Milking Sandy again

I got to milk Sandy this morning. She had a lot of milk. It took awhile to get her to let it all down for me though. She misses her kids. But she'll be fine.

I was outside picking figs and saw the gate to the buck and ram pen open. Abraham was out in the holding area but no John Henry. I found him, alone, and put them both back in their yard. I had moved the sheep over next door and they were just a fence away from Abraham too. Too close for comfort. I do not want February lambs or kids ever again.

The 1st of October, I will put bucks and the ram with the girls. March sounds like a better time to have lambs and kids.

I'll be going to the police station while I;m in town to report what happened yesterday. Maybe I can get them to call this guy. I just hope the kids are all ok.

Well, how do ya like that?

So, I just got home from market. Sandy is out back bawling her head off. I go to see what's wrong. Well, her kids are gone. Just like that. These people came here and took the kids while I wasn't even here! No note. No calls. Nothing at all. That's just crazy. They did pay for them when they first came out here to see them. But they don't know a thing about these kids. When they were born or what shots they've had. It's just crazy. Not right. I called them and left yet another message saying how I hoped it was them that came out here and got the goats. And thanks for calling.

I have never been through something like this. It's just plain weird. Now I'm going to worry that they'll start calling and wanting to come get the kids and saying it wasn't them that got them. Great.

A dilemma.

I have a problem. Before I left for Colorado, I had put an ad on Craig's list to try and sell these triplet does. I got a call just a few hours later from a couple that were so excited and wanted all 3 and would come out right away to pay for them. They said they couldn't get them til the end of Aug. though, because their farm was not quite ready for the goats. I said that would be just fine as I was leaving for a week and didn't want the girl who was going to come milk Penelope to have to milk Sandy twice a day.

So now it's Sept. 4th. I have called a few times and left messages on the guys phone. I know it's his because he says his name on the voice mail. So this morning I called again. I said first that I hope they are ok. The wife had broken her ankle and was having to go to PT. I said that if I don't hear from them in a few days that I will start charging $5 /day /goat for feed and boarding, starting Sept. 1st. That's going to add up pretty fast to the amount they paid (in full, BTW) and then I will try to sell them again. I do have a copy of the bill of sale that states they will pick the 3 doelings up the end of Aug.

Has anyone had this happen? What did you do? Any other suggestions? I think I have done all I can do right now. I do hope they are ok and that they call and come get these girls.

Letting the girls out. Their first time.

Yesterday when I got home about 6:30, I let the girls out. It took them awhile to figure out the door was open. But one by one, they all went out. They didn't know what to do or where to go first! It was just so amazing and exciting to be out there in the wide open world.

                                                              They went this way....

                                                                    and ran that way!

I love the look on this one's face. Like she's totally amazed at all the grass and bugs and wide open spaces she can explore now. Where to begin?

I let them out again about an hour ago. I'll keep letting them out a little longer each day, til they are out all day soon. They are really loving this! I just hope they will stay in the chicken yard and not in MY yard.

An "old lady"

She's always saying "the old lady is slow today" or "the old lady can't do what she used to do anymore". Today she said "when you get to be an old lady, things start happening." I asked her what an old lady is. She said someone in their 70's, 80's, 90's.

I met her 30 years ago. She was 66 then. We had just moved in next door to her. I was outside one day and looked up to see this beautiful tall white haired lady walking through my yard. She introduced herself and said she lived next door. She welcomed us to the neighborhood. We've been good friends ever since. Although now, she says my mother used to bring me to her when I was just 3 years old, to teach me my ABC's and art.

I don't know how she became an "old lady". When did this happen? I can't put a date or time on it. But really, she only started acting like an old lady about 5 years ago. Really forgetful. Repeating stories over and over. Using a cane. Really hard of hearing. The list goes on and on. To me, she's still a beautiful woman. Full of grace and charm. She's a true Southern lady. Born and raised in Chattanooga and lived there and in N. Ga. most of her life. She's amazing. And healthy to be 96. She says she's 99. That the date on her DL is wrong. She's the only woman I've ever known who says she's older than she really is. She just wants to be 100. She's a mess, this lady!

I hope that when I'm an old lady, I am just like her.

Hello September!

 This morning, I noticed the Silver Maple tree has some yellow on some of the leaves. And there is a different feeling in the air. Fall's on the way!

                                                       Yates apples all over the ground.

                                      This is on the Granny Smith apple tree. How strange is that?

And the figs are coming on strong! I go out and pick a lot every day now. I took a lot to the market last Wed. And also made 10 jelly jars of fig preserves yesterday. I just picked a bunch for my friend this morning too. I'll be making more preserves as the days go by. I have 4 bushes and they are all just loaded.

                                The blueberry bushes are starting to turn and loose their leaves.

                                           This is the sedum, decked out in it's Autumn glory.

I love Redbud trees. They are my very favorite tree. I have wanted them here ever since we bought this place. I got this tree and another smaller tree from my mother's yard a few years ago. This one is about 15' tall now. The other one is really small but is growing and will hopefully be as big as this one soon. I love the leaf patterns on this tree too. So pretty.

We need to get all the oak tree wood split and hauled to the farm soon. I think we'll be having an early fall.

Chickens

From this....

to this, in 2 1/2 hours. 16 Freedom Rangers, done. 10 more to go. I have no idea how much these guys weigh. Some felt like 4 pounds, some like 2 pounds. These guys are going up on the mountain to the guy I bartered 3 chicken tractors for. Quite an expensive trade too. Probably won't be doing any more meat birds. I'll keep the tractors for broody or sick hens. Or when I get more hens I'll keep them in them til they are ready to go in with the others.

When I was out in the milk room last night, getting ready to mix up some grain for the goats, I noticed little tiny black bugs in the bag of wheat. Then saw them in the bag of corn and barley. DARN! Makes me mad! I took all those bags and put them in a big barrel. I took it out of the milk room and into the garage. Should probably get it as far away as possible. But I'll feed that grain to the chickens and hopefully they'll eat all those darn bugs too. I am going to have a talk with the people at the feed store about this. I had also noticed bugs in the last bag of laying feed. Wonder if this is where the bugs came from?

I am getting 4 hens and a rooster this afternoon. Black Jersey Giants I think. They are 4 months old. I think since I will have a roo I'll breed them and try to sell chicks. I'll see how well they do at setting on eggs.

So I can let my laying hens out now to free range part of the day. I didn't want to before the meat birds were all gone so they wouldn't get all mixed up. I'll keep the 10 FR in the tractor so I can let the laying hens out. They will like that.

When I get back from getting the new birds, I have got to start on grape juice and jelly. And then fig preserves. Found what looks like a pretty easy recipe for that. Then next week is SOAP! I've got to make soap. I am almost out.

So what's going on at your farms today?

Bubba and Bonnie Belle

 Bubba with his rack of ribs.

And Bonnie in front of the entrance to the chicken tractor. She would not move out the way so they could get out. I think she just wanted her chicken massage! Silly Bonnie Belle!

What's wrong with my ram???

 I was getting the water hose hooked up out back at the well pump and saw clumps of black wool on the ground. Abraham came walking over to me and I saw a few places that looked like fluffy wool. So I pulled and I got whole handfuls of wool. Just pulled off so easy. On both sides too. But there is a small healed wound right on the shoulder. You can see it here. The white spot. The wool underneath is very smooth and soft. I have never pulled wool off like this before. And I could have pulled all his wool off, it look like. He'd probably love it, as hot as it is right now.

There is a pile of wool right here. I have no idea why it's coming out like this in clumps. I did see John Henry and Abraham at each other yesterday. Maybe John's biting him? Maybe he's stressed? He wants to go back in with the ewes, but I'm waiting til Oct. And I want to get the lambs in a separate area first.

If anyone has any ideas as to why Abraham's wool is coming off so easily, please let me know. I hope he's ok. He had been really sick about a month ago. Had to give him worm meds and antibiotics. Could that be why? Come to think about it, that's about where I gave him the shots.

More hay today

71 more bales of hay today. I had help loading it form Abby and her brother-in-law Johnny and Heather and Kansas. I had to unload it all myself though. I unloaded the trailer first on the driveway, then drove the truck over to the barn to unload and stack all that inside. I only stacked yesterday's hay 4 bales high because it was darn heavy, which took up half the room. So could only get 40 bales in tonight. I stacked that hay 5 bales high. It was much lighter. So the rest of the hay will have to go on the porch. I'll just use it first. I am not going to be feeding hay til probably November, the way it looks right now. So maybe this will last til spring. 140 bales. I was going to go back and get another truckload later but don't have room now.

So yesterday was all about hay and grass. I mowed the sheep's pasture later yesterday afternoon. That took a few hours. It looks so good now. And the pasture the sheep are on now needs mowed. It's full of that foot high grass with the tall fluffy spike on top. I need to look it up to see what king of grass it is. They don't like it apparently.

This is where we got hay today. At the foot of Lookout Mt. behind the middle school where my kids went to school/ It's so beautiful here.

This is Garry's tractor. It's usually broke down.  It was just resting then.

And this was just a little notice in the thrift store bathroom today. It just cracked me up! Tomorrow is farmer's market day. I hope to get the rest of that hay put up in the morning, then take the truck and trailer back and get my Trooper so I can load it up for market. I hope I make some money to make up for what I spent on hay and going to Colorado.

Being busy

Why is there always so much to do?

While I was in Colorado last week, I had nothing to do. Except drive and wait on people. Absolutely nothing to do. We did a lot of shopping and driving and eating there. But nothing like what I do here.

I have such a long list of things that HAVE got to get done. Or started. And yesterday we went and got this load of hay. 70 bales. Well, 4 must of fell off somewhere along the way. It was way up on Sand Mt. where we went to get the hay. On a very hilly field. They could of fallen off there. Anyway, so this is priority this morning. I was going to butcher 25 Freedom Ranger meat birds. But that will have to wait til tomorrow.

And I have at least 5 batches of soap to make. I'm running low for the market. And it's supposed to be nice and sunny this week, so was going to get out in the garden to til some rows for fall crops. Plus Wednesday market, which takes me about all day to pack up and pick veggies and get to market by 3.So Wed. is only about market. Tuesdays I run errands and pay bills and go to the bread store and go have lunch with my mother. I need to take my youngest grand daughter school clothes shopping. She starts school tomorrow.

And here I sit. I don't want to do a single thing. But I have to. I had to unload that trailer so we could get the truck over to the barn. And the top bales are still wet with dew. So they need to dry first. At least I don't have to haul all this hay across the yard like I usually have to do. That wears me out. Now the truck is backed right up to the porch, so all I have to do is walk onto the truck and take it inside. And those bales on the truck weigh at least 80 pounds each. Really heavy hay.

This is some of the veggies I picked yesterday for dinner. We had the whole family here for a home cooked, fresh from the garden dinner. I had roasted one of my chickens with some kale and garlic and rosemary. Also roasted some red potatoes with garlic, rosemary and lots of butter. Then had fresh green beans, field peas, fried okra, rice and tomatoes. And I made a blueberry cobbler from berries I picked up the road at my friend's place. A very good meal for sure. And filling. It lasted til we got home last night with this load of hay at 9:30.

So, I need to go and unload hay. Or make soap. Or til some rows.... Happy Monday, y'all!

Mornings. Smells and sounds.

I love mornings. I love the freshness, the clearness. Everything is cleaner in the morning. Like everything has had a good night's sleep and is ready for a brand new day. I can hear the happy birds chirping. The goats are ready to be milked and are calling for me. The cats are at the door waiting for their breakfast. The chickens are scrambling to be the first out the door to catch all the juiciest bugs. The sheep are out in their pasture, munching on the nice juicy grasses. I can hear them munching too. They see me and baaaa and come running to say good morning to me and I get some sheep love.Then a little later, I hear the hens singing their egg laying songs, one after another. I love that sound!

Then I come inside, after doing all my morning chores. I make coffee for my husband and it smells so good. I don't drink much coffee anymore, but still love the smell. I love how it makes my house smell in the mornings. Then I start on breakfast. Bacon, eggs, apples from the tree earlier this spring, fresh tomatoes from the garden, toast in the toaster. I love breakfast smells. Makes the house smell even better now!

I like to wash a load of clothes or towels and sheets and hang them out to dry in the sun all day. That's one of the best smells. Then fall into bed at night from a long day of work, onto fresh smelling sheets. Ah, that is pure bliss right there!

There is a hint of fall in the morning air now. Days are getting a little shorter. Leaves are starting to get a bit of color and are starting to litter the yards and roads, fluttering all around as we drive by. Such a pretty sight. It doesn't seem so hot anymore. Fall is fast approaching.

I'll be going this afternoon to get a few loads of fresh cut and baled hay for the sheep and goats this winter. That's another wonderful smell. Although I hate going to the fields and loading truck load after truck load, then unloading and hauling and stacking it, I do love that hay smell. And I love the satisfaction knowing the barn is full of hay for my animals this winter.

And the smells of canning and putting fresh home grown food away for a nice long winter of good eating! That's a great smell. And the sound of the "pings" that happen almost as soon as the jars come out of the canner! I love it.

These are just a few of my favorite smells and sounds of mornings around here. Another nice sound is my husband, outside in his garage. Getting the weed eater ready to cut down all those tall grasses and weeds around the electric fence out back around the goat pasture. The goats have been getting out into the hay field next door because the fence is not charging right now.

I hope you all have a great day. And enjoy all the smells and sounds in your neck of the woods today!

Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, Colorado

I am back home!!!! I missed all my animals so much. I never saw the first sheep and only a few goats. And NO home gardens. My brother and sister live in Colorado Springs. There is nothing but wall to wall houses there. And freeways and traffic like I have never seen. Everywhere we went, waiting, waiting and more waiting.

BUT, they have some of the best thrift stores! We went to every one of them I think. There was Goodwill of course. But they have an Arc, which is HUGE, and there are a lot of them, all over. And we went to every one of them, I do believe. Such fun!

My brother and his girl friend took me to the Garden of the Gods. I had been there back in 2001, but things seemed different. It was amazing and so beautiful. The day was perfect. Blue sky with big billowing white clouds. The mountains were beautiful. Every turn, there was a more awesome view than the one before.

This is the Kissing Camels rock. There is a gated community named after this rock.

And the colors! Oh my goodness. So many different colors and contrasts.

This is my brother Mark and his girlfriend Susan. Look at that view!

This is a beautiful scene here. These 2 huge rocks with the peaks in the back ground.

And there were several rock climbers too. Something I am glad I have no interest in.

And I saw faces in all the rocks there. These are so plain to see. Like they were giants frozen in stone, looking up at the sky.

 
On the way back to the parking lot, I saw these silhouettes on the top of these rocks. I thought they looked like some kind of animals. The closer we got, we could see their horns. It was a small flock of Bighorn sheep! There are 6 here that were visible. Then we saw a 7th over to the right a little lower. They were all just looking at all the people looking at them! It was so amazing to see them way up there. There was also a huge buck up at the welcome center. Not but a few feet from all the people watching him. And he just laid down under a bush. Then we also saw a pretty doe under one of the rocks.

These are just a few shots from my trip. I'll post more later. I took over 300. Not hard to do out there. But I am SO glad to be back home. In my very quiet little peaceful valley.

I hope you all have had a great week too.

Vacation

In the middle of August. A vacation. A week in Colorado Springs with my mother, brother and sister and their families. Me and my mother will be driving 1200 miles. I am not looking forward to the drive. That's like 4 days of driving. Geeze, I get tired driving from my house to Chattanooga. And that's just 30 miles.  Ugh. My mom will have to drive most of it, I can tell already. And it's BORING. Just plain b.o.r.i.n.g. And Manitou Springs flooded again. I liked it there.

I think I do need to get away from here though. These animals are driving me crazy. I just need a change of scenery. And to not have to get up in the morning and have 5000 animals that need me right away. I hope I am feeling better when I get back. Ready to start a new chapter.

 I will be away from a computer too. Which I need a break from as well. So I will be back next Friday. I so hope you all have a great week and I'll see you later!

Lookout Mountain art

I saw this truck when I got to the top of the mountain to go get my grands yesterday. I had to turn around and go back to take some pictures. It is so cool! I just love it. It's amazing what some people come up with.

Just awesomeness

I went out this morning at 7 to feed the animals and saw this. I had to just stand there and watch it progress over the hill. If you click on the pictures, you can see 2 little birds on the wire, just sitting there, waiting for the sun to come up. I can just imagine them singing praises to their Lord. Just beautiful! And it was so quiet. Even the sheep and goats weren't making a sound.

 My mother and I are heading out to Colorado Springs Thursday morning to visit my brother and sister and their kids for a week. I haven't been anywhere for a long time. Last time was to Savannah for my nieces wedding in Oct a few years ago. I have been saving all my farmer's market and chicken money for the trip. I also just sold the 3 diva kids yesterday! I had just put an ad on CL and got a call a little later asking if I had an ad on CL. I said yes. He said I had put too many 0's in and he and his wife tried all different ways and got me. He said they wanted all 3 of them but couldn't get them til next week but would come out and pay for them. Sometimes it's hard for me to see how God works. But this is just perfect because my friend who'll be coming to take care of the animals would have had to milk Sandy twice a day if they had taken them now. So they will come back when I get back home. They have just bought a huge farm in Alabama but are living in Chattanooga til the place it ready. Which will be next week. They have 2 young ND bucklings too. So it all worked out great and I have more money for the trip! Too cool.

I hope you all have a great week. And enjoy all your beautiful sunrises and sunsets.

A whole dozen eggs today!

I'm sorry for so many chicken pictures here. But I am so proud of these girls! I mean, they just did start laying and now they're up to a WHOLE DOZEN! All 6 White Leghorns and now 6 of the Red Stars. That just leaves 2 more RS to start laying. Then the 7 Barred Rocks in about a month. Then I'll get  nearly 2 dozen a day! Too cool.

I helps to take a break from certain animals to appreciate them when you get them again. There are certain animals I will NEVER have, like alpacas, donkeys or llamas, which scare the crap out of me for some reason. Who wants an animal that looks like a furry dinosaur to spit green nasty stuff in your face? Not this farm gal. Nope, so none of those animals will ever live here.

Then there are those I have had and will NEVER have again, as far as I can tell right this moment. Like turkeys, ducks, guineas, more than likely pigs. And maybe not a horse. But maybe a working pony in the future. And a few more beef cows. I miss cows for some reason.

But chickens? I will probably always have chickens. And goats and sheep. Chickens are just fun. And so funny. And ya get eggs! For not really much either. And they love eating trash and bugs. Can't go wrong with a chicken.

This little lady, who my little visitors yesterday named Mary, just laid an egg here. Actually, Ally named all 6 white hens Mary. She said it would be easier that way. I think this is so interesting to see a hen right before and after laying an egg. They will stand up and start grunting and push several times. Then out comes the egg. Then she'll stand there for awhile, like she's in a daze. Or in shock, not sure which. I guess I'd be in shock, having to lay a large egg every day!

She apparently was taking a little too long after laying her egg for this other hen waiting in line. Even though there were a few other empty nests, she thought this one was the better one.

 And this is what I got today. A whole dozen eggs!

 And a nice even amount of each color, which makes it so nice for an OCD type person like me, who likes to put them in the carton all nice and pretty like this. Isn't that way cool? I think so.

So all these dozens of eggs will be going to the Main St. market with me this Wednesday to sell. I am so excited to be bringing eggs again. A little bit more money for my Colorado trip this week.

Do you need any help getting that out to your car?

I heard these words today at Whole Foods. I had gone to pick up a few things and was at the check out paying. As I was standing there about to pick up my 2 very un heavy bags, the young man asked "Do you need any help getting this to your car?" He may or may not have said ma'am, I can't remember. Although, he could very well have, because I just turned and looked at him with a most unusual look on my face. Like I could not believe he just asked ME if I needed HELP getting these 2 bags of very light food to my car. I just stood there with my hands on my hips. He then said " We always ask people if they need help" "Oh, so not just OLD ladies then?" I really don't know what came over me. No one has ever asked me that before in that store. It must just be a new policy. Hmm...

No one at Tractor Supply has ever asked me if I needed help with the 500 pounds of grains I just purchased. EVER. I mean, I lift 50 pound bags of grain all the time. By myself! If my husband happens to be home when I get here with a truck load, I will let him unload it for me. I'm not stupid. It's nice to get a break every once in awhile, right?

But I toss 60-70 pound bales of hay into my truck, stacked 4 and 5 bales high. Then unload them all and haul them to my barn and restack them all. Myself. Like 200 at a time. And I might need help getting 2 little bags of food to my car?

I really feel old now. I'm 55 and in pretty darn good shape, thank you. I just don't know what came over me. Really strange feeling for sure. I don't know how to process this right now. I thought about it all the way home. And can't seem to get it off my mind. I think it's just the way he said it? Or that he was a baby? Would it have felt the same if a girl had asked me the same question? Or an older man? UGH! Does it just get worse now that I am a SENIOR citizen to some people? Is some kid going to come up to me and ask if they can help me across the street soon? Do people even do that anymore? Good grief.

The hens

I am really enjoying my new hens. It's been a few months since I've had laying hens. It was nice to have a little break though. It made me appreciate them even more. And all those wonderful eggs! I am getting 10 a day now. All 6 of the Leghorns are laying with 4 of the Red Stars laying. I can hardly wait til all 21 of them are laying soon.

They're all getting along better now. I still hear a squeal every now and then from one of the bigger hens picking on the smaller Barred Rocks. But they will be as big as the others soon. I hope to be able to let them out in the evenings a little, maybe next month. I have the Freedom Rangers free ranging in the same pasture and they all pretty much stay in there. I just need to get them all butchered before I let the layers out. Which will be happening the end of the month. They are growing but not as big as I want them yet. A few more weeks and they should be ready.

What I did today

I have really enjoyed my day today. It's been a rainy day. But in between the rains, I went out to the garden to see what was out there. I brought baskets. Came back inside with a basket of beautiful tomatoes, bell peppers, basil, cucumbers and field peas. Later I picked a whole bucket of pretty sweet grapes for jelly tomorrow. The corn I bought from a little road side stand in Ringgold.

And this is what I got from all this. 4 bags of corn cut off the cob. 2 bags of field peas. 7 pints of canned tomato sauce plus a small bag of sauce for the freezer. So not too bad for a days work. My freezers are a bit full right now.

I also picked a bunch of beautiful zinnias for all over the house. I love these flowers and they just make me so happy seeing them. And washed 4 loads of laundry. I will have nice fresh clean sheets on my bed tonight!

I also got 10 eggs today! All 6 Leghorns are laying now! And 4 of the Red Stars. So I have almost 2 dozen eggs now!

Tomorrow I have GOT to clean this house! There is enough dog hair to cover a bald dog. I need to shave Bubba. He moves and fur flies.

What are y'all canning and freezing right now? I love doing this. Sometimes I have to make myself do it, but when it's done, I love that satisfaction of seeing all these beautiful jars of produce that will be SO good this winter.