Rainy Monday...

 It's just a wet day today. We sure do need it. I sure wish I had found some kale seeds though. I'll just have to wait awhile now to get anything planted. A late fall garden, I guess.

  Went out to check on the animals. Saw the sheep and alpacas, but no cow. I thought maybe she was over in the little barn across the field. Some of the sheep were under the shelter on the garden shed. And some were under the eave of the studio. So walked over and peeked inside the barn stall. There was Louise, laying down. She just about took up that whole stall! She's pretty big. It's probably 20x20 and she was in the middle.

  The 3 lambs look so much better today. Cara has just a little bit of puffiness under her jaw. The other 2 don;t have any. I'll not use any more worm meds and see what happens. But to me, they look good. And have more energy.

  Hubby got back last night from going to Indiana to get the grands. They had spent about 2 weeks with cousins in Wisconsin. They met husband in Indiana and they spent the night with his son and kids. On the way back home, they stopped off in Knob Lick, Kentucky, to pick up my antique lawn furniture from Miss Wilma. It's raining or I'd get a picture. It's a metal chair and a glider. Painted yellow and white. I'll put them out in the garden, in front of the garden shed. So I can sit and rest after working in the garden.

  It's just a nice day to stay inside and do nothing. But I need to go take my oldest grand, Chloe, to her school to see why she hasn't gotten her report card yet. I think she said she owed some lunch money. Then I want to go to get some activated charcoal so I can make a facial soap. Can't wait to make some. Also want to make some pumpkin spice. I got a little pumpkin from the farmer's market Sat. to use.

  I was making some chicken salad the other day. The dogs are right there in the kitchen every time I am. Waiting for something to fall or land in their mouths. I was cutting grapes and gave one to Bubba to see what he'd do. He ate it. So gave him some more. He likes to catch food too. He's good at it. Stella didn't like the grapes. I was cutting up some cantaloupe yesterday and he ate some of that too. Silly dog!

Happy Monday, y'all!!

I hope this works.

 I asked my friend Sarah a few days ago if she had a dry cow that I could borrow awhile. I had read that cows and horses don't carry the same worms as sheep and goats and were good together. Sarah has 3 Jersey cows she's been milking. But Louise must have had a miscarriage a month or so ago. So she needs to dry up. So her husband just brought her out here to stay awhile. I forgot how BIG cows are! And how stinkin' messy they are too. Yuck!

The sheep and alpacas are NOT too happy about these plans. Not at all. No siree. Not happy.

                                     They all had a little private meeting way over in the little yard.

But Louise didn't care at all. She was munching away on their mineral block. They also had a few things to say about that!

Still trying to decide on a plan of action. Haven't come up with anything good yet. I did put a board across the smaller gate, so the cow can't get in this yard, but the sheep can go in and out, to the field. When they think she's not looking. They'll get used to her, I suppose. Some day.

Meanwhile, Louise is going to eat. She sure has plenty to keep her busy. She didn't have anything like this where she was.  I hope she doesn't get sick.

So life on the farm is constantly changing. Still thinking about some pigs too. I have that electric netting fence I think I'll use to move the pigs around, following the sheep and cows. When they are over in the other pasture. This one isn't mine. Just borrowing it. So don't want to put pigs out there. But I also heard pigs will take care of the worm load as well. So between Miss Louise and a few pigs, these sheep should be ok. And Mel is coming tomorrow to get Charlotte and Claire, the 2 lambs I wanted to sell. This will leave me with 12 Finn sheep and 2 alpacas. But I have a big ole cow now.

Worms and bees...

I went to the farmer's market this morning. I had a soap sale this week at both markets, trying to make room for all my new soaps. I am going to take a short break from both markets, so I can make more soaps and salves and also lip balms. And wash wool for more dryer balls and needle felted animals. I need to build up my fall and Christmas inventory. Now to just get motivated. I am such a procrastinator though. I'll wait til the very last few days and then get busy. If I have so much time, I think I have SO MUCH TIME and will get to it later. Then later comes, and I have to work, work, work! But I think I do better like this. I just need to change my way of thinking.

And I am very discouraged and upset about my lambs. Poor little Cara barely made it up with the rest of the flock this morning when I went out to check on them. Poor baby. So I gave her another B complex shot and went ahead and wormed all 3 of the bottle lambs with more Dectomax. And gave them all sheep nutri drench.

Today, after market, I went to Tractor Supple to get some Safegaurd, which I read kills tape worms. That's what I saw in Cassidy's fecal the other day. There were 4 wormers that specifically worked on tape worms and that's all they had. I also got a 40# bag of Diotemacious Earth to sprinkle around where they take their siestas. I'll do that every day. Also put some in their feed trough. I so hate this.

I talked to my friend Sarah, who has 3 milk cows. I asked her if she had any that were dry now. I had read that cows and horses don't get the same parasites as sheep and goats and work well together. I think cows like the taller grass , where sheep like the lower grass. So she has 1 dry cow that is really not feasible for her to be feeding like for a whole year, so she's going to see if they can get her out here. That will be a good thing to help with all the horrible worms we are plagued with. I hope, anyway. Has anyone else had luck doing this? I'd love to hear about it. I just feel like I'm such a horrible shepherd right now. I wish I had a dry lot and a load of hay. I will be getting some hay and will try to keep them in for awhile. See if that helps.

I am so happy that I still have 2 hives of happy busy honey bees in the middle of August!!! My 1st hive last year lasted about 2 months, and was invaded by wax moths. Bees all left. So I have no idea what I am supposed to be doing right now for them. I have a friend coming Monday to get the last 2 lambs I wanted to sell. He has bees and said he'd check them while he's here. See if I can harvest a few frames of honey maybe? We shall see. I hope I can take at least 2 from each hive. But they are the busiest girls. They are coming and going all day. They are drinking water from the sheep's trough. I have bits of wood in there so they don't drown. But there is always some that do. I hate that. I also have a small kiddie pool in the side yard that is a tadpole nursery. The bees drink from there as well. I have a big piece of wood in that pool so they can drink from that. I love these bees.

I read somewhere that an older man, who'd had a few hives for a few years now in Missouri I think, was attacked by his bees while he was mowing. He died. They said he had a heart attack, that's what killed him. But he was covered in bees. So sad. It makes me think I better be careful and more aware of my bees when I mow around their hives. Anything could happen, I guess. You never know about wild creatures.

I don't know if you can zoom in on this pic or not, but these bees coming in are just loaded with bright orange, almost red, pollen. All on their little tiny legs. So cool!

But I am so happy both my hives are doing so well. Now to just get them through winter.

So I have THE WHOLE WEEKEND to myself!!!! Husband went to Indiana to get grand kids. What shall I do? It just feels good to have TOTAL quiet right now. No TV! Seems like he's constantly got that darn TV on.  There is so much to do. But there's always tomorrow, right?