Around the farm. Memorial Day 2016

 It is SO dry and hot here right now. Just all of a sudden too. The first 3 weeks of May were great. No need for the AC at all. Then BOOM! Hot and dry. No rain since the 21st. The ground is cracked bad. So I am watering everything every day now.

And I bought some bee balm and pineapple sage for the tire garden. My daughter Abby got me that hanging basket for mother's day. I added more soil to the tires too. I hope they make it.

And these poor blueberry bushes. I had totally neglected them. When I looked a few days ago, the berries were almost all shriveled up, like dried berries. So I ran and got the water hose and watered them really good. The next day, the berries were all nice and plump again! So I am watering them every day too.

And the apple trees. Poor things. I put the hose on each one for about 10 minutes each a few days ago. And I'm sprinkling them too.

I just love daisies. They were my bouquet at my weeding. I have a lot that just pop up all over the place. Of course, not where I would like them all to be. So I mow around them and let them be. You can see lots of activity on these. With it being so dry, there's not much else for the butterflies and bees.

I also noticed my elderberry bushes were turning a little yellow. So they all got some water too.

I have lots of bluebirds in the bluebird houses this year! There are usually finches or other small birds in them. But not this year! The bluebirds have taken back their houses! And they are busy little birds too!

These 6 chicks are just about ready to be let out with the big guys. As soon as their bag of grower-starter is done, out they go!

This is my little day lily garden. An elderberry bush popped up here last year. And I put a few peppermint plants in too. I have seen lots of birds in the bath lately!

They finally came to mow and bale the hay a few weeks ago. Now if they'll just come get it. But I think it looks so pretty out in the field. I hope this is not all the hay we have this year. But it doesn't look very good. The weather people are saying it's going to be a dry summer.

I am worried about the bees. Because it's so hot and dry, there is not a good nectar  flow right now.  I was going to try to harvest honey from the big hive this week. I still will, but will have to leave some for the bees. That's why I am planting so many flowers and herbs for them. I did plant a row of buckwheat that they are all over right now. And the daisies too. I also planted the 4 rows of beans and put sunflower seeds down the middle of both. But they haven't come up yet. I am watering them too. I want to get some corn planted as well. But the ground is too hard to till.

So what all have you planted in your gardens? 

Happy birthday Chloe!

 17 years ago today, this beautiful girl was born. I remember it like it was yesterday. She was a beautiful little baby and is turning into a beautiful young lady.

These are older pictures because she hates having her picture taken any more. I love this kid!

Happy birthday Chloe Grace!! We all love you so much! Have a great day!

Glazing

I have a new phone. I got it so I could get one of those squares for the markets and not miss any sales. I bought one when I got the phone but it won't work. My brother tried to get it hooked up down at the barn last weekend, but not good reception way down there. So I have one of those white ones coming. And it's free! But not to use it. I can take cards but I have to manually put in all the info. Which is fine with me. So I am finally caught up to all you smart phone people! I love taking pictures with it. But still have a lot to figure out about it.

So I went to the pottery studio this afternoon to glaze all those pieces I took in a few weeks ago. There were so many! I only got about halfway through and had to leave to milk the poor goaties. I'm going to try to go back Saturday to finish the bigger bowls.

It sure is a time consuming job, this glazing. A lot of thought goes into each piece. First, I have to check each piece and sand any sharp edges. Then I have to decide what color each piece will be. That takes awhile to decide. There are way too many colors to choose from! All the little circle and square colored pieces are samples I chose

Then the bottoms all have to either be dipped in wax or paint it on. That's to keep the glaze from sticking to the bottom, then sticking to the shelves in the kiln and eventually breaking the piece and messing up the shelf. Not a good thing.

Then comes the fun part! Glazing all these. First though, each bucket of glaze has to be stirred quite a bit. Then I don't really like the little  tongs because they leave little spots where they were. So I just hold the handle of the mug and dip, then wait til it's dry and do the handle.

And I tried something different with the 6 bowls. I dipped half in a sea green and the other half in a       light blue. I hope they turn out pretty. I'd like to go back with each bowl and brush on each side with the opposite color with a dry brush. So I hope they don't get fired til I can get back to do that.  I'd like to try doing different things, but it really takes so much time. Which I don't have much of lately.

I also bought 50 more pounds of clay! I hope I can find time next week to play with it.