More Savannah...

 This is the house my mom, brother, sister and I lived in when I was 12-14. I loved it there. Just a few blocks from the beach and near the light house and the old fort. It was an old bakery and we had the left side. It has a huge old oak tree to the side, where we'd climb and my brother built a tree house.

This is one of the squares in Savannah. My 3 beautiful grand daughters, Kansas, Coryn and Chloe.

And this is the first house tour we went on. I cannot remember the names of the houses, sorry. But there's a gift shop at the bottom right corner of the house. That's where the tour starts. And they are leaning more towards letting people take inside pictures.

This is the 2nd house we toured. It was bought by a young single lady way back in the Great Depression. Fawlkner I think. She went on to buy several more houses in Savannah, on her own. Also owned antique stores. She was quite a lady, way back in the day.

She added this really big nice 3rd floor for her Irish servants.

I just love Savannah and all the old buildings and doors and secret places.

I took SO many pictures I won't bore y'all with. But it was really fun. And Savannah is a great place to go. I would love to go by myself once, just so I can take my time and wander the streets. It's really beautiful there. Maybe in later Fall?

So last night, after being on my feet all day yesterday, my leg was huge. And hurting pretty bad. I was just a bit scared to be honest. Thinking I might better get to a doctor in the morning. But my friend Stephanie had called and told me to get plantain leaves, crush them up, put a little honey and ACV in it, and put it on the wounds and wrap it up. So I did that last night when I got home. Kept my leg up til I went to bed. I have 2 pillows I put my leg up on in bed. This morning, it feels SO much better. I mean, I was scared and worried and cried a little. I know, I'm a big baby really. But I was just thinking of all the doctor bills and how we just really cannot afford anything extra right now. Especially with my husband just being in the hospital for 5 days last week. So I am feeling a lot better, knowing I will pull through this. I am so mad at that darn rooster. They are still locked up, til I get better and can figure out what to do.

I had to go out back to give the buck (who is not mine, he's just staying here til the guy comes to get him) some worm meds. He had horns too. Well, he almost got me right on my left leg with a horn. I should have just stopped and let the guy do it when he comes to get him, but I finally got it in him. Darn buck!

So I'm just hanging out here today. Just finished another wool hat. Going to start on a cowel or shawl next, with some of that beautiful Romney wool. Just need a pretty pattern to use. I'll look through all my Taproot magazines to see what's in them that I could use.

Y'all have a great Thursday!

Baby sweater...

I have knit this baby sweater that past few weeks. I am now at the part where I do the arms. I think I'll go ahead and sign up for another 4 weeks of this knitting class. I love going to this place. I feel like I've really learned so much.

I see a really bad mistake that I made right after starting under the arms. It looks like I started adding stitches on the left. I didn't notice it til I was already done and had binded off. But I still like it.

Looks like I'm going to once a day milking. It takes 3 milkings to get a little over half a gallon now. I'll save a little money by not feeding twice a day. Anyone else milking once a day now?

My leg. And some elderberries.

So yesterday, I was thinking my leg looked lots better. It seemed to not be hurting as much as at first. I did go ahead and start on the Cipro last night. I always seem to get a nasty yeast infection the few times I have taken antibiotics. I know if you eat yogurt, it's supposed to help. But the last time, I was eating the yogurt with the pill and they were counter-acting each other and I got a yeast infection anyway.

So I did a little research and found several places that said to eat yogurt 2 hours before you take the antibiotic. So I did. And this morning too. I hate waiting because I think I'll forget. I sure hope this helps. I have plain yogurt that's really good and thick. Wish me luck!

So I've been trying to keep my leg propped up since this happened. But last night, my whole middle section of my leg was huge! Like I couldn't even see my kneecap. I was a bit worried. But no streaks or excessive redness. I slept with my leg up on 2 pillows last night, so this morning it looks a bit better.

I'm going to meet my mom today, and she might insist I go to a doctor. But really, all they'll do is give me a prescription for antibiotics and charge a fortune just to get in. (And I have no insurance) When I have  a good fresh bottle right here. And Cipro is used for skin problems, staph, E-coli, and various other problems. So I think this is a good one for this  just kind problem.

It's kind of strange that both my husband and I are having problems with our left legs right now. He ended up in the hospital last Tuesday, while me and the kids were at the beach. His left foot had a blister that just got out of control and got infected. His doctor put him in Memorial on Tuesday. He got out Saturday. His foot is SO much better. They got it in time. If he'd waited just a day or two longer, he'd have lost his foot. But it's good now, thank the Lord. So we are both limping around the house, looking quite pitiful right now.

And I have elderberries! I've never gotten the berries because the birds get them first. I've always had to buy them to make my syrup. But not this year! I have them all over the place. And a friend gave me hers. I am so happy about this! I am trying to dry them, but am wondering if they can just be frozen? Aren't they beautiful?

Dang rooster!

Black Bart attacked me this morning. In the coop. I was feeding the one little lone chick that made it from the snake invasion a few nights ago. I was trying to keep the other hens away and he came up behind me and got me twice. I was bleeding like crazy and it hurt so bad. I could hardly walk it hurt. And blood gushing out and down my leg. I cried. A lot. And screamed and cussed that damn rooster up and down.

I was just shocked that he'd do this to me. I have always said what a wonderful rooster he is. Now I am wondering if he tried to do this a few weeks ago. They always follow me to the coop for dinner in the evening. He was right behind me and I stopped for some reason and he ran into my right leg. I just thought he was so close that when I stopped, he ran into my leg. Well, it bled then too, but not like this. I thought his beak got me. But now I'm thinking he was attacking me.

So now I'm afraid to go outside. And we have our youngest grand daughter today. And the Dish guy is coming out to hook us back up to Dish. We were stupid and switched to Direct. We HATE Direct! So they will be gone today. And also the Home Health nurse is coming out to check my husbands foot. So we called to let them know to call before they get here because we now have an attack rooster. Don't know what I can do though. Stand out there and let him attack me instead of them? This ain't good folks.

I guess Black Bart might make some good chicken broth.

Tybee beach

 I loved this view. Every day it was always a different view. A few times there were big shops or shrimp boats. And every day the sky was different. Most of the time, it was cloudy. And very windy. That's the way I always remember Tybee. Windy. But it was nice.

There are like porch swings on either end of every walkway, all along the beach. I sat in them a lot. I really hate sand. Especially beach sand. So I sat on swings. And did a lot of knitting. Which I am quite obsessed with at the moment. I love knitting!

But it was really peaceful there. I loved the beach in the early morning or later afternoon-evening.

There's a bird in there, if you can see it.

This silly black bird hung around awhile. I thought he was quite interesting. I wonder what he was looking for? Something shiny, I'm sure.

Me and Chloe's feet in the water.  I stood in the same place, as the water rushed over my feet, and I sank lower and lower. Chloe thought I was sinking! I was cool.

More later...

Goats and boats.

Hello again my friends! I am SO glad to be back home again! It's been a long 1 1/2 weeks for sure. And over 1000 miles. But we had fun.

So here are my new goat kids. I got them from my friends Bill and Jane at The Pocket Farm, over the ridge from me. They have a very spoiled herd of goats. I got 2 sets of brothers and sisters. She has the line of goats that Penelope came from. I had her for several years. Really great doe. She was naturally polled. She usually had one with horns and one without. So Alva and Oden are brother and sister and they are from this line. Both hornless! I sure hope they throw some hornless kids.

This is Alva on the left and Inga on the right. Inga and her brother (who I have here til my friend up the road builds a buck pen) were obviously bottle fed and handled a lot, because they are super friendly. Alva and Oden were not handled much and are very skittish. But Alva looks so much like Penelope. She'll be a fantastic milker in a few years. They are all about 5 months old. The girls are in back with Freja and Olga. They are all getting along great so far. The big girls sometimes ram into the little girls, but that's to be expected with goats.

This is Oden. He's so cute!. Both he and Alva have elf ears, so they have a little Nubian and Alpine in them too. I named the girl Alva because it means female elf. A perfect name for her. Oden is over at my friend Cara's farm right now, visiting her girls. Cara milks for me while I'm gone. I love her!

Just an udder shot for y'all. Freja is doing great. Still getting half a gallon each day. Poor Cara had a hard time this time, trying to get her to come into the milk room. I have never had goats like Freja and Olga. They are the jumpiest goats ever. Every little thing they see, they'll stop and act like they're scared to death and want to go back. It takes a few minutes to get them to go into the milk room. Cara called me Friday and said she just could not get Freja into the milk room, so she didn't get milked that morning. When I got home, I milked a half gallon. She's the strangest goat. Her udder is finally evening out, so they are both about the same now.

Last weekend was the Sherrill family reunion up in Ozone and Crossville Tn. Saturday, we all met at Camp Ozone. It was beautiful. The perfect day for a reunion. They have cabins there, so Tiny and the girls stayed the night. I had to go home to milk. It was just $10 per person per night. I think me and Tiny will go back sometime for a few days. There's a beautiful lake with paddle boats and canoes. Good fishing. It's quiet there, although Hwy. 40 runs nearby. Can hardly hear anything.  We had the best time, visiting family, seeing new babies, eating lots of good food.

Kansas and her cousin Jewel, on the pretty lake.

Then Sunday, we all go over to Crossville to the big park. That's where the rest of the Sherrill family  meet. Then we eat a whole lot more there. It's so fun to talk to all the out of town family. Most come from Indiana and Ohio.

Another goat kid shot. Alva is so cute, with her little ears. I have been reading about banding goat horns and might do it to Inga later, when it starts getting cooler, so there won't be so many flies. She's young and will be ok. I just do not like horns. All the others don't have horns. And it seems when I have 1 goat with horns, she's always meaner and uses the horns.

I will have LOTS of beach pictures this week to share. We had so much fun there. But so wanted to be back home. My husband had to be put in the hospital because his left foot got infected. While I was gone. But he was in great hands there and well taken care of. I would have sat in his room and knit. And I did a lot of that at the beach. So he said I should stay there. I got him out yesterday, so he's back home. I just have to get the 2 older grands back to their house today, so they can get ready for school later this week. Yay, school! And then we are back to normal. I hope.

Knit Shetland wool hat.

This is the back of the hat I knit right.  I did put it on the first post, but it didn't show up.

Hello! And bye for another little break.

 Hi there y'all! I thought I better pop in and say hi and tell y'all what I've been up to. I really did get a lot done in July. I did miss being here though. And thank you all for the nice comments. I really do appreciate each one of you.

So I signed up for a knitting class at Genuine Purl in Chattanooga a few weeks ago. It's a 4 week class. This is the first thing I knit. A hat. Which I did totally wrong. But didn't realize til I had made 2 wrong hats. But I like these anyway and will just keep for me. I have to buy all yarn and supplies at this store too. So this is an alpaca blend, which is really soft and pretty. I always seem to have a hard time with this first step, the ribbed edging. All it is is knit 1 purl 1. That's all. But I cannot ever make a perfect ribbed edge. EVER! Even when I am totally alone and saying "knit 1, purl 1" the whole way around. Very annoying.

This is the 2nd hat. I have had this yarn for ever. Can't even remember what it was.

Ok, so this is the right way to knit this particular hat. This size is 90 cast on's, then the ribbed edge for 1 1/2", then purl to the 30th stitch, then knit all the way around. Then repeat. But I purled all the way in those 30 stitches, then knit the rest. But I did it right on this hat. I even had to write K and P on a piece of paper and check it off the whole time. So this one looks good. It's some Shetland yarn a friend brought back for me from Scotland last year. I love this hat!

I also finished carding this black alpaca fleece my friend Susan gave me when I got mt 2 alpaca boys, almost 2 years ago. There is a finished picture down a bit farther. I haven't spun any of it yet though. Still working on some wool.

This is a little baby blanket I crocheted with left over cotton yarn. I love it!

This week at my knitting class, I picked a cute little baby sweater to knit. I love it. I chose some pretty soft yellow cotton-acrylic blend yarn to make it with. This is as far as I have gotten, because I am at the arms. I'll have to go back before I go to the beach next week, so they can get me going on the rest of this. I hope  to also make a little matching hat.  I chose this sweater because it's a little like the Barn sweater I want to make for myself with Lucinda's wool I've been saving.

Here is another hat I'm making for my oldest grand daughter. She chose this cotton yarn for it. The turquoise matches her hair! It's perfect for her.

And I actually got ALL the alpaca fiber washed too! Both this year's and last year's. I am rather pleased with myself.

Here is all the wool I have washed so far. I have 3 more of my sheep's fleeces, plus a few others I have bought. I'll be going to a fiber show in Asheville, N.C. in October, I think. So I need to get ready for more fleeces!

The finished black alpaca batts.

This is the cutest little handmade and hand painted one of a kind clocks I had made for me from Zan Asha. I just love this clock! It's a girl spinning wool right from the little lamb facing her. The black faced ewe is my ewe Darla. The lamb facing the girl is Campbelle. And the other lamb is Cassidy. And there are honey bees buzzing all around them. Zan had to put shiny paint around the bees to make the show up better, but you really can't see it except in certain light. She matched the paint as best she could from what I showed her of the wall color in my studio. I am very happy with this little clock.

I've also been making goat milk soap. On the left is an orange-lemon, and a peppermint. I really need to get busy making lots more for all the shows I want to do starting in September.

And I harvested the corn and put it all in the freezer. My favorite part of a summer garden. I love doing corn.

Now I need to get the rest of the field peas.

So there are some of the things I've been doing in July. Oh, almost forgot my new goats. I'll take pics of them later. I got 2 4 month old doelings and a buckling from some friends who are selling out. I names one Inga and the other Alva. The buck is Oden. I love all their names. These girls are so pretty too. If anyone remembers my doe Penelope, Alva and Oden are from her lines. They are both naturally polled!! I am thrilled to have gotten them. Alva even looks just like Penelope too. She's a little skittish right now, but she's getting better. Inga is a big baby and very friendly.

I also had a hen go broody a few weeks ago, so put 8 eggs under her. They should hatch next week.

The little Bluebird babies were killed by a bad cat, Gilbert, while I was gone to S. Ga. to see my sister. I was so upset when I got home and saw the nest empty.

But all the barn swallow babies made it! In fact, they come to say hello every day. I saw 8 this morning, all lined up on the wire by the milk room. I love it! It's so cool to talk to them and they all talk right back to me.

So I wanted to go ahead and post today because this week end is the Sherrill family reunion up in Ozone Tn. I am so looking forward to this. I get to sit around and knit and talk and just have a good time with family.

Then Monday morning, me and my 3 grand daughters take off to Savannah and Tybee Island til Firday. What fun! My sister and her 17 year old daughter will join us. She found a little beach bungalow 3 blocks from the beach! With 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, a kitchen and 2 queen sofa sleepers! So Tuesday night, we go to Savannah to a ghost tour on a trolley. Then Wed. to some museums. Thursday, we go on a dolphin cruise at 7 PM. In between all this, we'll hang out at the beach. I am so looking forward to this time away! I am bringing lots of knitting projects with me!

So I will be back next week end. Hopefully not looking like a red crab. And thanks again to all who commented.

Turning it off.

I have decided to turn this computer off for the month of July. I need a break. I spend way too much time on here.And I have so much I need to be doing instead.

I will have to turn it on to update what I'm bringing to market. And delete tons of stupid emails, I'm sure. But I won't be back here til August. So I thought I would let y'all know, just in case anyone missed me.

So see y'all back here in August. Have a great July!

Soap sale

I'm having a soap sale. They'll be $3.50 a bar. Or if you buy 6 bars (for $21.00) I'll throw in a free bar. I can fit 7 in a flat rate shipping box for $5.95, if that's what they still are. So $26.95 for 7 bars of soap.

Here is a list of what I have. And these were all made last year, in late summer and fall.

These are some I made with either juice, kombucha or goldenrod tea:

Grape juice with raw milk yogurt- lots
Kombucha- lots
Spiced apple- 3 bars made with spiced apple tea
Tangerine with goldenrod tea- 4

Lime-patchouli- lots
Peaches-N-Cream, with raw milk yogurt, unscented- lots-
Cucumber-melon- 4
Sage- 9
Basil- 5
Cucumber-basil- 9
Orange-clove- 6
Pumpkin spice- 5
Spiced Mahogany- 6
Warm ginger-coconut- 8
Cucumber-mint- lots
Peppermint- 2
Spearmint- 8
Chamomile-sweet almond- lots
Rosemary with lard- 12

Most all soaps were made with coconut oil, olive oil and vegetable oil.

I do not have a pay pal acct. so you'd have to send a check.

Oh my goodness...

 look what I just found! The 3 bluebird eggs have hatched and they are all alive!!! I wasn't sure, but yes, they are. Baby birds are just ALL mouth!

When I first came over to the studio, I saw a red coffee can on the ground by the front porch. My heart just sank. Then I saw the coffee can nest was still on the porch rail. I was so happy! Then I looked inside. I always look inside to check on the eggs when the mother isn't on them. I thought they might hatch sometime this weekend. And they did. All 3 of them! This is so cool.

Now I will have to stand guard and make sure no darn cats get these babies.

The milk room barn swallow babies are getting bigger every day. Their parents are coming in and going out all day long. The babies have finally gotten feathers on the tops of their heads and they look even funnier now!

So many bird babies here right now. I'm glad my cats are so old.

Feels so good.....

on a hot day. Every morning, this is what happens here at Outback Farm. Alpacas get a cold shower. They love it.  I discovered this last year. I was putting water in the trough and these 2 just stood staring at me. So I turned the hose on them and they loved it. So ever since, when it's hot, they get a cold shower.

Sugar just lays right down after awhile. He's so funny. Misha always gets right in front of him anyway.

Can you see the pretty spider web right above the sheep back scratcher? That spider was busy all night making that beauty. When I let the sheep over here, this is the first thing they do, scratch their backs on this board.

So good Friday morning to you all. I am off to Mrs. T's for the day. I'm bringing wool to make dryer balls while I'm there. Then when I get home, it's out to pick green beans and kale for the market in the morning. And make zucchini bread. I have not even licked the spoon when I make it. And I don't even want to. Yesterday, I took Mrs. T to the doctor and on the way home, she wanted to stop and get ice cream. She kept asking me if I wanted some of hers and couldn't believe I didn't have any. But it doesn't even look good to me any more.

New clothes...

Well, not really new clothes. But new to me. I love thrift stores and that's about where I get all my clothes from. When I can find any I like. Before I started losing weight, I could hardly find anything I liked. Seems like after a size 18, things just start looking horrible to me. No color. Or just huge.

So last week, me and mom went to a new thrift store. I found the bright colored skirt at the far end and a few shirts. Got home and tried them on and they all fit!!! I was thrilled! I wore that skirt to the wedding with a green shirt. I felt so cool! I had so many compliments on the skirt too.

Yesterday, I wore it with a brown shirt. Went to my friends to deliver her milk and she said she used to have a shirt and skirt just like that. I said it could have been hers, since I got it at a thrift store. She said she takes her clothes to Providence In Ft. O. I went to the new one and found these. So, isn't that funny? The other 2 skirts were at a different thrift store.

I also found 2 shirts and a pair of blue jean shorts and another skirt. I'll have to wait some to wear that shirt though. A little too tight yet. But I WILL wear it.

It's really fun now to look for clothes that are cute and fun to wear. I have the black and white skirt on today with a black shirt. Just feels good to wear skirts. Maybe soon I can wear some pretty summer dresses.

Does anyone else like to go thrift store shopping?