A walk through Mrs. T's yard today...

I stopped at Mrs. T's this afternoon, on the way home. And I had my camera with me. So I walked through her yard and took pictures. I do this every year. It seems to get more and more beautiful. Most of the azaleas are over 60 years old. My favorite is the bright red ones. But they're all so pretty. You can look out any window in her house and see something in bloom right now. I love her yard. So many paths to wander down and around. And a cute little fish pond, just full of gold fish too.



Y'all can go walk around too. Enjoy!

Bee hives are done!

Finally got the bee hives painted and they are finished! Ready for bees now. What do y'all think? Is it too much? Will the bees get all confused with too much going on? Or will they even care? I don't know.

I've noticed a lot of people name their hives. So I need some suggestions for hive names. The small hive will go out back at the top of the hill in the goat pasture. The bigger hive will be in the South garden. Somewhere out there. I'll paint the names at the top.

I still am not sure which way the entrance should be facing. I'm thinking South, but that might be too hot? Which way do all you bee keepers face your hives? Or does it matter? The hive I had last year faced East.

All kinds of kinds...

Sometimes I have so much to do, I don't know where to start. I have a list and I know what needs to be done. Like my Trooper has had farmer's market stuff in it for a few weeks now. I have markets on Wed. and Sat. so I just leave the tables and canopy and baskets in there. But it needs to be cleaned out. I won't be going to market tomorrow or next Wed. so it will be cleaned out. The 30th is the Spring-a-ma-jig at Main St. market and I get to bring my 3 bottle lambs! And probably Mirabelle too. I've been going with lots of eggs and dandelion greens and flowers and chives. But I only sold 1 dozen eggs the other day and only 3 on Sat. Everyone has eggs and has had them all winter, so people already have their people they get eggs from. But last year, I sold every one I brought. I always sell the greens and flowers and chives, but that's little money and now that it's gone back to 2 hours, it costs $15 and that hurts! So I think I'll wait til I have collards and kale and radishes and lettuce to bring.

The other day, I had let Mirabelle out in the back yard. Went to get her back in and couldn't find her. She was hangin' with her boys. And they were so gentle with her too. I was so afraid they'd kick her on the head and kill her but nothing happened. She's out back now with her brothers and cousins playing.

I don't know if ALL the ants in the world have been at my house since last fall, but I think they were. I am SO SICK of seeing ants in my kitchen and bathroom. I have tried everything I can think of, including sprinkling cinnamon all over. So I got these any traps and I thought they were not going to work because for a few days, I never saw an ant near them. Then whamo, there were millions of ants in the little containers. For a few days. Now I think they are either all dead or left. I HATE ANTS!

And just a pretty shot of green for all of you who might still have that awful white stuff hanging on. Y'all have a great weekend! I'm off to work!

I'm a great grandma!!

 My daughter's dog Daisy had 9 puppies yesterday. Jason had to take her to the vet for a C-section early and brought her home later that afternoon with 9 puppies. 5 girls and 4 boys. She's a bit sore and overwhelmed, but doing pretty good for her first litter. And they're all so cute! She's a Boxer and a Shepherd got to her. But the pups all look like they have that cute Boxer nose. Adorable! And she's the best little momma ever. Constantly licking and cleaning.

I love this. She's such a good dog. And has always been so gentle and nice to everyone. These puppies will be good dogs.

Anyone need a cute adorable little puppy soon?

Around and about the farm

 It's been crazy here lately. SO much to do and not enough ME to do it all! And now another bottle baby. I had to take her to the market with me Saturday. Everyone loved her. She followed me all over the place. I had some other things to do before going back home. Like stopping to check on my very pregnant grand dog Daisy. She got to meet Mirabelle too. She's such a sweet dog.

This is the goat playground. A pile of big rocks. There has been a whole lot of baby goats playing right here over the years. Little Mirabelle got to play too.

                       All 10 apple trees are in full bloom. And now it might freeze tonight. Crazy weather!

We finally got all the hive boxes put together and the old ones cleaned up. Put all new frames in them. I've painted them all too but will show that in another post when they are finished. They look so pretty. Hope the bees like their new homes!

                   We had 2 of the grand kids for the weekend. This is Chloe, feeding Mirabelle a bottle.

And I had no idea alpacas liked to get wet. There's a hole in this hose and when I was filling up the water buckets, I saw them doing this. Sugar just laid right down on the water, silly boy! I turned the hose on them and they loved it!

It's Tuesday. My day with mom. And it's rainy and so cold out. I hope you all have a nice warm Tuesday.

Little Miracle

 Tuesday evening, Zeeboo had triplets. Just like I thought she would. I wasn't here to help though. When I got home, she had the 2 boys all dried and fed. But there was another baby. When I found her, I thought she was dead. She hadn't even been cleaned off and it was nearly dried. I picked her up and she was breathing. So I put her up to Zeeboo's udder and she got a few good swallows of colostrum in.

I grabbed Zeeboo and took her into the back stall then went to get the kids. She wouldn't have anything to do with the poor little doe kid. Just the 2 boys. So I went ahead and took her inside. I milked Zeeboo and got about a good quart of colostrum and got a bottle to try to feed the little baby. She would hardly even try by then. I tried to tube her but couldn't get the tube down far enough and it looked like it was hurting her. So I used a syringe to get milk in her.

I really didn't know if she'd make it or not. She was leaning to the right really bad and could not stand at all. I was at the point last night when I just asked God to let the poor baby die. I guess that's why Zeeboo didn't do anything with her, something was wrong and she knew it.

But then something happened and the little girl got up and stood on her own! Without leaning! And took a whole little bottle of milk! All at once too. Then she stood on her own for awhile. We were all so happy for her. And relieved too. It was just a little more than I could take at this point. Like I had so much to do and I needed to care for a handicapped goat too?

This is when I took her back out yesterday morning, to see what would happen. It was so sad.

                                                        Here's her 2 brothers. So cute!

                            This is last night when we saw her standing. Kansas was so happy for her.

                                                  So today, I've had her outside several times.

She went to see her brothers and mom. Zeeboo almost bit her one time so I knew she didn't want her.

              Then she went out to meet the lambs. Look at the size of Carabella next to her! Like a giant.

      Then she met Misha. He was so interested in her. And was so nice too. He's just a big teddy bear!

                                                         He was such a nice big guy.

And here is little Mirabelle, getting some sun. It's a beautiful day here today. Great day to be outside soaking up all that warmth.

I am so glad she's going to be ok. I was really worried. I had said I was going to take her to a vet today. But guess I won't have to now. I think the little gal is going to be fine. And she weighs 4 1/2 pounds today.

Forgot to say that this is John Henry's 3rd set of triplets this year! My friends up the road used him on their 2 does and one of them had triplets but 1 was still born. Then another friend brought her doe here and she called a few weeks ago to tell me Trudy had triplet doe kids. They are all doing great! And then Zeeboo. Also had a call today from a friend who has goats and has used John Henry before but not this last time. But one of her does just had triplets.

Zarah had twin does!!!!

Look what I found this morning! Zarah finally had her kids. And they are both little does! I just new the tan one would be a buck, but it's not. They were born probably about a half hour before I got out there. They were all cleaned off but a little damp. Both nursing and look really good. And so cute. I put them all in the back stall so I could give her some warm molasses water and feed. It's supposed to rain later again so I'll leave them in awhile.

I found these pictures from last year and wanted to show how much they look like her new kids. The little black one is a doe and looks just like her mother. The tan one is the buck and looked just like John Henry. He's the dad of the new ones too. Almost identical kids this year.

                                                  So yay, 3 does had 5 girls and just 1 boy!

Now just waiting on Zeeboo. Look at this fat girl! I am liking the looks of her udder and teats. I think she'll be an easy milker.