Potatoes in my pockets

I was out mowing the garden rows this evening. The row to the right is potatoes, then kale, then cabbage then chard, then more potatoes. I have been digging up potatoes the past few weeks and I need to go ahead and finish digging them all up now so I can start planting other things there.  So I am mowing and see some pretty red potatoes on the ground. I grabbed them and stuck them in my pockets.

Then later as I am mowing the other garden, I see some pretty cucumbers I missed yesterday. So in the pockets they go. Then look at the very short okra plants and see some okra. Picked them and there they went into the pockets too.

 Handy thing, pockets. You really can't have too many. I was wearing a skirt one day with no pockets and I locked my keys in my car. Not good. I always stick my keys in my pockets instead of my purse because they will always fall down to the very bottom. So a pocket is easier. And this time it cost me a cracked front window. $175.00. So I like to wear things with pockets. Very handy thing, those pockets.

105

That used to be our address in Flintstone, Ga. not long ago. Now it's the temperature here today. And will be til Tuesday. I just want it to hurry up and get here. And with a chance of some showers!! Oh how we need some rain. I have been watering everything the past several days.

Now I have to go pick beans for market tomorrow morning. I don't really want to but there are beans out there that have got to be picked or they'll be too big. I don't know about anyone else, but I don't like my beans too big. And I hope there will be some more cucumbers and squash and tomatoes too.

When I got home about 5:30, there was a sheep on the driveway. It was Alfie. He must have gotten out from under the chain link fence. I saw that spot and thought one or more of them might try getting under and out. Well, Alfie did. He was right there in the grass though. I wasn't worried that he'd run off. Not by himself. Uh uh. Not alone. And he didn't eat a single azalea or Crepe Myrtle leaf either. Good boy! Just grass. Now all 3 ram lambs are back in the bigger pasture. I am taking all 3 to a friend's yard next week for a few months to eat down a problem area for her. I might or might not miss the big guys.

And my ewes were all in the South pasture. No one was near death or hurt. I am very thankful. But there are still 3 more days of over 100 degrees to go.

And my arms and legs are SO itchy! From picking beans and squash and cucumbers. I wake up at night scratching. Ugh! And then the okra is starting to grow.

What's the weather like in your neck of the woods? I hope y'all are staying cool. I want a pool real bad.

What a Life!

Yep, this is where Bubba lives right now. It's such an effort to even lift his ole head up. Sorry I disturbed you. Now get back to sleep.

You can lead sheep to the pool....

 but you can't make them get in it. Nope.


 I got this pool for my dogs awhile back. Stella loves it. But the dogs can come inside. The sheep can't. So I gave the pool to the sheep. I thought they might like to stand in it at least. They do drink from it. But no one's been in it yet. I thought Lucinda, the black ewe, might get in. She stands beside the trough a lot so I thought she might like something she could get into. But no. It's supposed to be 100 or better for the next several days here. I might see a sheep swimming later today.

These are the 2 newest ewe lambs, Amarillo in the front and Adelaide behind her. They are so cute. And getting a little friendlier toward me. They are a Finn-Suffolk cross. I think Adelaide is more Finn.

This is Adele. She's as big as her mother. And look at her! Silly lamb. I love my sheep.

All Done!

These are pictures from a few weeks ago. I didn't take any this morning. I was on a tight schedule. I wanted to see how fast I could get 6 chickens butchered, cleaned and in the fridge. I started at 7:15 and was all done and cleaned up by 8:45. Then a little longer to get them all in the fridge and iced down. So around 2 hours from start to finish. Not too bad for one farm gal. And that grill really made all the difference. I got them all done without having to stop at all. And the coolest thing happened. Right when I was finished with the very last chicken, the fire in the grill went out. It ran out of propane right at the last minute! Now that is a God thing to me.

 That live chicken on the table telling her friends goodbye is one of the chickens in the fridge right now.

 This one was pretty big. About 5 pounds.

 This is my killing cone hanging from a cedar tree. The white bucket we used to do the turkeys.

And now there are no more of these running around the yard anymore. For a few weeks anyway. I'll order some Freedom Rangers in a few weeks for an early September butchering.

If you can see that one lone chicken in the background in the cage, that's the devil hen. She's a game hen that got out of the coop about a month ago and I could never catch her. Til about a week or so ago. My grands were here and they helped get her. You can just see a green thing on top of the cage. Well, that's the straw that broke my back. It's a green tomato. That's all she wrote for that chick. Put an ad on Craig's List and a few days later, she's outta here! There will not be another chicken getting my tomatoes again. Or they'll end up like the one in the 2nd picture.

D Day Thursday

I will be butchering my last 6 chickens first thing in the morning. I got them all tonight and they are in the cage. That's one of them in the picture. She will be in that killing cone soon. I will be using the grill this time to keep the water hot so I don't have to stop after every 2nd bird to take it back to the kitchen to heat up again. This way I can get them all done in about an hour!! 5 of them are sold and the 6th one is mine. Then I will be ordering 50 Freedom Rangers in a few weeks and do it all over again.

It's only going to be about 100 degrees tomorrow. And the next day and the next day. So I'll start early. Then on to watering the tomatoes, peppers and squash and zucchini. I don't look forward to this heat at all. And am a little worried about my sheep more than the goats. I have a kiddie pool out there for them full of cool water. And a fan. I would bring Lucinda inside if I could. I hope she'll be ok. It's hot all over right now I guess.

Chickens Are Just Mean

I don't know why I did it, but a few hours ago I let the new chickens out of the cage. Well, the 2 little Barred Rocks blended right in with the rest of them. I could not tell them from the rest. And so did the little Red Star, although she is a bit smaller. But the 2 Americana chicks, they were bullied and pecked and just plain terrorized the whole time they were out. The one bigger chick got out of the coop but the smaller one couldn't figure out how.  There were some others that were chasing her and she was running into one of the nest boxes trying to get away. I caught her and put her out in the yard. And they still chased her. So a little later those 2 and the Red Star were all in the corner of the coop. So I caught them all and put them back in the cage for a few more days. I'll let them out at night next time. Poor girls. But the BR are doing just fine so far. It's good to blend in.

One of the Americana's is darker than the other chickens. I told my friend last night why I didn't want to get the white Americana. I do believe they see colors and they can tell a chicken that is not like them. So there was no way I could get a white chicken. But I have some darker hens so didn't think this one would be much different. But it could also be because she's just a bit smaller too. So I'll wait to let them out for awhile. It's just going to be near 100 for the next several days here.

Does anyone else have this happen with new chickens? They can be such bullies. And there are so many.