Blackberry winter

This is probably the last of our cool weather, but I can hope for more. We need a cold snap to set the fruit on the blackberries, the temperature dropped to 40 degrees last night. That should have made the crop, now, if we get enough rain, there will be loads of blackberries. I have one place left, in the woods, where everything grows wild. No goats to eat all the vines and trees, how they would love to be in those woods. There are 2 beehives amongst the berries, that will make the tastiest honey. There was no honey last year, so much rain the bees stayed in the hive and ate all the honey.I Don't blame them, but I am hoping for a good honey flow this year.

On a mission

Even though the weather was threatening today, my  friend Linda rode with me to the Peachtree handspinners guild meeting . Helped the ride go really fast. The normal crowd was way off. Many things going on this weekend. I worked late Friday evening carding rovings to sale. Thanks to the many shoppers that bought fibers to support this farm. One of the few  American grown and made fiber businesses, still hanging on by a yarn. In the 80's many farms were auctioned off in our area. I wondered why these farmers hung on until the banks sold them out, losing everything, their farms, homes, and families.Why didn't they get out when they saw how bad it was getting. Were they optomistic that things would turn around? Or were they just too tied up with the farm to let go?  This life is more than a job to most farmers, it becomes a part of you and who you are.

Earth Day

Started Earth Day by planting more tomatoes and watering the garden. The cabbages and broccoli look great.Watched Dirt, the movie, and Food, inc., on channel 8 last night. Very good. I don't watch a lot of tv, but it was time well spent. I enjoy seeing women around the world that have helped in some small way to improve the lives of others. Especially the farmer women in poor countries.They are my heroes, not those fake tv people. It makes me thankful for what I have and being healthy enough to work at what I enjoy. I am glad I don't have to grow or make everything I need or want. And it's amazing how little we really need to make us happy.

Down on the creek

Don't know what this climbing vine is but it sure is pretty. Found it down on the creek while cutting limbs of sweet gum and pine for the mama goats. The does with kids are still in the big barn. Kids don't follow their mamas like lambs do. Does will put the kids in a certain spot or leave them in the barn, and go off and graze,  a deer does the same thing. I think this is their instinct to keep the baby away from predators. A ewe, keeps her lamb with her, calling her baby to follow out to pasture, she usually doesn't get far from her lamb. So, until the kids are older and ready to follow, they are staying in. The does are getting grain, grass hay, alfalfa hay and tree tops, they are milking very well and quite content, as long as the goatherder is bringing them meals on wheels.

Tanner and kids

Tanner had her kids Sunday morning, right on schedule. Two little bucks, that will make wonderful pets. I won't be needing her milk this year as there are no bottle babies to feed. Thank goodness, with seven to bottle feed last year, there was no sleep and not enough milk, so I bought Tanner to help out. She has more milk than any goat I have ever owned, and is so easy to milk, and she enjoys every minute on the milking stand. I will wean her kids in a couple of months, then start hand milking until September, at that time I will dry her off. There will be plenty of milk for making cheese, and this may be the year I will have more time to enjoy it.

Shawl from Blaze

Had to come up with a photo for the announcement postcard for the opening of the new art co-op I joined. Mostly potters and painters and so far one fiber artist. It is in a good location in down town Cartersville, so I hope to make some sales to support this hungry flock of sheep and angora goats. This is a shawl from Blaze, handspun warp and weft, handwoven thick yarn, primitive looking. Most of my work is plain knit or weave that shows off the handspun yarn and doesn't take a lifetime to complete. Now, I must work overtime to fill up my space.

Sheep love

Sheep love this weather, cool nights and warm days, green grass to graze, they couldn't be happier. Animals can really stress out and their shepherd can too, when the temperature is to high or low, or heavy rain and wind, or storms. This is the most relaxed time of year, after all the lambs are born, everyone is shorn, they spend most of their time grazing and napping under the shade trees. This is a picture most people think of when they think of sheep. Sheep are like people, they go through stress, sickness, getting old and death. But they also have their good times, kicking up their heels and springing on all four feet when they feel frisky, mothering their lambs when they are born, talking to them and nursing them, chewing their cud. Being a part of the herd as a family. They can bond with another sheep in the flock and always with family members. They know each others voice and what that means. It can mean come to me, dinner time, or run. They know their shepherds voice and always come to greet me.

Poke salad

I love poke salad. It only took a few minutes to pick a huge basket of greens. Got them soaking in a huge dishpan of water, sprinkled with salt to make the bugs leave. I like to forage for wild food, and the taste is so good. I'll parboil the greens for a few mintues and they will wilt down to a small amount, then drain the water and add them to some fried streak o lean seasoning. None of that sauteed in olive oil and garlic stuff. Real southern food, just like your granny. Poke salad Annie.

New kids

The new kids are growing, all they do is eat and sleep and play late in the evening. There are red,brown and black kids, where one goes, the other follows. Set them up a creep yesterday so they can sleep and eat without the does disturbing them. They are starting to nibble on alfalfa hay, but mostly goat milk. It's amazing how powerful goat milk is, I raised a litter of Pyrenees puppies on goat milk years ago when Cassie, the mother, had little milk. I have never seen puppies grow so fast. I have raised many bottle kids and lambs on goat milk and they outgrow the ones left on the doe or ewe. Milk replacer is not much of a replacer to me. I don't use it.

Yellow haze

Pollen doesn't usually bother me, but the pines are spurting out yellow haze all over me and everything else. Making me sleepy and my feet feel like they weigh a ton. The sheep and goats are covered in it and their noses are yellow too. They seem to be drowsy and lazy. Maybe we should give in and nap. I love this weather. I could take it year round. Forget the nap, got to get back to the salt mines. Forget skirting wool under the shade tree, all those little fuzzy things are falling like crazy.

Shade tree wool processor

It felt good to spend the afternoon in my office. The weather was perfect and the oak tree is almost through dropping all the pollen, so I got set up for skirting wool fleeces, later this will be where I set up for drying wool. The shade of this oak tree is also where beans are broken or shelled, corn shucked and tired feet rested. At dinner (lunch) time, many a pick-up truck tries to squeeze under the shade. I had many trees in the yard when we first built here, but time, wind and disease have taken all but the old red oak, one leaning hickory and a few young trees I have planted. The old black jack oak tree used to chain hound dogs over the years came down with a scaly bark disease last year and had to be removed. A good hound has to be chained or he will run himself to death, hit by a car or get stolen by someone that knows you have the best squirrel dog in the county.

Skirting fleeces

Started skirting the freshly shorn fleeces, this is a BFL-Cotswold fleece, washed up real nice, a silvery blue and very clean. These sheep have grass to graze even in winter and the fleeces are extremely clean and take very little washing. Also washed a BFL-Corriedale fleece from Midnight that I will card into roving and spin into yarn. Midnight's mama, Punkin, was my favorite fleece for 14 years, so many shades of gray and silver. Punkin was the smallest lamb in a set of triplets, and had many sets of triplets herself. The last set had to be removed by C-section, she was just too old to carry that many lambs. She lived several more years and became old and feeble, but still had a nice fleece.

Technical problems this week

When technology works it is great, but when there is a problem, I can't handle it.I really don't know what to do. Yahoo, at&t and verizon must have been on spring break last week, everything is working fine today. Just as well, everyday of last week was a total over load. There were more goats to shear on Wednesday, rained out Thursday and finished Friday, with the help of the grandkids. All the new goat kids are born and doing well so I am sleeping all night again. Those every few hours barn checks get harder every year.

In the ground

Got sweet corn, seed potatoes, cabbage, broccoli, and onions in the ground last week. We used to always plant the garden on Good Friday, but with all the bad weather we have had we chose the first dry and warm day. Lettuce, garlic, spinach and carrots finally started growing last week, I think it was the lack of sunshine that has slowed their growth, since cole crops like cool days. Hard to believe it is already April but I love the long days of sunshine. It would be great to have a real spring and not go right into summer.

Time to work on my tan

Callie has more personality than most people. Not afraid of anything, she thinks she is a mountain lion. She will tackle small dogs, birds, hens, rats, snakes and any cat. A true barn cat. About 32 more goats to shear. It's getting warm fast, so hope to get them done this week. Baked a turkey and ate with the family then had to leave before the egg hunt. Just in time to help Ruby, who gave birth to the last angora kid, a big buck. Ruby kept waiting and waiting while the other does kidded, her date to kid went by, and her kid kept growing and growing. But it's all over now. Except for Tanner that went another cycle because the angora buck doesn't think she is as pretty as an angora doe and held out until all the others were bred before he courted her.

Tara and twins

This is great weather for kidding, Tara had her twins with a lot of screaming but Sassparilla did not want the papparazzi around to photograph her private moment, so she hid in a ditch and head butted me when I tried to get near her baby. She knows more about birthin' than I do. More shearing,hoof trimming,worming and vaccinating today, only 40 more to go! I wonder if it will ever be done. Didn't worm and vacc the sheep when we sheared them, so, have to catch them back up and get the job done,soon. Now that spring is finally here there are forty eleven things to do, as my mother would say.