Kombucha, lilacs, honey and lots of fire wood.

A year ago, when I stopped using sugar, I stopped drinking kombucha. I kept all these scobys though. They never did go bad this whole time and I have never added more tea.

So a few weeks ago I decided to try it again. You can see the scoby hanging down, that's the one I started with. She grew a baby, which is on top.

Yesterday, I noticed that dark stuff at the bottom. I had not seen it until then. Just strange.

This is the new scoby. Looks fine to me. So I went ahead and strained the tea off this morning. That black stuff was just a little bit of "slime" so it's all good.

I made a 2nd ferment, using blueberries and grated ginger. I hope it turns out as good as I think it will. I'll know in a few days.

This is on one of my lilac bushes! Some flowers! I have had these bushes about 6 years now and these are the first flowers. I am very happy to see them!

Last week I went to Hixon to get 15 gallons of honey. 3 5 gallon containers. One of them went to a friend, so we didn't have to pour that. Just 10 gallons. The good part about being the person who goes to get the honey and pour it all into jars is that there is always a little extra. Like a quart and a pint. This and a gallon should last us til I get honey from my bees in June. IF they don't swarm. Which I hope I caught them in time last week. They are still here!!!!

ANd the wood fairy struck again a few days ago! Wood shed is full and the rack is full!! We are set for a few months next winter already. I really like our wood fairy.

I think I have 2 more pottery classes left. Then I called and signed up for a sewing 101 class that starts April 12th for 6 weeks. I am excited about this class. They will teach about my sewing machine and how to cut and read a pattern, which I really need help with bad. So more classes for me!

I was making soap awhile ago and a friend called. Her doe was in labor. Her first kidding. So I got to help birth a kid over the phone while making soap today. How cool! Everything turned out great and she had a beautiful little single doe kid! Just another day on the farm.

1 week old today

 These little cuties are 1 week today! They are so sweet and adorable. I love them.

This is Sorren, the only buck kid. He's doing really good, despite a bad scare with his umbilical cord. But it's all good now.

And cute little Rika. She fell asleep in my lap yesterday, while the rest of the kids were jumping all over me and eating my hair.

Olga is a really good mother too. These are her first kids. They seem to favor her left teat, so the right needs to be milked a lot. Which is not easy, let me tell ya. Her teats are not long at all. In fact, I can only get my thumb and index finger on them. Fun, right? It takes at least 30 minutes to get just that side milked. I can't even imagine what her udder will be like when I start putting the kids in a crate at night. I might just have to invest in a milking machine, just for her.

Just look at these cute little elf ears on Astrid! She is the sweetest little kid ever. This is how she is a lot, jumping on my leg.

Astrid and Isla are 3 weeks old now. My how time flies.

I love this! They were both laid out in the sun this morning. So peaceful!

We had a wonderful day with my family yesterday. They all came out for Easter dinner. My mom even dyed some eggs. Chloe and Coryn said they were too old to hunt eggs, so I did. My daughters hid them and I went out with my egg basket. Found them all, with a little help from Abby. So fun! Who's too old to hunt eggs? Not me.

I hope you all had a wonderful day, celebrating our risen Lord!

Appalachian egg basket

 I went to a basket weaving class last Saturday. I always wondered why it's called basket weaving. I found out. For 3 hours, I was weaving this little egg basket! You'd think something so small wouldn't have taken so long. But it did.

The handle is wisteria, the ribs privet and the rest is kudzu. This was still a little wet when I took these pictures. And I had to wait to snip off all the little loose ends. It's not perfect, but I love it. And I made it myself! If I had thought about it more and not just plowed into it, I would have made the kudzu go the same way. Like use the outside of the vine, not let it get all twisted. You can see how it's light and dark. Some of the ladies had designs where some was light then some was dark. But mine is all willy nilly, just like me. When I make another one, I'll be more careful.

It's just perfect for the 8 eggs my 8 hens lay nearly every day! I don't think it would hold 9 eggs.

It was not a good time to have a basket class, right at the end of winter. Bill said the best time to gather kudzu is in winter. Well, too late now, right? But I can use other materials, like honeysuckle. Which takes dye really good. I have tons of honeysuckle and dye. I will have to boil the vines 1 1/2 hours, then strip the bark. I also have plenty of wisteria and privet too. So there might be some more basket weaving in my future. It really was fun to create something useful from weeds.