Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Sheep shearing. Done!


This morning at 10:30, the shearers came. I had the sheep all ready to go. They got all set up and grabbed a sheep.



It was Cara. She did so good too. Her wool is really nice.








She went back in with the other sheep. All was fine.



Then Campbelle left. When she came back in, Cara thought she looked a little different, so she started head butting her. A lot. It was kind of funny that Cara thought Campbelle looked different when she did too. But she didn't know that.



The alpacas hung out with the goats during shearing. They'd check in with them from time to time, just to make sure their girls were ok. When the guys would go in to grab another sheep, there would be a little ruckus and the boys would come running over to make sure no one got hurt. They are such good boys. They love their girls.



This was Darla. Her front hooves were really bad. We had to use Koppertox on them. Poor girl.





                                                                 Now 3 nekked sheep!




Here's Annabelle. She did so good. Just laid there and let them shear off all her wool. Good girl.





This is Adalaide. Her wool had always been really tight and crimpy. Well, it was all matted and I just threw most of it away. It wasn't usable at all. There was a little bit that could be used.  But look at her after being sheared. She's so pretty.




7 down, 1 to go. The little black sheep, Cameron. She might not look black, but she is.




Just look at this. I have got to get coats for these guys. Especially her. Her wool would be totally black with a coat.




All done and back out with the boys. They had to sniff them all to make sure they were their girls. Just in case.



                                                                             All is well!




8 nekked sheep, grazing on the green hill. Happy sheep! They might not think it at the time, but I do believe they like being sheared. And they are all in good health. Did not need to be wormed at all. All had very pink eyelids. I really think constantly moving them from place to place has kept the parasites at bay.




And here are the full bags of wool. That little white bag is Adalaide's. The rest are very full. I am happy with it. Now, to skirt it and then I'll think about sending all this to a mill to be made into roving. Because I still have a lot of last year's wool!




And it just took 5 hours this time!! Matt is getting better. Last year, it took him 8 hours to shear 6 sheep, then had to come back to do the other 6 sheep and it took about that long again. So 8 sheep in 5 hours. And while shearing Darla, he had to stop at least 20 times to change the blade out. She has SO much lanolin. So she took about 45 minutes. And only 1 little tiny nick. Little bitty tiny one. So he has greatly improved.

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Kombucha, lilacs, honey and lots of fire wood.


A year ago, when I stopped using sugar, I stopped drinking kombucha. I kept all these scobys though. They never did go bad this whole time and I have never added more tea.




So a few weeks ago I decided to try it again. You can see the scoby hanging down, that's the one I started with. She grew a baby, which is on top.




Yesterday, I noticed that dark stuff at the bottom. I had not seen it until then. Just strange.




This is the new scoby. Looks fine to me. So I went ahead and strained the tea off this morning. That black stuff was just a little bit of "slime" so it's all good.




I made a 2nd ferment, using blueberries and grated ginger. I hope it turns out as good as I think it will. I'll know in a few days.



This is on one of my lilac bushes! Some flowers! I have had these bushes about 6 years now and these are the first flowers. I am very happy to see them!


Last week I went to Hixon to get 15 gallons of honey. 3 5 gallon containers. One of them went to a friend, so we didn't have to pour that. Just 10 gallons. The good part about being the person who goes to get the honey and pour it all into jars is that there is always a little extra. Like a quart and a pint. This and a gallon should last us til I get honey from my bees in June. IF they don't swarm. Which I hope I caught them in time last week. They are still here!!!!




ANd the wood fairy struck again a few days ago! Wood shed is full and the rack is full!! We are set for a few months next winter already. I really like our wood fairy.



I think I have 2 more pottery classes left. Then I called and signed up for a sewing 101 class that starts April 12th for 6 weeks. I am excited about this class. They will teach about my sewing machine and how to cut and read a pattern, which I really need help with bad. So more classes for me!

I was making soap awhile ago and a friend called. Her doe was in labor. Her first kidding. So I got to help birth a kid over the phone while making soap today. How cool! Everything turned out great and she had a beautiful little single doe kid! Just another day on the farm.

Monday, March 28, 2016

1 week old today

 These little cuties are 1 week today! They are so sweet and adorable. I love them.

This is Sorren, the only buck kid. He's doing really good, despite a bad scare with his umbilical cord. But it's all good now.



And cute little Rika. She fell asleep in my lap yesterday, while the rest of the kids were jumping all over me and eating my hair.



Olga is a really good mother too. These are her first kids. They seem to favor her left teat, so the right needs to be milked a lot. Which is not easy, let me tell ya. Her teats are not long at all. In fact, I can only get my thumb and index finger on them. Fun, right? It takes at least 30 minutes to get just that side milked. I can't even imagine what her udder will be like when I start putting the kids in a crate at night. I might just have to invest in a milking machine, just for her.




Just look at these cute little elf ears on Astrid! She is the sweetest little kid ever. This is how she is a lot, jumping on my leg.

Astrid and Isla are 3 weeks old now. My how time flies.




I love this! They were both laid out in the sun this morning. So peaceful!



We had a wonderful day with my family yesterday. They all came out for Easter dinner. My mom even dyed some eggs. Chloe and Coryn said they were too old to hunt eggs, so I did. My daughters hid them and I went out with my egg basket. Found them all, with a little help from Abby. So fun! Who's too old to hunt eggs? Not me.

I hope you all had a wonderful day, celebrating our risen Lord!

Friday, March 25, 2016

Appalachian egg basket

 I went to a basket weaving class last Saturday. I always wondered why it's called basket weaving. I found out. For 3 hours, I was weaving this little egg basket! You'd think something so small wouldn't have taken so long. But it did.


The handle is wisteria, the ribs privet and the rest is kudzu. This was still a little wet when I took these pictures. And I had to wait to snip off all the little loose ends. It's not perfect, but I love it. And I made it myself! If I had thought about it more and not just plowed into it, I would have made the kudzu go the same way. Like use the outside of the vine, not let it get all twisted. You can see how it's light and dark. Some of the ladies had designs where some was light then some was dark. But mine is all willy nilly, just like me. When I make another one, I'll be more careful.





It's just perfect for the 8 eggs my 8 hens lay nearly every day! I don't think it would hold 9 eggs.



It was not a good time to have a basket class, right at the end of winter. Bill said the best time to gather kudzu is in winter. Well, too late now, right? But I can use other materials, like honeysuckle. Which takes dye really good. I have tons of honeysuckle and dye. I will have to boil the vines 1 1/2 hours, then strip the bark. I also have plenty of wisteria and privet too. So there might be some more basket weaving in my future. It really was fun to create something useful from weeds.
 I saw this door in my mom's garage last week. She said we could have it. I've been wanting a new back door ever since we've lived here and this was perfect. It was 1" too wide though, so my husband has been cutting and sanding it to get it to fit. It's still not right yet.



This is the back door. It's horrible! And so narrow too.




I've been planting in the garden already! I don't know if I have ever planted this early. So far I have planted kale, collards, mixed greens, radishes, lettuce, 3 different kinds of onions, beets and dandelions. Yes, I bought dandelion seeds to plant in my garden. I've been picking them all over the garden, but thought it'd be nice to have a dedicated row just for them. And these are a different variety. So we shall see how they do.




And the other day, I put up 2 cattle panels a little more than half way down the driveway, so the sheep and alpacas can mow the tall grass for us. It's a long driveway, but didn't take them too long to eat it down. Just a few days. So I'll probably let them out there once a week and we won't have to mow here!






I don't know what happened, but here's the back door in, but not quite where it fits yet. Still have some work to do so that I can go in and out. But I love it. I'll have to make some curtains though, because the sun comes right in back here and gets really hot.


It's a beautiful Good Friday here. The family is all coming here for Easter dinner Sunday. I hope to go to church, then the Chattanooga market before dinner. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and happy Easter!

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Astrid, the sheep herding goat.


Sheep crossing! Going through the new gate to the outback.




                                                          Sugar, saying hello to the babies.





Can you see little Astrid between the tree? I think she thinks she's a sheep. She loves them.




The sheep think she's herding them. It's so funny. She runs, then they run.





Here she is, running around them, keeping them in a pack. Good girl!





Cara's giving her a hard time. Astrid wants her to go back to the sheep. She finally did.





That was fun!  After they do this for awhile, the sheep go their way and the goats go theirs.

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Crazy wild Monday!

What a day!

It started with goat checks every 2 hours through the night. And ended at pottery class.

Sunday night, Olga didn't go to the milk room to eat. So I knew something was up. Checked her and there was a little discharge, but not much. And it was gonna be COLD! So I set my alarm for every 2 hours. Got up and went to check on her. Nothing.

So decided to put her up in the back stall. And sat and waited. And waited some more. Went and got the camera, a chair and some knitting. I knit quite a bit on another Etta hat I started Sunday. Then went inside for awhile.

Came back out and saw this. The classic pushing position! Saw a little more goo. It was almost time for kids!

Some more pushing. Then the up and down, pawing the ground, lay down and push some more.



Then finally this! I don't know about you, but I find this amazing. See those little feet? I had just told Olga I hope she has some kids with color. And I saw the dark feet! Too cool! So this went on a little while longer.



I finally could see enough feet and snout that I helped her pull while she pushed. Out came this beautiful little lady! Isn't she so cute?




Got her all cleaned off and out of the way, because Olga was pushing again! Out came this little fella!




So a buck and a doe kid!! And, when Olga got up, she did it so fast, his umbilical cord just snapped right off at his belly. I didn't know it til I was drying him off and saw bright red blood on the towel. I panicked. Then realized it was coming from his belly. I ran inside and grabbed stuff and came back out with arms loaded. I sprayed him down real good, then wrapped him up around his tummy. I called my friend Linda in Ohio and she told me to just keep an eye on it and he might need antibiotic later.



Anyway, what better way to spend a Monday morning? Sitting in a goat stall, waiting on a doe to kid, knitting with a cup of hot tea? So fun.


Then here is the little guy this morning. All chipper and happy to be here! And no wrapping. It's dry and I'm keeping it sprayed with wound spray. He's such a cutie. Looks just like Olga. I named him Sorren, pronounced Surren.



And here they all are this morning. The little girl is Rika. Olga is a good mother. But these kids are also just nursing on one side. I had to take her to the milk room this morning to milk her. Which is not that easy because she has such small teats. Like only 1 finger can get on them.




They both like to get in the feed bowl.




But so far, Olga is doing great. No symptoms like Freya had. I did not give her molasses water after she had the kids. I do believe that's what makes the goats and sheep sick the next day. So all is well now. Olga is eating and drinking water.

So after I knew everything was ok with Olga and the kids, I went out to till more in the garden to get ready to plant dandelions, radishes, lettuce and more kale. Also I need to get beets and onions. so did that. I had to go get my middle grand daughter about 4 to get her to her 1st cello lesson at 5 over on Brainerd Rd.

But before I left I went out to look at the bee hive. Oh my goodness, there were bees all over the place! I mean like thousands of bees, flying and on the front of the hive. Like craziness. I called my friend up the road and no answer. Went back to the house for a few minutes and when I came back, the bees were all acting normal again. I went ahead and called my bee guy who is the president of the local bee club. He told me what to do, switch the bottom box and put it on top and put the smaller box on bottom. He said it would probably be empty. And that yes, they were probably getting ready to swarm.

So I got my stuff together and went out to swap them around. But, when I got all the boxes apart, the bottom box was FULL of bees and honey and huge white larva! Like huge larva!. So called him back and told him what I saw. He said leave it like it was, but put a queen excluder  on the 2nd box, then another box on that. Well, I added a 4th box, just because. And left, because they were pretty pissed by then!

So went to go get Coryn. Had to go up 24 and it was horrible traffic. It's just a little hill, but people just can't seem to get up. They all slow down. Stupid. Then get to Germantown Rd. which takes me to Brainerd Rd, which I have to get on. Well, traffic is so bad, we are barely moving. I finally got to the left turning lane, about a mile from the light. I started seeing smoke coming from my engine. Scared me to death, I thought my car was on fire! So I turned left into some apartment complex, parked, turned off the car, got out and opened the hood. Didn't see flames or lots of smoke. A guy came over and asked what was wrong. He didn't see anything or smell smoke.

Then I looked between the crack of the hood at the windshield, between the wipers and saw a flippin' cigarette! Someone threw their darn cigarette out their window and it hit just perfect below my windshield where I couldn't see it but just the smoke, and I thought my darn engine was on fire.

After I calmed down and got mad, I found a short cut to Coryn's house. Texted her teacher saying we'd probably be late, and took off. We actually got there 6 minutes early! And I tell ya what, Coryn, who's 14 and never ever touched a cello before, could play a few tunes when we left. She's been in band 3 years playing clarinet, so nows music. But she is a natural born cello player!

So got her back home and headed off to Tiftonia to my pottery studio to trim some bowls and cups for awhile. Didn't take long to get there. I always love going there to the pottery studio. It's so fun. So stayed there til 8:30 and headed home.

Checked on Olga and her kids. Sorren had lost the wrap so I checked him and decided to leave it off. All was well there. Went inside, took a shower, knitted a little while watching Castle, then to bed I went.

Just another crazy wild day for me!

Monday, March 21, 2016

Around the farm...


things are a bloomin'! A few weeks ago, the redbuds started flowering. This is my favorite tree.




And the figs too. I was a bit worried about them last night when it was supposed to be down to 32. But the wind blew, thankfully, and no frost.




The blueberry bushes are all pretty loaded with buds too! I hope to get some blueberries this year. Last year the chickens got them all. They are in chicken jail til fall, so no blueberries for them.



The sweet little violets are all over. As well as dandelions, hen bit and false nettle. The honey bees are in flower heaven!



And the elderberry bushes are almost all full of leaves. I love this bush. I still have several bags in the freezer of elderberries from fall. I might use them for some dye. I want to try gathering honeysuckle vines for baskets. They can take dyes and it stays dyed.  And I'd love to try dying some wool too.




These are my 2 lilac bushes. No lilacs yet, but some day. I think it takes several years to get lila blooms? Does anyone know?


And above, the plantain is starting to come up!! I sure need to make some plantain salve soon, for markets.

And, Olga finally had her kids this morning! More on that later. Have a great day, and happy spring y'all!!