Around the farm...

   I finally found some flowers for the tire planters at Lowe's for $1 each. They sure suck up the water though.

This is one of my spirea bushes, in bloom.

                          And my Stella d'Oro day lilies are blooming now too. They're so pretty.

This is the elderberry bush that popped up at the bird bath. It's starting to get flowers. I sure hope I get some berries this year. I need to fill up the hummingbird feeder.

These 2 mommas have been hard at work the past week, scratching up all the old hay and sheep poop for me. I've already put several wagon loads on the garden, mulching with it. Good girls! I love when my animals do things for me!

                                     This is some really good compost too. Really dark and rich.

                                                Little apples on the early June apple tree.

    Which one is different here? Freja is staying with the sheep during the day, til I milk her. Then I put her in the back yard. I got her a friend today. More about her later.

Just look at all this wool! I will be busy soon. I hope my shearing lady comes Friday. 12 sheep to shear. 12 fleeces to play with! Oh, what fun to be had!


But poor Darla is just miserable. She has at least 6" of wool on her. I keep telling her just a few more days now and all that wool will come off. She will be the 1st sheep to be sheared.

And my poor apple trees. They keep getting more yellow. It's cedar apple rust. I went ahead and fertilized the 4 smaller trees with fish emulsion this morning, then mulched real good around them with that manure compost. And now it's pouring rain, so I hope all that good stuff gets washed down to the roots. I'll give them more fish fertilizer in a few days again.

              I cut some of the bottom branches off the bigger tree and gave the branches to Freja.

This little guy, Clack, is a mess. All his back wool is stuck to the barbed wire fence at the front of the pasture. He gets through it and eats the honeysuckle vines that have weighed the chain link fence down. We've been working on trying to pull that fence back up, but those vines are heavy. After him and his brother Click, get sheared, they will be going to the butcher. So I won't have to worry about them getting over the fence then.

Been working in the garden. Planting more and mulching. Will share later this week. We got a good all night soaking rain a few nights ago. And now it's pouring rain again!! I just cannot water like the Lord can. The plants do so much better with rain water.

Have a great week, y'all!

Yellow butterflies

These 2 butterflies were on this blade of grass this morning when I went out to feed the chickens. Wonder what they are and what they're doing?

1 year ago...

 I got 2 bee hives. I put 1 in the garden and 1 out back in the goat pasture. This is the day I got them, coming out of the nuc.

One of the frames, full of beautiful bees.

A peek inside the hive. Lots of busy bees!

Added another small super.

Just such a beautiful sight to see! So many bees.

Winter. It was cold. I lost the outback hive. One day they were there, next day they were gone. I don't know what happened. I think maybe the queen died and the bees just left. Maybe moved up to the garden hive?

So I decided to wrap the hive in a heavy quilt when it got below 35. I think it helped them. So many people lost hives this past winter.

They made it! And I had to add boxes. They were busy working, foraging, gathering lots and lots of pollen.

And this is now. The bee condo. They are doing great and I should get honey in June! I am so happy to have these beautiful bees. It's been a year of learning and growing. I still don't know a whole lot about bees and probably never will. But I am thankful for knowing people who do and I can ask for help.

So if you haven't made that jump into becoming a bee keeper, think about it. It's really not that hard to do. And it's SO worth it. Every sting, every scare, every day. It's worth it.

30

I have lost 30 pounds as today, May 14, 2015!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am beyond amazed with myself. I have never stuck with anything this long. But I am determined to get below 200 and stay there for the rest of my life. I can live on salads I do believe. But other food would be good too. I just need to start looking for some fun recipes to try now.

We're back in the milk room!

 We're all back in the milk room, just like we never left. The dogs back at the end of the stanchion, waiting for me to squirt milk for them.

The cats, lapping up milk from their dish.

A pail of milk. I love that sound of milk pinging into a stainless steel bucket. I missed that sound.

I haven't tasted the milk yet. Last night I gave it all to the cats and dogs. Freja was dewormed a few days ago, so I wanted to give it a little longer. Although, it should be ok. And she freshened about 7 weeks ago, so her milk should be good.

Freja is probably lonely and of course in a new place with new animals and people. I had to lift her up onto the stanchion both times so far. She ate some last night, but not much this morning. I just want her to eat on the stanchion, so she'll want to get on it. I don;t think she's been on one before. So this is all new to her. And this was her first kid too. But her udder is big, with nice long teats and nice big orifices for great milk flow. And it takes about 2 minutes from start to finish. One goat. Never had just one goat.

I'll be looking for another doe for her to be with. I hate to have just one of anything. I have a friend in Sale creek Tn. where I got Abby form years ago, who had does for sale. I'll probably get one from her.

This is fun! I have missed having goats and milking. Can't wait to try her milk now.

The sunrise this morning. So pretty.

Meet Freja.

Freja is my new doe. She's 3 years old. She had a buck kid that was 7 weeks old but he died this morning from kidney failure. My friend is still unsure how this happened. I was going to get this doe, but not this soon. But here she is.

She is part Lamancha and part Nubian. I think she got the Nubian loud mouth for sure! And she has the Roman nose. And with just 1 kid, her udder is a little uneven right now. I am hoping, with milking her twice a day, she will even out soon.

I am hoping she will get along with the sheep. She was kind of bullied by the older doe that was her grandmother. So she always stayed by herself most of the time. So she should be ok til I get another goat. I think in the fall, I'll get another doe from a friend who has a lot of doelings she wants to sell. I will hopefully get to use Woody, who is John Henry's buck from last year, to breed Freja and the other doe.

She so reminds me of Sandy, my Nubian doe. She was always the loud mouth of the herd. I hope that Freja will be the lead doe if I wait to get the other goat later. And I hope to be able to keep the sheep and alpacas and the goats together. For now anyway.

It feels good to have a goat again. It's been a year without them here. I got the milkroom all cleaned out today before I went to get her. And I've had this name on my mind for weeks now. I love it. When I went to see her, Kendra said she never has named her. So Freya she is. It just fits her. I love her already. I gave her Abby's collar to wear. That seems to fit too. And I know Abby would be ok with that.

So here I go again!

Babies!

There are baby chicks on the farm once again! 3 of the eggs hatched yesterday. The other hen that went broody a few weeks ago has stolen 2 of the chicks. The real momma had 1 of them.  So they are sharing the motherhood job right now. But I can already tell the real momma. The other hen will go off for food and leave the chicks.

Here is Black Bart, the proud papa.


I put them out this morning, just because in the middle of the day, there's no shade on the lot there, so they all go in the coop. I'll put them back in tonight.

Look at these big fluffy momma hens. So sweet.

The chicks went through the fence several times. The other chickens didn't even bother them.

Aren't they so adorable? I love them.

I might be bringing something home this afternoon. I'll post about that later.

Around the HOT farm.

Yes, it is hot here. And no rain for a few works. Really dry. Why is it that is rains all winter and early spring, then not a drop of rain all summer? I'll never understand it. I have a feeling we might have a hot dry summer again.

So I sat outside, on my nice clean porch, and spun some of the combed top I've been working on of Adalaide's. She's the ewe below the spinning wheel pic. She had really crimpy wool last year, so the only way to be able for me to use it was with combs. It takes a long time to get a little bit to spin. But it's amazing! Like silk.

 Look how pretty and silky this is.

 

This is Adalaide. So full of wool.

 

And Annabelle.Her wool is about 5" long now.

They are all just miserable in this heat with all their wool still on. I had to email the lady who is supposed to be coming to shear. She said last year she'd be here in March. well, March came and went. I emailed her again. She said mid to late April. That came and went. Emailed her again. She said she was sorry, but her mother had dies early April and she was tied up with arrangements and all. So she said it'd be the 3rd weekend in May. I emailed her again, to see about when she'd be here. Well, she said her husband had been rear-ended by a texting teen ager and broke his back. SO, now it will be the 22nd or 23rd now. I just hope and pray nothing else happens. She said the sheep would be fine, but she doesn't want me to lose this year's fleeces. I hope I don't. I can understand, though. But I think we might need to look for another shearer?

These 2 guys, Click and Clack, the Tappit Brothers, will be going to the butcher after they get sheared. A friend gets the the bigger one, Clack. And I'll have Click made into sausage. I just don't think their wool be much good.  Maybe Click's will. But you can see how Clack's is off his back already. Just like his daddy, Abraham.

So not really much to blog about today. There is rain all around us but none here. Maybe we'll get a little later this week. I'm already tired of watering the gardens!

Mother's Day

 Well, this is what I've been doing on mother's day. Finally cleaned off the studio porch. We pulled the truck over here last night and loaded it up with all the stuff that's been on this porch for a year now. Nothing like procrastinating, right? And I feel SO much better now! Geeze, how could I have left it all on the porch for so long? Now I need to work on the inside.


I love this white chair. So glad I got it. And the old rocker needs to have a new rung made. There's a guy up the road who does wood work, so I think I'll take it to him. Then the shelves need some cool stuff on them. And some flowers on the wire shelf between the chairs.

This is the other side. The little metal table came with this house and has been moved around for so long. I just cleaned it and painted it today. I'll get a pretty pot with some pink and purple flowers for it later.

This window I made for my daughter Abby for Christmas one year. They're remodeling and gave it back to me last year. It's perfect for the wall here. I hung my felted sheep on the little nails. I love it.

Didn't realize these were so alike and I can't delete after I put them on here. So a little closer up view.

I bought this little hooking kit at the fiber show. It sure is addictive. I love doing it. But it would be so much easier if I had a proper frame. Because it takes 4 hands to do this. It's not very big. Now I want to make a bigger rug. It's really fun.

My husband and I went to church this morning with my mom. She goes to the early service, like 9 am. We left our house at 8:30 and it took almost 40 minutes to get there. Anywhere out here takes forever to get to. So they have a band and singers. A loud band. And 2 screens. They sang 1 song forever. I'm just not a fan of standing for 30 minutes, singing the same song, or chorus, over and over again. The pastor had a great message about moms though.

I'm just a little sad at my family though. We are just not a big family here. My mom and step dad moved up here 4 years ago to be near us. I have 2 daughters and 3 grand kids all here. My step dad died almost 2 years ago. We used to get together for every little thing. Every birthday. But since he's been gone, it's kind of slowed down. I feel bad for my mom.  My brother is in Colorado. My sister is in S. Ga.. They hardly ever come anymore. So I feel like I have to do everything. But darn, if there isn't a stinkin' holiday every few weeks now. I am really tired of all these little "special" days for everything. And SO many birthdays! May and June are full of them for us. We did used to have all the May birthdays at one time, then the June. But my kids are so busy lately. And grands scattered all over. Anyway, I'm just feeling a little bummed, I guess.

 I love my mom so much. I'm so glad  she chose to live near me. She really means so much to me. I just don't do enough to let her know. She's very independent. She's like me and likes to do things on her own. But sometimes, it's nice to have family around. We do spend Wednesdays together, but that seems to be rushed lately too. So I stop in when I'm in town.

So I hope you all had a wonderful day. I know there are many special ladies out there. And we do deserve a day just for us.

In the garden May 6th

I think I'll join Amanda over on http://www.soulemama.com/soulemama/ Blog. She's starting her Thursday gardening posts again and I love them. So here goes for me. No pictures this week as it's too late and things are just too little to see right now.

I have had to water already, many times. I am LOVING my garden hydrant-faucet out there. It sure has made it so much easier for me. Before, I'd have to unhook then hook up all the hoses just to reach the garden, and then it never got to the end of the garden. Then I'd have to walk from the studio, through 3 gates, then to the garden, just to water. It really was a hassle. Not to mention all the kinks along the way!

So was wandering along the newly planted rows this evening and saw 2 crowder peas and a corn! Yes! No green beans to be seen yet. And lots of radishes and collards and kale and lettuce so far. The tomato, squash, zucchini and pepper plants are all looking great.

So hopefully, soon, I'll not have to buy kale anymore. Or spring lettuce. Or spinach. How exciting!

I still need to mulch with the old hay out there. And plant okra. And some more zinnias and sunflowers seeds. And weed. And water some more.

But it's getting there!

What's coming up in your gardens these days?

2 gifts for me

So I got home yesterday and my husband said there was something for me on the table. This! Isn't it the cutest little VW piggy bank? I love it. Our friend Kidd had gotten a piggy bank for Kansas' birthday and saw this and thought of me. So nice.

Then yesterday, I went to Mrs. T's to see her daughter Marilyn, who was in town a few days. She had told me she'd picked up some books with knitting patterns in them for me. From England.  I have never seen these magazines before. Have any of you who knit ever seen them?

                           Look at these sweet sheep! I love them. I'd love to make some of these.

And these kid's sweaters are adorable. I suppose now I need to learn to read knitting patterns?

This makes me feel good to know people think about me.

I'm off to spend the day with my mother. See you all later.

Ugh. Just ugh.

UGH! I seem to be stuck. And I am SO hungry all the time. But I'm sick of food. I need new ideas as to what to eat. Just tired of the same old stuff. And riding my bike is hard! I'm too old for all this. I just want the weight off right now and not have to work so hard to get it off. Just having a bad few days here.

Around the farm...

Chicken jail. Yep, had to put the chickens in jail til the garden gets big enough to survive their feet. I hate to do it, but I want a garden. Miss Broody Butt is out there too. Black Bart sure doesn't like her right now. He chases her when she gets off the nest. And he's always been so nice to his girls. I think I'll get the tiller in there and til them up some dirt and worms to play with.

The 5 eggs have grown to 8 now. I finally got the marker and made x's on these eggs. Seems like when she gets off the nest, the other hens think it's ok to lay their eggs in there too.

Had a friend come by Saturday and brought a load of old hickory wood for us. Some will need to be split. So we have a good start on next winter's heat so far.

I have really loved having this faucet in the garden. It really makes it so much easier for me. I can put water in the sheep's trough and across the driveway to the chickens too. And also water flowers in the yard. SO nice to have this. And when I start harvesting veggies, I have a sink under the garden shed that I can hook a hose to and clean veggies. So won't have to lug everything to the house to wash now. Pretty cool!

The plumbing guys do need to come back and level the ground out while it's dry. They couldn't finish while it was so wet. There's a big hole on the other side of the fence here. And big rocks all over. I will not be able to mow while it's like this.

I planted more Friday and Saturday. Got everything planted, except okra and zinnias and sunflowers. I wanted to wait til this week to plant them. It's going to be in the 80's all week. I've already had to water all the plants twice last week. I never would have thought, with all the rain we've had, that I would have to water so soon.

That middle spot will have okra planted in it later. The first row is beans, then crowder peas, then corn on the other side of the okra patch.

                                                             Future apples right these!

Siesta time for the sheep. They usually lay down for a few hours about mid morning. Not the alpacas. They are out all day. They'll lay flat on their sides right out in the sun sometimes. Like a goat, I have to go check to make sure they're still alive.

Speaking of goats, I'm going tomorrow with some friends to a farm in Sale creek to look at goats. This is the place where I bought my first Lamancha milk doe, Abby.  She has some really nice goats. I'll be looking at some she might have for sale. I would love to have 2 to milk. Plus I'll be getting a couple pigs in July, so will need milk for them too. They will pay for themselves real fast, as much as I'm paying for milk right now. About $29 a week for raw goat and cow milk.

This is the tomato row, with a few rosemary plants. I went ahead and planted 2 rows of long radishes and 2 rows of beets at the end here, just to finish out this row. And there is kale and collards to the left.  I had planted the collard seeds in that row, then forgot I had done that. So planted the kale there too. Then Friday, forgot again that I had anything in this row and started tilling it. I got down almost to the end when I remembered I had seeds in this row. Good grief! 

I just love this view of Lookout Mt. The sky is so blue and the grass and trees so green. The birds are twittering and flying around, looking for food for their little ones. So many baby birds in all the trees and bird houses right now. The hummers are back too. So much life all around right now. Just amazing.

We went to our youngest grand daughter's 12th birthday party Saturday. Then church twice Sunday for me. And the Chattanooga market. I love that place. I got some veggies and a really pretty copper and glass hanging piece for my front porch here.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Random post.

I went to town this morning, on a hunt for Blue Lake green beans. And beets and corn too. But the beans were a must. I found some at a little plant place in Lafayette. I had been there Tuesday and bought 2 flats of plants. They have good prices. So went back today and they had the beans. I also got Pink Eye purple hull crowder peas and Silver Queen corn and beets.

So went home and tilled several rows. I sure can tell a difference where the clover was. Nice and soft and lots of worms too. I think I'll plant the whole garden in clover next fall. I hope it helps in the quality of the plants too.

I got 4 rows of corn, 2 rows of peas, 3 rows of green beans, a bed of beets planted today. Plus had bought 20 marigolds to plant in the tomatoes.

Plus all I did Tuesday. Pretty good garden so far. I'll wait til next week, when we should be in the 80's, to plant okra. Then I should be done for awhile. Just wait on all the seeds to come up. I had to water all the plants this evening. Already dry. I want to plant more kale too.

After all this, a friend called and wanted to ride bikes. I met her up the road and we rode 4 miles. All the way to the Cross farm and back. One long hill I had to walk halfway up. Dang hills. I will go the whole way soon.

And I've lost 3 more pounds. It's taking lots longer than I was hoping. But 22 more pounds by June 5th. I hope I can do it.

My dog Bubba came home yesterday from romping out back and going swimming, with a sliced open left ear. I didn't know what happened to him. He came back all bloody. So I took him over to the faucet and hosed him down. He had about an inch long slice through his ear. Have no idea what happened. Unless he tried to attack baby geese back at the pond and the parents attacked him. I hope they did if that's what happened. Bad dog.