and floors! Then I'm movin' in! I can do the outside later. It needs to be pressure washed so SIN law can do that in a few weeks.

Husband goes to foot doc today. It's looking good!

All done with that horrid ceiling!

I went over this morning to tackle the ceiling at the little house. I brought a spray bottle of water with me. It comes off real easy and fast when wet. And no dust! Just a free tip for all of you who will be scraping off a popcorn ceiling any time soon.

Also had to mud around the ceiling to make it look better. And the seams where we added new sheet rock. Just waiting for it all to dry now, so I can paint the ceiling.

A friend is coming over later to help me figure out wall and floor colors. So I can start painting walls and floor. I bought 4 cans of floor paint 25% off at Ace Hardware in Lafayette the other day. I just bought them without adding color because it was such a great deal. I'll bring them back when I decide on a color for the floor and porch.

The husband loaded up the old couch and fridge and is taking them to town to sell at the recycling place. I hope they'll take the couch too. Lots of metal in it. Then after painting walls, I'll take up that ugly linoleum and take it to the dump.

I have got to go check on the hive out back today. I was waiting for the sun to come out. It looked for awhile like it might rain. I put the goats in the back yard so they'll stay out of my way. Such aggravating little devils! I think I'll add another box on both hives and take out a few frames to harvest the honey. There are a few that are really heavy with honey. Can't wait to do that!

And I'm needing to get out in the garden to plant cucumbers and butternut squash. I might have to til the other big garden spot for more room to plant more corn and beans soon.

So just a little update on this massive project I've jumped into. More later! Hope y'all have a great Monday.

OMG!

WHY? Why would anybody put this crap on a ceiling? WHY? I just did half the kitchen and it's just horrible. It didn't take too long because half the kitchen was the newer sheet rock we put up 10 years ago. And the popcorn stuff is fairly easy to scrape off. It's just ON THE CEILING, over my head. So it's all over me! And now all over the kitchen. And I'm not totally sure I should be breathing this stuff. I should have a mask on. I will tomorrow. I hate it! But oh my goodness, will it look amazing and be worth it all when it's done? Yes, it will. And I will be so happy I did this. Right now though? NOT!


My mother and I were invited to a lunch for the DAR today at the house we got to tour last year that I took so many pictures of. Mom worked with a lady who's a member. It was  really fun. All the ladies were so nice.We sat with a lady named Willa and her daughter. Willa has 3 kids and so grand and great grand kids she couldn't count them all. She was so sweet. There was an auction and I bid on a nice glass container with the spout at the bottom and a painted pitcher. We sat outside under a shelter and the view was amazing. Here are some cows in the pasture with Lookout Mt. in the background.

And I love this barn. Can you see the little white calf?

We took Ada and Jessie, the 2 goats I was borrowing, back home this afternoon. They had just about dried up. So back home they went. Then we went to get Charlotte and Claire, the 2 ewe lambs my friend Ron had gotten a few weeks ago, when I sold the 18 sheep. He's changed his mind about wanting sheep. So I have 14 sheep again. I'll probably sell them and Darla and Adele.

So when we got back home, we saw this amazing rainbow. It was huge. And all over the place. We've been having these nice rain storms here and there, for several days now. And it's going to be like this through next week. I love to see rainbows. This is looking toward Pigeon Mt, to the East.

(And the broody hen is not the brightest hen in the hen house. This afternoon, she was on a whole different nest. So her butt will be dunked in some cold water. She's got to get over this!)

1st set-back

I went over to the little house to paint the ceiling. And it looks like I'm going to have to scrape off all that popcorn crap. I cannot even paint over it. It falls right off. And if I don't scrape it off and leave it like it is, it'll bug me forever! I'll be constantly looking up, wishing I'd done it. So, I'm gonna do it. I had painted a little bit in the kitchen and it kept rolling off on the roller. So it comes off easy. I took the plastic scraper and got off a nice piece. The sheet rock looks great, for sheet rock anyway. I'll go get one of those long metal scrapers in town later today. It shouldn't take too long. And a few more gallons of paint. It sure is sucking it up! And thank goodness I'm not keeping that floor!

And here's Miss Broody Butt. She has been setting on eggs for over a month now, and I take them all from her, trying to discourage her. But she's a very persistent little hen. So I put some eggs under her and marked them with an X so I can take out the newer eggs. We'll see what happens. I only have these black hens and roo, so they'll be a true breed. I always got like 90% roosters so don't really like them to set on eggs. And the egg production always goes down too.