Yay, 3 more weeks to procrastinate!

Plans have changed yet again. We have rain in the forecast for this weekend. So Valley Fest has been postponed to Oct. 17th. And moved to the high school as well. So right now, I have 3 more weeks to procrastinate. I am good at that.

It has rained since last night. We really need rain. I don't think I have ever seen leaves changing colors in September. Ever. But they are around here. The nights are already cooler too. On the way home today, I saw smoke coming out of someone's chimney. Not ready for that yet. But we do have lots of wood. And more up on the mountain at a friends house, waiting for us to go get it.

So since, I didn't have to keep wrapping soap today, I went to town and paid bills. Went to see my mom too. A little different Friday for me.

Sunday, the Iron man race will be coming down our road again! They turned before our road last year because the year before last, someone put oil and nails on this road. Not a good thing.  But they will be back this year. I missed it 2 years ago when my mom fell and I had to stay with her at her house. We will not be able to leave Sunday. Churches won't even have a morning service. Pretty big thing around here.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Oh, pigs!

So, sometimes it's good to not make plans. because as soon as you do, they change.

Like yesterday. I planned to stay home all day and work on getting ready for Valley Fest Saturday. Got a phone call from my friends Steve and Sarah. They are the ones who got the 2 pigs I was going to get back in March. But chickened out and sold them to my friends. First timers, they were. Had the perfect place to put them. They grew and grew and grew. They were great pigs, those 2. Happy pigs. Big fat pigs.

Til Monday.

They had an appointment at the butcher. But they weren't going. Nope, not those pigs. They were perfectly happy right where they were, thank you.

Steve called wanting advice on how to get those pigs in the trailer and to the butcher. He had fixed it up where their pen was blocked up and the trailer was wide open, ready for them to walk right on in.

But they had other plans. Like laying down at the bottom of their pig pen, in the shade. And spend the day there. Like a pig should, right?

So Steve called me asking for help. I said I'd be there as soon as I could. He had 3 guys coming too. And Sarah. We were going to run them up the hill into the smaller area, then push them into the trailer. Just like that. Sounds easy, right? Well, they are PIGS! Pigs don't do what you want them to do. They do what pigs want to do. And that's all.

We ran those pigs up and down that hill. A LOT. Also had a dog chasing them. And a cattle prod. And lots of sticks.

Well, needless to say, the pigs will be staying in their little piece of heaven for 3 more weeks. They won this time.

Speaking of changed plans. I had talked myself out of breeding the sheep this year. I just didn't want to go through what we did the last time. But, the more I thought about it, the more I thought about it. I had a few people asking about lambs. So I have talked myself into breeding just 5 of the older ewes. Darla, Annabelle, her daughter Buttercup, Adele and her daughter Cassadee.

I'm going to also take the 2 wethers to the butcher Oct. 6th. Already have them sold. I need money! Then I will start looking for a ram. A friend has Finn rams, so will probably get one from her.

I'll take the other 5 ewes, Adalaide, Amarillo, Campbelle, Cara and Cameron out along with the 2 alpacas and put them in another pasture til the other 5 ewes are bred. Then I'll keep the ram with Oden, the buck, in the back yard.

Speaking of Oden the buck. He's coming home next week. Then he will be with Freja and Olga for awhile. I'll keep the 2 little does away til I think the big girls are bred.

So, some changes around here.

And speaking of changes again, it's the first day of fall y'all!!!!! So fun! It was a warm day though. I have had to water the garden a lot because no rain. Sure could use some. The garden is coming along real nice. Should be able to go back to the farmer's market next weekend.

I like change, really.

Milk machine...

I'm just milking Freja once a day now. It takes 2 days to get half a gallon. But it's worth it. I love goat milk!

I'll get my buck Oden back the end of September. Then he goes in with Olga and Freja for awhile. Hopefully there will be kids in March.

The chickens are out again...

and back in the garden.

I did get the electric netting fence around most all of the kale and collards, so I hope the rest will be ok. I tried to block off all the holes around the fence too. But Black Bart is the first one out there. And he clucks so the girls follow him. Darn ole rooster.

I got more collards and turnips planted Tuesday and watered in really good.  Today I planted 2 rows of carrots to the right of the radishes. I think I'll plant a few more rows of radishes later.

So far, it's looking good out here in the garden. Buckwheat has flowers already. The bees are bringing in lots of bright yellow pollen right now. So I hope they'll have lots of honey to make it through the winter. I hope I don't have to start feeding them for awhile.

I am feeding the humming birds about every 4 days now. They come let me know when the feeder's about empty. I added a full cup of sugar this morning for them. They are getting ready for their long flight soon. I see them all over the place, in the window box and the flowers. I was sitting out under the cedar tree in the garden the other day knitting and I heard them all in the tree. I love them.

What's going on in your gardens right now? Anyone planting fall crops?

Cardigan and old rocker.

I started this cardigan a few weeks ago in my knitting class. I hope to have it finished in a few weeks. But it sure is boring right now. Purl a row, knit a row. Boring. And I have some pretty noticeable holes in a few places. Don't know how that happened. But last night, I thought about just embroidering some cute little flowers over the holes when I'm finished. Good solution, I think! I can't wait to get this done now.

I also got my very favorite magazine a few days ago. Taproot. I love it. There is a pattern for a Cicily shawl I want to make. Just about every issue has some knitting patterns and lots of other crafty things to make. This issue also has the instructions for how to make a cloth basket out of clothes line rope. So looks like I will have plenty to do.

 And this is my new old rocker. I took it down the road to the people who made my farm sign to make a new rung for it last month. Christina brought it back yesterday and it's now back on the front porch of my studio, where it's been for years. It came with this house, so I know it's pretty old. I love this rocker. And now it rocks so much better. I will get a lot of knitting done out here now.

I just need to stain the new rung now and it'll look better.

In the garden.

Can't really see it too good here, but this is some of the buckwheat I planted a few weeks ago. It's in front of the bee hive, so I hope when it flowers, the bees will  get what they need. I also planted a few other little patches.

This is the kale, turnips, radishes, lettuce and more buckwheat. It needs rain bad. Really dry. We had a good rain Saturday, but not enough. I could stand out there all day and water with the hose, but it doesn't do a thing like rain water does.

There is a row of green beans to the left here. And I had planted collard greens in the right bed but all that came up were tomato seedlings. All over. And hardly any collards at all. So I tilled it back up and will have to get more seeds tomorrow. I want a lot of collards!

I also need to plants stinging nettles and garlic soon.

I walked past the hive the other day and got scared. There were no bees at all in the entrance. But we had a cold night and they were all still inside, where it was warm. Today, they are all out working, bringing in lots of yellow pollen, from the goldenrod, I think. They should have plenty of good honey to get them through the winter now.

I was trying to find some pants to wear the other morning, but I have none. I have lost so much weight, none of my old pants fit me. I will have to make a trip to the thrift store for winter clothes now. I still have 1-2 pounds to get under 200. I rode my bike through the battlefield park Sunday with some friends from church. Ended up riding 9 miles. It was fun. I thought surely I'd lose a few pounds. I am not giving up.

Around the farm...

Hello! I feel like I haven't posted in a long time. I just haven't had much to blog about. This morning, I took a lot of pictures. So here goes.

We had a lot of Japanese beetles this year. They ate all the leaves on all the apple trees. So not many apples at all. But I started to notice the leaves growing back on the early June apple tree and then it got blossoms. I have never seen this happen before. Then, last week, I saw these little tiny apples. How cool is that? I don't know if they will actually make bigger apples, because we are already getting cold at night here. But we will see.

And my very first elderberry syrup. With my own elderberries and honey!!!! It's SO good too. It's not deep purple like the dried berries I've used before. But it's amazing! I will have no sniffles this winter!

I made 3 more batches of soap last week. No more til I can make some money and order more lye. I am out.

The top left is Dragon's Blood. It's a fragrance oil. I have noticed the FO turns the soap way darker. But it smells really good.

Top right is Blackberry Sage.

Bottom left is Lemongrass.

Trying to get ready for a show Sept. 26th. I need to make more needle felted sheep and dryer balls.

My dread-locked lamb, Cara. I love her bangs.

And her twin (not really, but they look so much alike) Buttercup. She has the same dread-locked bangs. So cute.

Misha, the alpaca. He always looks like this, with his ears straight up.

This is the way Sugar always looks. Ears down and that look on his face that just kills me. He is letting me get a little closer all the time now. But still won't let me touch him. Funniest animals ever, these alpaca boys.

Now I am off to my knitting class. I am knitting myself a sweater. I post pics later. But I love it already. And I hope I can get it done soon. It's cold outside!

I hope you all had a great weekend and a good week.