Farm life.....

Wave petunias in a hollow stump by the back door...

My favorite work pants -- Duluth ladies' bibs and boots

Determination. If what you want is above you, stand on a friend....

Lovie and Lacie -- Grandma and Granddaughter

Hay on the back of the truck

Square bales

Every day is wonderful, busy, satisfying... Tomorrow, we are setting up our canopy by the creek, moving our picnic table, and building a fire pit. If you are in the neighborhood, drop by! Homemade lemonade or sweet tea is always in the fridge; fresh baked "something" on the counter; and the water is fine for wading!

Just a Note

Polly continues to sit on "her" eggs.

Capri continues to get her head caught in the fence. At 18 months old, she should be past this challenge. Not her. I think she is a slow learner or an optimistic one...

Baby chicks are fabulous. Only one died from transit, which is marvelous!

Fresh basil on the kitchen table for pesto tonight!

Four sachets knit for the demonstration I will be doing at Grayson Highlands State Park. I can sell any item that "matches" my demo. Thus, knitting... Portable, easy, and can talk while doing it!

Still in the 40s at night. My garden will never come in.

Sweet Pea, the bunny, explored the kitchen last night. He liked it all. And didn't poop on the floor. Joy abounds!

The rooster is singing to his hens. I need to find  way to share this... YouTube??

Soap to make today. I am nearly OUT of the 150 or so bars I started with in May. This is a good problem.... Made four batches last night. Today?? At least four or five more.... and I need to make two batches of base soap.

Finished another 12 aprons yesterday with my Cissie.They are so cute! Easy peasy.

What are you up to today? I love reading about it!

A Month? Seriously??

Yes, I came home. Reluctantly.

I love Okinawa! The people are charming and so dear. The island is beautiful! The Mr. and Mrs. Airman are marvelous! Pictures soon, I promise!

To sum up the month:

Went to Okinawa.
Came home.
Slept 15 hours straight as it took 37 hours to get home. Don't ask.
Back to work.
Work.
Work.
Work.
Anabelle (the goat) had triplets -- two bucks and a doe.
Weeded 149 asparagus plants.
Planted four rows of peas, two of radishes, one of parsnips, one of collards, and two of beets.
Planted 50 blackberry bushes.
Completed a "certified bee keeper" class. Yeppers. Not only am I bona fide, I am certified!
Work.
Interviewed to become an artisian vendor at Grayson Highlands State Park (this is a biggie for me and I am thrilled; will know next week.)
Somehow managed to clean out all my clothes to things that fit and feel good. I will only slightly brag when I say that I tossed six garbage bags of clothes for our local charity. Yeah. That felt good!
Built and planted a raised bed for lettuce and strawberries. Both are up. Berries blooming. Lettuce darling.
Waiting for the tractor held hostage in Japan. Honestly, I could have ridden it home. Mostly.

I have missed visiting you all! What have you been into??

Lumber Jill

Heating with wood has many advantages. One of them is that I can eat cake every day ---

if I am going to cut wood.

Yesterday, I decided to clear up four little trees (read: 15 feet) that the goats had eaten all the bark from and Miss Hollie, the Dexter, had pushed over as she played "head butt" with them.

This is how it looked when I started:

These are just two of the trees. They are pines and you can see

how the gals have eaten all the green and bark from the tree.

Notice that my audience has fled to the far fence to escape my

chain saw noise. They Did Not Like It One Bit.

This is a woman's tool. Don't let anyone fool you. We can use a chain saw

quite easily! This is a "Mini-Boss Stihl" that has a wonderful

compression start, which mean that you give it about

two good gentle pulls and it will start immediately.

I don't get that offer from the lawn mower, just so you know...

As I cut and stacked the wood, Miss Hollie kept coming to check me out.

She wasn't impressed. She just loved her down trees and scratched her

face on them. And, the does enjoyed climbing and walking on them.

But, we need firewood, so there you go.

When I moved up the hill to work on the other two trees,

The Girls and Hollie came over to explore the cut-up trees.

It was so funny. They would check out the cut tree and then the branches

and then they would lick the saw dust. Then, they would all meet in the middle to talk

about it a little bit only to divide up again to confirm their findings. So funny!

Here you can see the chain saw. To use one safely,

you must have all the proper safety gear. I wear special chaps,

sound protection, a face shield, leather gloves, and steel toe boots.

The chain saw requires bar oil to keep the bar cool and operating.

The gas is a mixture of 3:1 oil and gasoline. The special

little "screwdriver / spark plug" wrench opens the oil and gas

caps as well as changes spark plugs. Every time you fill with gas,

you should always fill the bar oil.

My saw comes with an easy to tighten chain that will allow me

to adjust the chain tension as much as I need.

I used to think I could never use a chain saw and, frankly, I was afraid of it. But, after I started using this one, I got over my fear. That doesn't mean I am not overly careful. I take my time, stand off-center so that if the chain saw recoils I won't take the blow. But, I also was careful to buy a saw with a

safety mechanism that is called a "kick back protector." This means that if the saw lurches backwards

my hand will automatically bump it so that the saw stops cutting. Better safe than sorry!

It is amazing what one can learn to do if one has the desire. While cutting wood may

not seem like too big of a deal to many, for me, it means I am one more step

away from having to rely on anyone. The Mister has a larger chain saw that

he uses to manage that wood mine won't. However, with my saw, I have the independence

of cutting wood on my own, clearing fence lines, and maintaining the farm.

I like that freedom.

What have you learned that gave you a little extra freedom to do something on your own? 

Feeding Time

Grab your boots! It is muddy, really, nasty, gooey muddy outside today, but we have chores to do and need to get on the ball! Ready??

First we feed the dogs and cats, and then we'll head to Mr. Hardy to feed him.
This is Gladys. She is one talking hen. She follows us all over the
yard because she knows that I carry cracked corn in my coverall pockets
to toss to the hens.  

This is Ollie. He is one rough rooster. The other roosters don't like him. At All.
They beat and peck on him and have even torn out his
beautiful tail feathers. His left leg was broken in the goat yard when he
was running from Petie, who was going to flog him. He is Gladys'
roaming buddy -- at least at feeding time.

It is a good thing we came out at 4 instead of 5 today! Mr. Hardy is
really hungry! We need shovel some of the ashes, stir the fire, and then
add some wood. There is a little paper trash to toss in first.
Do you want to do it? Watch your hair! I burned my bangs
off last week when the fire flared!

Look out! I hear the ducks running down the hill! They
have heard us out and know that the chickens have a little
cracked corn snack. They will fuss until we give them some, too.
Don't you love how they waddle? I do!



Ooops... Someone, or two, or three, is really annoyed.
They think we are late to turn them out to graze.
They are right. We still have to toss out the
cracked corn for the ducks and feed
the chickens before turning them out.
Otherwise, we will find goats in the henhouse! Again!



Here they come again! These guys never give up!

Be careful when you reach for Missie's eggs. She will peck
the tar out of you. I usually scoop her from behind and toss her out.
You might want to wear two pairs of gloves before you
grab her eggs.. Just sayin.....

Why don't you toss the gals the left over whole wheat couscous
left from supper last night? They will sure enjoy the
treat! How would you like to eat traditional laying pellets
day in and day out?? They don't either....

After we have turned the girls out, it's time to feed Hollie. She
won't quit hollaring until she eats. Besides, it makes it easier
to clean the loafing yard and stalls if she is eating... and
the goats are grazing the mountain.

Well.. this is the best part of farming. Poop. Tons and tons of poop.
I'll scoop. I hate to ask you to do it on your first visit
to the farm. Watch your step!

Well! Look what we found while we were cleaning the stalls!
It looks like some gals didn't like sharing the nesting boxes
with Missie! Take a peek around the stable. You might find more!

Don't suppose you have more feed in yoru pocket?

Thanks for dropping by today to help feed. We have a lot more to do, but you are looking tired and, well, I am starving! Remember your boots! It's nasty out there!

So....

Everything italicized is what got done:

Hang clothes on the line.
Make basic soap, two batches.
Move finished soap upstairs to dry.
Move all my office things downstairs to go back to campus.
Put things in the attic.
Rearrange the attic.
Weed the garden.
Repair the chicken fence.
Go to the dentist. -- This was bad. The only good thing was a/c.
Knit.
Read.
Make bread.
Mop.
Wash one load of clothes.
Weave.
Visit Evelyn. -- Emailed instead.
Run by Arwen's. --- Talked on phone instead.
Clean the porch.
Burn the trash.
Pick produce.
Spray chicken coope and dust yard.
Pick up my truck.
Paint porch furniture.

Obviously we can see my problem. It is just like eating. My eyes are bigger than my stomach! Maybe I need an army. Volunteers??

Longer Days

I need longer days. Do you?

This is what I want to get accomplished today:

Hang clothes on the line.
Make basic soap, two batches.
Move finished soap upstairs to dry.
Move all my office things downstairs to go back to campus! (My office is done!)
Put things in the attic.
Rearrange the attic.
Weed the garden.
Repair the chicken fence.
Go to the dentist (I have an abscess, I think.)
Knit.
Read.
Bake bread.
Mop.
Wash one load of clothes.
Weave.
Visit Evelyn.
Run by Arwen's.
Clean the porch.
Burn trash.
Pick produce.
Spray the chicken coop and dust their yard with Sevin Dust.
Pick up my truck.
Paint the porch furniture.

Somehow, I don't think it will all get done.

What a Great Day!

My lovely birthday started with picking strawberries with Mother and Don. We had four gallons in less than 45 minutes because the fields were so abundant and clean! Such fun! (How many people do you know LIKE to pick berries -- especially on their birthday?)

We enjoyed carrot cake and coffee with my parents and then took off for the Chick-fil-a Grand Opening i n Wilkesboro. I wore my "Chick-fil-a" shirt although the rest of me was somewhat muddy from the berry field.

As we walked in, one of the managers greeted us, "Welcome to Chick-fil-a!" and I jokingly replied, "Thank you so much for opening for my birthday! What a great present!"

He got the last word (believe me, this is rare) when he turned to the staff and announced, "It's Matty's birthday!" and everyone started singing. Soon, the entire restaurant was singing loud and clear while I directed and grinned. I gave my "Queen Elizabeth" wave, laughed as hard as I have ever laughed, and enjoyed a wonderful complementary meal along with birthday cake (shared with a lovely man from the corporate office who shared my birthday -- although a decade younger!). I can die happy now!

The afternoon ended with our going to retrieve "Loom Roanoke" (which is now going to be dubbed "Evelyn" after my friend from whom I bought it) and bring her home. Right now she fills the living room floor while I finish weaving a towel off her. Once the towel is done, I will take the loom apart and move her to the upstairs landing where the previous owner had her barn loom. There is something so magical about having the loom where Ms. Bessie had hers.

After such a fun day, who can face the boring stuff of today?? Dump runs (yes, runs), repair shop for the mower AND the tiller, getting ready for the farmer's market tomorrow, and all the usual things that go into keeping Lazy Bee Farm.

I do think I will wear my Chick-fil-a paper hat while I do my work. What do you think??