Nothing like a little sting in the morning...

to get a gal going. I don't mean a bee sting either. I put a Sting CD in and cranked it up. I love Sting.

I have so much to do and just can't seem to get going lately. So I am making bread, dog food and going to make my first batch of mozzarella later today. I have a guy coming to mow the sheep pasture. All the dead ugly stuff on top so the new grasses can grow. And I have to take little Ira Joe and Ella Belle to get their horns burned off. A friend does this for me because I just cannot seem to do it myself. I can cut off a chicken head and do all that gory stuff, but can't seem to hurt my little kids. She's also going to castrate my 3 ram lambs in a few months too. She will do the cut and pull method, which I prefer over the banding. On the way, I'll drop my soil samples off to get tested. Should know by the end of next week.

It's such a beautiful day and supposed to warm up. I might go get some good garden soil too and start working on the garden. It's still too wet to plow but I can do some raised bed areas for root crops. I need to plant carrots, beets, lettuce, mustard, collards, kale, spinach. It's getting late!

What's going on in your gardens so far? Are you having nice weather where you are yet? These March winds will dry it up here. But we have some rain showers heading our way again.

Spring's a comin' y'all!

It was beautiful yesterday. But still too wet to get in the garden, since it rained all day Monday. I walked around the yard to see what all was popping up. The day lillies are. We've had daffodils for over a month already. I picked some to put inside. Then I noticed my Red Maple tree that I got last year. It didn't look too good toward the end of the year. But now looks like it'll be ok. We've had tons of rain.

The azaleas all looks good too. I have 3 Crepe Myrtles that are later to get leaves. I had 4 blueberry bushes, but the dogs, when they get to playing real rough, have broken one of them. So the 3 are getting little buds now. I'll have to get more because they like where I put them this time. I have tried for years all over this place, to get blueberry bushes to grow and they've all died. They are back by the fence in this picture. I need about about 5 more.

I also have 4 fig trees, 9 apple trees and 3 pear trees. I have yet to get pears from those trees. There have been a few though. Also have 6 grape vines.

But the plant I am most excited about is the elderberry. I have about 4 on this farm. And they do get big beautiful berry clusters. Then, before I know it, they're all gone. because the birds love them more than I do. But this year, I am ahead of them. I'm going to put netting over them when they start to show the flowers. I found a recipe for elderberry lemonade that is SO good that I want to make more of too.

I love this time of year, when all the new life starts popping up all over. The thing I don't like is all the things I am allergic to. For over a month now, my eyes have been so itchy and watery and horrible. And it will only get worse. I don't like this part at all.

Home made toothpaste

I know there are a lot of posts out there about this toothpaste. But I love it and want to share the recipe for those who haven't tried it yet. Even my grand kids like it.

I have this really good coconut oil from Whole Foods, some good baking soda, and some peppermint and spearmint EO. I use 3 tablespoons each of the oil and soda. Mix it up real good and then add about 20 drops of either EO or both and mix well. You can taste and see if it needs more EO. I like a lot. It works so good at keeping the teeth nice and bright and my mouth feels fresh for hours after using it. I love it. My grand daughter Kansas used some of my husbands toothpaste the other day and said it was way too sweet for her. I guess she's just used to this now. And it's SO much better than that other stuff. Which says on the label to not swallow. Well, this you could eat. I will never go back to store bought toothpaste ever again.

I hope y'all will try it. And this in the picture will go a long way.