Sandy

She's getting bigger. If I get this right, she should be due the end of April. I sure wish she'd have been sooner. But that's ok. I can't wait to see her kids now. After Penelope's little cuties, I know Sandy's will be adorable. I think they are already sold too.

Magic sheep?

Or just a stupid shepherd. 

Yesterday, I put the sheep at the far end of the garden. You can see it here at the end, near the road. It's a pretty big area where we used to have hundreds of strawberry plants. Now there are 6 apple and 3 pear trees. And lots of grass. 

So I got my husband to stand by the gate that goes out the driveway and then when the sheep go in, to get behind them and make sure they go straight and not detour into the garden. Where I have cabbage and broccoli. Well, of course they did exactly that. And ate about 6 of the cabbage plants in about 5 seconds flat. We did finally get them all down there and the gate shut. Darn sheep.

Then after taking hubby back to his truck in Atlanta, I got some fence and more posts. I did this this morning. Put fence all along the garden down to the bottom yard. The sheep can mow all this for me. 

BUT, after a few minutes of the sheep being up here, I saw 2 lambs in the garden. I thought they must have gone under the fence. So got them back over and checked the fence. I really didn't see any place where they could get under. So a little while later, I'm standing out there watching them and saw one of the same lambs, Biatrix, go right through the fence into the garden. Like magic, right through the fence. I ran and got her out again and really looked close where I saw her go through.

And this is what I found. A little opening just right for a lamb to walk right through. What about that? I had to use this piece of older fence to get it all the way to the other fence. And forgot there is this little opening in it. SO, I got another little fence piece and fixed that little problem. Darn shepherd!

Milking Zarah. Or not.

So this is what Zarah's udder looked like this morning after putting the kids up for the night. And Ella Belle was out this morning. Apparently she had just gotten out. If you look real close or zoom in, you can see her teats. About maybe 1 1/2" long and the size of a pencil width. I could get 1 finger plus the thumb on them. She was tight as a drum. And SO hard to milk. I have not even attempted to milk her since I had wormed her with the Dectomax 4 weeks ago. And it has a 32 day milk withdrawal time.

So, between her kicking and raising her feet or else just plain sitting down like a dog on top of the bucket, I was plum worn out. She did not like this or want anything at all to do with it. I even tried to get Ella to come in and nurse some. But what happens when you actually WANT a kid to nurse on the stand?? Nothing. She ran around and played hide and seek and "catch me if you can", which of course I couldn't in the milk room. Too much to get behind and under. So, after about 20 minutes of me not wanting her to think she was gonna win this first round, I quit. Went and got Ira Joe out of the stall. They both tried to nurse but she only stood still for a few seconds. They did some more for a little while, while I watched. I sure don't want Zarah to get mastitis.

So, a few days ago, a friend in Tn. called about a milking machine she had just bought from a man near her up around Nashville. He makes these machines. For $175.00. Everything except the battery, which is only a little more. She milks about 9 goats and she is loving this machine. It filters and cools the milk. Really nice. Well, when she called, I thought I didn't need a machine. But after this morning, I called the guy. I told him about Zarah's small teats and he said he didn't think the suction things would stay on such small teats. But he said he'd look for a smaller size. Because I think I really want one now. Just for Zarah. Because I am worn out and it was NO fun at all. For her or me. And I don't want her to hate this.

So my 1st day of April has not turned out so good. Like the guy suggested, get the kids up on the stand and let them nurse some milk out, then try again. Sounds like a plan, if the kids will do it. They should be hungry enough to. I was so hoping that Zarah would take after her mother Abby. Maybe next time? She is a first freshener.

Easter

Easter Sunday was a day of sunshine and rain. Off and on again. I saw lots of little green plants coming up in the garden, like collards, kale and mustard. Some lettuce and radishes too. I always like to see that. I was getting a little worried that I planted too early. But with all the rain and sun, things just happen.

I would have liked to have had lots of flowers on the table. But the daffodils started blooming way back in Jan. so none of them. But did find lots of henbit, which I was excited about for the bees. But they don't really stand out in vases. I have lots of dandelion though, but didn't want to take too many. I put those on the runner along with yellow Peeps. I just love yellow and white in early spring. 

This is one of my ram lambs I had butchered a month ago. I marinated it in olive oil, crushed garlic and fresh rosemary overnight. Then put it in the oven at 400 for about 35 minutes, then turned it down to 200 for a few hours, Took it out and let it rest for about 30 minutes. It was SO good. I didn't think anyone would eat any, but it went pretty fast. It's like good roast beef. Red in the middle and tender and so juicy. It was a 6 pound leg. I have another one in the freezer. But was very happy how it turned out.

And here are the grand kids. Coryn is on the left. She's 11. Chloe is in the middle. She'll be 14 the end of May. And Kansas will be 10 the end of April. So we decided to let them all hunt eggs. I wanted to hunt eggs too. I still love doing that. It's so fun.

So we had a great day together. My youngest daughter Abby and her husband rode their motorcycle down to Pensicola, Fla. for the weekend so they missed us. We really missed them too. But Abby will probably come tonight for left overs. Mom made a Watergate cake that was SO good. And I made banana pudding, my husband's favorite.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter. And have a great week too.

These pigs

So I have had these pigs 2 weeks now. It's been pretty good so far. I haven't fallen down in their pen. They haven't bitten me. Or chased me. Or gotten out yet. And I do believe Joe, the white one, is almost as big as Bob now. But I am wondering if he can see. He's got really small eyes. That I can barely see. Smaller that Bob's eyes, and his are small too. They just look weird. I don't think I've noticed pig eyes before, but I think they should be bigger. It doesn't seem to be affecting his ability to get around. Or eat. Because he's all over and eats like a pig. I don't know. Maybe they are supposed to be small like that.

I'm giving them lots of the fermented grains. Plus lots of scraps, goat milk and the bread from the bakery in Chatt. And their yard is a mud pit now. I need to add the other panel soon. I can't imagine feeding these guys for 5 more months. Ugh. But if it keeps going like this, I might be ok. But, they are still small at the moment.

2 classes today

This was a busy day for me. But I have learned SO much.


This morning was a class on native pollinators. Since I'll be getting a hive of honey bees in a few weeks, I need to learn about them. And what they need to keep them here. And healthy and full! We have a farm in Rossville, Ga. called Crabtree Farm. It's been there for 15 years this year. They are basically a teaching farm. Lots of apprentices and volunteers. It's a great place. They are breaking ground in a few weeks on an education building to be opened in September.

I'll have to absorb all the things David Reed spoke about. He has several hives here on this farm. I went out after the class and just stared at the hives. Bees were buzzing all around them. These are in a little field of henbit, which I need to plant at my place. I have some, but not like this.

If you look close, you can see the bees on the hives. They were all over today. I just love bees.

Then this afternoon, a class on fermentation. We all got to get our hands in the veggies and make some for ourselves. I have already made plenty of different fermented foods for us. But learned a few techniques to make things faster. And I got some water kefir grains and some Piima culture!! I am so excited about this. I have been wanting some water kefir grains. I got to taste some that Ann Keener brought. It was SO good and refreshing and light and summery. I have already got mine started.  Also got the Piima started too. Not too sure about how to do this though. Need to read up more about it. It's like yogurt, from what I understand. A little like kefir too.

This is one of the teachers, with his hands in the cabbage and beet kraut. I love this stuff. I made mine with just cabbage and beets. I am excited about getting some more fermented veggies back on the counters! It just makes me feel good, seeing all those jars of fermented goodness on my kitchen counters. And it's SO good.

Not to get my leg of lamb marinating in some good olive oil, garlic and fresh rosemary for tomorrow's Easter dinner.

Good Friday

I was out early this morning and noticed the beautiful sunrise. Started taking pictures. When I came in to download them, I saw this one. I saw the thorny branch hanging down and thought of the thorns that were made into a crown and put on Jesus' head when he was crucified. Just kind of fitting for a Good Friday sunrise. Because we all know what happened the next few days!

I hope and pray that you all have a wonderful weekend but especially, a wonderful Easter with family. Take time to remember why we celebrate Easter. And just marvel in God's grace and goodness.