Time for elderberries!

When I got home from town today, I grabbed my new .99 bucket from Goodwill and a pair of scissors and went out to the 2 elderberry bushes. I've been noticing the pretty purple berries ripening.

I got a good bucket full of them. Now to take them all off the stems and put in baggies for the freezer. I'll make lots of elderberry syrup this fall and winter to ward off colds and flu.

While at Goodwill today, I found this cute little t shirt. it's too small for me, but I got it anyway. I'll make a pillow out of it. I couldn't leave it there. It's too cute right?

Last day of July!

This poor hen. I got 6 baby chicks last year and she's the only one that made it. Her name is Maren. She's a Cookoo Maran. And the rooster always chases her away when I feed them. So I put her in the milk room while milked Olga and she got her own food, without being chased away. The rooster does like her, as you can tell by her back. He just doesn't want her to eat with them.

Still only lost 5 pounds. Very discouraging. But not giving up.

I'm going back down to South Ga.. My sister is having surgery Wed. in Savannah. So I'll be there for her for a few days. The Sherrill family reunion is this weekend up in Ozone Tn. So have to be back for that. Plus I still have 3 ewes that keep getting barber pole worms. I am SO frustrated!! It's been going on for about 2 months now and I'm so sick of giving worm meds, shots and everything else.

I was so nice here yesterday. Like no humidity at all! I did not sweat all day! I would have put my spinning outside and spun on the porch if it weren't for all the horrid flies!

I hope you all have a wonderful week!!

Just hangin out...

Hmmmm...

it's a rainy Friday here in Ga. All the sheep, alpacas and goats are in this barn. They have hay and I put a bucket of fresh water with ACV in it so they won't have to go out in the rain.

When I went to my studio this morning, I saw this. Olga is getting the rain water as it's coming off the roof. Must be so much better than the city water right next to her.

Goats...

Emmy's adventure

This is Emmy. In the front seat of my husband's truck this morning. Ready for her new adventure. She was going to live with Frodo, Tom and Pippin at my friend Lori's farm.

I also had the back of the truck full of pallets for my friend Cara for a little shelter  when she got her sheep, and a gallon of goat milk to deliver to another friend. Then I had to go interview a potential caregiver for Mrs. T at 12:30.

The pallets and milk were on the way to Lori's and I was going to drop them off first. But then, Emmy was in the front seat of my husband's truck. And I was so afraid she might pee.

I did decide to drop the milk off. I ran in and ran back out in less than 3 minutes. And she had pooped. It stunk bad. She didn't pee though. So hurried as fast as I could to Lori's so I could get her out of the truck.

We got there without anything else happening. Got her out and found the boys and let her go with them. They have a great big yard full of grass and good things for lambs to eat. Lori wants to keep her to breed later for more meat sheep.

Went to the interview. There were 2 of the caretakers there at the time Jean came, so we all just loved her! Mrs. T did too. I think she will be a great fit for us. Mrs. T's daughter will be here next week and will meet her and Jean will work with another of the caregivers and stay the night, to see how things are done there. Then if she's hired, she will start working!! I so hope this works. We've been looking for someone for a few months now. Hard to find good caretakers.

Then went and dropped off the pallets. Cara was coming to get more sheep! She got 2 ram lambs, Legolas and Bilbo, plus Bilbo's mother Cameron, and Eryn, one of Buttercup's triplets. Emmy is another of the triplets  and I'm keeping Ella. So the boys will be butchered and she will keep the ewes for starting a flock of meat sheep. She'll breed them with a Katahdin ram.

It turned out Cara couldn't get all 4 of the sheep in the back part of her van, so I ended up taking Cameron and Bilbo in my Trooper. Oh my goodness, it was a mess of poop and pee by the time I got there. And it's only like 10 miles away! Then we had to put the other 2 lambs in to get them to where their new pen was. It was SO gross!

So I have sold 7 lambs and a ewe. Cameron was my only black ewe, but her wool wasn't really that good. So I decided to sell her. And Bilbo is such a momma's boy. He's as big as her.

I have 14 sheep now. It feels good. I've kept 2 boys, so if their wool isn't very good, they'll be butchered later.

Less and less.

Yesterday 3 lambs left the farm. Frodo, Tom Bombadil and Pippin. My friend Sarah got Frodo and Lori got the other 2. They will stay at Lori's place. Lori already said she's falling in love with them all. I can believe that! They are certainly addictive. Lori's husband want s a ewe lamb too, so I think Emmy would be a good one.

I went out last night and just watched them. They really are calming. When they're being good!

I am so glad I have my 2 alpacas. They love their sheep. And they really are good guard animals, no matter what people say. If they see something strange, they make the loudest screech ever and the sheep run to the barn, as fast as they can! The boys will stay until all danger is past.

This is Elin. She's staying. She's Adalaide's ewe lamb. Her brother Legolas might be sold.

I want to keep her just to see if her wool is going to be good. Adalaide has the most kinky wool for a Finn. I have not spun it yet. Most of it will be made into dryer balls, unless if I take it to a mill, they can make roving with it. I do hope Elin's will be better. It's a creamy very light reddish color.

My friend who bought all my doe kids told me she might like to get some lambs for meat and to start a flock. I told her I would sell Cameron and her son Bilbo, Legolas and Eryn. So she'd have 2 ewes to start a flock of meat sheep. She can breed with a Katahdin and have really good sized lambs and good meat.

So if she gets those 4 and Lori gets another lamb, that'll leave me with 14. I think I might be able to handle that.

If you can't find any eggs...

just look in the big round bale of hay. In the middle, where the sheep made a perfectly good sized hole. Just for the hens to lay all their eggs in.

Freya is getting better!

This is her udder this morning. The right side is full of milk now! The cats and chickens are getting it. I'll try it in about a week. She had a lot of antibiotics and other things. The left side is getting smaller and less hard. I am trying to get as much out of it as I can. It's real thin and brown. I'm rubbing comfrey salve on the udder twice a day.It's looking so much better.

This is her 3 weeks ago. Can't even see the right side.

I sure do hope this clears up and her udder is ok.

240

Ugh, this is not going as well as last time. I have only lost 4 pounds in 2 weeks. I guess the bread has got to go too.

My grand daughter Coryn took all these pictures. She saw my camera one day and asked to use it. She has takes several hundred pictures so far. And I think they are all so good.

This is Coryn. She's 15 and the middle child. Like me. She cut her hair and did the bangs. I love her.

Mommas gone wild!

So that lasted til about 10 oclock last night.

My husband asked me if there were supposed to be any sheep next door in the yard. No, they were supposed to be out back with the goats. Well, there are sheep in the yard next door.

So I got dressed again, in my dirty ole farm clothes, ran outside, and sure enough, there'a all the crazy momma sheep, standing at the little gate that leads to the pasture where all the screaming lambs were.

So went ahead and put the darm mommas back over there with their poor little lambs. Who, by the way, were doing just FINE earlier!

Don't they all look so happy together?????

We went out back to see what happened. So this gate was just laying flat on the ground. They had picked it up and thrown it down on the ground...

and got to this cattle panel, that I had just like this. And proceeded to move it to the middle of the yard.

So now, they are all back together again, after a very loud stressful day (for me!). I am putting a sign out front in a few minutes. I have them on Craig's list in Chattanooga, Atlanta, Knoxville and Nashville. Plus on face book. I just might have to take them to a sale barn. And I really do not want to do that.

Just TOO many sheep!!

Time to wean.

So yesterday, I decided I would separate the lambs from the moms today. I called my friend Craig for some extra hands. He came. I got everyone in the stall with feed. Then I handed each lamb to Craig and he went to the other stall. My husband opened the door for him. And Kansas was supposed to be inside with the lambs to keep them from going out when the door opened. Well, it worked til the 3rd lamb came in. One lamb got out! So we left her til we got them all in. We had to take the wire off the top half of the door so he wouldn't have to open it, just put them in through the top. So when we got them all in and just the one lamb was still out, we started trying to round her up. Well, she went right through a hole in the side of the wall that I had there for the chickens to get in when I had the door shut. It was just big enough for her to get in with the other lambs!!!! So that went better than I anticipated. It's REALLY hard to catch just 1 lamb!

Got the mommas out and into the very back pasture, where the goats are. Kind of far enough away but they can still hear the lambs. I left the boys with the lambs to take care of.

Amarillo and Annabelle will not leave the fence here. They are just making it worse for their babies. I told them they'd thank me later. All the others are in the barn, where it's cool, just laying there taking it easy. Like moms without kids do!

I hope this won't take to awfully long for them to get used to the idea that this is a good thing! The poor mommas are so worn down right now. There are a few of them that keep getting sick with barber pole worms. So I hope this will help them to get better. The lambs are 3 months old now. I've never done this before, but I thought I better do it now, so they ewes will start looking better. 

Sheep and lamb sale!

 These lambs have got to go! They are 3 months old. I have no room to separate them for weaning. And the poor ewes are wearing down.

I have 14 lambs. 7 ewes and 7 castrated ram lambs. I might keep a few of the lambs, but really don't need to.

They are all so cute. And I named all the rams after hobbits and elves. How stupid of me! I really want to keep Bilbo. He's the biggest boy and so funny! He's Cameron's.

Then there's Darla's boys, Frodo and Sam. I might keep Sam too.

Then Amarillo's boys, Merry and Pippin. I love their faces. I might keep Merry.

Then Campbelle had twins, a boy and girl. His name is Tom Bombadill.

And Adalaide also had boy-girl twins. Named him Legolas.

Then all the girls. I want to keep Galadriel, Elanor, Elin and Ella.

But then, I really have too many sheep. I have 8 ewes. So if I kept 6 lambs, that's 14. Still too many. UGH!

They are all SO cute. And sweet.. But they do need to go.

This is Cameron. Last night, she busted through the fence to the garden, down below the big garden. There were about 6 sheep in there. And, my husband had taken the fence down by the road a few days ago. I just about had a fit when I saw them down there. I didn't care that they were in the garden. But there was no fence to keep them from the road! So I finally got them all back across the the driveway to the North pasture. Where they will stay for awhile.

I might end up selling her too. But she's Bilbo's mother.

So, if there are any readers close by me, or know anyone looking for nice wool and meat sheep, please let them know. I really have too many sheep! If I had known last year that I wasn't going to be able to use the pasture next door anymore, I would never have bred these ewes.

244...

Is what I weighed last Monday. OMG! Well, actually, I was thinking I was more like 270 or something. So not quite as bad as I was thinking. But still, BAD!

I went down to S. Ga. week before last, to see my sister. The first motel I stayed in had big mirrors all over in the bathroom. I almost cried! It was awful.

So I decided when I got back home, that I was getting back on the no sugar, no flour wagon again. And I've done really good. I have lost 6 pounds already!!! Down to 238.

So, I will try to only  weigh on Monday mornings. And do a little post about the weight loss. This big ole tummy has got to go!

I already feel so much better, just not eating sweets. It was really getting bad, I'm telling you. Back to the old ways, so fast. And it's so easy!

So I am going to do this again. I have to.

It's just plumb HOT y'all!

Freya...

this is Freya when I brought her and Olga home last Monday morning. She could barely stand. She was so sick.

I am not blaming anyone for this at all. Freya is a very persnickety goat. She does not like most people. And when my friend would come to milk her if I went away a few days, she never could catch her. She's just that way.

I never thought this would happen though, when I took her and Olga to stay with her, so I could have a little break. And be able to go places. Like to see my sister down in South Ga. That's where I was when she called to say Freya was really sick. She was doing all she knew to do for her. I was giving her suggestions too. But didn't know she was this bad.

They'd only been there a few weeks. But my friend also had all 4 of their doe kids. She had put them all together when I first took them to her. And immediately Freya's triplets went right to her and started nursing. And they are almost as big as her. That was probably the first mistake.

Then the heat. And not the best shelter for goats. Then she moved the 3 milk goats to a pen alone. But the kids could still see their mommas. So stress was a big factor too.

She had gotten some Today for what looked like mastitis. And was rubbing her udder with peppermint oil. Had her in a small pen alone with hay and water.

This started Saturday, a week from yesterday. I came home when she called Sunday morning. I went to pick them up Monday morning. Freya looked SO bad. I almost cried. We got the goats in my Trooper and back home. I thought they would both perk up when they got back home. Into their barn. I put a fan out there for them. Got to work on Freya.

I started giving her antibiotics because she sounded horrible, like my sister when she has bronchitis. So I was thinking she probably had pneumonia too, on top of mastitis. And stress. Also gave her B shots, Red Cell, probios. Also mixed up some salt, baking soda, sugar and ACV to add to their water for electrolytes. Started feeding Freya kale, spinach, parsley, collard greens. I went out and cut anything green I could find. Anything green. She ate!

Gradually, every day, she started getting stronger and eating more. And getting farther outside the barn! Eating grass.

So now she looks like this. I'll spare more pictures. Like her udder. The whole right side was gone, like so dried up. The left side was hard. No fever. No pain. I kept giving her the Today and antibiotics and everything else. And I started rubbing comfrey salve on her udder. Gradually, her right side is coming back! And has milk in it! But the left side is still not too good yet. It is improving!

So, this morning, I go out and to milk Olga and feed Freya and give her all her stuff. And can't find Freya. Anywhere. Olga was there, ready to be milked. But no Freya.

After I milked Olga I went to look for Freya. And finally found her out in the jungle next door. See if you can find her.

 She is SO much better today from a week ago. I just never gave up and neither did she! She's a fighter for sure!

And I did call a vet, but really, he doesn't know any more than I do about goats or sheep. I started doing research. And called my 2 goat friends. Who are amazing! Could NOT have done this without them for sure! And sent them up dates every day. They are both amazed too.

So this is a true goat miracle. And I am getting a gallon a day of good milk from Olga alone.

Old barn

This is what's left of the old barn and shed next door, where my sheep used to go. A few months back, the guy that owns this, started tearing down all the bad parts of the barn and fixed what was left of it up. It looks good. Then he started tearing out all the fences. There was a long 3 sided shed where the brown ground is. He tore that down last week.

I took this photo last night. I love how peaceful it looks.

All this wool!

All this wool is from 1 ewe. Buttercup. She has the most beautiful soft wool of all my sheep. This is some I just took out of the washer to be rinsed.

And this is some that's drying on the big long rack.

This is some more that didn't fit on the big long rack.

                                                   This is how long it is. It's just beautiful.

I have been washing wool the past few weeks now. I have already washed 4 huge bags full. I only have about 12 more to go. Still debating whether to take it to that little mill in Tn to make into roving. It's $20 a pound. So I figured if I did take it, being clean would be less weight. I don't know.

Does anyone else take their wool to a mill? What is your experience? I think it will be so much easier to just have roving to spin. Not have to go through all the carding. Which I don't really like doing.

100

She's finally REALLY 100 today!

This lady, who has been telling everyone she meets that she's 100 or 102 or 104, is finally 100 years old today!

She's an amazing lady. Still lives in her home that her parents built when she was 8 years old. Has been married  3 times. Has 3 wonderful grown children who love her dearly and take such good care of her. I love her too. She's just amazing. I can finally say I know someone who is a centenarian!

Ooppps, didn't mean to put 2 on here.

Mrs. Thomas. I remember about 33 years ago when I first met her. We bought a house a few houses down from her. We were out in the yard one day in early spring and she came around the house and down to where we were and introduced herself. She was beautiful and tall and just stunning. She was a potter and an artist and an avid gardener. Was always working in her very large yard, full of azaleas and box woods that her mother had planted so many years ago. (She got me started on gardening and gave me many plants and flowers from her yard.) It's still a beautiful yard, but you can tell she has not been in it in years. But she has a few yard people who are working on it and it's getting back to where it used to be.

Me and a friend home schooled our kids for a few years and Mrs. T taught them all art every other week. They loved it. She was a teacher for 10 years too. I still have some of the things my kids made there.

She used to go off on long trips during the summers and I'd be the "care taker" of her place while she was gone. I loved going over there and walking through her yard, watering all her plants and flowers, or just sitting in her house for awhile. I love how it smells. She has the most beautiful stone sun room that has the best view of her yard and all the bird feeders we keep full for the birds. And squirrels.

Lots of good memories! I hope she has many many more good years with us all.