The boys are back!

  Finally got my boys home last night. It was dry enough to drive the truck and trailer into the pasture up to  the barn. And Susan had them in a stall. They were ready to go home, I do believe. They were with about 12 other boys with lots of testosterone flying around. And she was worried they might also bond with the herd there. But they didn't. And they are back home with their own little flock of sheep. I think the sheep missed them too. I feel a lot safer with the alpacas in with my sheep too.


This is them at the alpaca farm, waiting their turn. In the misty rain. It was a nasty day to shear for sure.

And here they are, back home with their flock. Sugar is way back at the barn, eating hay.

Just about every other picture I took of my boys, this alpaca would stick his head in front of me. It was too funny! He was all over the place, wanting to know what was going on. Then it was his turn. He was quite surprised, to say the least.

And here is the result of the shearing. I don't know how many pounds. It was damp when I got it home, so I spread both fleeces out on the drying rack before I left for my weekend away. Sugar's fleece was really dirty. Someone was telling me they say a really cool box made out of small wire, where the alpaca wool is put in and they'd use a blower to blow out all the dust and VM. I might have to try that myself.

And, I have to say that last year, when the boys went to the farm to be sheared, I could not tell Sugar, the white one, apart from all the other white ones. This year, I knew exactly which was mine! He was smaller, but also hes a certain look. When we went last night to get them, she had most of the boys in a stall. But I didn't see Sugar in that bunch. He had gotten out somehow and was outside the barn. But we got them.

Around the farm today.

 I know I am not the only one sick and tired of all this rain and storms we've had, practically the whole month of April so far. But really, I am tired of all this water. And mud. And messiness. And I am worn out just walking to the chicken coop for eggs. I'm not even locking them in at night, so I don't have to slosh back down there to let them out in the morning. Just not gonna do it.

It's really windy today. And cloudy. But I do see a little bit of blue sky poking out between all those clouds. I hope they aren't rain clouds. I think it's supposed to not rain til Wednesday. Maybe.

I can't even go get my alpacas because it's too muddy to get back there to them to load them up. We had to leave them at the alpaca farm last Friday because I have to use my friend's trailer to haul them over there. And one of her alpacas broke her leg, so she had to use her trailer to take her up to the UT vet school in Knoxville. She there went my alpaca's ride home. I will get them either today or tomorrow. I miss them being here.

The red clover in the garden is finally blooming. I've had some in my dandelion tea a few times. The bees are loving it.

These collard flowers are busy these days too. Full of insects. I'll leave them there. Because it looks like I won't be able to garden til Fall, as wet as it is. I'll just have a wild garden.

My bee condo. It's getting bigger and bigger. I think I need to do a split soon. They are really do good so far. Haven't done a thorough check of the whole hive yet, because the weather is so crazy. But I added this box last week and they are already up in it.

I saw this huge ant mountain this morning. I think I should do something about it before the old tree falls down. Black Bart found some good food here. I am not feeding them now, because there is so much for them to eat naturally now. They do get scraps when I go gather eggs.

This is the clematis vine today. In full bloom! It's beautiful. And it will bloom a few more times.

This is the tree with the ant mountain. It's slowly dying. Big limbs have fallen off over the years we've lived here. But it's a bird condo. There are already baby birds in this nest. I hope it stays up a lot longer.

And some azalea flowers. I have more, but they didn't do too well this year. I have way too much of that creeping Charlie pest and it's taking over all my flower beds. I pull it up and it just comes back more.

I went North this weekend, instead of South. I'll post the rest of the week about my adventure.

First flower...

Alpaca shearing day...

is tomorrow. The boys just left to go to My Little Darling Alpaca farm. My friend Susan has a great little trailer and she comes to get them the night before the shearing day. So they can be dry. Because they are pretty much sopping wet right now. And pretty much filthy. Sugar, the white one, is not white at the moment.

So they will be sheared, their hooves (or toes?) trimmed, teeth trimmed and whatever else needs to be done. I'll take pictures I'm sure. Lots of beautiful alpacas there.

Then Saturday, I'm off to Savannah for a few days. I need to get away! I want to go check out cute little beach houses for the summer. I'm taking the grands for a week. I've been wanting to do this for a long time. And they have too.

So I will see y'all next week!

New bike.

 This is a window I've had for years and years. It's just kind of hung around on the floor. When I got this studio finished, I brought it over here. It's like it was just waiting for this place. It's home now. I love it. I started putting sheep photos and other prints around it. 3 of the sheep are from Suzanne at Chickens in the Road. blog. The black lamb is from Maria at Full Moon Fiber Art blog. The rest are from my favorite magazine, Taproot. Sometimes they put these cute post cards in.

And here is my new bike! I love this bike. It's so much better than that other one I had gotten a few weeks ago. I took it back. This is from a store in Chattanooga called Trek. It's just a nice cruising bike. Very comfortable. Nice big seat. Peddles in the middle, not right under me. Higher handlebars, so I sit straight up. And very light. And long too. We had to take the front tire off to get it to fit in the back of my Trooper.

It didn't come with fenders, but I can order some for around $50 if I feel like I need them. I think I will go ahead and get the rack that goes on the back though. It just made it look so much better. And I can strap stuff on if I want to go for a longer ride.

I hope this will help motivate me to get out and ride now. I have only lost 3 more pounds in over a week. A little disappointing but I'm not stopping. I feel so good right now and do not want to go back to the way I was before. I have not missed sweets at all. Or bread. Or fried stuff. Because I know in my mind that if I did eat any of that stuff, I would feel horrible.

And I have 22 dreads for the 22 pounds I've lost. I need to do another one.

I have set a goal for myself. My birthday is June 5th. I want to have lost at least 51 pounds by that date. And I want to have ridden my bike down to Mt. Cove farm and back. That will be 10 miles. Then I will be getting a tattoo. Of a honeybee on a dandelion flower. On the top of my left wrist. Just a small one. Not too elaborate but pretty. 2 of my favorite things.

I think I will do it.

Around the wet farm.

 It's going to be a wet rainy week here in N. Ga. I guess I could do some house cleaning maybe? But I could probably think of something else to do instead.

  This is the chain link gate the sheep tore up.  I cannot believe they were able to do this to it.

 Campbelle is doing a lot better. But I've noticed how she reacts when Darla comes near her. Darla is huge, the biggest ewe I have. She's half Suffolk and half Finn. Huge! Yesterday, I put them back over on the other side of the yard so they could go out back. The grass has grown so much in just a week. I saw darla heading toward Campbelle, in a not very friendly manner. Like she was going to ram her. So now, I'm wondering if Darla is picking on her. I did take a picture a few months ago, where Campbelle was at the gate and all the other sheep were behind her. Darla was giving her some really evil looks. So maybe there is some bullying going on there. The biggest picking on the smallest. I'll have to keep an eye on those two.

I did get most of the garden mowed last week. It just about killed me to do it. I love all the wildness out there and wanted to keep it that way for the bees. But there are still several spots that I left wild. Plus all the clover. I'm waiting on it to bloom. I am seeing some red flowers here and there. So will wait a while longer to mow it down.

When I am ready, I'll get my husband to get the weed eater in there and just knock it down. Then wait a few days, cover it with old hay, and plant tomatoes and squashes and other plants in it. No tilling. The other places I'll till for seeds.

The sheep are back over in the bigger pasture. In just a week of them being away from it, the grass has grown several inches. We've had a very wet spring so far and it looks like it will continue this way.

 Sheep generally don't mind a little sprinkle, but a down pour they do not like. So they get under shelters. The alpacas love it though. When I'm filling water troughs, they come running for me to spray them down on warm days.

Speaking of alpacas, they will be getting sheared this Friday. My friend will come get them Thursday evening and take them to her farm, where several other people bring theirs, for the annual Alpaca Shearing Day. Susan has about 75 alpacas at her farm, My Little Darling Alpacas. Then there are about 6 other people who bring theirs there. It's just easier on the shearers. It took all day last year to do them all. It was Mother's Day. I was there ALL day helping out. And it was hot. I think these guys are ready for a hair cut. And their hooves need a good trimming. They do it all there that day. Teeth too.

So, all winter, I had not seen a single ant in my house. I thought I had been given a break. But I guess about 3-4 weeks ago, here they came. A few here, a few there. Not too bad. But now, they are all over the kitchen. On the counters, in the stove, in the cabinets, and under the coffee pot. Even over here in my studio. I have about had it with them.

I tried cinnamon. Did not work. I sprayed with kitchen stuff, like Lysol and anything I could reach when I saw them. More would come every day. So I got some ant traps and ant spray. For days, they didn't go near the traps. Then I noticed a steady stream of ants in the pantry shelves. So put traps there. They started going in. For a few days now.

This morning, I had enough. There were hundreds on the counter, under the coffee pot. I was out of spray, so grabbed Dawn. Poured it all over the counter. I never saw where they were coming from. I had already sprayed the cabinet shelves so was out of spray. I am just SICK of those stinking ants. I smell like an ant, as many as I have squished. I might just have to call an exterminator to get rid of them. I hate ants.

Anyway, we had a great weekend. I'll post more about it later. I hope you all have a great week!

Fun weekend!

I;ll be at Mrs. T's all day today. But it's Friday and the weekend is coming! And NO grand kids!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's going to be a busy weekend. Saturday morning, off to a friends to help plant their garden. Mr. Farmer was attacked by their dog and has lots of stitches, so can't do anything right now, and the plants in flats  are in desperate need of planting.

Then Saturday night is a barn party at some friends barn. So excited about this. We haven't really been a whole lot of places just to have fun and relax with friends in a long time. We need this. So looking forward to reconnecting with friends and making new ones.

And Sunday, since we didn't have an Easter gathering, the family will be going to mom's for a big dinner. Fun!

So what are y'all doing? It's April, rain showers bringing on the green grass and leaves and flowers here. But looks like a great weekend, with great weather, family and friends.

 Have a great weekend, y'all!