Strange day

Yesterday was just a bit different around here. It was Monday, the day I always go to town and do the payroll for Mrs. T, go to the grocery store, walk my daughter's 2 Boxers. I wanted to hurry and get it all done so I could be home during the big eclipse.

I was in my studio, doing some spinning, listening to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon album on KZ 106. It started getting a little darker, but there were clouds out.I went outside several times, just to see what was happening. I saw these really cool shadows under the trees. I had heard to look for them during the eclipse. Glad I did. Really cool!

The goats went to the barn. I was thinking they might start whining, want to be milked. But they just laid there.

Stupid rooster, he just walked around, then he'd stop and look around. I think he was a bit confused about the whole thing.

So it was not at all what I was expecting at all. It didn't even really get dark, just dusky really. Then a man came to ask about goat milk. Right in the middle of it all. And Pink Floyd still playing.

So later I went to fix dinner. I had watched an episode of Bobby Flay where he gets challenged by "regular" people and they see who makes the best dish. Well, this lady was the queen of tuna noodle casseroles. She made it look so good. She won. So last month I think, I made one. It was so good. We used to have tuna casseroles when I was a kid all the time.So I made another one for dinner last night. It was so good!

After cleaning up the kitchen,I went in the bedroom to read. I heard this horrible weird crazy noise. I heard Kansas run to the door, then out the kitchen door. I looked out the bedroom door and saw what I thought was foam sprayed all over the storm door. It was so weird. Then I heard crackling sounds coming from it. My husband was out front mowing. Apparently he ran over some little gravels somewhere and they ended up breaking the storm door. Into a bazillion little tiny pieces. It was so weird. So we got that all cleaned up.

Then a little later, Kansas got herself stuck in our bedroom. We have a really old house with weird doorknobs. If our door is shut all the way, it gets stuck. It took about 5 minutes to get her out.

Then, about 10:30, I thought I better go out and get the milk bucket out of the freezer before it's frozen solid. Went out to the milk room, looked in the freezer and there's no bucket. No milk. Went to the kitchen to see if it was in the fridge. It's not.I had totally forgotten to milk Olga. Didn't even cross my mind to milk her.

So I ended the crazy day by milking a goat at 10:30 last night. She was quite relieved, thank you.

The spider

I was sitting inside today, spinning some more alpaca, listening to Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd. Waiting on the eclipse. It was getting a little darker. I looked up and saw this. I had noticed the outside door, that used to have a screen in it but not any more, had a nice huge web all the way across the opening. She must have thought it was turning to night time and she came out to eat. She wasn't out long. I think she got mad.

Deer Darcy

Can you see her, right in the middle of those trees?  That's Darcy. She's been hanging around the outside of the fence where the goats are for the past several days. My husband first saw her out the bathroom window one morning under the trees on the other side. She'll listen when we talk to her. She's so pretty.

I don't know why she's alone. We have seen a whole herd of deer over on the North side of us. I hope she's ok. She looks young.

And this is why I have to give the alpacas Ivermectin every month. They carry parasites that can be transmitted to alpacas. Menegial worms. Probably shouldn't encourage her too much. But she's so pretty and sweet.  She will be called Deer Darcy.

My view..

My view today, while I'm spinning some alpaca. So pretty. And a horse to boot!

A little bit of nature.

Tuesday, I went to get my middle grand daughter from school to go shopping for clothes. On the way home, we went down 24 along the Tennessee River. It was amazing, the whole way to Trenton. And there is no way to actually get that exact same color on any camera. God sure is an awesome artist, right?

And my youngest grand daughter Kansas picked these flowers last night for the table. They are surprise lillies I think. I have been digging these things up for years now and they still manage to come up here and there. But they were so thick before. Now there's only a few. They are pretty, but they get in the  way.

Before and after...

Freya before...

and after.The left side was a big hard mass. It's since gone down to nearly nothing. I'm hoping it will get back to normal. Sometime. It still has a little hardness, but so much better.

The right side is now full of really good milk! I am milking this side once a day now. So I am hopeful for the left side.

Before...

and now. She is so much better. Gaining weight like crazy. She is the best goat. I'm so glad she's better!

Freya is half Nubian and half Lamancha. She has the Nubian mouth! And is a milk goat, so will be a little bony.

The hawk...

I thought I had this picture on the last post, but it didn't show up. I just thought it was neat. That's my grand daughter Kansas.

More birds and bees.

Ok, this hawk is just a little too comfortable here. I was going out to get ready to move the sheep yesterday and saw this. I actually threw a water can at him but didn't hit him. I thought it was hurt, or a baby, but it had a sparrow. It went under the fence here and over to the corner. That's when I saw the little bird. It was still breathing. So we got the hawk away from it and it flew into the maple tree. The sparrow got away.

                   

This is where it stayed for a long time.It finally went back to where the sparrow had been and stayed there for awhile. Then I had to run it off. I went out to the coop and put some fence back up at the top where it was before. I am so glad I did. Because later, after the chickens were in the coop, the hawk had flown over there and was on the roof. 

This morning, the hawk was sleeping on the fence by the garden. I walked out there to see what it was. I could have caught it. It was sleeping and the head was under the back feathers. Anyway, it flew off and we haven't seen it today.

Allan finally came about 8 last night to get that little swarm. It was there all day. We cut off all the little branches and just put the whole thing in the nuc.

Then he went over to check my hives, to see where those bees came from. He lifted the lid on that hive over to the left and those girls were so mad! They were all over him! It took about 10 minutes for him to get them off him.But he did say the top box was full of honey! So when he brings me my extractor back, I will rob the hives! Probably Thursday or Friday.

I stopped on my way home today to check on 4 of the lambs that a friend got from me. She's had them about a month I think. They've been doing really well there. But when I got to the fence, I heard that sound. That raspy weezy sound. So we went in and sure enough, the female, Emmy, had a big ole puffy face.

So went home, grabbed some wormer and red cell and went back over. Got all 4 lambs and gave them all red cell. I did not worm the boys. They looked fine. But she was going to get B complex and I'll go back in the morning and we'll start that.

Geeze, I am SO tired of sick sheep!! That's all I've been doing for 3 months now! All my ewes are finally better. I have been giving them B shots every day for a week now. I think they might make it. But really, I am tired of this! I am not the only one dealing with this apparently. All over the country, it's pretty bad.

So I am going to milk the goat and go to bed. Good night!

Wool, sheep and hawks, oh my!

It's SO hot here right now. It was only 98 yesterday. Just miserable. It's affecting the sheep. They either stay in the barn or under the trees or porch. They have had barber pole worms real bad too, with all the rain then this heat. I think I finally got the worms under control. I am now trying to get their blood built back up. So I am shooting them every day with B complex and giving them red cell. This seems to be working. And I just moved them back over to the front pasture, where it's been rested about a month now and the grass is looking real good.

This is Ella's wool. She's one of the triplets and the one I kept. She's 4 months now and her wool is about 2 inches long. It's really pretty. All the lambs wool is looking really good. I will have SO MUCH wool again next spring!

This is Darla and her boy Sam. I have never kept any of her lambs before. But he is the sweetest boy and he will be staying here awhile. He loves his momma!

This is Annabelle and her baby Goldberry. She had quads and I gave the other 3 to friends up the road. They all look like her.  I have yet to get Goldberry to let me touch her. It actually took about 4 years for me to get near Annabelle. She now lets me pet her and scratch her face and back. Goldberry is going to be like her.

Annabelle's only other daughter, Buttercup, was like this too. Til she had her lambs. Not I can pet her.

This is some yarn I've been spinning for the past few weeks. I started the white wool a few weeks ago. When I went down to S. Ga. for my sister's surgery in Savannah I took my wheel and spun in the waiting room at the hospital. I love seeing people's expressions when they see me spinning! And I am so surprised that most people have never seen someone spin before. Or know anything about sheep or alpacas. So I get to do a little education about the whole process. Also, the older people come over and tell me about growing up on a farm and how this brings back memories for them. That's fun!

SO I finished the white wool there and started the brown alpaca. Finally finished it yesterday and started plying them together. I really like this and it's so soft too. I really love doing this, but I get so sleepy! It's like driving. Or just sitting. I get so bored. I wish I could do something else while I spin. I'm such a multi-tasker, it's just hard to do only one thing!

And we have a resident hawk family here. I did notice last week a hen was missing. I was hoping she might be sitting on a nest of eggs somewhere. But then I saw the hawks. So she may have been breakfast. These hawks are awfully brave too. I see them in the apple trees. And this morning, I was going to the coop and saw one right in the middle stall. I threw the green feeder at it. Darn hawks. I like them, but not right here.

Have a happy Sunday y'all!