Fiber show and antique store finds.

 I went to Townsend Tn. this past weekend to a fiber fair at the Heritage Center. My niece Jill and her son went with me. I had so much fun, talking to all the fiber people. I love them.

This is so Cormo I found. I've never spun any yet, so I got enough for a few skeins, I hope. It's really soft and pretty.

And one booth was nothing but rug hooking. She had little kits so I got one of a sheep. I had to go back Sunday and get the black felt. It wasn't in the kit. She was really nice and helpful. Had to get her to go over it with me again. I am such a visual learner, so directions don't mean a thing to me. I will get started on this soon.

This is some 100% cotton roving from The Spinnery. They had a booth at the show. I asked if they had any hand combs. She said they did in their store in Gatlinburg. We went after the show for lunch, then went to the store. It was amazing. I got hand combs. They are below.

And on the right is a bunch of Merino tops. It's amazing. Can't wait to spin it up.

This is an ounce of CVM wool. Never have tried it either. I've heard people talking about how no one really knows a lot about it and they want people to try it. So I am. It's not very soft but she said it can be worn next to the skin. We shall see.

On the way home Sunday, I went past a few antique stores that were open. I kept going, but then decided to turn around and go to the one that had all the stuff outside. I found SO many good things. I'm so glad I stopped.

This book caught my eye. Then a little tiny McCoy lamb that just had to come home with me. I'm such a sucker for sheep. Has anyone read this book yet? I've read the 1st 2 chapters so far.

Also found these 3 stacks of quilt scraps. For $10.  Now I'll have to make a quilt. We sure need more quilts on these chilly nights.

Then I'm in a booth looking around and see this tall wooden shelf, holding a bunch of stuff. I looked for a tag to see if it was for sale. It was. $18! I ran to the desk up front to grab one of the ladies to see if that was for real. It was! I got it! It's amazing. It was a wind chime display rack.  I love it. It will be to hang my hand spun yarns on. Too cool!

And the chair was on the front porch. It did not have a tag, so I asked about it. I sat in it and it's so sturdy and comfy. The lady called someone about it. She said they were asking $55 but would take $25. I said I'll take it. This will go on my studio porch.

So I sure am glad I stopped.

I can't get that top picture to separate. But that's the set of combs I got at the store in Gatlinburg.  They are hand made. Called Indigo Hound. Just $150. I had to get a bolt to put in the hole to keep it steady. And we had clamps. This is some Wensleydale locks I was playing with, trying the combs out. You can see how much I put on the comb. Then below, the 2 balls I made and then all the waste to the left. That's a lot of waste. But I posted this on the fiber group on FB and they say that's pretty much normal. That's why combed top is so expensive. But I love doing this.

This is some of Adalaide's curly kinky locks. I could not put this through my carder at all. This is why I bought the combs, so I could process her wool. And I have a lot of Romney that needs processed as well, so I'll use these.

This will keep me busy til all my sheep are sheared. Which I'm kind of glad she hasn't come yet. It's FREEZING here! Although, we have had some pretty hot days where the sheep will be panting like dogs. Poor sheep. Thank goodness, we have lots of trees.

The boys are back!

  Finally got my boys home last night. It was dry enough to drive the truck and trailer into the pasture up to  the barn. And Susan had them in a stall. They were ready to go home, I do believe. They were with about 12 other boys with lots of testosterone flying around. And she was worried they might also bond with the herd there. But they didn't. And they are back home with their own little flock of sheep. I think the sheep missed them too. I feel a lot safer with the alpacas in with my sheep too.


This is them at the alpaca farm, waiting their turn. In the misty rain. It was a nasty day to shear for sure.

And here they are, back home with their flock. Sugar is way back at the barn, eating hay.

Just about every other picture I took of my boys, this alpaca would stick his head in front of me. It was too funny! He was all over the place, wanting to know what was going on. Then it was his turn. He was quite surprised, to say the least.

And here is the result of the shearing. I don't know how many pounds. It was damp when I got it home, so I spread both fleeces out on the drying rack before I left for my weekend away. Sugar's fleece was really dirty. Someone was telling me they say a really cool box made out of small wire, where the alpaca wool is put in and they'd use a blower to blow out all the dust and VM. I might have to try that myself.

And, I have to say that last year, when the boys went to the farm to be sheared, I could not tell Sugar, the white one, apart from all the other white ones. This year, I knew exactly which was mine! He was smaller, but also hes a certain look. When we went last night to get them, she had most of the boys in a stall. But I didn't see Sugar in that bunch. He had gotten out somehow and was outside the barn. But we got them.

Around the farm today.

 I know I am not the only one sick and tired of all this rain and storms we've had, practically the whole month of April so far. But really, I am tired of all this water. And mud. And messiness. And I am worn out just walking to the chicken coop for eggs. I'm not even locking them in at night, so I don't have to slosh back down there to let them out in the morning. Just not gonna do it.

It's really windy today. And cloudy. But I do see a little bit of blue sky poking out between all those clouds. I hope they aren't rain clouds. I think it's supposed to not rain til Wednesday. Maybe.

I can't even go get my alpacas because it's too muddy to get back there to them to load them up. We had to leave them at the alpaca farm last Friday because I have to use my friend's trailer to haul them over there. And one of her alpacas broke her leg, so she had to use her trailer to take her up to the UT vet school in Knoxville. She there went my alpaca's ride home. I will get them either today or tomorrow. I miss them being here.

The red clover in the garden is finally blooming. I've had some in my dandelion tea a few times. The bees are loving it.

These collard flowers are busy these days too. Full of insects. I'll leave them there. Because it looks like I won't be able to garden til Fall, as wet as it is. I'll just have a wild garden.

My bee condo. It's getting bigger and bigger. I think I need to do a split soon. They are really do good so far. Haven't done a thorough check of the whole hive yet, because the weather is so crazy. But I added this box last week and they are already up in it.

I saw this huge ant mountain this morning. I think I should do something about it before the old tree falls down. Black Bart found some good food here. I am not feeding them now, because there is so much for them to eat naturally now. They do get scraps when I go gather eggs.

This is the clematis vine today. In full bloom! It's beautiful. And it will bloom a few more times.

This is the tree with the ant mountain. It's slowly dying. Big limbs have fallen off over the years we've lived here. But it's a bird condo. There are already baby birds in this nest. I hope it stays up a lot longer.

And some azalea flowers. I have more, but they didn't do too well this year. I have way too much of that creeping Charlie pest and it's taking over all my flower beds. I pull it up and it just comes back more.

I went North this weekend, instead of South. I'll post the rest of the week about my adventure.

First flower...

Alpaca shearing day...

is tomorrow. The boys just left to go to My Little Darling Alpaca farm. My friend Susan has a great little trailer and she comes to get them the night before the shearing day. So they can be dry. Because they are pretty much sopping wet right now. And pretty much filthy. Sugar, the white one, is not white at the moment.

So they will be sheared, their hooves (or toes?) trimmed, teeth trimmed and whatever else needs to be done. I'll take pictures I'm sure. Lots of beautiful alpacas there.

Then Saturday, I'm off to Savannah for a few days. I need to get away! I want to go check out cute little beach houses for the summer. I'm taking the grands for a week. I've been wanting to do this for a long time. And they have too.

So I will see y'all next week!

New bike.

 This is a window I've had for years and years. It's just kind of hung around on the floor. When I got this studio finished, I brought it over here. It's like it was just waiting for this place. It's home now. I love it. I started putting sheep photos and other prints around it. 3 of the sheep are from Suzanne at Chickens in the Road. blog. The black lamb is from Maria at Full Moon Fiber Art blog. The rest are from my favorite magazine, Taproot. Sometimes they put these cute post cards in.

And here is my new bike! I love this bike. It's so much better than that other one I had gotten a few weeks ago. I took it back. This is from a store in Chattanooga called Trek. It's just a nice cruising bike. Very comfortable. Nice big seat. Peddles in the middle, not right under me. Higher handlebars, so I sit straight up. And very light. And long too. We had to take the front tire off to get it to fit in the back of my Trooper.

It didn't come with fenders, but I can order some for around $50 if I feel like I need them. I think I will go ahead and get the rack that goes on the back though. It just made it look so much better. And I can strap stuff on if I want to go for a longer ride.

I hope this will help motivate me to get out and ride now. I have only lost 3 more pounds in over a week. A little disappointing but I'm not stopping. I feel so good right now and do not want to go back to the way I was before. I have not missed sweets at all. Or bread. Or fried stuff. Because I know in my mind that if I did eat any of that stuff, I would feel horrible.

And I have 22 dreads for the 22 pounds I've lost. I need to do another one.

I have set a goal for myself. My birthday is June 5th. I want to have lost at least 51 pounds by that date. And I want to have ridden my bike down to Mt. Cove farm and back. That will be 10 miles. Then I will be getting a tattoo. Of a honeybee on a dandelion flower. On the top of my left wrist. Just a small one. Not too elaborate but pretty. 2 of my favorite things.

I think I will do it.

Around the wet farm.

 It's going to be a wet rainy week here in N. Ga. I guess I could do some house cleaning maybe? But I could probably think of something else to do instead.

  This is the chain link gate the sheep tore up.  I cannot believe they were able to do this to it.

 Campbelle is doing a lot better. But I've noticed how she reacts when Darla comes near her. Darla is huge, the biggest ewe I have. She's half Suffolk and half Finn. Huge! Yesterday, I put them back over on the other side of the yard so they could go out back. The grass has grown so much in just a week. I saw darla heading toward Campbelle, in a not very friendly manner. Like she was going to ram her. So now, I'm wondering if Darla is picking on her. I did take a picture a few months ago, where Campbelle was at the gate and all the other sheep were behind her. Darla was giving her some really evil looks. So maybe there is some bullying going on there. The biggest picking on the smallest. I'll have to keep an eye on those two.

I did get most of the garden mowed last week. It just about killed me to do it. I love all the wildness out there and wanted to keep it that way for the bees. But there are still several spots that I left wild. Plus all the clover. I'm waiting on it to bloom. I am seeing some red flowers here and there. So will wait a while longer to mow it down.

When I am ready, I'll get my husband to get the weed eater in there and just knock it down. Then wait a few days, cover it with old hay, and plant tomatoes and squashes and other plants in it. No tilling. The other places I'll till for seeds.

The sheep are back over in the bigger pasture. In just a week of them being away from it, the grass has grown several inches. We've had a very wet spring so far and it looks like it will continue this way.

 Sheep generally don't mind a little sprinkle, but a down pour they do not like. So they get under shelters. The alpacas love it though. When I'm filling water troughs, they come running for me to spray them down on warm days.

Speaking of alpacas, they will be getting sheared this Friday. My friend will come get them Thursday evening and take them to her farm, where several other people bring theirs, for the annual Alpaca Shearing Day. Susan has about 75 alpacas at her farm, My Little Darling Alpacas. Then there are about 6 other people who bring theirs there. It's just easier on the shearers. It took all day last year to do them all. It was Mother's Day. I was there ALL day helping out. And it was hot. I think these guys are ready for a hair cut. And their hooves need a good trimming. They do it all there that day. Teeth too.

So, all winter, I had not seen a single ant in my house. I thought I had been given a break. But I guess about 3-4 weeks ago, here they came. A few here, a few there. Not too bad. But now, they are all over the kitchen. On the counters, in the stove, in the cabinets, and under the coffee pot. Even over here in my studio. I have about had it with them.

I tried cinnamon. Did not work. I sprayed with kitchen stuff, like Lysol and anything I could reach when I saw them. More would come every day. So I got some ant traps and ant spray. For days, they didn't go near the traps. Then I noticed a steady stream of ants in the pantry shelves. So put traps there. They started going in. For a few days now.

This morning, I had enough. There were hundreds on the counter, under the coffee pot. I was out of spray, so grabbed Dawn. Poured it all over the counter. I never saw where they were coming from. I had already sprayed the cabinet shelves so was out of spray. I am just SICK of those stinking ants. I smell like an ant, as many as I have squished. I might just have to call an exterminator to get rid of them. I hate ants.

Anyway, we had a great weekend. I'll post more about it later. I hope you all have a great week!

Fun weekend!

I;ll be at Mrs. T's all day today. But it's Friday and the weekend is coming! And NO grand kids!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's going to be a busy weekend. Saturday morning, off to a friends to help plant their garden. Mr. Farmer was attacked by their dog and has lots of stitches, so can't do anything right now, and the plants in flats  are in desperate need of planting.

Then Saturday night is a barn party at some friends barn. So excited about this. We haven't really been a whole lot of places just to have fun and relax with friends in a long time. We need this. So looking forward to reconnecting with friends and making new ones.

And Sunday, since we didn't have an Easter gathering, the family will be going to mom's for a big dinner. Fun!

So what are y'all doing? It's April, rain showers bringing on the green grass and leaves and flowers here. But looks like a great weekend, with great weather, family and friends.

 Have a great weekend, y'all!

Sheep on greens.

I let the sheep and alpacas over here Sunday. Could have  been a little longer, but they wanted to go. They are happy now.

Last weekend, they were out back. I checked on them before I went to bed that night. They were all laying out under the stars, just fine. The gate was open so they could get back in the yard if they wanted.

When I got up the next morning, the gate was all torn up. It's a chain link gate. All torn up. I checked the sheep, they seemed fine. I have no idea what happened. It was shut when I checked it out.

Then I started noticing little Campbelle, off by herself most of the time. I just thought she needed some quiet time. Then later, I noticed she was a little slow when she walked. So, a few days ago, she was laying down in the barn and I saw her back right leg. Right above the hoof looked swollen. And she's limping when she walks.

I think, whatever happened that night the gate was torn up, she was in the middle of it and got her foot broken. All the others are fine. She hangs out with the alpacas. They are slow and she feels comfortable with them. I guess maybe they got spooked, maybe by coyotes, and tried to get to the front yard, but the gate had gotten closed by wind and they wanted out bad. I can't even imagine how they did it.

I'm just going to have to let Campbelle's leg heal on it's own I think. I might go by the vet and get a few shots of Banamine for pain though.

I did it!

Isn't this cute? I made this! Well, with a whole lotta help from my friend Jennie. Couldn't have done it without her really. But she let me do most of it. This new sewing machine had her stumped a few times. But she likes it. And I finally figured out the back up stitch. That will help a lot.

Kansas loves it. And it fits perfect. But not for long. She's growing like a weed. She can wear leggings under it or shorts.

I am right proud of this! I haven't made any clothing since I was in 8th grade Home Ec. And I hated it! Took me a whole year just to sew a pair of pants. Why can't we have school when we're older? I want to learn everything now.

But this was fun. I can't wait til I lose more weight, so I can make some clothes for me. What fun! Another goal for me to work toward.

Can you tell Kansas loves to pose? Such a ham, she is.

Around the farm...

 And just like that, most of the trees are green again! The grass is growing like crazy. Already been mown twice. I haven't been able to start the garden because it's still too wet. And rain all this week too. I do like a fall garden best anyway. But I do want green beans, corn and tomatoes.

This is one of my herb gardens. I can see chives and a few other things coming back in. I should add more soil.

                                         The clematis is full of blooms! Can't wait to see them.

I think all 4 fig bushes are dead. Makes me so sad. They did great the first year. Had lots of figs that were so good. Then last year, they were getting leaves and we had a killing frost. So I cut them all way back and they came back, all nice and full. Got a few figs. But this year, they are doing nothing. I'll break a branch and it's brown. No life at all. So sad. I wonder what happened? Does anyone else have figs?

My little bee garden is looking good. Hosta popping up all around it. And I see several of the perennials coming up that I planted last year. Me and Kansas got in there the other day and pulled up big clumps of grass and the dead branches. Looks better. I'll mulch when everything is bigger.

The 3 pear trees are in full bloom! And full of critters. Lots of my honey bees. I hope to get lots of pears this year.

                                   Cab you see the honey bee right in the middle of this picture?

  Beautiful apple blossoms. This is on one of the newer apple trees below the garden. I planted 6 there and can't remember what all they are. I know I got Arkansas Black, a Granny Smith, and a few Yates. But can't remember the others. They were good last year.

 

 And the Old  Granny Smith apple tree, in full bloom too. The Yates and Early June is coming along too but not like this yet.

Here are some working girls. I love my hens. I have 7 and get 7 eggs about every other day. Yesterday, I was putting them up for the night and only saw 6 with the rooster. I got them in and looked all over for #7. I had taken a long walk earlier and thought maybe she had followed me. But I didn't see anything on the road. Looked in the garage and other rooms. No # 7 anywhere. Then I saw her, meandering along the fence in the studio yard. Just taking her time. She's always by herself. She marches to the beat of her own drum, that one. I was very glad to see her and she went right in the coop.

And this was my lunch yesterday. I love this salad. My favorite. It's spring lettuce mix with dandelion greens and red loose lettuce. I added some hen-bit and violet flowers. Also have dried cranberries, walnuts and Gorgonzola cheese with a Superberry fruit vinaigrette dressing. It's SO good! I do hope you all go outside and harvest wild food from your yards and eat them!

I rode my new bike down to the fire hall and back yesterday. Man, I have not been on a bike in years. It's hard!! I was exhausted y'all. And it's only about a few blocks away maybe? Why is riding a bike so hard? And that seat! Torture! I think it feels too small for me. I might take it back and go to the bike store and try them. They are a lot more money, but I want a bike to last for a long time. And I want to be comfortable. I might try a cruising bike. I won't be racing. And the seats are bigger and look more comfy.

My friend will come today and we'll finish the dress I started last week. I tried it on Kansas and it's perfect! She likes it. So I hope to make lots more clothes soon.

20

Today, 4 weeks and 1 day into this weight loss journey, I have lost 20 pounds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And I bought a bike yesterday. Oh my goodness, I have not been on a bike in forever and it's kind of a little scary. And good grief I am SO out of shape it's horrible. I rode it up and down the long driveway and was huffing and puffing. And my driveway is pretty flat. But I was trying to get the seat and speed adjusted too. It somehow doesn't feel just right to me so it might have to go back and I'll try another one. I'm going to ride a little later this afternoon, just to see how it is on the road, then decide.

I am so happy right now! And I feel SO much better already.