A fairy village under an old apple tree...

Busy makin' stuff here at the farm...

Hello! Been a few days. It's been pretty busy around here for me lately. With farmer's markets, goats, making jellies and dryer balls. And painting the little house and trying to get it finished. I did get the bathroom painted and put down the sticky backed tiles. It looks horrible, because I am a really bad cutter. So I will have to put some rugs down and hope no one looks too close. I love the wall color though. White Pistachio. Really nice cool color. So I will get the floor paint I bought a few weeks ago colored and paint the rest of the floors. Then start movin' in! I sure could use the room over there.

So last week, I noticed Zeeboo's puffy jaw. Darn those barber pole worms. I hate when I see this. So I socked the wormers to her. I tried Cydectin and Ivermec, alternating them for a few days. Red Cell, B Compex, lots of good green kales. Then Sunday, after waiting 3 days with no worm meds, I gave her more Ivermec. By Sunday night, her whole head was swollen. So I brought out the big guns, Dectomax. I didn't want to have to use this because there's a 32 day milk withdrawal time. And I'm milking her. And she has the best milk right now. But, to save her and kill those darn worms, I had to use it. It's really the only thing that will kill the worms. So she got some. And she looks MUCH better. I'll continue milking her but throw the milk out or give it to Piper, the bottle kid. Then maybe after 20 days, try it.

I made some elderberry flower jelly. It's so good and pretty too. Hope it sells at market today. The flowers are just now starting to open, so I have plenty of time to make more for awhile.

Also tried my hand at wool dryer balls. It's so fun to see how they turn out after they're dried. I hope they sell as well. I can add a few drops of EO for a nice scent. They are supposed to help cut down dryer time, wrinkles and static. And last at least 5 years or more. I have 6 more in the dryer now, made with some brown wool and black alpaca. I need panty hose now!

This is the Outback hive. They seem to be doing good. Still have a few empty frames. I have been moving the empties to the middle gradually. Wondering if I should add another box yet? The weather has been so crazy the past several weeks here. Cold, rainy, wet, then hot. Poor bees.

And this is a new venture. Dandelion salve, Sure feels good on dry hard working hands. And is supposed to help with sore muscles and achy joints. But I am just loving the soft hands now.

I planted to flats with calendula flower seeds. Most are popping up! I bought 4 from Crabtree farm a few months ago and they are blooming. But not enough to do anything with yet. I want to make calendula salve and use some flowers to dye wool with. I should have plenty, the way it looks so far.

The garden is being over taken by weeds! With all this rain, they are loving it. Also have seen squash and zucchine out there. Should have some green beans soon too. And all the cucumber seeds I planted last week are all up! The butternut squash though, pretty sure it's all been washed away by the stream in the middle of the garden where they were planted. The bottom of the garden should be a paradise soon though, with all the different seeds that have been washed down there.

Going to Main St market this afternoon. I love this market. But it's hot there! The sun is behind my booth and so most of my canopy is worthless. So I am bringing a shower curtain and some rope today and putting it up at the back. So maybe I'll have some shade for my booth.

Sunday animal cuteness...

I went out yesterday in the sheep pasture. Just sat out there with them. Had my camera of course. I think I got some really cute pictures of the sheep and alpacas.

I love these guys. They are so funny. And they are so sweet with the sheep, especially my 3 bottle lambs. These shots are so cute!

My 3 girls. They are getting so big now! I weaned them a few weeks ago. They still come running to me though. I love them. And their wool is so soft.

This is Cassidy, the cute little lamb with the eyebrows. They've kind of disappeared and now she's just a wooly lamb. Here, she was really close to me so I reached under her to rub her belly and she let me. Just stood right there for a long time. She's getting friendlier each day.

This is Annabelle and  her daughter Buttercup. Their wool is really good. They are getting better about letting me pet them. Annabelle let me pet her face for about 5 minutes one day.

Here is Charlotte and Claire, the 2 ewe lambs my friend is supposed to have. He got them and then called and said he didn't want them. Then wants them again. He's crazy! So I don't know what's going on with him. He still has Bilbo the Hobbit Ram, at his farm. He was going to get his son to help him put up fencing for the sheep, so I hope he'll let me know something soon. This is getting old! But these are good lambs.

My little Campbelle. She's so sweet, just sitting up on a hay bale, chewing her cud. What a sweetie she is.

 
M big girl, Carabella. She's so sweet too. Just a big baby girl.

And the big boy Black Bart. He's the best rooster. He loves his girls and takes such good care of them. He finds good bugs and worms and calls the girls over to eat. He just backs up and lets them have it all. He's a good boy. I have him and 10 hens. I got 9 eggs 3 days ago and 2 eggs Sat. Then 1 egg yesterday.

I went over yesterday to the little house and primed the bathroom walls, to get ready for a  lighter color on the brown walls. So this morning, I went and got the bathroom all painted. It's called White Pistachio. Yes, it's a pale green. I thought it was a light pale gray. But it's ok and it's a very calming and soothing color. I like it. I will have to put some kind of tile down in the bathroom, so will have to decide what. And maybe in the kitchen. Not sure.

It's been a rainy day here so far. The weeds are taking over out there! It's a great time to pull them all up. But I'm making wool dryer balls. I have 9 in socks in the washer now and they'll go in the dryer next. Can't wait to see what they look like. I did white roving with colored wool around them. I'll take them to market to sell.

I hope you all have a great week!

In the garden...

As I was leaving this morning I saw this little bright sunflower, looking at the sun rising. It's so pretty. This is a volunteer plant. There are more scattered around.

These are the ones I planted from seeds I feed the animals. Half the row was washed away by one of the many rain storms we've had. But these are doing really good.

 

The 1st zucchini blossom!

And these little pretty sweet banana peppers were just hanging out, waiting for me to find them.

Look at all these grape clusters! This is just a few of them.

There are big green tomatoes too! I guess I've been too busy to see them.Hopefully soon, I'll be having my favorite bacon and tomato sandwich on sourdough bread.

And the dill plants are growing like weeds!

And bell pepper blooms too!

What's growing in your gardens? Or what are you finding in your gardens? I also found a rabbit.

Turquoise Twist...

 Hmmm... do you think Mr. Bell would like his little house now?

I LOVE IT! But that first swipe of the roller was a bit shocking, to say the least. But I kept on and did the whole house. Except the bathroom. It was dark and storming, so the color wasn't true yet. But this morning, it's amazing!

I was going to paint all the wood trim white. But not now. I am loving how the wood sets off the color of the walls. So today, on the way home, I'll get wood cleaner and polish and work on all the trim, doors and cabinets. I'll also have to do something about the wall behind the stove and sink. Plus a fridge will go there in the corner soon.

This corner will have the washer and dryer. We're going to build a little 4x8 wall coming out on the left there and then put up a galvanized piece of pipe to hang a shower curtain or something to hide them. I got those white plastic coated wire shelves from mom's yesterday, that we will hang on the wall over the washer and dryer, for storage.

I got a lot of good stuff from mom's garage yesterday. I love shopping at mom's! Her garage was FULL of garage sale stuff and has been for awhile now. She called a thrift store and they came and got most of the stuff. But she had a really nice tall shelf, a desk, several things that I can use over here. So we loaded them all up yesterday while Tiny was in town with the truck. Most will be painted and put to good use here. AND mom can now park her new Jeep in her own garage!! Yay Mom!

I will also use this little wall to hang that one box of old photos I kept from this house when we first bought this place. Perfect spot. And will be seen as soon as anyone walks in.

The big wall in the kitchen. I'll be using the kitchen now to make soap, cheese, jelly and jams. I can bring ALL my supplies and books over here now! Oh what joy that will be, to have all my stuff in one place! And to have room to work.

After I get all the wood cleaned, I'll pull up the nasty linoleum and get the floor all cleaned and ready to paint. Do you think I should go a little darker with this paint color or maybe go gray? I am thinking I'm gonna just paint the outside of the house a nice gray. The porch floor will be the same color as what I paint the inside floor. So let me know what y'all think. But I love it! I cannot wait to get it all done so I can move in and get to work!

Randomness

 I have been really tired this week. Just so sleepy. Went to bed about 5:30 Sunday afternoon after market. Woke up at what I thought was 8:30, like the living room clock said, and it was pitch black out. Tiny said the clock was wrong, it was 10:30. Then the night before last, I went to bed and woke up and it felt like I had only slept 5 minutes, it was that fast. I didn't feel like I slept at all. So all day yesterday, I was yawning and could hardly keep my eyes open. But had to get ready for farmer's market. So off I went picking and pulling and washing and bagging. Had a few stops before market. Had a great time and sold a lot. I had made fig preserves from some I had frozen last year. 9 jars, sold 6. Made dandelion jelly and salve. Sold some of those. Just did really good. But man, was it hot and windy!

Before I left for market, I checked the garden hive. The first pic frame is full of larva, big ones, and brood. Looks good.

These next 2 are full of honey! But I've been told, since these are new hives, to leave honey for the bees. So next year, I should have good honey.

Also got all the nasty stuff off the little house ceiling. They sure liked mud!

Got it all painted, with a few bad words thrown in here and there. Painting this part was crazy. It kept peeling off of the white mud part. So frustrating. But got it all done. Now off to the paint store to get the wall and floor paint. I think I have decided on colors. An aqua on the walls with darker on the floors. Also the outside will be gray with the porch the same as inside.

So will update later with color on the walls and floors! Then I'm movin' in! I can do the outside later. It needs to be pressure washed so SIN law can do that in a few weeks.

Husband goes to foot doc today. It's looking good!

All done with that horrid ceiling!

I went over this morning to tackle the ceiling at the little house. I brought a spray bottle of water with me. It comes off real easy and fast when wet. And no dust! Just a free tip for all of you who will be scraping off a popcorn ceiling any time soon.

Also had to mud around the ceiling to make it look better. And the seams where we added new sheet rock. Just waiting for it all to dry now, so I can paint the ceiling.

A friend is coming over later to help me figure out wall and floor colors. So I can start painting walls and floor. I bought 4 cans of floor paint 25% off at Ace Hardware in Lafayette the other day. I just bought them without adding color because it was such a great deal. I'll bring them back when I decide on a color for the floor and porch.

The husband loaded up the old couch and fridge and is taking them to town to sell at the recycling place. I hope they'll take the couch too. Lots of metal in it. Then after painting walls, I'll take up that ugly linoleum and take it to the dump.

I have got to go check on the hive out back today. I was waiting for the sun to come out. It looked for awhile like it might rain. I put the goats in the back yard so they'll stay out of my way. Such aggravating little devils! I think I'll add another box on both hives and take out a few frames to harvest the honey. There are a few that are really heavy with honey. Can't wait to do that!

And I'm needing to get out in the garden to plant cucumbers and butternut squash. I might have to til the other big garden spot for more room to plant more corn and beans soon.

So just a little update on this massive project I've jumped into. More later! Hope y'all have a great Monday.