In the garden.

Can't really see it too good here, but this is some of the buckwheat I planted a few weeks ago. It's in front of the bee hive, so I hope when it flowers, the bees will  get what they need. I also planted a few other little patches.

This is the kale, turnips, radishes, lettuce and more buckwheat. It needs rain bad. Really dry. We had a good rain Saturday, but not enough. I could stand out there all day and water with the hose, but it doesn't do a thing like rain water does.

There is a row of green beans to the left here. And I had planted collard greens in the right bed but all that came up were tomato seedlings. All over. And hardly any collards at all. So I tilled it back up and will have to get more seeds tomorrow. I want a lot of collards!

I also need to plants stinging nettles and garlic soon.

I walked past the hive the other day and got scared. There were no bees at all in the entrance. But we had a cold night and they were all still inside, where it was warm. Today, they are all out working, bringing in lots of yellow pollen, from the goldenrod, I think. They should have plenty of good honey to get them through the winter now.

I was trying to find some pants to wear the other morning, but I have none. I have lost so much weight, none of my old pants fit me. I will have to make a trip to the thrift store for winter clothes now. I still have 1-2 pounds to get under 200. I rode my bike through the battlefield park Sunday with some friends from church. Ended up riding 9 miles. It was fun. I thought surely I'd lose a few pounds. I am not giving up.

Around the farm...

Hello! I feel like I haven't posted in a long time. I just haven't had much to blog about. This morning, I took a lot of pictures. So here goes.

We had a lot of Japanese beetles this year. They ate all the leaves on all the apple trees. So not many apples at all. But I started to notice the leaves growing back on the early June apple tree and then it got blossoms. I have never seen this happen before. Then, last week, I saw these little tiny apples. How cool is that? I don't know if they will actually make bigger apples, because we are already getting cold at night here. But we will see.

And my very first elderberry syrup. With my own elderberries and honey!!!! It's SO good too. It's not deep purple like the dried berries I've used before. But it's amazing! I will have no sniffles this winter!

I made 3 more batches of soap last week. No more til I can make some money and order more lye. I am out.

The top left is Dragon's Blood. It's a fragrance oil. I have noticed the FO turns the soap way darker. But it smells really good.

Top right is Blackberry Sage.

Bottom left is Lemongrass.

Trying to get ready for a show Sept. 26th. I need to make more needle felted sheep and dryer balls.

My dread-locked lamb, Cara. I love her bangs.

And her twin (not really, but they look so much alike) Buttercup. She has the same dread-locked bangs. So cute.

Misha, the alpaca. He always looks like this, with his ears straight up.

This is the way Sugar always looks. Ears down and that look on his face that just kills me. He is letting me get a little closer all the time now. But still won't let me touch him. Funniest animals ever, these alpaca boys.

Now I am off to my knitting class. I am knitting myself a sweater. I post pics later. But I love it already. And I hope I can get it done soon. It's cold outside!

I hope you all had a great weekend and a good week.

Fall is already in the air...

Just look at all the leaves on the ground here. It already looks and feels like fall and we still have a few more weeks of summer.

Freja is so pretty. I am only milking once a day now and just getting a little over a quart. I have 2 people who get a half gallon each a week, so it takes 2 days to get that. The rest is ours. And it's so good. I am making lots of goat milk soap now too. I'll milk her as long as she has milk.

I'll be getting the buck Odin back the end of September, so will start the breeding then. I'll just breed Freja and Olga this year. Inga and Alva are too young and small right now.

I think I have talked myself out of breeding the sheep this year again. I just don't want to have to separate the ewe lambs, wethers and alpacas. That would mean 2 round bales of hay for each of those groups and we just can't afford it right now. So I will wait til next year when I can just breed all of the ewes. That's 10 ewes. I keep thinking of all the lams they had last year. 20 of them from just 8 or 9 ewes. And I have nightmares of a lot of bottle babies. I don't want to do that! So we will wait.