Dogwood Bridge. Family reunion fun, 2014

This is at Dogwood Bridge, in Ozone, Tn. We always come here the weekend of the family reunion. It's so fun.  And so beautiful here.

                                                         Alivia, jumping off the rocks.

 

                             And Abby jumping off the rocks too. Lots of rock jumping going on.

When we first got there, a huge long snake was spotted. It went down stream, but just in case it came back, one of the cousins got his gun.

                                                            Some bridge graffiti.

                                                Abby, after jumping in the water again.

                                                                 More bridge graffiti.

                                               I really liked this shot, with the towels hanging on the bridge.

This random dude came walking down the road, looked over the bridge to see how deep it was, walked across to the other side, ran and jumped off the bridge. Really cool. I think he lived right up the road and did this every day. A real show-off!

                                                     The stream. So pretty.

                         And this is what a bunch of teen- agers do when they all get to the house.

We had a great time at the Sherrill Family Reunion, 2014. Saw lots of family we only get to see once a year.

I am feeling so much better. And am waiting for my friend to call so we can head out to Huntsville to see Joel Salatin today. I think we may be a little later.

Busy, busy, then sick.

 Busy few weeks here. Lots of Indiana and Wisconsin family in for the Sherrill family reunion up in Crossville, Tn this past weekend. Some stayed here with us. It was so fun to have company. We really need to get the shower fixed upstairs though.

We were sitting outside at the picnic table and I saw something fly over to this pole with a long piece of straw. So we walked over to see what it was. Whatever these small black wasps are, one was just stuffing this hole up. I am just amazed at the intelligence of insects.

                                 And the beauty of a small seedless watermelon. So cool, isn't it?

So Monday evening, we had to go up on the mountain to get Coryn's clothes. My hubby's nephew and family had been making plans all summer for Chloe to go back to Wisconsin with them for a few weeks. They have a daughter her age. So when Coryn came, they asked her to come along too.  They went to King's Island in Ohio yesterday. Al just called and said they were home. So all kinds of fun stuff to do in Wisconsin for 2 Ga. kids.

Here's a hang glider, just jumping off the edge. I love going up there and watching them.

So here are all 3 girls, taking off Tuesday. Their son, who is 13, is in the very back seat.

Yesterday was Main St. market. It was SO hot there. Just wore me out. When it's hot like that, it's just not fun at all. I had gotten some Swiss Chard from my friend next door to me and some of the best cheese from Sequatchie Cove Creamery. It's called Nick-A-Jack. Washed in apple cider.  So I chopped some scallions and red pepper from my garden and scrambled eggs in with all this. I love it.

 
Here it is, ready to eat. I wish the bacon was mine. I am thinking about getting some pigs in a few months.

I got up this morning and was slightly dizzy. Kind of wobbly. And very tired. So did a few things. Then went to bed. woke up freezing cold. Turned down the AC. Put on a flannel shirt. I just now took my temp. 100.3. I feel hot. So I am having  pains below my stomach and some pressure. Feel like my insides might fall out any minute. I made some fresh grated ginger tea with honey and am drinking that.

The horrible part of this is, tomorrow morning, I am supposed to go to Huntsville, Al. with my friend Sarah, to hear Joel Salitin. I am so upset. I may have to call her and cancel. And I don't want to. I have always wanted to hear that man. And I feel like he will give me some sort of direction to go with this farm in the future. So I might wait to see what happens. I'll call Sarah just in case, to let her know. Bummer.

Plantain Salve

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=807599782595732

This is my little great niece Aubree, putting plantain salve on her nasty mosquito bites. She loves this stuff!

If you go to my FB page, Outback Farm, in Chickamauga, Ga, you can see the video. It's so cute.

I am a senior...

  at the Goodwill in Statesboro. I wasn't sure at first, when she asked. I asked what the age is. She said over 55. I just turned 56 in June. But I got 10% off. I am ok with this. 10% is good. I might just start asking at other places. I like saving money.

So I found  these 2 wooden boxes there. They're both the same, one's just turned over. I thought they'd make great soap molds. Then display boxes to hold the soaps at market. The one on the right is turned over to the mold side. The one n the left is the display side. Pretty cool for $3.99 each.

And the plastic box I got at Big Lots. It's a storage box. I had gotten one like it at Target and it makes a great soap mold, with the lid. So I got this one. I love them. They're the perfect size for the recipes I make. I get about 18 bars from this mold.

I found some paintings from a girl named Marley. There were several of hers there, but I liked this one the best. It makes me sad when I see paintings and pottery from someone's kids at thrift stores. I have to rescue them. Little tiny pottery pieces that a child made. How can anyone get rid of things like that?

My sister has moved back to S. Ga. and across the street from her house was a pile of stuff that was thrown out of a rental house. Me and mom went over to see what we could find. Mostly crap, but I did find these 2 Coke crates. They make great drying racks for soap. Or to haul produce or other things to market. And they were free!

My mom and I had gone down to S. Ga. for a funeral. We left Sunday afternoon. The visitation was Monday evening and the funeral was Tuesday morning. It was hot down there. When we got back home though, it was nearly cold! I dropped mom off at her house and when I got home, I opened all the windows and turned the AC off again. I love this!

So my husband took care of the animals for me while we were gone. It's kind of nice not to have to worry about milk goats right now. I feel like I have so much more freedom to go off for a few days. And he did good. When I got home last night, he was on his way to put the chickens up and gather eggs.

Next Friday, I am going to Huntsville, Al. to see Joel Salatin at some kind of home school conference with a friend who's husband can't go. I am SO excited!!!!!!! I have always wanted to go hear him speak. And I had just told my mom on the way home how I was wanting to really think about which way I want this little farm to go. This is like an answer to prayer. I can hardly wait!

I hope it's cool where ever y'all are this week. It's going to be nice at market this afternoon, I do believe.

Run!

Tuesday. Stuck in the rain.

   Tuesdays are my day to run around with my mother. We have lunch somewhere, then go shopping. Sometimes we don't have a lot to do. Other times we don't have enough time to do it all. I do enjoy my time with her. She is going to start being very busy, with all her volunteer work. But we try to keep Tuesdays for us.

   So yesterday, when I got home, I picked up the cow carcass in the front yard, and got to mowing. I could see the black clouds heading this way from the N-E. So knew we could possibly get some rain soon.

   I got the front yard mowed. Then headed to the chicken yard. I hate for that grass to get too tall because I'm so afraid of snakes. So I have to keep it mowed down. It was sprinkling pretty good by then, so I put the mower in fast and got it finished. Just in time for the down pour!

    I made it to the garden shed, parked the mower, and here it came. I was stuck! But it was such a wonderful time to be stuck. I sat on the mower and put my bare feet out in the rain. It got cooler and cooler, the more it rained too. I could see the sheep over in the big pasture. They were under the trees. One by one, they headed to the barn. Some ran. Some just meandered and grabbed bites of grass along the way. Darla, the biggest ewe, loves the rain and will stay the longest in it. They all finally went inside the barn, because it was coming down, fast and hard!

    I have a bee garden under the big cedar tree in front of my garden shed. It's all blue and purple flowers. The cedar tree was just dripping nice cool rain on all of them. I could almost hear the flowers thanking the Lord for the drink of fresh cool water.

    I saw the garden getting a wonderful watering too. So very welcome in these July days of growth.

    I had gone by the Garden hive on the mower and noticed the whole front of the hive full of bees. It had been really hot and humid, so figured they were just hanging out, getting fresh air. I wonder what bees do when their hive is so full of bees. Do they get mad that they have to walk over each other? Do they holler at each other to get out of the way? Do they want to have their own space, away from the others, just to think and have time alone?

     Anyway, I got a bit too close to the back of the hive, and just barely hit the bottom. Those bees took off all over. And I had a hard time getting the mower backed out of the way! But no stings and all was well after a few minutes. By then, it was pouring rain and they all went back inside, except a few that wanted the coolness.

    It was really loud up under that metal roof, with the rain beating down on it. But it was a nice time, just sitting, watching the rain water my little world. I guess I stayed out there a good half hour, just waiting til it slowed down. But it didn't, so I just ran inside. Took a nice shower and we had pizza for dinner. I think that'll be our new Tuesday dinner. Pizza. And I made a strawberry and banana salad too.

    Today is the Main St. farmer's market. I so enjoy this market. It's almost down town Chattanooga. The people there are amazing. I went out earlier this morning and picked some okra, peppers, tomatoes and oregano and orange mint to take to market. Plus my soap, needle felted critters and salves. I hope it doesn't rain during market though.

PS: Kristin, I tried to comment on your blog, but it disappeared. But your soaps look amazing and I love the colors. In the pictures, one looks almost red. But I wanted you to know I tried to comment.

Cucumber soaps

 These are all the soaps I made yesterday...

cucumber-basil. This soap smells so good! I used fresh basil from my garden with cut up cucumbers. I use a stick blender, so it chops it all up real good. Makes the soap green, which I like.

cucumber-mint. I just used barely over a T. of mint EO, plus fresh mint from the garden. It's not too strong, but just enough mint to make it refreshing.

Cucumber-melon. I got this EO in Manitou Springs, just outside Colorado Springs, last year while visiting my sister and brother. There is a little shop that has the freshest oils. I've been wanting to use this but wanted fresh cucumbers. It is a light melon scent with bits of cucumber throughout. Very pretty soap.

And this is the plantain-lavender castille I made a few weeks ago. It's a really hard bar and smells so good. I didn't put too much lavender EO, just enough for a slight scent. Then sprinkled lavender flowers on top.

I try so hard to get each bar this size. Most are.

So, just a start to some new soaps coming out of my new studio. It's so nice to have a whole house to put all my supplies and not have to worry about cleaning up too much when I'm done. And I love the shelf I got from Home Depot. On sale, already put together, for just $75.00! Perfect for all my soap making supplies right there in the kitchen. You can see my oils underneath the soaps. I got all 4 batches of soap on one shelf.