Though it’s difficult to see from this photo, I filled a 5 gallon bucket about 2/3 full of potatoes this morning. We planted quickly in bad ground about 8″ apart in long rows. I am delighted that we have so many potatoes. They are so near the surface, however, that we will either have to cover them for the winter and take as needed or take them from the ground before freezing and hope the garage will be cool enough.
Yesterday, our son and his wife picked up their new Abyssinian kitten. He is 3 months old and they have been a bit impatient to be able to take him home. He is the cutest thing, and has some growing to do to grow into those ears.Clockwork; new washing machine and vet visit
CLOCKWORK
Today went like clockwork with all the appointments happening right on time. First Bracken and I spent two hours picking berries. Then the fellow I hired to help me catch up on some barn cleaning showed up.
NEW WASHING MACHINE
We decided to purchase a washing machine with an agitator spindle because we have not been happy with the way the clothes were being cleaned, plus we like the tub fill of water at times to soak the clothes. Since our last machine lasted just over a year, we decided to roll the years back and get one like we had a few years ago. This is a 4.2 GE model. The installers were here 5 minutes early and were done in 20 minutes, taking the broken one with them.
VET VISIT
Butler needs some health tests before he can join the other boys, which he so badly wants to do. Here he is watching them while waiting for the vet and his long needle to draw blood.
And after all that, I had a 3 hour phone conference as we are setting up a new sheep registry. It has been a very busy day.
Meet Bracken; Meet Butler
Meet Bracken:
Bracken is an 8-year-old border collie who was in the top 50 in sheep dog trials in the US. She is being retired here because she needs a job and I need a dog that knows how to bring in the sheep when needed. I got so much more than I expected. She is incredibly loving and sweet. She stepped into the stall tonight at feeding time, and I saw her do nothing, but the sheep filed out, I filled feeders and then let them back in. That was so much more pleasant than trying to put hay in feeders over the top of the sheep.
Meet Butler:
Butler is our new polled ram who will service the daughter of the rams we have been using. He is not only beautiful, he has very soft wool and is halter trained. He will make a great addition to the Shetland flock.
Look at gorgeous red peppers. What a difference a hoop house and a very hot summer make!
Hay day 2018
Hay day has arrived. Because it is a hot day, we started unloading at 8 this morning. It took about 3 hours to unload and stack 20 ton of hay and people were plenty sweaty and tired at the end of that time. The sheep should now have enough food to last throughout the winter and next spring the pastures will be ready for them.
Meet Alice, an accidental breeding caused this little bottle baby who is partially blind. So she was given to my neighbor to love. The hope is she may grow out of it.
Autumn socks are finished
Autumn socks are finished because I am dealing with spotty internet. They are made from Lorna Laces sport weight wool on #4 needles. I’m not crazy about how much orange is in the pattern, and can hardly believe I bought this yarn. So I used plain stockinette stitch and they are done and wearable. And when I’m wearing socks, I’m not looking at them, so who knows, the person looking at them may like these colors.
The internet here has been extremely spotty because of modem problems. I have been having horrible withdrawals, however, there is enough to do around here, that I have kept busy. There are now 90# of blueberries in the freezer. The socks are done. The garden is doing well, though, it has to be watered daily. The dogs are digging holes in the dirt to stay cool. It is an unusually hot summer.
20 ton of hay is being delivered in the morning. I believe I have coordinated enough people to get it unloaded and stacked before noon. I have water and Gatorade in the refrigerator for the workers and I really hope they will be done before noon, when the temperature is scheduled to reach 80 degrees. This is too hot to have to be working this hard.
There has been so much to do this summer that it is going fast and before I blink a few more times, I’ll be wondering where it went.
Max Lucado
This heat is really slowing me down. I was up at 5.30 this morning so my neighbor and I could give each of the sheep a shot, which should eliminate parasites. This is fly season and they seem particularly bad this year, perhaps because of the heat.
The neighbor took this photo of Lacey as she (the neighbor) was leaving this morning. It is the best I have of this dog.
Max Lucado is one of my favorite authors. Here is his post from today:
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Bathing Lacey
Most things are easier than bathing Lacey, an 85# dog that doesn’t wish to be bathed. And of course there are no photos of all this, because how does one hold a camera while the dog is forced into a large tub, climbs out, slips out of her collar and goes and hides. However, I cornered her and the second time, she and I were together in the master bath – this time with the door closed so she couldn’t get away. And she is spending the night in the house to get nice and dry before she returns to her digging habits.
We are very much enjoying the fresh vegetables from the garden. I made several Zucchini lasagna casseroles since we are busy enough that it is convenient to have something to quickly take from the freezer and have a good meal. Today I picked 2 small zukes for sauteing. There are many green peppers on the plants that I’m hoping will turn red and orange as they are sweeter, but I needed one today, so I did pick one.
In addition to the vegetables we are enjoying packing away blueberries for this winter. I picked another 15 pounds this morning. I’m very happy to not have to pick them everyday. A new friend from Canada has commercial blueberry fields, and was telling me about the machines they use to pick the berries. I will continue to hand pick these – yes more labor intensive, but I don’t have acres and acres of berries, so it’s okay.
New arrival, blueberries
Here is our new arrival, still wet, and having her first meal. We thought McKenzie and the other Shetlands were all bred earlier, so were not concerned and put all the ewes together with our Cormo herdsire. Dumb idea which won’t happen again. This was a bit of a surprise as we thought we were done. And again, we think we are done.
These are the blueberry bushes that I am becoming very acquainted with. See on the right how the berries will ripen 2-4 at a time/place. So the same bushes are picked over and over again. It seems slow as I only get about 5# or l gallon an hour. However, I now have 50# in the freezer. We love blueberries in various ways during the winter.
My design wall is not as big as needed for this flimsy. I have finished and the border you see on the bottom is all the way around. Next, I will pick out the backing and get it on the quilting machine where I will look at it for 2 weeks and then decide I need to get it done right away. And the frenzy will begin, but it will get quilted and bound in time for gifting.
And in between the other fun stuff on this farm, with this heat, we are fighting fly strike, which is no fun for humans or animals.
Hot weather
We are having unusually hot weather for July as are many of you. Because this is unusual for us, we have not invested in air conditioning. So we have a single fan – why buy another when we use it so seldom? Does it slow you down as much as it does me?
In the morning before the heat, I pick blueberries for a couple of hours – 4 days a week. If you haven’t picked blueberries before, you should try it. Our berries are on a hillside, meaning the hill goes downhill both ways. Therefore when picking, not only does one do the gymnastics of picking high berries, berries on the ground, berries inside the bush and berries hiding behind the leaves, but this is all done while trying to stay on your feet. The benefits are fresh air, sunshine and exercise at no extra cost.
I just put my gorgeous Shetland rams on the market. I need new blood and they have done a marvelous job here.
I’ll spare you the photos, but Saturday, we had the vet visit to pull a lamb that died before it arrived in this world. The vet told us that when it gets this hot, many times (across species) mothers give a couple pushes and decide it’s too hot for that and quit.
The Autumn socks are now up to the heel flap. So a bit of progress is being made.
I haven’t done much besides just trying to maintain in this hot weather – making sure everyone, everything has plenty of water and food. So until things cool off and return to normal, posts will be more sporadic.
How are you doing? Keeping up with life or slowing down in heat?
Sheep and produce photos
Please enjoy these sheep and produce photos
Beets, tomatoes, cauliflower
