Good morning!

Freja and Olga, at my studio door this morning. Good morning, girls! Have a nice day. It's only supposed to be about 71 today. Isn't that nice? I need to go ride my bike. I'm down to 218 right now! So need to really start exercising. I hate exercising. Really hate it. I'd rather walk or ride my bike. But need to work on my mid section bad.

I've had a few animal escapes this week. I think it was Sunday, I looked out at the sheep in the South pasture and saw Clack, the wether, on the road. Yes, he was on the road. He'd climbed through the barbed wore and over the laid down chain link fence, right onto the road. My neighbor saw him and ran him back in through the far gate. So I had to put them all over in the North pasture, with the chickens. And the 2 momma hens and 3 chicks. Who are outside of the coop. And sleep in the corner of the middle stall. Where the sheep go into at night.So later that night, I peeked outside to check on everyone. And heard loud chickie chirping going on. Ran out there to see what was going on and where the chicks were. They were on the other side of the coop, with the mommas. So I got the sheep back over to the studio yard, and the mommas and chicks went back to bed. All was well again. I guess I can't let the sheep back over there til the chicks get bigger and can roost.

Then yesterday, driving up the driveway, I thought I saw Bubba. But it wasn't Bubba. It was Freja. In the yard. Olga was at the gate, looking at her.  So I jumped out and caught her. I have to leave the leash on her because she is hard to catch sometimes. So I'll just step on the leash to catch her.  Got her back in. And husband comes out to see if  I'd gotten her. He said she'd been out about an hour. All my fig bushes and blueberry bushes were still ok. The maples still had leaves. He said she just stayed right near Olga the whole time.  So we had to fix more fences. Darn goats and sheep!

Wednesday wool...

This is some of the Cormo roving I bought up in Townsend last month. I bought 2 of this color and 2 white. Then a yellow and pinky-orange. I did not enjoy spinning this pencil roving at all! I havd to hold on so tight to keep it from breaking, my fingers hurt. And then it broke anyway. Many times. It was not fun. The white roving was lots thicker, so much easier. I don't know if it was the wool, or the roving size, but I didn't like it. First time spinning Cormo though. It's really soft.

So I decided to ply these 2 together. I had much more of the white. So still have a lot left of it.

                                                     It's really pretty. Peaches-n-Cream.

I love my porch since I cleaned it up. I sit here and spin and listen to the sounds of the country and my farm.

                                   This is the skein of the Peaches-n-Cream. 95 yards and 8 oz.

This is the yellow and pink roving, all spun and plied. I used my Adalaide's wool that I've been hand combing with my new combs. It was just enough to make 54 yards of yarn. I kept thinking it reminded me of something. I thought maybe that coconut candy? Then maybe the board game Candyland? At first, I wasn't sure of the colors together. Now I love it and wish I had more. 

So what could someone make out of just 54 yards? Or could these 2 skeins be combines? I think they would would make a pretty baby blanket or hat and sweater.

I still have a bag of Merino roving to spin. And the brown, I think it's Jacob, I will finish hand combing the Wensleydale that's the same color, and ply them together. Should be really nice.

I am so hoping my shearer comes Friday. Haven't heard anything from her yet. 2 more days. I hope the wool isn't too messy to work with now.

And here is Olga.

 So poor Freja has been very vocal since I got her last week. Her Nubian is coming out really nicely, I must say. So I figured she needed a goat friend, as the sheep just weren't her type. She did ok with them, but they'd just all get up and leave and not bother to tell her where they were going or how long they'd be gone. So it just wasn't working for her. And she let me know. All day. And night. She needed a goat friend.

So my friend Kendra, who I got Freja from, had a friend who has Lamancha does and wanted to sell a few. I went to see them Monday. She had a really friendly smaller black doe that I just loved. But not for sale. The other one was 5 years old, never been bred, half Nubian and Lamancha. Looked like Freja but with elf ears. Really nice looking doe. Already had nice formed udder and teats. But 5 years old. And half Nubian. Which is great. But Nubians are LOUD animals.

So I chose this girl. When I first saw her, I thought for sure she was part or mostly Toggenburg. But no, full Lamancha. Just some of her line has long hair. She had the sire on site and he's huge and black. And not hairy. And they had 2 sisters. One had hair but not as long. The other had short hair. She comes from a really good line of dairy goats and the sire throws some really nice does with great udders. So She came home with me.

And she didn't have a name either. I'd been looking at old Norse Viking names. Not a lot of pretty names. But Olga kept popping up. And she just looks like an Olga, doesn't she? Her and Freja hit it off great. No head butting at all. It started raining right after I got home, so they went into the shelter. I have a hay rack with fresh hay back there for them in the back yard.

Isn't she pretty? Just 2 years old, by the way. She'll be more than ready to breed in November. My friend Sarah, who got Sandy and Woody, said I can use Woody to breed them. He is John Henry's buck kid from last year. Really handsome buck. And the same color as these 2.

I went ahead and started getting her used to the stanchion. Just a little feed in hers. I have to pick her up to get her on the stanchion now. But pretty soon, she'll be jumping right up. Freja is finally jumping up by herself now!! She's heavy!

Olga saying hello. I love her already. This is just enough for me right now. Just 2. And I'll sell the kids soon after they're born. I just don't want to have as many as I've always had. 2 is a great number to have.

Freja is giving a little over a half gallon of milk a day now. Total, twice a day. Pretty good for a first freshener. And the milk is SO good! And her udder is amazing! Great teat size and good orifices, so the milk just flows right out with no problem. I love udders like hers. Now, I just hope Olga has a good udder.

Around the farm...

   I finally found some flowers for the tire planters at Lowe's for $1 each. They sure suck up the water though.

This is one of my spirea bushes, in bloom.

                          And my Stella d'Oro day lilies are blooming now too. They're so pretty.

This is the elderberry bush that popped up at the bird bath. It's starting to get flowers. I sure hope I get some berries this year. I need to fill up the hummingbird feeder.

These 2 mommas have been hard at work the past week, scratching up all the old hay and sheep poop for me. I've already put several wagon loads on the garden, mulching with it. Good girls! I love when my animals do things for me!

                                     This is some really good compost too. Really dark and rich.

                                                Little apples on the early June apple tree.

    Which one is different here? Freja is staying with the sheep during the day, til I milk her. Then I put her in the back yard. I got her a friend today. More about her later.

Just look at all this wool! I will be busy soon. I hope my shearing lady comes Friday. 12 sheep to shear. 12 fleeces to play with! Oh, what fun to be had!


But poor Darla is just miserable. She has at least 6" of wool on her. I keep telling her just a few more days now and all that wool will come off. She will be the 1st sheep to be sheared.

And my poor apple trees. They keep getting more yellow. It's cedar apple rust. I went ahead and fertilized the 4 smaller trees with fish emulsion this morning, then mulched real good around them with that manure compost. And now it's pouring rain, so I hope all that good stuff gets washed down to the roots. I'll give them more fish fertilizer in a few days again.

              I cut some of the bottom branches off the bigger tree and gave the branches to Freja.

This little guy, Clack, is a mess. All his back wool is stuck to the barbed wire fence at the front of the pasture. He gets through it and eats the honeysuckle vines that have weighed the chain link fence down. We've been working on trying to pull that fence back up, but those vines are heavy. After him and his brother Click, get sheared, they will be going to the butcher. So I won't have to worry about them getting over the fence then.

Been working in the garden. Planting more and mulching. Will share later this week. We got a good all night soaking rain a few nights ago. And now it's pouring rain again!! I just cannot water like the Lord can. The plants do so much better with rain water.

Have a great week, y'all!

Yellow butterflies

These 2 butterflies were on this blade of grass this morning when I went out to feed the chickens. Wonder what they are and what they're doing?

1 year ago...

 I got 2 bee hives. I put 1 in the garden and 1 out back in the goat pasture. This is the day I got them, coming out of the nuc.

One of the frames, full of beautiful bees.

A peek inside the hive. Lots of busy bees!

Added another small super.

Just such a beautiful sight to see! So many bees.

Winter. It was cold. I lost the outback hive. One day they were there, next day they were gone. I don't know what happened. I think maybe the queen died and the bees just left. Maybe moved up to the garden hive?

So I decided to wrap the hive in a heavy quilt when it got below 35. I think it helped them. So many people lost hives this past winter.

They made it! And I had to add boxes. They were busy working, foraging, gathering lots and lots of pollen.

And this is now. The bee condo. They are doing great and I should get honey in June! I am so happy to have these beautiful bees. It's been a year of learning and growing. I still don't know a whole lot about bees and probably never will. But I am thankful for knowing people who do and I can ask for help.

So if you haven't made that jump into becoming a bee keeper, think about it. It's really not that hard to do. And it's SO worth it. Every sting, every scare, every day. It's worth it.

30

I have lost 30 pounds as today, May 14, 2015!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am beyond amazed with myself. I have never stuck with anything this long. But I am determined to get below 200 and stay there for the rest of my life. I can live on salads I do believe. But other food would be good too. I just need to start looking for some fun recipes to try now.