Babies!

There are baby chicks on the farm once again! 3 of the eggs hatched yesterday. The other hen that went broody a few weeks ago has stolen 2 of the chicks. The real momma had 1 of them.  So they are sharing the motherhood job right now. But I can already tell the real momma. The other hen will go off for food and leave the chicks.

Here is Black Bart, the proud papa.


I put them out this morning, just because in the middle of the day, there's no shade on the lot there, so they all go in the coop. I'll put them back in tonight.

Look at these big fluffy momma hens. So sweet.

The chicks went through the fence several times. The other chickens didn't even bother them.

Aren't they so adorable? I love them.

I might be bringing something home this afternoon. I'll post about that later.

Around the HOT farm.

Yes, it is hot here. And no rain for a few works. Really dry. Why is it that is rains all winter and early spring, then not a drop of rain all summer? I'll never understand it. I have a feeling we might have a hot dry summer again.

So I sat outside, on my nice clean porch, and spun some of the combed top I've been working on of Adalaide's. She's the ewe below the spinning wheel pic. She had really crimpy wool last year, so the only way to be able for me to use it was with combs. It takes a long time to get a little bit to spin. But it's amazing! Like silk.

 Look how pretty and silky this is.

 

This is Adalaide. So full of wool.

 

And Annabelle.Her wool is about 5" long now.

They are all just miserable in this heat with all their wool still on. I had to email the lady who is supposed to be coming to shear. She said last year she'd be here in March. well, March came and went. I emailed her again. She said mid to late April. That came and went. Emailed her again. She said she was sorry, but her mother had dies early April and she was tied up with arrangements and all. So she said it'd be the 3rd weekend in May. I emailed her again, to see about when she'd be here. Well, she said her husband had been rear-ended by a texting teen ager and broke his back. SO, now it will be the 22nd or 23rd now. I just hope and pray nothing else happens. She said the sheep would be fine, but she doesn't want me to lose this year's fleeces. I hope I don't. I can understand, though. But I think we might need to look for another shearer?

These 2 guys, Click and Clack, the Tappit Brothers, will be going to the butcher after they get sheared. A friend gets the the bigger one, Clack. And I'll have Click made into sausage. I just don't think their wool be much good.  Maybe Click's will. But you can see how Clack's is off his back already. Just like his daddy, Abraham.

So not really much to blog about today. There is rain all around us but none here. Maybe we'll get a little later this week. I'm already tired of watering the gardens!

Mother's Day

 Well, this is what I've been doing on mother's day. Finally cleaned off the studio porch. We pulled the truck over here last night and loaded it up with all the stuff that's been on this porch for a year now. Nothing like procrastinating, right? And I feel SO much better now! Geeze, how could I have left it all on the porch for so long? Now I need to work on the inside.


I love this white chair. So glad I got it. And the old rocker needs to have a new rung made. There's a guy up the road who does wood work, so I think I'll take it to him. Then the shelves need some cool stuff on them. And some flowers on the wire shelf between the chairs.

This is the other side. The little metal table came with this house and has been moved around for so long. I just cleaned it and painted it today. I'll get a pretty pot with some pink and purple flowers for it later.

This window I made for my daughter Abby for Christmas one year. They're remodeling and gave it back to me last year. It's perfect for the wall here. I hung my felted sheep on the little nails. I love it.

Didn't realize these were so alike and I can't delete after I put them on here. So a little closer up view.

I bought this little hooking kit at the fiber show. It sure is addictive. I love doing it. But it would be so much easier if I had a proper frame. Because it takes 4 hands to do this. It's not very big. Now I want to make a bigger rug. It's really fun.

My husband and I went to church this morning with my mom. She goes to the early service, like 9 am. We left our house at 8:30 and it took almost 40 minutes to get there. Anywhere out here takes forever to get to. So they have a band and singers. A loud band. And 2 screens. They sang 1 song forever. I'm just not a fan of standing for 30 minutes, singing the same song, or chorus, over and over again. The pastor had a great message about moms though.

I'm just a little sad at my family though. We are just not a big family here. My mom and step dad moved up here 4 years ago to be near us. I have 2 daughters and 3 grand kids all here. My step dad died almost 2 years ago. We used to get together for every little thing. Every birthday. But since he's been gone, it's kind of slowed down. I feel bad for my mom.  My brother is in Colorado. My sister is in S. Ga.. They hardly ever come anymore. So I feel like I have to do everything. But darn, if there isn't a stinkin' holiday every few weeks now. I am really tired of all these little "special" days for everything. And SO many birthdays! May and June are full of them for us. We did used to have all the May birthdays at one time, then the June. But my kids are so busy lately. And grands scattered all over. Anyway, I'm just feeling a little bummed, I guess.

 I love my mom so much. I'm so glad  she chose to live near me. She really means so much to me. I just don't do enough to let her know. She's very independent. She's like me and likes to do things on her own. But sometimes, it's nice to have family around. We do spend Wednesdays together, but that seems to be rushed lately too. So I stop in when I'm in town.

So I hope you all had a wonderful day. I know there are many special ladies out there. And we do deserve a day just for us.

In the garden May 6th

I think I'll join Amanda over on http://www.soulemama.com/soulemama/ Blog. She's starting her Thursday gardening posts again and I love them. So here goes for me. No pictures this week as it's too late and things are just too little to see right now.

I have had to water already, many times. I am LOVING my garden hydrant-faucet out there. It sure has made it so much easier for me. Before, I'd have to unhook then hook up all the hoses just to reach the garden, and then it never got to the end of the garden. Then I'd have to walk from the studio, through 3 gates, then to the garden, just to water. It really was a hassle. Not to mention all the kinks along the way!

So was wandering along the newly planted rows this evening and saw 2 crowder peas and a corn! Yes! No green beans to be seen yet. And lots of radishes and collards and kale and lettuce so far. The tomato, squash, zucchini and pepper plants are all looking great.

So hopefully, soon, I'll not have to buy kale anymore. Or spring lettuce. Or spinach. How exciting!

I still need to mulch with the old hay out there. And plant okra. And some more zinnias and sunflowers seeds. And weed. And water some more.

But it's getting there!

What's coming up in your gardens these days?

2 gifts for me

So I got home yesterday and my husband said there was something for me on the table. This! Isn't it the cutest little VW piggy bank? I love it. Our friend Kidd had gotten a piggy bank for Kansas' birthday and saw this and thought of me. So nice.

Then yesterday, I went to Mrs. T's to see her daughter Marilyn, who was in town a few days. She had told me she'd picked up some books with knitting patterns in them for me. From England.  I have never seen these magazines before. Have any of you who knit ever seen them?

                           Look at these sweet sheep! I love them. I'd love to make some of these.

And these kid's sweaters are adorable. I suppose now I need to learn to read knitting patterns?

This makes me feel good to know people think about me.

I'm off to spend the day with my mother. See you all later.

Ugh. Just ugh.

UGH! I seem to be stuck. And I am SO hungry all the time. But I'm sick of food. I need new ideas as to what to eat. Just tired of the same old stuff. And riding my bike is hard! I'm too old for all this. I just want the weight off right now and not have to work so hard to get it off. Just having a bad few days here.

Around the farm...

Chicken jail. Yep, had to put the chickens in jail til the garden gets big enough to survive their feet. I hate to do it, but I want a garden. Miss Broody Butt is out there too. Black Bart sure doesn't like her right now. He chases her when she gets off the nest. And he's always been so nice to his girls. I think I'll get the tiller in there and til them up some dirt and worms to play with.

The 5 eggs have grown to 8 now. I finally got the marker and made x's on these eggs. Seems like when she gets off the nest, the other hens think it's ok to lay their eggs in there too.

Had a friend come by Saturday and brought a load of old hickory wood for us. Some will need to be split. So we have a good start on next winter's heat so far.

I have really loved having this faucet in the garden. It really makes it so much easier for me. I can put water in the sheep's trough and across the driveway to the chickens too. And also water flowers in the yard. SO nice to have this. And when I start harvesting veggies, I have a sink under the garden shed that I can hook a hose to and clean veggies. So won't have to lug everything to the house to wash now. Pretty cool!

The plumbing guys do need to come back and level the ground out while it's dry. They couldn't finish while it was so wet. There's a big hole on the other side of the fence here. And big rocks all over. I will not be able to mow while it's like this.

I planted more Friday and Saturday. Got everything planted, except okra and zinnias and sunflowers. I wanted to wait til this week to plant them. It's going to be in the 80's all week. I've already had to water all the plants twice last week. I never would have thought, with all the rain we've had, that I would have to water so soon.

That middle spot will have okra planted in it later. The first row is beans, then crowder peas, then corn on the other side of the okra patch.

                                                             Future apples right these!

Siesta time for the sheep. They usually lay down for a few hours about mid morning. Not the alpacas. They are out all day. They'll lay flat on their sides right out in the sun sometimes. Like a goat, I have to go check to make sure they're still alive.

Speaking of goats, I'm going tomorrow with some friends to a farm in Sale creek to look at goats. This is the place where I bought my first Lamancha milk doe, Abby.  She has some really nice goats. I'll be looking at some she might have for sale. I would love to have 2 to milk. Plus I'll be getting a couple pigs in July, so will need milk for them too. They will pay for themselves real fast, as much as I'm paying for milk right now. About $29 a week for raw goat and cow milk.

This is the tomato row, with a few rosemary plants. I went ahead and planted 2 rows of long radishes and 2 rows of beets at the end here, just to finish out this row. And there is kale and collards to the left.  I had planted the collard seeds in that row, then forgot I had done that. So planted the kale there too. Then Friday, forgot again that I had anything in this row and started tilling it. I got down almost to the end when I remembered I had seeds in this row. Good grief! 

I just love this view of Lookout Mt. The sky is so blue and the grass and trees so green. The birds are twittering and flying around, looking for food for their little ones. So many baby birds in all the trees and bird houses right now. The hummers are back too. So much life all around right now. Just amazing.

We went to our youngest grand daughter's 12th birthday party Saturday. Then church twice Sunday for me. And the Chattanooga market. I love that place. I got some veggies and a really pretty copper and glass hanging piece for my front porch here.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!