Random stuff.

I like this picture. I was walking down the driveway and noticed the forsythia, then the elderberry tree, then the pear tree in bloom behind it. So much going on right now. The honey bees are bringing in pollen like crazy! Loaded down with it. I don't see how they fly with all that pollen on them.

My husband has mowed the front yard twice already. Everything is SO green right now. But Sunday morning, it's supposed to be 32 here. What?! I have figs already on the fig bushed. Blueberry bushes are loaded with blossoms. I am going to put my canopy over the figs Sat. night. Then figure something out for the blueberries. I do not want to lose them. Crazy April!

I have finally started putting the kids in a crate at night, so I can milk in the morning.

This is Olga. Doesn't look to awfully big, but there's a lot of milk in there! I do leave some for the kids. And she is really hard to milk. Very small teats. Like a thumb and index finger small. I figured out if I squeeze up high with my thumbs, it's much easier. So this morning, it only took about 10 minutes! And her milk is SO good!

This is Freya's back end. She has the perfect udder and teats for me. My whole hand fits. She is so easy to milk. I can milk her out in just a few minutes. But her milk still has an off taste to it. The first day is ok, but after that it has a flavor that I just don't like.  So for now I am keeping their milk separate. And I'll use most of Freya's for soap, which I am making a lot of right now.

Silly baby! This is where I find the kids sometimes when I go in to play with them. They are so cute!

Monday, a friend and her 3 kids came to learn about sheep wool. They missed the shearing, so wanted to see what happens after that. I showed them all the ways to card the wool. They got to hand card and turn the handle on the drum carder. They got to see how each thing made different roving or batts. This little sheep was their favorite thing in the studio. Outside, the trampoline was a big hit!

                                   This is Cara's fleece. Oh my goodness, it is so soft! Really long locks too.

                                                       This is Campbelle's fleece. Really nice.

So I am thinking about sending all this year's fleeces to a mill. I just do not have time to process all this wool right now. And the alpacas get sheared the 15th, so I'll have 6 alpaca fleeces too. There's a mill in Tn. not too far from me. I can just drive it up there. I just want it all made into roving so I can spin it myself. It was all fairly clean too, which was surprising. I couldn't use any of Adalaide's wool. It was so matted.

And this is my very first salt scrub bar. It's peppermint. I had no idea how to make it. I just used my recipe and added a lot of salt. I hope it works. It smells good and feels salty.

So now I am off to spend time with my mom and brother. He's still here for a little while longer. Y'all have a great day!