Goat pasture mowed

Got one of the goat pastures mowed yesterday and now they can find how to get through the maze. I let my grasses go to seed and reseed the pastures, it sometimes gets seeds stuck in the fleeces but is the best way to get good grass. I prefer the sheep and goats to graze pastures than  make hay, it is just to costly, what a better idea to let them harvest their own.  The good thing about sheep and goat poop is that it scatters about the pastures fertilizing every inch they cover. Along with clover is keeps the grass growing as long as we get plenty of rain which we haven't had in quite awhile here. Now if I can get them to spin and knit their own wool I could be sitting in the AC instead of sweating it.

Visit to the past and future

Kind of a day off after morning chores. Went to the Davis family reunion, always very interesting. The Davises settled here from South Carolina in the 1800's, and a lot of their history is recorded in their family book. Huge families and most men were in the Civil War, lots of pictures of men in uniforms. Most of the women looked like men, harsh, and I'm sure it was tough.There was a black cast iron pot of hot Brunswick stew to eat.That was a visit to the past. Then I went to some friends baby shower that are expecting a baby girl, a visit to the future. Some very exited parents and grandparents looking forward to a new little being. Everything seemed so clean and fresh, a new beginning.Of course everything was pink. I wish them well. Then it was home to hand crank some ice cream before Evan went home. I hope he will remember a Nana that made good home made ice cream and the anticipation of turning that handle.

Lucky Saturday

Linda and I made it to the Peachtree Handspinner's meeting, it's fun to have someone to talk to on the ride down. Especially another shepherd, we can compare notes on wormer and hay and shearing. I always miss the exit to the church because I am talking about sheep. It was a pretty good day of wool sales, but even a better surprise ewe winnings. Managed to win a cashmere sweater for a 50 cent ticket and about $2 worth of tickets for a 100 % wool sweater from Ireland, both just my size. I can use them this winter working in the barn, if it ever gets cold enough. It was my lucky day.

Art gallery opening

The art gallery had a great turn out for the grand opening, I'm thinking maybe 300 people came, met some new friends and some old friends. There was a lot of interest in wool and how it becomes felt, yarn or handwoven. Only someone that does this can imagine how much time it takes to complete one item. I'm thinking it will be challenging to keep enough scarves, shawls, whatever on display. And trying to figure out what will sell. You never know what someone is looking for. Then, there's all the pottery for sale to tempt me, some really nice stuff. It's a great place to buy gifts for everyone on your list.

Potato morning

Potatoes are up and in cool storage, not as many as usual, but lots of big ones. Corn is on its way out, thank goodness, I'm ready to get back to fibery things. Summer is so much work. Next will be tomato canning, green beans, butter beans and peas. Blackberries are exploding on the vines, can't pick them fast enough. Tomorrow is the grand opening of the art gallery and I am looking forward to something indoors where it is cool. The gallery is located in downtown Cartersville in one of the old stores that has been renovated. It looks great. Mostly potters, painters and my fiber art. It's going to take a lot of work to keep the shelves stocked, so I will be spending more time working on finished items. And hoping for a early and cold fall so I can sell wool.

Trailing behind

Trailing way behind. I am waiting for the many ears of corn I cut off and blanched to cool down for bagging. The guard dogs are having a hard time in this heat. Wag and Kate are under the barn floor trying to find a cooler spot. Wolf will tough it out with his flock, he will not leave them. Sunshine and her lamb are better since I sheared them, Sunshine was immediately better, it took her son several days to straighten out his back, he was humped up and his back legs trembling, a sure sign of heat stress. But it is even hotter than last week and the rain has stopped. This can really take a toll on the pastures and the sheep.

Guard cat on duty

When Barney was dropped off here last Christmas she bonded with Wolf and his goat herd. Everyday she went out to the pasture and stayed with Wolf, then came back to the barn at night and they slept together. I thought Barney was a tom kitten, she had a big head, looking back that could have been from not having food. Alex made a pet of her and one day said Barney is getting fat. Then it dawned on me, I picked her up and I knew right away, she was going to have kittens soon. She had six kittens and is the best mother and a good barn cat. The kittens belong to the tom cat across the road that sneaks in to eat cat food from time to time and spray around my barn. I would love to keep the kittens ,since good mousers are needed here, but the price of having them all spayed and neutered is out of reach. I now have free roosters and free kittens.

Humidity

Summer hasn't officially arrived but the humidity is terrible. I hate it for the sheep and goats more than me. Most of them have 2-3 inches of wool and are panting under the shade trees. I have fans going in all the barns but during the day it is cooler under the trees. I think that is Sunshine's problem, the heat is draining her. At night she grazes, but in the daytime she keeps her head low to the ground. Blue faced leicesters have a hard time with humidity. Cormos seems to take it better. One of the biggest factors of breeding sheep and goats in the south is finding a breed that take can the humidity and has some resistance to stomach worms.

Dill pickles

Made another dozen jars of dill pickles yesterday. Ate the first sweet corn of the season for supper last night and again for dinner today. Nothing compares to fresh corn, except the first tomato. Everything is coming off at once. Squash and cucumbers to be picked everyday, now corn. There are 4 sweet corn patches and looks like all 4 will be coming in at the same time and a bumper crop in each field. I hope to make it to the local farmers markets to sell as much as I can. Hay season is in and I need to fill up my barns for winter and of course I am low on money. Corn sales can pay for hay.

For Annie and Leslie

A picture of Angel for Annie and her side kick Leslie, for their adventure at John C. Thanks to Annie for purchasing Angel's fleece for her class, Applachian shawls. I think  the best way to learn about wool and spinning is to start from scratch. If you learned to spin in the 70-80's it was a given to select a clean fleece and spin in the grease, or wash and handcard. I preferred in the grease from one of my colored sheep. Later on, it became popular to send the fleece off to a woollen mill to be processed, but there were only a few mills that processed and the shipping and charges were expensive, and it was not as nice as hand processed. Today there are many mills that offer processing and I guess most people have more money than time. But to choose a fleece on a sheep, especially if you know that sheep or shepherd, and make a sweater or shawl or scarf, is personal, and satisfying, that cannot come from a ball of roving in a plastic package.

Resurection day

Resurected a kid mohair fleece I dyed that was a bit stronger colored than I planned.  Put it back in the dye pot for a second and third overdying, I liked the results. Carded it into cloud. Carding in this humid weather is trying, more mohair was sticking to my sweating arms than going into the box. I think about all those women that worked all their lives in the mills in the South during the humid summers with no air conditioning. How hard they worked making production, go home to cook for their family and take care of kids all night. Most of the farmers in this area had wives that worked in the mills in town. She made enough money to buy groceries,a nice car, got health insurance for the family, and she got a retirement check. Most of those women did well for themselves, saving every penny they could, they gardened and canned in the evenings and on weekends. Their names were never on a land deed until their husbands died, then they ended up with the farm and her savings , finally getting what she was worth.

Yarrow

Yarrow is such a sunny, chearful plant. Sunshine the sheep is back to normal, just couldn't put my finger on it, but I knew she wasn't her self. Had to get the flock into the barnyard for a few nights to treat her, so I had to give them some grain. Last night she headed to the lot baaing at me, I knew she would be okay. So no more grain. Sheep do well and can get fat on the fast growing green pasture. The corn in the grain makes them hotter, so it's best to go lean in the summer. The weather today seems to be a drier air with a breeze so the sheep are out grazing more in the daytime. When the humidity gets bad they will lay up in the shade during the day and graze at night. I have had a few sheep to heat stress over the years so I try to keep them as cool as possible.

Sweet corn

I have never seen sweet corn this early in the season, there are 2-3 ears on each stalk.  If nothing happens, wind, worms, deer, there will be a bumper crop. We have Silver Queen, white sweet corn and Incredible, yellow sweet corn. Don't know how I will pull it all and get it to the market but there will be plenty for the freezer and the grandkids.

Best laid plans

I was ready for the kraut making on Friday, it didn't happen, except for a small churn. I had the kitchen clean and supplies ready, help from my daughter Leslie, the Harsch crock was supposed to be here on UPS around noon. Noon passed, the UPS guy came about 2, with no crock, saw Feed Ex turn around at the end of the drive, nothing from him either. Called Wiseman trading, where I ordered the crock, he put me on hold for a while, then was sorry but my order got pushed back, misplaced, and was not shipped at all. He would be glad to get it out today. It would be here on Tuesday, (they are only 3 hours away). After getting a headache I called him back and told him to go ahead and ship it. It's almost impossible to get good service anywhere anymore.

Grand old oak

I only know of one other oak in the area that is the size of this tree and sadly it was hit by lightening last night. Sheets of bark were slung all over the pasture. I have enjoyed the shade of this oak and the beauty of it thinking it would make a great homeplace for one of the kids, the limbs would easily have held a swing. Also lost a young tulip poplar, probably my favorite tree and a maple. All wild trees, not planted by me, just nature, over the years, long before me. Spent most of the morning clearing fence lines, picking up debris, especially cherry limbs for they are poisonous, then I found about half an acre of thistle in the back pasture, took Alex and me the rest of the morning to pull them up. Now off to wash out the mohair and wool I dyed yesterday.

Stormy evening

Terrible storm right before dark, high wind and heavy rain with lightening popping very close. Ran down to open the gate for Miracle and Petunia, since they don't know they are goats, to let them into the old lambing barn. The sheep were hunting a place to hide also and finally old Jewell saw the gate open and the rest followed. I got trapped in the barn for quite awhile, the rain blowing in from all directions, every time the lightening lit up the sky the sheep ran toward the door. Hope all the other sheep and goats are safe, I'll worry about them all night, I'll be up early to check on them.  Decided to go ahead and treat Sunshine, not sure what it is going on but her ears were laying back instead of up.

Elderberry blooming everywhere

Last weekend and the last few days have been hectic. Why did we move the clock forward to daylight savings time so early in the year? It has been like June and July for the last 2 months, the days are so long and the nights are short. So much to do in a day. I'm so far behind on washing,dyeing and carding. Have 2 new dye pots going to day, a new colorway, by accident, I could be called the accidental dyer, that's how I get my favorite colorways.  Been watching Sunshine the sheep, she has been off to herself alot just resting, beginning to think she may be heat stressing. Probably should move them to a more wooded pasture.

Garden utopia

All the rain and mild weather has made the garden grow like wild. Cabbage,broccoli,onions squash, peppers,and carrots are in. The signs are right for making sour kraut June 4th and 5th so I'm trying to get supplies ready for the big event. For 38 years I have made kraut in several old churns handed down to me. This year I ordered a Harsch crock, made in Germany, the bonus of this expensive crock is kraut can be stored in there for several months if kept in a cool place and it does not have to be canned. Heat destroys the beneficial bacteria that kraut produces. Plus, my kids and I love to eat right out of the churn. I crave it, have since I was a child. Magi loves it with ranch dressing!