Swarm!!!

 What a day! First I had a couple come from Alabama to see my goat kids. They ended up getting Astrid, my favorite baby of all. Because she was so friendly, they just loved her. So 1 gone, 3 to go!

Ended up having to spend that money on a new bee hive.

If you click on these pictures, you can see the bees. Yes, that's what all those dots are. BEES! I had gone out to check on the bees before I left to go to my sewing class. It was so noisy, and bees were everywhere. I mean literally, everywhere. I just stood in the middle of them all and wondered what was going on.

Then I realized they were swarming! It looked like they were all over the cedar tree to the side of the hive. My husband had come out then and asked if they were swarming. I said yes, I do believe that's what's happening. But they were going to the apple tree, on the other side of the fence. I went to look and sure enough, about 10' up on a big branch, there was a pile of bees.

                                          You can see them just beginning to make a big pile.

 
                                                     
                                                        And it's getting bigger here.

                                                                   And bigger still!!! It really didn't look like a whole lot of bees, all balled up like this. Until I started shaking the branch!

So I jumped in the car and went as fast as I could to the bee store in Lafayette. I got a bee hive kit and 5 frames that I could put in the nuc box to catch the bees while we put the hive together. Got all my stuff together and went out with the hubby to see how we could catch these guys.

We decided to get the truck so I could stand on it. At first, we tried to shake the bees into the box. That didn't work too well. They all went back up to the branch. The queen didn't get in the box. So I sprayed them all down good with sugar water and got up closer to the branch so I could get them all in a bucket. That finally worked.

Got them all in the nuc. I started seeing the bees fanning, which is a good sign that the queen was inside the box! Can you see that sweet bee with her butt up in the air fanning? I love to see that.

So here is the nuc, on top of my husband's truck, awaiting their new hive. I had to paint it and let it dry. And I wanted to wait til they all settled down. You can see the branch where the bees were. right above the nuc.

This whole process took about an hour. It shouldn't have taken so long, but I had to cut a lot of branches out of the way. Then catch them a few times. If I could have cut the branch off, it might have gone smoother. But I was lucky they went in the apple tree and not the big cedar tree. I could not have caught them in that tree.

And here they are in their new hive! I hope they like it there. It's right next to their old hive.

                                                       My bee yard is growing!

So I missed my sewing class tonight. I called the lady teaching the class to tell her I wouldn't be there because I had to catch a swarm of bees.She said that was a first.

Breakfast, on a plate I made

I went to the pottery studio to get the rest of the things I made there. I made these 2 plates, plus some bowls and mugs too. I will have to go back to the studio to make more plates. I don't know if I could make them on my kick wheel. Plus I don't have any bats to put them on to dry. I really want more plates now. I love them.

These are the bowls I've made so far, at the studio. I want to make more here before I bring them to get fired.

I love this bowl with a lid. I need to make more, but also need to be at the studio, to use the gauge tool. I need so many things here to do more, like plates and lids and bigger things.

So this morning for breakfast, I got some of my kale and peppers, sauteed them in olive oil, added eggs from my hens and feta I made from my goat's milk, and some sausage (the only thing I didn't raise here) and put it on my new plate that I made. I tell you what, this makes me feel really good! I made this plate and grew the food that's on it!!! How cool is that?

So I put an ad on Craig's List yesterday. Got 2 calls from people in Alabama who want to come see the kids. One lady is on her way right now. I hope I sell these babies. If I do, I'll be milking twice a day! And I only have  1 1/2 gallons a week going to people right now.

I saw a few ads on CL yesterday, one for bottle calves and another for pigs. The calves are Angus-Holstein and just $200. I can raise one on goat milk like I did Maize and Cowboy and have just the cost of the calf. And the pigs are just $50-75 each and looked to be a few months old already. I could do that. I have a spot out in the North pasture I could put a few lines of electric wire around and make a pallet shelter for them. And the calf could stay with the goats for now, then go out with the sheep later. I just might do this.

All of my pottery, except the plates, is for sale, if anyone is interested. I sold to little bowls to a friend last week for a gift. My 1st 2 pieces!

It's time to sell goat kids!

I hate to do it, but these little guys need to go! Freya's kids are 8 weeks old yesterday. Olga's kids are 6 weeks today.

I've been putting the kids in a stall at night so I can milk in the morning. But lately, little Rika is out and nursing  when I go out to get the girls for milking. And she just about drinks ALL the milk! Little stinker. So from now on, she goes in the crate.

I'd like all the girls to go together if that's possible. Since there's 3 girls, I don't want to sell 1 by herself. And I would love for the buck to become someone's herd sire, since he's polled. That would make a great addition to someone's herd for polled kids. No disbudding! Although there is just a 50/50 chance  of having polled kids. It's still worth it.

So if anyone needs goats, let me know.

St. Elmo market

 This is my booth at St. Elmo market. I am sure loving my little soap boxes me and my husband made. They are so easy to load up now and take up very little room. Why didn't I think of this sooner?

This is the other table with kale, dandelion greens. jelly, dryer balls and my pottery.

It was a nice evening for market this time. No rain. But cloudy and a nice breeze. Lots of people came through. I sold a lot of things this time. There were a lot more vendors too. That always helps when there are a lot of canopies up. So a good day for me.

Making...

 feta cheese and soap boxes today. I actually made this cheese Saturday, but cut it up and added chives and garlic and covered it in olive oil today. It is SO good! I am bartering with a friend for her brand new sisal rug that she found out she's allergic to, so I'll take her some today. And have some for us.

And last night, I thought up these cute little soap boxes. A friend gave us a stack of pallet type wood so these are free. I went ahead and cut enough for 10 boxes. They will hold 8 bars of soap and stack on top of each other with enough room that the soaps won't touch. Pretty cool, right? And all free.  They will take up less room too. I love them. So rustic looking. I also thought I'd get some chalkboard paint and paint the front of the box, so I can write the name of each soap, instead of using a piece of card stock. My market neighbor the other day was worried about my little name tags. So I think he should be happy with these boxes.

                                        Doesn't this look so cute? I love it. Just plain ole boxes.

                                          I love how they just all stack on top of each other so nice too.

Mushrooms and bees

http://modernfarmer.com/2016/04/can-mushrooms-save-honeybee-food-supply/

I just found this article on face book. Sounds really interesting.

I shaved my goat...

yep, shaved the whole goat. I just thought it would be easier to see ticks if she has any more. I think she likes it too. She must be so much cooler.

That's a goat kid leg behind her. I just thought it looked kind of strange.

She had a whole lotta hair. I had to do one side on one stanchion, then move her to the other one to do the other side.

This is her before. Very hairy girl. I always called her my hippie goat. I can actually see her udder now when she walks. Before it was hidden behind all that hair.

I've always shaved their udders and under the belly and legs, but never the whole goat. It took awhile to do. And she was so good. I'll do some touch ups in the morning. The shears were getting hot.

So the swelling from the tick is gone and she's doing well. I was worried about her today while I was gone. But she was fine when I got home. I put more plantain salve on .That stuff is good!

Ticks!

This morning, on the way to the milk room with the does, I noticed Olga's rear end. It looked like there was something on her vulva. So when she got on the stanchion, I looked closer and saw a darn big huge grey tick. It was horrible. I got it off and washed with alcohol. Then I put some of my plantain slave all over the swollen area. I hope she'll be ok. I probably really need to shave her. She's got such long hair ticks think she's a dog.

So I guess I'll be checking the goats for ticks from now on.

Just wanted to post this to warn everyone who does have goats to check them regularly for ticks. I hope Olga will be ok.

Chicks outside

 I finally put these 6 chicks outside in a crate in the coop with the big  chickens. They haven't gotten out yet through the bars. They tried a few times but didn't make it. I just hope they don't get scared and get stuck. They are growing so fast though. They should be fine. Then in a few weeks, I'll let them out f the crate. Maybe.

It was so cute, when I first put them in the crate. They've not seen dirt yet, or even been outside. So as soon as they felt the sun, they started laying down and fanning their feathers. Then started throwing dirt all over the place.

This is going to be a big ole flower garden I hope. I planted all kinds of seeds, like borage, calendula, cosmos, stock, celosia and some others. On the left are 10 little  places where I put those seeds. Then all down the left side is zinnias. I am watering them every day. No signs of anything yet.

I also planted a row of buckwheat with some sunflowers in that row too.

Sunday I took the grand kids to the mall for awhile. We saw this car with fries on the hood. We waited for some birds to get some. I got one in this shot. It was too funny. People walked by and just laughed.

These kids are growing so fast! Isla and Astrid are 7 weeks old already. Rika and Sorren are 5 weeks. I really need to sell them, but them I'll have to milk twice a day.  And I don't want to. It's nice having the kids, so if I don't want to milk, I don't have to. And they are so stinkin' cute!

Started mowing and got a flat tire on the little front tire. A pain to fix. And hubby's foot is a mess again. I wanted him to stay off his feet for awhile, but stuff keeps happening around here. It's been 9 months so far that we've been working on his foot. 9 months! Good grief, I am wondering if it will ever get better.

Mining bees

 This is just a little post about these pretty awesome little ground bees. I don't have them here in my yard. But Mrs. T does. And she has some new people that mow her yard now. And they have a few teenage boys that are afraid of bees. But these bees are not aggressive at all. I stood right in the middle of them for a long time, taking pictures of them, and they never bothered me at all. I did some research on them because the new yard people wanted to spray them. I said NO! And I found several really good articles about these bees. Here is one of them that's got good information about them.

http://honeybeesuite.com/let-mining-bees-be/

Just in case others are wondering what they are. They are NOT yellow jackets! These are good bees, who mind their own business. They are simply too busy!

So I hope this will help someone else who's got them all over their yard right now. They will not be around for too much longer.

Shitake mushrooms

This might just look like a log to y'all but it's not just any ole log. Yesterday I went to my friends at Tant Hilll farm and we did a whole lotta these logs. Plus the ones we each got to take home for helping. In the fall, we hope they will be FULL of Shitake mushrooms! I sure hope mine is anyway. It was so much fun! They had it all set up where someone did the drilling, some others did the inoculating and others sealed with wax. Then we laid the logs on the John Deere tractor and took them over to the pallets, where we laid them log cabin style in the shade. We did 14 yesterday. Today Mark and Gina did 20 alone. They plan on having about 100 logs going, then adding more every few months. I would really love to have more logs going here myself, but it is quite costly.

Has anyone else tried doing this? And what kind of mushrooms? I'd love to hear about them.

More pottery.

I hope y'all don't get sick of seeing my pottery. But I just love doing this! These are some things I made today.

I am really loving this pot. It was fun to make.

Then some more bowls and mugs. I need to make the handles real quick, before they're too dry. And I went ahead and made scalloped edges on the 2 bowls.

A few more mugs. That's what I started out to make today, but ended up with bowls too. I never really know what a piece of clay will turn out to be.

Now back out to trim. I'm leaving them all outside so they'll dry fast. Might not be a good idea.

In the garden today.

Working in the garden today. We're supposed to get rain tonight. I have a big bed in front of the bee hives, so I am planting all kinds of flowers and herbs for the bees. And of course lots of zinnias. I love them. Also planted a row or buckwheat with sunflowers thrown in. Then got a few rows of zucchini and squash too. I am done for the day. I'm worn out doing all that. I had to rake up all the grass that I tilled up too. Then those teeny tiny seeds. Good grief, some of them were so small I couldn't tell if I had any in my fingers. I hope they all come up. I will post pictures when they do.

I made some feta cheese in between planting and tilling too. It should be ready in a few days.

Now I am taking a few minutes break before I try to make some pottery. I want to make some mugs today. I'm home all day with so much to do! I love being at home.

Tuesday nights are sewing class. We're making a wrap skirt. It has a lot of things that will help us, like making the fabric straight, basting to make gathers, and lots of ironing! We're supposed to do the basting stitches and gather the waist for home work. Haven't gotten to it yet. But did do some sewing last night. The table clothes that I tie dyed last summer with the grand kids needed hemming so I did that. It was fun but took a long time since they are so long. But I had fun. Then ironed them. Tomorrow the St. Elmo market opens so I wanted them to look nice. I can hardly wait! I have all my soap packed and ready so all I need to do is load up the Trooper and pick kale and some other things.

Kids on the playground...

Went out the other day and saw this. These kids were having a blast on these old trees.

And these rocks have entertained many a kid in the past. And now 4 more. I love watching kids play. So fun.