Ruby Nell and Nora Jane

So I got these 2 little cuties a month ago from a great animal shelter in Chattanooga. If you go on Thursdays, cats are just $5 each. Plus they give you all kinds of things for them, like food and toys and litter. AND, they are all spayed and neutered! Plus they are chipped and all shots. When I told mt husband how much I paid for them he said wow, that's some cheap pussy. Geeze, men!

They are my new studio kitties.

So this is Nora Jane, named after my favorite author. She's so sweet. She comes running to me in my chair and jumps up on my chest and snuggles.

And this is Ruby Nell. She's a purrer. All the time purring. Such a little sweetie. I named her after a famous potter, Charles Count's wife. She was an amazing artist. Did beautiful quilts. Some are still in museums. And I just always loved her name and said one day I will name one of my animals after her. And this sweet kitty is perfect.

They are usually in my lap, snoozing while I read. I love them!

Stella had to come over to meet the girls. They are so friendly and not afraid of anything or anyone.

  I just had to get this shot of Ruby 

Nora Jane on my lap.

This is Ruby Nell, NOT peeing in my sink.

Nora Jane

     

It's a mess in my studio now. Every morning when I come over here, I have to straighten up everything they've messed up the night before. Wool is usually everywhere. Or my little felted sheep. And I have no more whole snow people. They get up in the shelves where I kept them. Like a couple 2 year olds left alone for too long.

Been awhile.

It's been SO long since I've been here. I almost forgot how to post. But I got it now.

This is my favorite part of my road out here in the Cove. It's like a cool tree tunnel. That's what I feel like when I drive through it. A nice cool tunnel of trees.

I have been lazy for awhile. I have not read a book in years. But that's all I've wanted to do now for the past several months. I cannot get enough. I am really hooked on Nora Roberts at the moment. I want to read every single one of her books. I have actually been buying a lot of them from a used book store and thrift stores. The first book I bought of hers I found at a thrift store. It was one of her trilogy series. So I had to get the other 2 books. Then it started from there. She's an amazing writer. I recently got 2 kittens and names one after her. I'll put some pictures of them here soon. They are my studio cats. Always wanted studio cats.

And just getting ready for winter here. We actually had some snow flurries a few weeks ago! And had the wood stove roaring. But the past week or so, it's been hot! I saw 3 dead snakes on the road yesterday, plus saw an old guy, shirtless, walking his little Yorkie. Plus people riding with windows open and tops down. November in the South!

Oh these animals...

they are amazing. It's been almost 2 days now since Audrey came to visit. The sheep are sort of ok with her, but still run when she gets too close.

                         But the boys, well, that might take a bit longer. Especially for Misha.

                                               

                                                   She likes Misha and follows him around.

He says, if I just don't look at her, maybe she's not real. So I'll just ignore her and maybe she'll go away.

But it's not working, Misha. She's real sweetie. And here to stay for awhile. You'll be just fine soon.

Isn't she just the cutest calf ever? We played hide and seek awhile ago, around the hay bale. She touched my fingers with her nose. She follows me when I'm out there. My husband talks to her and she likes him. I love this picture.

Rodeo at Outback Farm!

I had asked my friend Sarah if I could borrow her little Jersey heifer calf for awhile. Audrey is 6 months old now and needing to be on pasture. And I wanted a cow for awhile to eat what the sheep and alpacas won't.

So she called yesterday afternoon and said they were ready to bring her out. I figured it would take them 20 minutes to get here, a few minutes to unload her, then I would fix dinner.

Well, I should know by now that you do not make plans when it comes to animals!

This is my sheep and alpacas when they saw the trailer being backed down the driveway and heard the little cow baby mooing.

                                And yes, there is a calf in these fig bushes and 3 grown men.

I have this fence going across the driveway for when I move the sheep to the other side. It has a little place where the wire is all messed up. I had this thought that I should put something in front of it, but did not listen to me.

So we got the sheep to go to the far side so they wouldn't get out while we tried to get Audrey in. They were so good too! Stayed way up front.

And we let Audrey out of the trailer. And she took off through the little hole in the fence. Just as pretty as ya please.

That's when the rodeo started.

I called my friend Ron to come up and help lasso her, after about 20 minutes of chasing her all over the front yard. He and his wife Iasbelle came with a rope. He's got cows and horses, so I figured he could do this just fine.

 Not sure which video this is, but I took a few and this is not showing up for me.

It took another half hour to finally get Audrey caught and dragged across the yard from the fig bushes. 3 grown men, pulling and pushing this little 6 month old devil calf. It was SO funny!

And here she is, finally in the pasture she was supposed to be in a few hours before.

Misha was sounding the alarm and the sheep all huddled together. I had a cow with them a few years ago, so it's not like they'd ever seen a cow before. They are so weird.

Poor Audrey was so tired after, she laid down out there for the night.

This morning, she's doing great. And the sheep are still afraid of her. They'll be fine in a few days and she'll be a part of the flock. Isn't she beautiful?

                                                      And this is Audrey, herding them all.

                                                                  Hold 'em Audrey!

Never a dull moment around here. We had the 2 grand dogs for the weekend and Abby had come out to get them. I have to keep the chickens put up while they're here. They love chasing the chickens. So it was all nice and peaceful again. For a few minutes!

Really September now!

It is September now. And it has come in with some anger here. Woke up this morning and checked my phone to see if there were any messages. My daughter Abby had sent a message saying power was out in Flintstone. She lives on the same street as Mrs. T. Then a little later, another message saying it was back on.

I looked out the window and saw trees just about bent in half. Crazy rolling clouds moving fast. So got dressed, fixed a cup of coffee, took a few drinks of it, then ran out the door with the milk bucket.

Olga came out first. Got her settled in. Started milking. She lifted her right leg a few times. I can usually sense when it's going to happen and get the bucket out of the way. But the next time she got it. And I was almost done. Turned the whole thing over. Great, milk all over the floor now and the stanchion. So got her out, took the stanchion outside and hosed it off. Grabbed the broom and some more water and swept out loose hay with the milk on the floor. Got the stanchion back in. Grabbed Freya. Got what little milk she had and gave it to the cats. I've had the sheep out back with the goats, so haven't been able to let the goats out. So they have slowed down a lot. Which I am trying to get them to do, so I can go to once a day.

Then the sheep were acting crazy. So threw some alfalfa pellets and sunflower seeds in a bucket to feed them. Then later, I just let them back out to the front. There's lots of leaves and apples down that they were wanting. I opened the little side gate for the goats to go out to the "jungle".

Before I let them all out, I put hay in the racks. Little Galadriel came to me and just looked at me with her beautiful eyes. I felt her telling me to calm down. I named that sweetie right.

Yesterday, I tried to finish the bobbin of alpaca. I got tired. It's taking forever! So I started getting some wool ready for the next bobbin, to ply them both together. I want to make a sweater with this yarn. It's so pretty.

Then I realized how amazing it is that I have sheep and alpacas! Right here on my little farm. I can go out there any time just to pet them or talk to them. And get this amazing fiber from them! I just feel so blessed.

And this is so pretty to me. I love using the hand carders to make little rolags to spin. I finished that red basket up. I have 3 rolags of alpaca to spin, then on to the wool.

This is 14 sheep, 2 alpacas and 2 greedy goats at the trough this morning. Isn't that just so cool?

I also made some bug-off bars for a friend. Her boys love it and that's all they want on when they are outside. My studio smells good when I make things.

I'll have my 2 grand dogs this weekend. Daisy and Rousey, the Boxers. I love them. But my chickens will not have fun at all. Those dogs want to kill them!

August 31 (thought it was Sept. 1st)

Last night, on the way back down the mountain. It was quite foggy. But when I got down to the bottom, it was clear again. It's always sort of spooky driving through fog. I keep expecting to see some mystical creature go across the road, like a majestic buck with golden horns and glowing body. But didn't see any last night.

I wanted to start a group of other kindred spirits to meet together and spin or knit or weave or crochet. And talk and have fun, just being with other people who love doing what I love. So I met with a friend who lives on the mountain and has Finn sheep and a fiber studio. We decided on Wed. evenings up at her studio. Then when she can't be there, we'll have it down here at mine.

We started last night. We were the only ones. But it was nice, spinning with someone else. There are several more that will start next week. It will be so fun. And I'll have time with kindred spirits.

When I got home yesterday, I found this pile of clothes in the bathroom, right next to the almost empty clothes hamper. UGH! So I called my husband and grand daughter in there to ask why. My husband said he'd been working outside and his clothes were sweaty, so he put them there, on top of Kansas' clothes. They picked them all up.So fun right? I'm sure other people have this same problem.

This was my view a few days ago, when I finally went out and got in my new hammock. Oh my, it was so boring, just laying there, doing nothing. I started feeling guilty. Then I wished I had a book. And a sick to push myself with. The cicadas were very loud there. And the birds. The sheep looked spooked when the saw me in this big red thing. I laid there and took pictures of the trees. Really is amazing, just being there under such beautiful trees.

                                           Isn't this beautiful and peaceful? It really is nice.

And these 2 trunks are so big. Not sure what kind of trees these are. But I'll find out. I love them.

Wild hair...

Every now and then, I get a wild hair. To clean or make things. Today, I had already decided I was cleaning the bedroom. I had already gotten the dresser cleaned off the other day. So got in there and got all the clothes in bags to take to a thrift store. Vacuumed. Made up some rug freshener with baking soda and some different essential oils. The house smells so good now! I even put some on the beds and pillows. Got all sheets and washed them and hung them out, along with shirts and pants and towels.

Then went out to the pear trees and got all the pears I could reach. Got a big pot cut up and simmering on the stove to make pear butter.

I got 6 pints and a half quart. It is SO good! I have enough pears for dinner tonight. I like to slice them up, put them in a baking dish with butter and roasting them. Then I add cinnamon and honey. Yum!

                While this was going on, I cut up 2 big packages of pork fat I had in the freezer to render into lard.

I got almost 3 pints. That'll last a few months I hope. I put them all in the fridge outside.

It just feels good to be productive and actually do something. I have been on a reading binge the past month. I found a book by Nora Roberts called Jewel of the Sea at a thrift store. It takes place in Ireland. It's a 3 book trilogy. So I had to find the other 2 books. Found the 2nd book at McKays used books. Didn't have the 3rd, so got it from the library. While there, I found another 3 book set of hers called the Dark Witch trilogy, in Ireland too. Oh my goodness, these books are so good, I could hardly put them down to go to bed at night.  Now I have to go to Ireland!

I moved my sheep and alpacas to the back again. We have not had rain here is quite awhile, so the sheep are all so much better and I have seen no signs of those horrible barber pole worms. I am so relieved. But we are supposed to start getting rain tomorrow for several days. Ugh. I have hay for them, so they should be ok. And we do need some rain. Can't believe I just said that.

I went outside to get some cobwebs off the windows and saw a million hornet and wasp nests all under the back of the house and under the shed. I have never seen so many before. We have used so many cans of spray, only to have that many more building nests again. But these back behind the house were huge! I didn't have enough spray to get them all. I hate them!

My Ent

I am obsessed with The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. I love the Ents. And now I have my own!

I was looking out a back window last night and saw him. I wish I had taken a picture then. But this is from this morning. I can see his face. I don't know his name yet. But I feel very happy to know he's been here for so long. He's in the back of the house, keeping us safe here.

Hammock

Yesterday, my husband and grand daughter Kansas went out back to put up my hammock. Can't wait to use it now. Kansas is behind the tree. And I just noticed Stella is out there too. Can you find her?

Just random stuff

Last night, this was so pretty. I love when the moon looks like this. And that big bright shining star, or planet, what ever it is there, to the left.

Went out to pick some pears yesterday. I heard buzzing and saw some of my girls, drinking pear juice from some of the very over ripe pears. Bees are amazing.

This is pears and figs, from my own trees, in bowls that I made myself. So cool. And so very good!

So the hens have found yet another nice cozy place to lay eggs. This is a hay bale in the corner of the milk room. I'll get a few eggs a day here. The rooster will start cackling when the hens sing the egg laying song. You'd think the boy laid an egg himself, the way he goes on and on about it!

And this. Oh my goodness, this. Really? There's probably a few little teaspoons left in the jug. I really do not get it. Also, the same person who does this, leaves about a spoonful of food in a pot or bowl. Just drives me crazy!!

Right now, this minute, all my sheep are looking great!! I was just about to throw in the towel with them. Seems like every day or so, for the past 3 months, one of them would have puffy jaws. I just wanted to cry. It's been awful. But right now, this minute, they are all ok. I have seen people all over this country talking about barber pole worms, and losing their sheep or goats because of them. It's been really bad this year.

This morning, my husband's outside spraying more hornet nests under the eaves of our house. I went outside to see one. I bent down behind him to look at it while he sprayed them. Then he brought his left arm down, right on my face! I kinda saw some stars. And I have a headache now.

The door...

that disappeared in the previous post.

I really would like a screen door.

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.