Fruit

It's been the most glorious weather the past few days. Breezy but cool. No humidity! I have been loving it.

I went out yesterday and staked the tomato plants. I have to go get some twine as I cannot find all my hay string. And I need some soil so I can start a peppermint garden. I bought some on sale yesterday because I want ALL the mint!

I also ate 2 blueberries yesterday! They are so good. I love blueberries. And to walk right out the front door and pick them is amazing.  I want to get a lot more bushes and plant them down where the tomatoes are, in the fall.

And the elderberries are doing great so far. I really like having some out in the yard now. There are a few more in the grape vine row in the garden.

Have a great hump day!

Pig!

 I have a pig! My friends up the road have pigs and I've been giving them goat milk for their pigs. And they were getting some more so he said I could keep one there if I wanted. So yes! I do. The little spotted one is mine. He's also the smallest one. The 2 bigger ones will be going to the butcher soon, so these 3 littles will have more food then.

So yay, I have another pig and I don't have to mess with it too much!! And they will haul it off to the butcher! And the pigs will get goat milk a few times a week! Pretty cool I think.

Flowers for Friday...

Lots of Borage about ready to burst forth with beautiful blue flowers for the bees!

And zinnias everywhere! There are a few brand new blooms already. I can't wait to see this whole row of them in bloom!

And the wild daisies are still going strong, despite not having any rain the past few weeks here.

This is the buckwheat for the bees. It's also popped up here and there all over the garden.

And the squash is coming on really good! I fertilized a few weeks ago with some organic fertilizer. Plus all the watering. I hope to have lots of squash and zucchini! I've already seen lots of bees in the flowers!

I planted green beans way back on May 22nd. Then a few days later, planted sunflower seeds down the middle of the rows. Yesterday, I found 2 sunflowers popping up!!!! I love sunflowers!

So many pretty flowers coming out right now. To brighten up the world. And help the bees.

Yarn bowls

 I think we might get some rain here!!!! It did rain a little bit last night. And I hear thunder to the North of us. So hopefully someone's getting some rain.

Today is my day to stay home. I like Thursdays! I have to make dryer balls and some more bug-off bars for market. But right now, I am playing with clay. And it's been pretty good so far. I have been wanting to make some yarn bowls. Finally got 4 of them today. And then I want to make some taller cream pitchers. Got one and will work on more later. So far so good!

I'll add a handle later after I trim this little pitcher. I want to make more later.

Yesterday, I went to the pottery studio to finish glazing all my things. The alpaca shearer called yesterday morning, said he would possibly be here to shear later that day. So I hurried as fast as I could at the studio, thinking he'd call right in the middle of it all. But no call. So I finished up and we had a member meeting at 6 that I got to attend. Still have not heard anything else from the guy. I just called and left a message telling him I'll be here ALL day. My poor alpacas are so hot in all their wool. I had the hose on awhile ago and they both stood so close to me asking me to spray them. But I couldn't. I'm so afraid the guy will call and the boys will be all wet. I hope they will get sheared sometime soon. I am putting my name in for when they come shear all my friend's alpacas next year.

Around the farm. Memorial Day 2016

 It is SO dry and hot here right now. Just all of a sudden too. The first 3 weeks of May were great. No need for the AC at all. Then BOOM! Hot and dry. No rain since the 21st. The ground is cracked bad. So I am watering everything every day now.

And I bought some bee balm and pineapple sage for the tire garden. My daughter Abby got me that hanging basket for mother's day. I added more soil to the tires too. I hope they make it.

And these poor blueberry bushes. I had totally neglected them. When I looked a few days ago, the berries were almost all shriveled up, like dried berries. So I ran and got the water hose and watered them really good. The next day, the berries were all nice and plump again! So I am watering them every day too.

And the apple trees. Poor things. I put the hose on each one for about 10 minutes each a few days ago. And I'm sprinkling them too.

I just love daisies. They were my bouquet at my weeding. I have a lot that just pop up all over the place. Of course, not where I would like them all to be. So I mow around them and let them be. You can see lots of activity on these. With it being so dry, there's not much else for the butterflies and bees.

I also noticed my elderberry bushes were turning a little yellow. So they all got some water too.

I have lots of bluebirds in the bluebird houses this year! There are usually finches or other small birds in them. But not this year! The bluebirds have taken back their houses! And they are busy little birds too!

These 6 chicks are just about ready to be let out with the big guys. As soon as their bag of grower-starter is done, out they go!

This is my little day lily garden. An elderberry bush popped up here last year. And I put a few peppermint plants in too. I have seen lots of birds in the bath lately!

They finally came to mow and bale the hay a few weeks ago. Now if they'll just come get it. But I think it looks so pretty out in the field. I hope this is not all the hay we have this year. But it doesn't look very good. The weather people are saying it's going to be a dry summer.

I am worried about the bees. Because it's so hot and dry, there is not a good nectar  flow right now.  I was going to try to harvest honey from the big hive this week. I still will, but will have to leave some for the bees. That's why I am planting so many flowers and herbs for them. I did plant a row of buckwheat that they are all over right now. And the daisies too. I also planted the 4 rows of beans and put sunflower seeds down the middle of both. But they haven't come up yet. I am watering them too. I want to get some corn planted as well. But the ground is too hard to till.

So what all have you planted in your gardens? 

Happy birthday Chloe!

 17 years ago today, this beautiful girl was born. I remember it like it was yesterday. She was a beautiful little baby and is turning into a beautiful young lady.

These are older pictures because she hates having her picture taken any more. I love this kid!

Happy birthday Chloe Grace!! We all love you so much! Have a great day!

Glazing

I have a new phone. I got it so I could get one of those squares for the markets and not miss any sales. I bought one when I got the phone but it won't work. My brother tried to get it hooked up down at the barn last weekend, but not good reception way down there. So I have one of those white ones coming. And it's free! But not to use it. I can take cards but I have to manually put in all the info. Which is fine with me. So I am finally caught up to all you smart phone people! I love taking pictures with it. But still have a lot to figure out about it.

So I went to the pottery studio this afternoon to glaze all those pieces I took in a few weeks ago. There were so many! I only got about halfway through and had to leave to milk the poor goaties. I'm going to try to go back Saturday to finish the bigger bowls.

It sure is a time consuming job, this glazing. A lot of thought goes into each piece. First, I have to check each piece and sand any sharp edges. Then I have to decide what color each piece will be. That takes awhile to decide. There are way too many colors to choose from! All the little circle and square colored pieces are samples I chose

Then the bottoms all have to either be dipped in wax or paint it on. That's to keep the glaze from sticking to the bottom, then sticking to the shelves in the kiln and eventually breaking the piece and messing up the shelf. Not a good thing.

Then comes the fun part! Glazing all these. First though, each bucket of glaze has to be stirred quite a bit. Then I don't really like the little  tongs because they leave little spots where they were. So I just hold the handle of the mug and dip, then wait til it's dry and do the handle.

And I tried something different with the 6 bowls. I dipped half in a sea green and the other half in a       light blue. I hope they turn out pretty. I'd like to go back with each bowl and brush on each side with the opposite color with a dry brush. So I hope they don't get fired til I can get back to do that.  I'd like to try doing different things, but it really takes so much time. Which I don't have much of lately.

I also bought 50 more pounds of clay! I hope I can find time next week to play with it.