Category Archive: farming

2015
05/08

Category:
farming
Life

COMMENTS:
2 Comments »

We went to the eye doctor this morning and then lunch. When we came home, we did not see Gracie anywhere. I changed and went looking for her. Yes, she was hiding and in definite labor. So the rest of the day was spent as a midwife. We got her into a jug and she was very calm with me beside her talking softly and some petting.

It took awhile, but finally, some tiny hoofs

And eventually a little nose to go with them

Hello world! I’ve arrived.

This first time mom isn’t quite sure what this is, but knows to clean it.

And she’s not quite sure what this fellow is doing. But finally they get it together and they are a happy team. I marvel at how the Creator has given these little ones the instinct to do the things that need to be done. They will stay together in this small jug for a week until they are bonded, shots are given, and any other medical care is completed. Then they join the flock.

This is the curious crew who all must come and say hello to the new one.

And so goes another day on the farm. There should be another 3 days like this some time this month.

2015
05/02

Category:
farming
quilts
Shopping

COMMENTS:
2 Comments »

Our first iris of the season.

I went shopping late yesterday and now have the fabrics to make this quilt. It set my numbers back by 3 yards, but I can live with that. I needed one yard for the front and maybe 2 for the back of this quilt.

I really thought that with us gone most of the day, this ewe would do more than just eat grass. She has been this way for a week now. Apparently she is no hurry, though she should be as there is a runner up waiting her turn. Now it’s a gamble on who goes first. Any bets? I’m pretty sure the last one will be the end of May as that was observed.

2015
05/01

Category:
farming
spinning

COMMENTS:
2 Comments »

I started washing the fleeces with the least lanolin which were the Babydoll fleeces. They can take cooler water to get clean. So with 120 degree water and some Dawn, I filled the tub, then put the fleece in to soak 1/2 hour and then spun out the water. The fleece must be removed from tub before filling again to avoid felting. I repeated that, then filled with water again for rinse. 2 washes and 2 rinses later, a fleece is as clean as it will get before picking. Multiply this by 3 and it was most of a day’s work.

2015
04/30

Category:
farming
quilts

COMMENTS:
Comments Closed

The cutting table is once again usable. That was a huge job, which took me parts of 3 days.

When I cut all the squares earlier, I saved anything that would be a strip. I trimmed them so they have straight sides and are ready to use. Then I put them by colors into two boxes. This one has all the full width pieces and the other box has all the other strips.

This 13″ box holds the pieces that are a bit larger and I might want to use for applique or ??

I thought for sure we were going to see Grace’s baby today, so I confined her. As soon as the grain was gone she was having none of that, so she spent the day with her friends. Maybe it will be a May Day gift.

2015
04/29

Category:
farming
Life

COMMENTS:
Comments Closed

Shearing day arrived!. Fortunately these sisters work together to make the job faster.

The sheep being sheared are relatively immobile when set up on their back-end like this.

But little Ava did not like that they took her favorite adult and were working on him.

5 sheep, 5 big piles of wool. At this point, I just piled them on the wheel barrow to bring them up to the house and get them washed, which will happen when the sun comes out again. And the sheep are bare. With all that wool off, it is clear that we should be getting a couple of lambs in the very near future.

2015
04/26

Category:
farming
Garden
quilts

COMMENTS:
2 Comments »

Several finishes including a quilt

Several things are now finished. It seems for so long, one isn’t accomplishing anything, and then all at once several things cross the finish line. Though still beautiful these are the last of the tulips and are nearly ended.

Another finish is that the fellow who occasionally is able to help me, had about 4 hours today, so he was able to finish up the garden box in the hoop house. Now this week, I will get the dirt smoothed out and get the fertilizers on ready for the tomato plants.

He also put up a different fencing on the driveway side here. We put a low fence up originally because we didn’t want it to look bad. That didn’t work as the dogs walked right over it. So now a field fence and maybe if I can keep the chickens away long enough, some sweet peas and other plants to grow up on it. I like the chickens and they do a lot of bug work, but they are really hard on plant starts.

The lawn mowers are working out well. So far, the mowing tractor has not come out of the garage this season. That gives me a two for one. No mowing and no hay buying as long as the grasses are good.

This quilt is finished at 48″ square. I gave the blue one like this to a little boy today who is just 18 months old. I wanted a photo, but he insisted on burying himself in it. See if you can find him.

He appears to be enjoying it.

I’m looking at the weather forecast and thinking that there may not be much sewing in this week – more gardening.

2015
04/21

Category:
farming
food
Garden

COMMENTS:
Comments Closed

All 4 of these bee boxes are now painted. Tomorrow, I will check and see if we need to add another to either or both of the hives.

As I was weeding in preparation for planting, I found a few potatoes. I’m not sure if we missed them or if they were tiny last fall when we harvested and were left behind and have now grown.

OH, yes, and I found this little fellow, who I promptly put in a safer place. Our place is full of toads, which eat bugs. We also have the chickens, so with all these bug predators, what’s with all the bugs.

Do you know what kind of bug this is. We have a number of them both out here in the garden and in the hoop house.

By the time, I finished weeding that 20′ row, I had a large kettle of potatoes.

For lunch, we had one of our favorite dishes – scalloped potatoes, to which we added a salad with artichoke hearts, celery, carrots, capers, lettuce, and cauliflower.

2015
04/20

Category:
farming
Garden
Life
quilts
Sewing

COMMENTS:
1 Comment »

Globetrotting quilt on frame and an Izzy bag

This is now all set up to quilt. It is not started because I was blessed with a young woman who is interested in apprenticing with animal care and yard work. We spent quite awhile together looking around at what we do here etc. It is pure pleasure to find someone else who enjoys and wants to learn about the things that you are interested in. I may just adopt her (lol)

And though I cannot show you the photos as they aren’t copy and paste, some of you may really enjoy these sites about Izzy MEIMassb. She is a fantastic designer and teacher. She goes into such detail that you can make the same beautiful items she shows. I absolutely must make the bag soon.

Her about: http://www.izzymeimsaab.com/about/4583430510

Instructions on how to put a zipper into any bag. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dnvM41V-3E

2015
04/19

Category:
farming
Knitting
Life

COMMENTS:
2 Comments »

Ostrich plume dish cloth and a dog

With such stunning weather and knowing there is work to be done for months without end., of course the most important thing was to finish this dish cloth. (It is called Ostrich Plume by Edith Taylor and I used Peaches and Cream)

Now, since I was sitting outside, who should show up for a good brushing but Beau. Look at that smile!. He is absolutely thrilled to get the attention. Currently, he’s shedding a lot of fur to be spun. I think he was releasing more fur as I brushed just to keep me working on him longer.

The alpacas have been moved to another pasture to give the pasture they were in a chance to grow back. Rotating pastures can be challenging, but does give the animals more food to eat. And somehow, I managed to keep busy without doing too much gardening. That will change tomorrow as I have a lot of seedlings to move into 2″ pots.

2015
04/17

Category:
farming
Garden
Knitting
Life

COMMENTS:
Comments Closed

garden continues

Continuing from yesterday: the fertilizer was raked in, then watered and a double row of potatoes was planted on each side of the path. That is a total of 40 feet with double rows.. The garlic was planted to the back. I have more potatoes and garlic to plant but will have to weed the next level below to have room. That will give me something to do next week. I think I’ll rake the hay out of the aisle and just burn those weeds when I burn the ones on the big slopes between the boxes. There are still beets, cukes, corn and other items going out here plus what is going into the hoop house late.

Ava is so smart. There are two feed pans in the sheep enclosure. She watches me and when I put some in one pan, she runs to the other so she is there to get it first. The others come over when the first pan is empty.

There have been several car trips this week, but not a lot of knitting. Today, we picked up the rototiller from its annual maintenance. So I have knit this far on another dish cloth. The name of the pattern is Ostrich Plume dish cloth, It is a 4 row sequence with only row 3 really creating the pattern. I’m using a Peaches and Crème yarn.

Category Archive: farming

It took awhile, but finally, some tiny hoofs

And eventually a little nose to go with them

Hello world! I’ve arrived.

This first time mom isn’t quite sure what this is, but knows to clean it.

This is the curious crew who all must come and say hello to the new one.

And so goes another day on the farm. There should be another 3 days like this some time this month.

Our first iris of the season.

I went shopping late yesterday and now have the fabrics to make this quilt. It set my numbers back by 3 yards, but I can live with that. I needed one yard for the front and maybe 2 for the back of this quilt.

The cutting table is once again usable. That was a huge job, which took me parts of 3 days.

When I cut all the squares earlier, I saved anything that would be a strip. I trimmed them so they have straight sides and are ready to use. Then I put them by colors into two boxes. This one has all the full width pieces and the other box has all the other strips.

This 13″ box holds the pieces that are a bit larger and I might want to use for applique or ??

I thought for sure we were going to see Grace’s baby today, so I confined her. As soon as the grain was gone she was having none of that, so she spent the day with her friends. Maybe it will be a May Day gift.

Shearing day arrived!. Fortunately these sisters work together to make the job faster.

The sheep being sheared are relatively immobile when set up on their back-end like this.

But little Ava did not like that they took her favorite adult and were working on him.

Several things are now finished. It seems for so long, one isn’t accomplishing anything, and then all at once several things cross the finish line. Though still beautiful these are the last of the tulips and are nearly ended.

Another finish is that the fellow who occasionally is able to help me, had about 4 hours today, so he was able to finish up the garden box in the hoop house. Now this week, I will get the dirt smoothed out and get the fertilizers on ready for the tomato plants.

The lawn mowers are working out well. So far, the mowing tractor has not come out of the garage this season. That gives me a two for one. No mowing and no hay buying as long as the grasses are good.

This quilt is finished at 48″ square. I gave the blue one like this to a little boy today who is just 18 months old. I wanted a photo, but he insisted on burying himself in it. See if you can find him.

He appears to be enjoying it.

I’m looking at the weather forecast and thinking that there may not be much sewing in this week – more gardening.

All 4 of these bee boxes are now painted. Tomorrow, I will check and see if we need to add another to either or both of the hives.

As I was weeding in preparation for planting, I found a few potatoes. I’m not sure if we missed them or if they were tiny last fall when we harvested and were left behind and have now grown.

OH, yes, and I found this little fellow, who I promptly put in a safer place. Our place is full of toads, which eat bugs. We also have the chickens, so with all these bug predators, what’s with all the bugs.

Do you know what kind of bug this is. We have a number of them both out here in the garden and in the hoop house.

By the time, I finished weeding that 20′ row, I had a large kettle of potatoes.

For lunch, we had one of our favorite dishes – scalloped potatoes, to which we added a salad with artichoke hearts, celery, carrots, capers, lettuce, and cauliflower.

With such stunning weather and knowing there is work to be done for months without end., of course the most important thing was to finish this dish cloth. (It is called Ostrich Plume by Edith Taylor and I used Peaches and Cream)

Now, since I was sitting outside, who should show up for a good brushing but Beau. Look at that smile!. He is absolutely thrilled to get the attention. Currently, he’s shedding a lot of fur to be spun. I think he was releasing more fur as I brushed just to keep me working on him longer.

Ava is so smart. There are two feed pans in the sheep enclosure. She watches me and when I put some in one pan, she runs to the other so she is there to get it first. The others come over when the first pan is empty.

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