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.

Mrs T. and her new shawl. And a squirrel.

 This is Mrs. T. She was so happy to get her shawl, "knit with love". I put the buttons on at her house this morning and gave it to her. She loves it. She kept saying how wonderful it was that I knit that for her. It looks really pretty on her. She's a beautiful lady.

I had my camera today and was taking pictures. I love to sit right here and take her picture. The water color painting above is her house. This is where i always remember her, sitting, reading the paper or watching the news.

We were sitting on her sun porch, eating lunch, and this squirrel ran up on this feeder and started eating as fast as he could. I got my long lens on and started snapping pictures. These are a few of my favorite shots. Squirrels are so pretty.

He saw me looking at him, but he just stayed right there and ate til he was full. Look at that long fluffy tail!

I am loving this camera! Can you tell yet? I think I'll take some of these really good photos and print them and frame them to sell in my shop. Who knows, someone else may really like them too. My daughter has some really good pictures of her new puppies that are so cute. I'll have to get her to frame some too.

Happy weekend y'all!

History of the Little House.

I really don't like to paint. Maybe it's because of all the prep work it takes to even begin to paint. If you're living in the house, then there are pictures and things on the walls to take down. Furniture to move out.  Cleaning the walls. It just goes on and on. And then there are millions of colors to choose from. It's just awful for me.

Since this little house hasn't been lived in in a few years, there wasn't too much to be moved. Just all the crap to throw away. Then, since we've never bothered to paint the sheet rock after we fixed the ceiling before we could move in 10 years ago, I had to tape and mud it. Which, to me, is the hardest thing to do. Especially a ceiling.

This house was built by the man who lived here. There has only ever been 2 families who've lived here: the Bells and us. The Bells built the rock house we live in back in 1948. It's as old as my husband. And they never had children. From what I've heard about Mrs. Lillian Bell, she was a mess. Not a happy woman. So Mr. Bell had this little house built for him to get away from her, back in the '70's. It's very well built, like the big house. And the barn out back. These 3 things will be here forever, I do believe.

So he had this house built for him to get away from his wife when she  wasn't being agreeable. This was his "man cave", back in the day. He had it all fixed up, with a bed and all. Had washer-dryer hook ups, phone jack, tv, I'm sure. And lots and lots of outlets! He died back in the early '90's sometime and left Mrs. Bell here, all by herself. Well, she never did like this house, so she just left it alone. It was a mess for sure. Roof leaked really bad, enough for the ceiling in the whole front of the house to fall in. We could barely get in the front door to look inside when we came to see the house. And the other house was even worse. She apparently was a woman who thought everything should be done for her for free, by family members. So, not a whole lot got done, in either house. And she was put in a nursing home not long after he died, I think. So the houses were empty for years.

So, during this time, people came and got things from both houses. There was only a bed and a table and chairs in this little house. AND, all along all the walls in the living room, were OLD black and white pictures of just about everyone who ever lived in this Cove. From back in the '20's thru probably the '70's. AND Mr. Bell, being the man he was, put up 12' 1x10 board all up and down the walls to hang all these hundreds of 8x10 pictures on. I mean, they were on all 3 long walls. Full of pictures.

We had to first get a roof put on this house and fix the ceiling so we could move in here while the big house was being gutted and renovated. We took all the pictures down, put them in boxes, and started asking people of the community if they wanted any of them. I took several boxes down to the local churches.

Then we had to take down all those boards. Which we used to make our new chicken-goat-horse shelter. They are still up, doing rather well. Free wood is great. So that's why all the sheet rock mud is on all the walls. And Mr. Bell didn't believe in doing anything half way either. That man used 6" long nails to nail up all those boards on all those walls. Yes he did. And in the big house too. They built stuff to last, back in the day.

So now, I am waiting on the mud to dry. I'll pick out some colors to paint the walls tomorrow while I'm in town. I'll sand later tonight and maybe paint the ceiling.

I don't mind painting an empty house, with nothing in my way. And I so look forward to what this place will be soon. And how much room I will have to spread out and get some things done. And not have to put stuff away!

I love this old light fixture in the kitchen. I think I'll leave it up. We've kept all the old light fixtures in our house too. I like old stuff.

I'll post more pictures in a few days, when I've done some more. Or when there's actually some color to see.

Getting started...

I cleaned out the little house this morning. I just threw everything away. It's been in there for too long and was nasty stuff. There are mice  and long legged spider things all over. There's even a skunk that has been living underneath the house all winter. When we first bought this place, there was a ground hog family that lived there. Lots if wildlife. So they all have to go now.

This is all I can get on this truck for this trip. It's loaded. I still have the couch and fridge. I'll take the fridge to Chatt. to sell. We got $30 for the old freezer we took a few months ago. It takes that much gas to get there in this truck though! Not really worth it. But I can put that money toward another fridge.

The porch is a mess right now. The stuff on the left side I'm keeping. Needs to be cleaned real good. But it can all be used over here. I'll paint the porch and put a railing up. And something to hide under the porch.

Still not sure what color to paint the outside of the house and porch. The roof is tan. I have always loved green. So I thought a nice light mossy green. I'm going to have real screen doors over here too. There's a back door that needs some work. And all the windows need screens fixed. It's pretty cool here with all the cedar trees around the house. And I'll get a ceiling fan for the porch and inside. I also have a small window AC I'll put in the kitchen window.

This is facing the kitchen. To the left is the bathroom. And that wall here has washer-dryer hookups. I hope to get some for this house. And a wall to cover them up with sliding doors. To the left is the front door, then a small closet. The small door is a little pantry. I can store all my soap making things in there. That's what I want to use the kitchen for. I can put wire shelves in the there for curing soaps too. And also I'll make jams and jelly for market. And cheese for us!

This is the big room. The front door is to the right here. This whole big wall will be shelves for yarns and roving. And then I'll have some cute comfy chairs and lamps for knitting. I want a big sewing table-work space in the middle of the room too.

This is the back wall with the back door. It faces the goat's pasture-yard and barn. I'd love to have a small window on this wall. But not any time soon. This will be shelves and cubbies for yarn and fabric here to.

So tonight, I went over and swept all the crap off the floors and spackled all the holes on all the walls. I'll leave the flooring down til I paint the ceiling and walls. Then I'll just paint the floors. I'll have rugs all around too. I might just paint big stripes or squares. Who knows.

I feel like I've gotten some things done over there. I feel motivated and ready to do this! It feels good to have a goal and plans to work toward now. Can't wait to see more progress.

Just one more...

 I joined a beginner knitting group in Feb. The project was a prayer shawl. I got some Lion Brand Homespun yarn for the project. 3 skeins.  Glad I did, because it really hides all the mistakes of a beginner. And believe me, there are many!

I started this shawl with my friend Libby in mind. She was just getting over brain surgery and battling cancer. But she passed away in early March.

So this shawl was going to be for Mrs. T. The little lady I help take care of. She's 96, going to be 97 in July, but swears she's going to be 100. You just cannot argue with her. Even though it says the year plain as day on her DL. So, when I go to her house for the day on Fridays, I take things like this to do. She asked what I was making not long ago, and I told her it was a nice shawl for her, to keep her warm. She was so thrilled. She keeps saying I'm knitting it for her with love. And I am. She gets cold easy even in summer, so doesn't like the AC on too much. So we all are burning up most of the time. This will keep her warm, and all of us cool!

I added a crocheted scalloped edge for the border. Just looks better to me to have it all evened up.

And I found some pretty wooden buttons to add to the front, to help it to stay on her shoulders. I'll give it to her next week and take pictures. She's a beautiful white-haired Southern lady. I love her. I think we will all be happy now!

I need to knit a few more now. One for my mother. And one for me. And probably one for my husband. We have still not turned the AC on yet.

Zarah, Lucille and Mabeline

I just sold all 3 of them to the nicest, sweetest big family ever! I've been emailing them and they came up tonight from Calhoun, Ga. In a big huge white van. With 6 of the cutest little kids, all under 7. So sweet! And very polite and just so cute.

I got all the goats and kids in the little holding area. And all the 2 legged kids and mom and dad were in there too. The Zeeboo just laid right into poor little Anderson and knocked him down. Poor little kid. He was wearing an orange shirt. He was ok and I got the mean goat out of there real fast. And all the kids kept asking if they were going to get the mean goat.

So they loaded them all up in the big van. The 2 legged kids were so excited. These goats are huge compared to their little tiny Nigerian goat kids. They might be breeding for mini Manchas.  Just thought of that.

I always hate to sell my goats. I want them to go to homes just like this. But sometimes they don't. So I am very happy about this sale. I feel real good about it. My dream sale for sure!

And this is more money to put into my new adventure, the fiber studio! Getting started tomorrow. I bought sheet rock mud and tape for the ceiling. Then while it dries, I'll get paint. I am thinking a nice calm soothing blue for the walls? I am a sucker for green and have it all over my house. But I am really liking blue right now. So it may be a blue room. Then the bathroom might be green.

So, I am on the way to a fiber studio-shop! And Zarah, Lucy and Mabel are on the way to their new home. With a bunch of great kids. So fun!