Harvesting weeds

This morning, I went down to my friend's family farm land to harvest some weeds for dyeing. This horse greeted me. He's so friendly. I smelled mint when I saw him. He is walking through some wild mint beside the fence. It smelled so good.

                                             This is a lot of jewel-weed to the right. Lots of it.

And more jewel-weed along this creek bed. I didn't want to get too close. It was hot out and I am so afraid of snakes. I just felt them all over the place out there.

Also got some of these Black-eyed Susan. And there was more of these on the way home, so stopped and piked some more.

And found more goldenrod. Also thought about Sumac berries. So I grabbed some of those that were lower on the high trees. I am now wondering if this might be a waste of time. The berries, or seeds, have a nice red color that stains my fingers when I pull them off. But I'm wondering if when put in water and simmered, with they just turn brown? I might do a little just to see.

                            I went ahead and pulled off all the yellow goldenrod flowers. That's fun.

And here's the jewel-weed, in a pot of olive oil. I haven't warmed it yet. I need some more little jars first. So will let it sit til I get some in a few days. Also need to get some plantain and add to it. This will be a salve for poison ivy rash. This stuff is amazing.

Lots going on over in my little studio these days. I finished washing all of Adele's wool. Got it all pulled and ready for carding. I am really surprised at how soft her wool is. There is some that's course that I'll use for felting or dryer balls. But the majority of the wool is really soft. I added a little of the white alpaca and it's even more amazing. I love it!

I am really enjoying working with wool. I looked up the John Campbell Folk School in N. Carolina. There is a beginner spinning class Nov.14-16 that I really want to go to. I so want to learn to spin. I think I know the parts leading up to spinning now. Just need to learn to spin. I bought a drop spindle today at the Chattanooga market. Thought I'd give it another try. But this school has so many classes I'd love to take. Like knitting, dyeing, soap making. And it's not too far away. And hubby is here to take care of the farm. It's only 3 days.

Thinking...

I get now how some people get happy about where they live or what they do. Yesterday, after having a bad night and waking up way too late, and the mower wouldn't crank, I thought my day was ruined. But I went over to my studio and made 2 batches of soap. And washed the rest of Adele's wool. My studio smells so good. And the wool is so pretty on the drying racks. And the sheep over in the yard are so pretty and sweet. I can look out just about any window of the house or studio and see sheep, alpacas, a cow and some chickens. And horses across the road too. Pretty dang cool! And I can pick herbs and weeds to put in my soaps that are grown right here on these 3 acres at Outback Farm. Pretty dang cool! And I have a studio! My own little place to go to work on anything I want to work on, at most any time I feel like it. Pretty dang cool! Plus being here in this valley, between 2 beautiful mountains, almost at the end of a beautiful scenic road, is amazing. And I feel so fortunate. I should be happy all the time.

Lovin' my sheep!

 I love my sheep. Sometimes they can be so annoying though. But most of the time, they are perfect. I can go out there and sit with them and they will all come to me. They are peaceful animals. Very trusting. But sometimes very demanding too. And I get so upset when they get sick. They've been really good the past month.

The 3 little bottle lambs had gotten a heavy load of worms and I treated them for it. They were all better. But yesterday, I noticed little Campbelle with some puffiness under her jaw. I got the Safegaurd out and gave her a dose. And then the other 2 had a little bit of puffiness last night. I gave all 3 a dose this morning, even though the other 2 looked normal. But Campbelle was still a little puffy. I just hate it. All the others seem to be fine. I was thinking having Louise here has helped a lot with the worm issues. And it's been quite dry lately. I just don;t know.

Here's little Campbelle to the left. She's so small. She is one of quads. Her sister Cameron is a little bit bigger than her but not much. The 2 boys are so much bigger. But they were raised by the mother. You can see the 2 boys in this pic. The black ones. Then Cara is to the right. She's bigger but not too much. She's a big ole fluff ball more than anything! I just love these guys. This morning, I put a little sheep feed, sunflower seeds and kelp in the trough so I could get the lambs the worm meds. Later, they were all around me, wanting petted. So sweet! I just having sheep and being a shepherd.

And I am so glad I don't have a ram this year. I decided not to breed the ewes. And I am fine with that. I'll wait til next year and see how I feel about it. Maybe the little bottle lambs will have grown by then. The other ewe lamb is as big as the older ewes now. She's a twin.

I am really enjoying working will all this wonderful wool too. I love the whole process. It's so fun to see it all dirty in the bags, then all washed up and clean. I am ready to learn how to dye some of it too. Been wanting to try some natural colors. I have all kinds of goldenrod all over. And just did find out what ragweed is. It's every where on my farm. It's such an amazing weed! Full of medicinal properties. I just went out and picked some seed and flowers of both plants and simmering them now. The ragweed is supposed to make a red dye. I shall see. I am needing some Alum now and can't find it in any stores I've looked in so far.

It's really beginning to feel like fall. Last night, I turned the AC off and opened windows. The sun was behind the mountain by 7:30 and almost dark by 8:00. It just has that fall-ish hint in the air now. Not much humidity at all. But still warm during the day. But the nights and mornings are wonderful! I need to make soup and stews and chili again!

And the garden is growing great! I love fall gardening the most any more. I think I will just skip summer gardening from now on. The kale, collards, radishes are growing like crazy out there. And the lettuces and spinach I planted a few days ago is already popping up! I till, then throw the seeds on top. Then go get wheel barrows full of all the composted cow and sheep and chicken manure mixed with old hay that the chickens have composted up for me, on top of the seeds. Then water real good. I've been watering them every day too. I am very pleased with the garden so far.

I'm home all day today, so have things that need to be done. Hope you all have a great day where ever you are!

Around the farm these days...

 Went out this morning and took lots of pictures. Saw honey bees loaded down with pollen. All kids of business out there right now. Getting ready for winter. Are you?

Kale and radishes and lettuces and spinach, all in beds, growing really good right now. The weather is perfect for fall gardening. My favorite time of year to garden.

My place to sit and read or knit and watch things grow in the gardens.

Getting ready to plant some Stinging Nettle seeds that Linda sent me. This is the "wild garden" down here, so they can do what ever they want. There is all kinds of busy going on down here these days. Butterflies, wasps, honey bees, bumble bees. I love seeing all the business of life these days.

Dessert, fiber and a fair...

 I don't usually make dessert. Well, hardly ever make dessert. If we have company or family over maybe. But my oldest grand daughter, Chloe, is here and she wanted to make a pie. This is what we came up with. Chocolate meringue. It looks good. I hope it is. I just put one of my chickens in the over to roast with garlic and onions. So it should be a good dinner.

I washed some of my white alpaca's fiber awhile ago. It sure is soft. But not fun to wash. It sticks to my hands. But I love it. I'll blend some in with some of the white wool. It makes it softer. I'd also like to try dying some of this.

In the back is Adele's wool I've been hand picking to get ready to card. There is one batt already done in the middle. I am surprised at how soft it is.

Yesterday I went to the fair. I don't know if it's because I'm older now. Or that it was spread out all over the place. Up and down so many hills. Lots of walking. (They did have shuttles though, but I am too impatient to wait.)  Or because the carnival part was so small, compared to the fair in Bulloch Co. I always went to when I was younger. It was all in one place. And huge. But I was a little disappointed in this fair. I did have a corn dog (which came out of a box) and a funnel cake. It was fun seeing people I know there with their kids and grand kids. I saw the family I sold Tom and Bob, the bucks, to. They are the best goat people ever! So happy they got those 2 boys. But all in all, just not the way I remembered a fair to be. But I'm glad I went. Later, I went back with the 2 grand kids to ride the rides at night and see the fireworks. It took 40 minutes to get home from the very back of the field we had to park in. 5 miles to the house.

Have a great week, y'all!

Some Bovine and Avis aries...

And just a warning: there is a picture of my husband's foot, if anyone is squeamish. It's really not bad, just wanted to let you know. It's at the very end.


 I put the critters out in the back yard for a few days, to eat down the grass back there. It was growing pretty good. I think Louise is looking like she's gained some weight since being here and eating all this grass.

They are also in the side yard, where the older apple trees are. Full of apples. And Louise loves apples. She's just the right height to reach up into the trees to get hers. She doesn't eat the ones already on the ground, like the sheep have to. She's beneath that. Literally.

Amarillo came over to see if Louise would knock a few good ones down for her. The sheep aren't too much afraid of her any more. I think they're ok with her. The alpacas, still terrified!

I grabbed a few bags of wool yesterday. One was a fleece that was already washed from last year. Can't remember who's now. But looks good. I'll start carding it soon. I think I'll add some of Sugar's fleece to it to make it softer.

But this is Adele's wool. She is a dirty girl. Lots of VM, all over it. It took awhile to go through it all. Had to throw some out, it was so bad. And still didn't get all of it. Washed a few buckets and will see if carding will get the rest out. It's not the best wool. Adele is probably 75% Finn. Her mother is a Katahdin-Dorper cross. So I'll use most of hers for felting.

So for those of you who process your own wool, what do you do with the dirty tips that turn yellow in washing?  It's just not pretty. I would like to try dying some of this. I bought koolade the other day, for the first time in years. Still 5 packs for $1. Cool! I have citric acid and vinegar. I'll have to get directions for dying with koolade.

I love this picture. Wish Adele had been over some more though.

This is some washed and on the drying rack in the studio. We got some rain last night. so had to put it inside.

This is Adele. The bag of already washed wool in above her. It's a big bag full too.

And here's the foot with the diabetic ulcer. It really is a lot better. But seems to be taking forever to heal. So the other night, I was laying in bed, trying to think of more natural ways we could try to heal it. He went to the foot doc a few weeks ago and they took another culture to send off. It came back and it's full of bacteria. Some not good. So back on antibiotics again. And the cream he's been using is doing nothing.

So honey kept popping up in my head. I even dreamed about using honey on his foot. Next morning, I looked it up on line. Saw several articles about the healing properties of honey. So, we are trying honey on this ulcer. I wanted to document the progress.

When he went to his primary doctor and  told her what we were doing, she about had a fit.  Never said not to use it, but let him know how she didn't approve of it at all. But we will still do it. I called my bee mentor and he's going to come next week to see if I can harvest just one frame from each hive, so we can have fresh raw honey to use. And for him to take a few spoons full each day as well.

I am so excited about this fair! It's this weekend! I'll be taking the grand kids. I hope y'all have a fun happy weekend!

The Fair Is Coming!!!!!!

 When I first heard that a fair was going to be at Mt. Cove, just 5 miles from my house, I wasn't too happy about it. I was thinking about all the traffic up and down the road here. We are also having an Iron man race the end of Sept. too. There have been tons of bikers riding out here from Chattanooga for months now, practicing. It's very annoying and a bit scary when there are packs of bikers on our curvy hilly roads all day. But that's a whole other story.

So this fair, I have found out, will be the real deal. With rides and all! That's what got me excited about it. A real county fair. I haven't been to a real fair since I moved up here 36 years ago. We always had a country agricultural fair in Statesboro when I was growing up that we always went to. Such fun memories. When I found out there was a Hamilton Co. fair in Chatt. I wanted to go. But it was just lots and lots of craft people and fair food. They did have the exhibits and animals, but it just wasn't the same.

When I heard more about this fair, that it was going to have a mid-way and all the rest of a real fair, I was pretty excited about it then. And it's just 5 miles away! I went down there yesterday to see what's going on. It's going to be spread all over this huge farm. The mid-way is on a landing strip. The exhibits will be in a few different places across the road. I think the animals will be in a few big barns. So there will be lots of walking or shuttling going on. This place is several hundred acres. Beautiful place. The county bought this land a few years ago.

So if any of you are in the area Sept. 12-14, come on up. And honk when you go by Outback Farm! Or stop in and say hello. I think I'll be moving the sheep, alpacas and cow to the back pasture.

What a beautiful place to have a fair. It's at the end of West Cove Rd. in the valley between Lookout and pigeon Mts. The mountain in these pics is Pigeon Mt. to the east. Lookout is to the west behind me. So peaceful out here. But not for long!