Headin' home...

 This is going back to the house. This barn is a the bottom of the biggest hill after Mt. Cove Farm. I have always loved this barn. I've never seen any animals near it though.

                                                         Some more barns along the way.

This is on the Cross Farm. Used to be a dairy farm. The little dairy barn is in front of the red barn. I like this cattle crossing sign.

           This is the old house where Water For Elephants was filmed. Such a beautiful old house.

Can you see the cow with the huge horns laying down near the trees? Either Zeeboo or Watusi. There is another cow but different, past my house. So one is a Watusi and the other a Zeeboo. Both beautiful animals. I just can't see how they walk around with those huge horns. Looks like they'd be so heavy.

                                      This is the Cedar Grove Methodist church. It's really old.

                                                                    I just love this sign!

                                                   Farmers do have a sense of humor!

This is our new community center. It's supposed to be done by Christmas. They have a lot to do if that's right.

This is the old house next to us. It's for sale. 26 acres for just $139,500.00. Really cheap. Considering land out here goes for over &10,000 an acre. This is just a little over $5,000. an acre. With a creek and woods and pasture. Wish we could get it. The house will probably have to be torn down, which breaks my heart. I love this house. It's actually my dream house. It's been here over a hundred years. They built houses to last back then. It's just been abandoned for over 50 years or so. So really not much hope for it. My friend who comes to milk for me when I  need to get away, is trying to buy it along with her brother. I so hope they can get it. I want good neighbors and they would be really good to have here.

And this reminds me of the Bible verse that talks about God owning the cattle on a thousand hills. I think of it every time I see cows on hills. So pretty. It also reminds me of how big God really is. And how amazing.

So that's the tour of my bike trip. I sure need to go back every day.

I finally did it!!!

 Today is beautiful. So I decided to ride my bike to Mt. Cove, 5 miles from my house. My husband helped me get a basket wired to the front of the bike, so I could bring my camera.

So off I went. Isn't it beautiful?

This is looking back at the Cross Farm. I love that red barn. I've gotten hay here before. It used to be a huge dairy. They sold all their dairy cows and went to raising beef cows.

This is the old Underwood Farm. My friend Susie was raised out here, along with her 4 sisters.

Some of the cows along the way. They all said hello.

And this horse. He came up to the fence when I stopped. I got to pet him. I love horses and they smell amazing!

This is a road that goes way back halfway up the mountain, to a friend's farm. She has Finn sheep too.

Ok, this was a mountain to me. I had to walk up.

At Mt. Cove Farm! This is the barn, where they have events. Like weddings or craft shows. We also have the wild game dinner in February here now.

This is also where the Walker Co. Fair is held now. This is a plane runway, where they put all the rides and games. Pigeon Mt. is in the background here.

This was at the entrance to the big barn on the hill. A wedding today!

This is at the little general store out there. Also a bathroom out back of the pavilion! I needed that.

I saw so many of these little fluffy woolly caterpillars along the way.

On the way back now. This is a fork in the road, at the top of another big hill I had to walk up. To the left is Hog Jowl Rd. I will go that way some day. It makes a big circle back to my house. This is also the way the bike riders went for the Ironman race a few weeks ago.

This was painted on the road right beside Hog Jowl. I thought it was pretty cool.

And another hill I had to walk up. They sure could have done a better job at grading this road when they made it. I just have a Townie bike, not a mountain bike. Plus, the wind was blowing like a flippin' tornado. And right at me too. That just made it all that much harder to get up these hills.

I took lots more pictures. I'll post more later.

I hope you all got to get out today and enjoy it. So many things going on around here this weekend. But I just felt like I needed to get on the bike and ride. So glad I did too. Now off to Mrs. T's for a few hours.

Around the farm...

Sometimes life just gets busy. This week has been one of those busy weeks for me. And it seems like it will be busy for awhile.

I did squeeze in some time to put up some pickled radishes. After going all the way to Hixson to get honey yesterday. I picked the radishes Monday and washed them. I didn't want to use my honey in case they weren't all that good. And I just have a little over a quart left anyway. So I got 7 pints done this morning. Took 2 to my daughter and her husband and 1 to my mom. They have to be kept in the fridge and eaten within a month. If anyone wants the recipe, I'll be glad to post it here. They look good.

I've also gotten some kale in the freezer, along with some Asian greens a friend gave me. Also about 20 qts of bell and banana peppers in the freezer. And about 12 jars of hot peppers canned.  And these pepper plants are still making more!

I went ahead and got a round bale of hay for the sheep and alpacas Monday. I'm having to put them in the South pasture during the day because the silly hens had started laying eggs in the corner of the middle stall. So when all the sheep are packed in there eating hay, the hens didn't lay for a few days. So I thought I'd just put them next door during the day to eat the grass over there, then put them back over here at night, after I put the chickens up for the night. But no eggs for 2 days now. They might have found another spot to lay, I just haven' found it yet.

That little black bird to the right is the youngest chick. It's a hen! Jet black. She stays by herself most of the time now. Poor baby.

These are the 2 older chicks. The one on the left is the hen. She's jet black too and so pretty. The other one is a rooster. They hang out together. I need to find the roo a home soon. He hasn't crowed yet. They're about 6 months old now.

I got the garden area all mowed this afternoon. So had to show off the garden. And the view is so pretty. There's still Mexican sunflowers. The butterflies are all over them still.

Everything is doing great so far. Been eating lettuce, kale, radishes and turnip greens. I pulled up a few turnips for the husband today.

There are flowers on the bean plants! I hope we don't get a frost this weekend. Supposed to get down to 40 or so Sat. night. There's kale coming up to the right of the beans here.

Walking around the yard I saw some clematis flowers blooming. They are so pretty.

                                                                   Mexican sunflowers.

These are some wildflowers blooming in the grape vines next to the bee hive. The bees love them. They are still bringing in pollen. So I haven't started feeding them yet. They are still also all over the buckwheat too.

Here are the sheep in the south pasture. There is still some green down under all this brown. They love it over here. That first tree is a persimmon tree. Every time I let them out here, they all run to the tree and eat the fruit on the ground. I read somewhere that persimmon is poison the sheep. I don't know about that.

And the goats. Good grief that Freja is the noisiest goat ever. I was going to leave her and Olga in with the buck for awhile, but no, I can't. I have to put them both back in with Alva and Inga for the night. It's pitiful. The littles just hang out at the fence watching the others, all day. And when it starts getting dark, they all go crazy. So I put the big girls back in with the littles every night now. When I put them back in with Oden, it's like he's never seen them before. Absence truly does make the heart grow stronger. (I have started milking Freja again. Getting almost a qt. each time. I guess I'll keep milking her til Dec. Good milk is expensive.)

Friday, I am at Mrs. T's all day. Then have to go back Sat. evening for a few hours til the night caretaker comes in. Then back again Sunday morning til 7 that night. This is crazy. I have got to find another person to help fill in here. I am pooped!

I've also decided I'm not going to do the Valley Fest fair Saturday. I just can't get into the idea of going. All the packing up, then unpacking and setting up. Ugh, I just don't want to right now. I hope I can get motivated to go back to the farmer's market soon.

I am going to a fiber fair in Asheville N.C. the end of the month though. SO looking forward to getting away for a few days.

And so it begins...

 Yep, I just put Olga and Freja in with the buck this morning. I thought that would be better for everyone this way. They seem to be doing better with both girls together. And Oden is happy. So here we go. Hopefully the middle of March, there will be kids at Outback Farm again!

The only ones not happy right now are Inga and Alva. I wish I could find somewhere to take them for a few months. They are SO noisy. I really wish I had not gotten them at all. I can't breed them til next year.

Stinky Stella. And other stuff.

This dog loves to be dirty. And the stinkier the better she thinks.

She had 2 baths this week. I think I'll just quit doing that. Because she just goes and rolls in the dirt. Or a dead animal. She did that a few days ago. I had found a dead possum out in the chicken yard a few weeks ago. Stella had been out all night and I think she killed it. She's good at that. I threw it over the fence and forgot about it. Til I saw it back in the yard a few days ago. Well, just some fur and bones. But that's all it takes apparently, for a good roll for Stella. She came in the house and I about got sick from the stench. She was all dirty and greasy looking. And STUNK so bad! So, back to the hose for a good scrub down. Again. So her new name now is Stinky Stella.

I went to a therapy dog meeting last night at Erlanger hospital in Chattanooga with my mom. She has a little tiny Chihuahua named Bella. She's been taking her to obedience classes for being a therapy dog. We got there a little early and real soon, the room was full of dog people. We talked to several women sitting near us. They all had pictures of their sweet cute dogs on their cell phones. It was something, being in a room full of at least 80 dog loving people. It's called H.A.B.I.T. and they are just in Tn. right now. They do go to schools and a few mental hospitals and are now at TC Thompson's Children's hospital and in the cancer ward. They really needed volunteer therapy dogs for the cancer patients because the childrens  hospital is full of volunteers right now. They might get to go once a month. But they wanted at least 6 per day 6 days a week for the cancer ward. I was really surprised at all the people that showed up.

We went to an open house for a tiny house community that's starting up in Chatt. too. The house was a little over 500 SF. Really tiny. They were getting ready to build about 8 more behind that house. With a shared parking lot. Really cool. I am hooked on all the tiny house shows on tv right now. If it was just me, I'd live in a tiny house. But my husband would take up most of a tiny house. I'd also need a whole other tiny house for a studio, because there's no way I'd get all my wool and soap stuff in just one. But they are so cute and cozy.

I also downsized my bee hive yesterday. I was told to have just 2 hive boxes during the winter, so they don't have to work harder to keep empty boxes and space warm. When I went out to take off a few, I was hoping to get some honey. But the 2 honey supers I had put on during summer were both empty. And the bees were very nice too. I had suited up good this time, just in case. I could have just worn regular clothes though. No problems at all. The 3rd honey super had plenty for them to eat on for winter. Plus, they are still bringing in pollen right now. I have not had to start feeding them yet.

I will be working all weekend at Mrs. T's. We had to fire the weekend care giver. Plus 2 of the others are going on vacations. And the other one has been out for 2 weeks. It's just me and 1 other this weekend. I hope Betty can come back for her regular days next week. I need to hire a few others, just for back ups. The one back up we have is working Friday and Saturday nights. It's pretty stressful, being a manager and caregiver. But I do get a lot of knitting and crocheting done while I'm there.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

A sad day.

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Yesterday, i had some friends come help me load up the 2 sheep to take to the butcher. I know that's why I do this. I know that's what these animals are for here. But that doesn't make it easier. I raised these guys from birth. I bottle fed them and their 2 sisters. They were the nicest ram lambs ever. Always came to see me and get lots of love. And give it too. They were sweet guys. So it kind of hurt to say good bye to them.

When I got home later, my husband said he had to bury Sybil, our white cat. He ran over her. He had gone out to the truck, turned it on, then went to open the gate. He had seen her under the truck and figured she'd move when he turned it on. She didn't. She was getting old and had some problems. She was also a bit deaf. But she always moved. Not this time. I will miss her. She was probably 9 years old. We've had 6 cats for years. The first one to die was Alex. He died earlier this year. So we have 4 left. And they are all pretty old too. I never really was much of a cat person. But they kind of grow on me. She is buried next to Sophie and Zoe, out in the garden. RIP Sybil. We loved you.

Goat escapes.

Yesterday afternoon, Freja was VERY loud out back of the studio. She went on for a good 10 minutes before I looked to see what was wrong. She's a very noisy goat, that one. She is about 1/4 Nubian. And she got the loud mouth! She's a bit of a tattle tale, actually. She lets me know things that the others are doing.

So I went out there to see what she was trying to tell me. She was all by herself. I couldn't see the others anywhere. So we walked over to the fence, where the littles usually go through. Still didn't see them. Then they came running when they heard me. Freja went through the big wide opening. Then they all got busy on all that wonderful stuff out there.

That's Oden, the buck, laying down in his yard.

This is Freja and Oden. They are fine like this when they aren't in the same yard together. Like this morning. I put Freja in with Oden. She sort of acted like she was in heat. For a few minutes. Oden was all over her. But then she just would not shut up. I don't know what I'm going to do with these 2 does.

This is what the 2 little girls have been doing the past few months. They go right through the electric fence. They have really been doing a great job. Olga and Freja never have gone out there.

Til this happened a few days ago. The pallet fell down. And see that huge gaping hole there between the chain link fence and electric fence? It's huge! So the other 3 went out yesterday. But not Freja. I think she was afraid to pass through the electric. She's been bit a few times too many I guess. But I went through, then she did. Then they all took off too far. But that's fine.

So I have started drying Freja up today. I also gave her some Cydectin. She was acting a little droopy and not eating much.Then I really need to get this breeding going soon. I might have to take the 2 littles up the road for awhile so I can put Oden out there with the big girls. It's so much to think about.

I also took my 2 wethers to the butcher this morning. I hate this part of having farm animals. Especially lambs. This was Click and Clack, The Tappit Brothers. O will miss them. Now I am down to just 10 sheep, 2 alpacas and 5 goats. Plus the 11 chickens. And 5 cats and 2 dogs. And a hive  of honey bees.

Life is always changing on a farm.