Around the farm...

things are a bloomin'! A few weeks ago, the redbuds started flowering. This is my favorite tree.

And the figs too. I was a bit worried about them last night when it was supposed to be down to 32. But the wind blew, thankfully, and no frost.

The blueberry bushes are all pretty loaded with buds too! I hope to get some blueberries this year. Last year the chickens got them all. They are in chicken jail til fall, so no blueberries for them.

The sweet little violets are all over. As well as dandelions, hen bit and false nettle. The honey bees are in flower heaven!

And the elderberry bushes are almost all full of leaves. I love this bush. I still have several bags in the freezer of elderberries from fall. I might use them for some dye. I want to try gathering honeysuckle vines for baskets. They can take dyes and it stays dyed.  And I'd love to try dying some wool too.

These are my 2 lilac bushes. No lilacs yet, but some day. I think it takes several years to get lila blooms? Does anyone know?

And above, the plantain is starting to come up!! I sure need to make some plantain salve soon, for markets.

And, Olga finally had her kids this morning! More on that later. Have a great day, and happy spring y'all!!

Lots of cuteness...

Finished hat and gate.

I finished the Etta hat yesterday. I worked on it a little while at the restaurant with my mom and brother. Then in the car. Then finished it while watching The Middle last night. I want to start on another one right away!

My husband had gotten all the parts and concrete Tuesday to get the gate up. So he went ahead and set the big post in the ground that night so it would be ready to work on the next morning.

We got to it right after breakfast. It's not perfect. I have to lift up on it to get it to latch properly. But that's fine. It works! And it's dry right there! That's the main thing I wanted, to get out of the mud pit. The goats hated walking through that. I had boards laid out, but still had mud to get in. And we still need to get that tall post sawed off.

I was using a hack saw to saw the flat piece of metal that goes through the fence. My husband had just taken a drink of coffee and I looked up at him and said "really?" He laughed so hard, coffee went everywhere! it was so funny, I still laugh. The look on his face was hilarious! But it took forever to get that piece of metal sawed in half.

This is the old gate and the mud pit we had to go through every day. It was not fun at all.

The happy little goat family. Olga and Freya both got to go through the new gate to go to the milk room this morning. SO much nicer! And I cleaned the milk room this morning too! During the winter, when I'm not milking, that room gets piled up with junk, And bales of hay, so hay strings all over. Just a mess in there. So I got it all cleaned and organized and ready for milking now!

If only Olga would have some kids now. I am wondering if she's not pregnant, just really fat. Maybe a false pregnancy? When that happens, do they get really big udders? I don't know. She was bred, and I saw it happen, 5 days after Freya. So what is up with this goat????

Etta hat.

I started this Etta hat at Mrs. T's Sunday. I've had this pattern for several years. But now I felt like I knew enough to be able to read the pattern. I did have to look the ssk stitch up on youtube and the yarn over. I almost forgot how to do that already. I guess I just need to knit every single day so I don't ever forget anything I've learned so far!

I really like this pattern. And it is fairly easy to do. But I did mess up on that 1st section after the knit part. Where I had to ssk and yo, sometimes the yarn got twisted and was together, so I just knit those together. I finally realized what I had done when I was back to about 85 stitches. Si this is a learning hat. I will make another and do it right. It just won't be as slouchy as the one in the picture.

I got my Taproot magazine Monday! My favorite magazine. Haven't had much time to read it yet, although I have skimmed over it. There is a cabled hat and gloves pattern in this edition I might have to try.

Shawls and buttons.

My sister and her daughter came up Sunday & spent the night here. We were going through some of our dad's things and I came across an old frame I had developed in my 10th grade photography class. It was of my sister posing for me for a school project. SO long ago.

So I got her to pose for me wearing my shawl. I think she did a fantastic job! And it fits her too.  This just might be a Christmas present.

(You can just see my redbud tree behind Heidi. It's blooming!)

Yesterday, we all went back to that Mexican restaurant for lunch. I have got to stop going there. The food is so rich and there's just too much!

After leaving there, I went to my pottery studio for more much needed practice. I had been wanting to make buttons. So David showed me the roller thingy and I got to rolling the last bit of clay I had left. I had to buy another 50 lb. bag!

One of the girls that comes during the week said I should take this home to work on it there, because it takes so long and I could be doing other things. I had already done some, so I wrapped this clay up on the board and put it in the car. Got these done last night. I can't wait to see them all done. They will be a lot of extra work though. With sanding and smoothing and waxing and all that. But it will be an experience. These will shrink while being fired.

I also worked on 4 little pots I made last week. Then worked on centering the clay and making cylinders.

My husband and I were going to get this wider gate put in for the goat yard but we need some more parts first. So while he's in town, he'll pick them up then we can work on this tomorrow. Where the gate is now is down lower and it's just a mud pit. It never dries out there because of all those huge cedar trees. So I want a gate up higher so the goats can get to the milk room. And I'll be able to get the lawn mower through this gate!

Tonight is actual pottery class. I think we'll be learning how to make lids to fit pots. How fun!

Sheep company.

A few days ago I was sitting here with the back door of my studio cracked open a little. It opened some more and Cameron poked her little head in to say hello and see if she could come on in for a visit.

                                                            Then Cara decided to join her.

                                               She just wanted to see what happened to all their wool.

                                                                                   Silly sheep!

Freya

I was gone all day today. I asked my husband to check on the goats during the day when he got up. I'm still waiting on Olga to kid and figured she'd have them the day I'd be gone all day.

But no, she is still fat and sassy. I think that's all she is, fat and sassy. Not pregnant at all. Because absolutely NOTHING happened today while I was gone. Nothing!

But I am glad I went out there to check on the goats. Because Freya's udder was as big as a cow! I am serious. Huge. I immediately thought something has happened to the kids. They were either dead or lost or gone. So I didn't think to look for them, but grabbed Freya and dragged her kicking and screaming, to the milk room so I could milk her real quick. The right side felt like kids had nursed recently, but the left was so bug I hardly get my hand around it. But I did and got her milked out good. Then back to the barn to look for kids.

And there they were, right behind the door, with fat little bellies, all curled up sleeping. I was very happy to see that!

So looks like Freya is 100% now and ready to be milked. The cats and dogs got some good warm milk. We will wait another week for ours.

And I did not get accepted to the Main St. Farmers market. I am very upset about this. I took a year off and I guess I shouldn't have. I guess I will look for another market now. Ya snooze, ya loose.

In the garden!

All week, it's been nice and warm and dry! So Thursday was garden day. I started tilling in the morning. It was really windy, so I figured the wind would dry out what was still a little wet. But it was mostly dry ground, except up around the cedar tree.

I had gotten kale, collards and mixed greens seeds from the feed store Wednesday. So I got those all planted. I put some of the composted hay-manure on the top of the seeds.

Then last night about 8 it poured rain for about 20 minutes. Knocked the satellite out it was so hard. I was worried all the little seeds would be washed away. But this morning, all is well!

I also ordered a lot of flower, herbs and veggie seeds from Johnny's yesterday. They'll be here early next week! I plan on planting a lot of flowers this year, for the bees and for cut flowers for market. I sure hope I get in Main St. market this year. The board should be meeting this week to go over applications.

This is the kale, collards and turnip greens patch from fall. Still doing good.

See this dark green patch of grass? This is the alpaca toilet. I let them and the sheep out here sometimes and this is where the alpacas do their business. They have a spot here and a spot out in the South pasture and the North pasture and in the back yard, goat yard and side yard. They are very tidy creatures. Also makes it east to scoop it up!

This is the little maple tree in the front yard, getting ready for the little leaves to come out. The blueberry bushes are in the corner past this tree. Just full of little buds about to burst forth!

This is the big maple tree in the front yard. Just full of goodness!

The honey bees are out and busy! They are coming in full of pollen. I hope I get lots of honey soon. I am almost out already.

Alpacas, sheep and goats.

I let the sheep and alpacas out back with the goats yesterday for awhile. Misha was very curious with the kids. I don't think he would ever hurt them. He and Sugar were with the 3 bottle lambs a few years ago and loved them. They are very protective alpacas.

It was a beautiful day here. Got a lot of work done.