Squash In A Bucket and other Garden Surprises

This year, I was running behind in sowing my garden, so I slapped some dirt in several buckets and large flower pots, then went through all my old (some that were really old) seeds and randomly chose something to plant. So into one bucket went about ten squash (of numerous varieties) seeds. Into another bucket went watermelon plants from some volunteers in the backyard. Then I toted the buckets around to a sunny spot, spread some feed sacks on the ground to cut back the weeds and left them to percolate. Or sprout.

It looks like the yellow crookneck squash, or squarsh as folks used to call it, won out. I can't believe how many squash are growing on these plants, in this one little bitty bucket! I'll be picking several in the next few days. In a normal year, this whole bucket thing might not work for these vining plants, but it's been a wet year and they've really thrived.

Next to the squash, I peeked amongst the watermelon vines and found several little golf ball size melons hiding.

Now if I can just figure out what the heck that is I planted in the backyard. I thought it was pumpkins, but they sure are funny shaped for pumpkins! Hmmmm...Millet plants in the dark, after a gentle rain.

(This looks purtier if you biggify it).

Go Figure

Dear Little Rouen

(aka Rosie-bear, Row, Little Monkey and sometimes Don't You DARE Open that Gate!)

Evidently Rouen is secretly a girly-girl at heart, and loved her recent 'trip' to the beauty salon. Silly me, I figured she would be giving me a wide and suspicious berth for a while, but no. Rouen remembered how much she loves to be scratched and petted and coo-ed over. Getting this picture was very difficult, it came close to being just a nose shot. Anyway, as you can see the hatchet job, er, shear job isn't the nicest, tidiest in the world, but she looks much better. And evidently feels like a million bucks.

Hardy, self seeding Four O'Clocks in full bloom

It's 84.2 degrees, with humidity at 70 % and it's just hot. I tried to get out fairly early (after sleeping in a little on my only sleep in day), but it was already warm and sticky. When it starts getting this hot, it's best to just lay low in the house for the middle part of the day.

This morning, I wanted to try and shear Rouen my black Shetland ewe, who had some mats in her fleece from the 'rise' after shearing. Rouen has the distinction of being the oldest sheep of the flock, as well as being somewhat of a pistol. If Shetland's had leadersheep, she'd probably qualify. She can open gates, by pushing or pulling them; She senses weakness in a wired panel, thirty foot away; she knows when 'something is up' while the rest of the flock are clueless that they are about to be trapped and wormed. She can also take down a grown woman, by strategically blindsiding them on the leg at full speed (don't ask). However she is also one of the sweetest, friendliest sheep I've seen. She has a silly little habit of extending and twisting her head up in the air and weaving it around when she wants attention. Thankfully, she had all her radar down this morning, and I was able to snag her while feeding the girls. I haltered her and tied her in the barn (double knots, and gate wired shut behind her, just in case) while I finished chores. When I got back, she had managed to push the gate almost open, but was still firmly tied. I led her up to a shade tree and tied her up and proceeded to snip and clip with my big pair of scissors. One side only had one mat, but the other was littered with them. I ended up just shaving her down all over. She looks a bit choppy, but all in all not too bad. She was very good, and got lots of consolation cookies. I love Rouen's fleece, even if it's not considered desirable by some. Her outer fleece is rather coarse, but when you get in under there it is buttery soft. She is considered 'double coated' and her undercoat can be pulled apart from the outer longer, coarser fibers so they can be spun separately.

After Rouen had her beauty treatment, I had to clean out and put another bale of hay in Blue (Merino ram) and Lanny's little round feeder. While forking out the old hay, my pitchfork broke off at the base, drat it. Luring Blue and Lanny into their hoop house, I got them shut in there, so I could put out the new bale. (I don't go in the pasture with Blue...nuh uh). I had the bale on the dolly, but I had to drag it through some trees, and managed to get covered with sticky hay chaff. I was also sweating like a pig. I was happy to get that job done.

Then I loaded up four bags of river rock I got yesterday and rolled it on the dolly to the back yard. I'll work on dumping it later. It's always nice to have things ready to go though, when a project needs doing. While I was surveying the work of the 'path in progress', a patch of weeds drew me in and had to yank quite a few out before I could turn and walk away.

Gearing up for the hot day, I put new batteries in Eddie and Sue's (the two chickens that live in the yard) personal fan. They stay penned up on Saturday and Sunday so Boone can be in the yard, and then are let out during the week. So on the weekends, even though they are in the shade, they need some airflow on them when it's this hot. I'll turn it on a little after noon. The hall needed sweeping and bug dusted and spraying too, so the dogs would have a nice coolish place to spend day. I'll turn their fan on later too.

Lately I've been trying to cook more 'dog food' instead of buying so much. With canned food up to .75 cents a can, it mounts up fast, and the dogs love the homemade stuff. I usually try and find cheaper meats, or wait for sales. I use gizzards and hearts, chicken parts, hamburger, some pork (sometimes you can get a good buy on scrap pieces), and boil them all up together. Any edible meat scraps from my 'frig go in as well. I always remove the bigger bones, but leave in the softer crunchy ones. Then I boil up rice and green beans, and add them and Brewer's Yeast into the meat mixture. Sometimes I'll add a can of pumpkin as well. They love it. The old gal (Ariel) won't hardly eat much anymore, but she generally likes this mix. If I make a big batch it lasts all week. When I got back in the house, I started boiling up some chicken that I got on sale yesterday, and then did some other household chores. Sweeping the floor, laundry and gathering up the trash to burn, always something needs doing.

I was awfully hot and tired and cranky by the time I got done, so I took a shower to cool off, and have been doing nothing (but computer playing) for the last hour!

In other news, I sorta have my spinning wheel up and working. However I can't get the leader thread to go onto the bobbin! It just piles up at the orifice and continues to twist it's little heart out. Any ideas, anyone????

Have a good weekend!

King of the Barnyard with a few of his ladies, being early birds and beating the heat!

It's Here! It's Here!!

After years of saving and 'thinking about it', I finally ordered a wool filled mattress pad, about two months ago. Yesterday it was waiting for me by the gate when I got home from work. I was so excited! This isn't just any wool filled pad, nope, it's a Gracie-June wool filled mattress pad. Made from my own hardworkin', wool growin' sheep. My very first sheep were four little Dorset Ewe lambs; Faith, Mercy, Gracie and June. Gracie is the only one left of that first little flock, and June passed away just last summer. Gracie is still my biggest pest, er, pet and I'm so tickled to have to this durable useful item to always remember them by. The Dorset wool is wonderful for making mattress pads because of it's springiness and density. Once I found that out, I began saving fleeces and my pennies. It takes approximately 10 pounds of raw wool to make a Full Size mattress pad.
They definitely don't come cheap either, since all that wool has to be processed (Washed & Carded), and then of course sewn into it's cushy little cocoon. All told it cost around $148.00 plus the initial cost of shipping the wool to the Mill. However if you try to purchase one through retail outlets, they are about twice as expensive. I had it done at Frankenmuth Woolen Mill. It's wonderfully soft. It also came with corner straps to hold it on to the mattress which was a pleasant surprise.


There are many claims to the benefits of using wool mattress pads. They are non-toxic and chemical free, so therefore beneficial to those with allergies. They extend the life of your mattress, and can make an overly firm mattress more comfortable. The wool discourages growth of mold and mildew, as the wool helps wick moisture away from the mattress. Supposedly they are cool in the summer and warm in the winter (again, because wool tends to wick away moisture). Natural dust-mite repellent. Beneficial for those who suffer from general stiffness, sore backs, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, arthritis and need support for the body to help relieve pressure from joints.


Not a bad deal. I'll keep you posted on how I like it in the long run. Last night it was wonderfully soft and and comfortable. As you can see the "Inspector" heartily approves.

Sudden Rain

Sunrise Over a Dry Hayfield

Farmers have been scrambling to get their first cutting hay in the last week and half. We have had unbelievable rainfall amounts this year, but even so, it was starting to get a bit parched. It doesn't take long, when the temps are in the 90s and humidity is 700 percent. Or so.

Rain Blowing in the Back Door

The other night as I pulled in the driveway, home from work, I was mentally deciding what I needed to get done first. I had noticed a small benign looking cloud forming in the East, but we weren't suppose to get any storms. When I get home, I always pen up Eddie and Sue, the Chicken Nursing Home residents first. Then I let Boone out in the yard. Since I had drained his pool the day before, getting it rinsed out and filled was top priority, so the big guy could cool off. While I was rinsing the pool, it started to sprinkle. Well, I figured it wasn't going to amount to much, but I decided I better go out near the garage and cover up my rider mower with a tarp, just in case. Afterward, I dashed to the house, as the 'sprinkles' were starting in earnest.

Watching the Show Outside My Window

By the time I sat down to supper, the rain started pouring down. It sounded like some hail mixed in too. Then the wind picked up and was swirling and blowing rain everywhere. I ran from window, to back door to hallway, trying to shut off fans, close doors and generally keep the rain from blowing into the house or cause the fan to electrocute someone. It came in every direction in the space of about 10 minutes. No damage, besides the flower and tomato plants being sprawled out on the ground. Most of them have recovered.


The rain was much needed although unexpected. We got close to 3/4 an inch and have gotten close to another inch over the last few days. The sun was in and out of the clouds making everything glimmer and glisten.....

Even my Muck Boots.....

And just as I had begun to suspect, the Pot of Gold at the end of the rainbow is.... hay!

Flocks in the Meadow

The grasslands of the desert overflow; the hills are clothed with gladness. The meadows are covered with flocks and the valleys are mantled with grain; they shout for joy and sing. Psalm 65:12-13

The Contentment of Cat

Meshach

Hanging out with cats can be hard on the work ethic.

Sunset, Beauty on Every Side

May the Lord bless his land with the precious dew from heaven above and with the deep waters that lie below; with the best the sun brings forth and the finest the moon can yield; with the choicest gifts of the ancient mountains and the fruitfulness of the everlasting hills. Deuteronomy 33: 13-14

New, Old Things

Sometimes a body just wants to spruce things up a bit. Yesterday, over the holiday (after I got home from a family birthday party), I decided to do a few things to the house. The other day while re-organizing the towel cabinet, I found two pictures that I had meant to hang, well years ago, in the bathroom. Once I got the hammer and nails, it took me all of five minutes to put them on the wall. Geez. These are cool little pictures, that are from Mongolia. Many years ago, one of the ministers where I work went on a mission trip to there. He found little presents for us, and these are the ones he brought back for me--knowing my affinity for horses, I'm sure. They are simple little water colors, and I love how they look, now hanging on the bathroom wall!

To further spruce up the bathroom, I aired out a woven rug I had laying over one of my trunks, and put it in front of the tub. (Rug Inspector)

Time to use it for its real purpose, I reasoned. Meshach loves to have something to lay on in the mornings as I'm getting ready for work, and it's cheery colors brighten the room. (Rug Inspector Approves)

My final 'face-lift' for the bathroom was to attach vinyl floor tiles to the front of the sink cabinet. Years ago, when I remodeled the bathroom, I had a friend who worked at a lumber yard. He was able to find some nice deals for me, and one of them was this cabinet. One of the front door panels had been damaged, so it was marked way down. I came up with putting vinyl tile over the door panels, and it worked pretty well. Unfortunately a couple of years ago, one of them fell off and I had never 'gotten around to' getting another put on. This time I'm putting 'em on with Gorilla Glue!

(Quilt Inspector)

Moving on to the 'bedroom', I had decided I wanted to use one of my Grandma P's quilts as a bedspread for the summer. I've had this quilt since she passed away, and it's always sat rather awkwardly on the corner/arm of my couch, getting crumpled up, and never quite fitting in. So again, time to use it! If only for the summer. I love its colors and cheery quality. It is mostly yellow with red accents and other muted colors in the blocks. I need to find some light yellow, pink or red pillowcases to make it all 'come together', but I'm pleased with how it's brightened up the room. My Grandma P was always busy--knitting, crocheting, sewing, quilting, re-doing furniture ---and she was very talented at it all. This quilt is machine quilted but the workmanship is lovely. It pleases me, that my Grandma P's quilt is sprucing up the looks of my bed-frame, which is a very old one that belonged to my Grandma D. :-)

(All that inspecting has obviously worn them out!)

I'm Fine Really......

I just need someone to follow along behind me. Fortunately I hadn't turned the coffee maker on when I inadvertently substituted the plastic coffee canister for the glass carafe. Yep, no problems here..... Now, wheres that coffee?

Into the Past

The other day I stumbled onto some pictures I had forgotten about. In turn that brought other 'collie' memories to my mind. Once upon a time I had two lovely collie girls--Jody and Ariel. Jody passed on two years ago. She had just turned ten, and am still unsure what happened to her. The tests simply came up kidney failure, but the cause unknown. It was sudden and numbing. I got Jody when she was almost a year old. She toured some shows with her breeder after I got her, and she never forgot that she was a show dog. She loved to be fussed over, and loved to preen and pose. She was an extremely sweet dog, who loved all animals. The cats in particular adored her. She loved the sheepies, and would hang out with them, until I got the Shetlands, who did not love dogs. After that, to protect the dogs from Shetland abuse, I could only let them go and visit the Dorset lambs (whose mommas loved the Collies), when the Shetlands were penned up. It became a yearly trek, a few days after the first lambs were born and mommas were settled in, I would take Jody and Ariel up to visit the lambs. They always got pretty excited about it, but were very mannerly and would never spook anyone. They just wanted to sniff and check these new babes out. The only time Jody got tired of baby lambs was the year Rocky the bottle lamb was born, and he got to come into the house too! That was pushing it a little, as far as Jody was concerned!
Later, when Boone came along, Jody accepted him readily into her fold and was very tolerant of his goofiness. (In this picture Boone is still in the recovery phase of the demodectic mange, he weighed around 70lbs). It took Ariel much longer before she accepted Boone, since Boone accidentally mowed her down once when playing. She was terrified of him after that. She knew her old bones couldn't take much of that. She still is wary and goes and gets in her 'bedroom' when Boone revs up and starts running, but now they are 'a pack', such as it is.

Here is beautiful Jody about six months before she passed on. What a lovely girl.

We still miss you, glamor girl with the heart of gold.

Liberty and Free

Liberty
(1/2 Shetland x Merino/Dorset)

Free
(1/2 Shetland x Merino/Dorset)

Much to my dismay, I've decided I need to sell these two girls. I had hoped to keep them, as I'd love to have one of the "Sherino" type sheep. Unfortunately my flock over-floweth, and it seems wiser to find them new homes, where they can be enjoyed and fussed over. They do have to stay together. You can find more of their 'vital statistics' over on my website.

Both of these girls have lovely fleeces growing in. I think they will be very tame and sweet natured. They need someone to give them lots of attention. They come up and nibble on my clothes and are very curious about everything. They will be slightly larger than the Shetlands at maturity.

In the last two photos, you will see Gracie teaching her grand-lambs, Liberty and Free how to be cute, nosey and pesky at the same time. Gracie is very good at this, and frequently pokes her head in the chicken house door while I'm feeding the chickens. Thankfully she hasn't jumped up in there with me in a long while!

Pay attention girls, watch how grandma does this.

This peskiness training is hard work!

Hay Conversations

Sunrise after a Stormy Night

It's that time of the year when the buzz word is hay. Farmers are trying to cut it, livestock owners are trying to buy it. If you are fortunate, sometimes you are the cutter and owner of the hay.


Hay 'shopping' rates high up there on my dreaded things to do list. I'm not sure I could ever be a 'real' farmer. I would probably not last a year, but keel over or be committed in short order from a nervous breakdown (that one is for you Little T. ;-). As it is, I watch the weather, I worry that 'my' farmer whom I'm getting hay from isn't going to get into his fields. I take the long way home from town to see if said fields have been baled. I wish it would quit raining. Then I grow uneasy and start hoping that it will rain enough. Then I wonder if its raining (or not raining) over where the fields are located. I try and cover all the bases of worry, but sometimes something gets past me. (Like hay supplier almost blowing himself to smithereens when a tire he was working on exploded.---Stuff like that.)


Last year I was considerably nervous after my ordeal of almost running out of hay during the previous winter. So I jumped the gun and bought some round bales for quite a bit more than I would have paid later in the year, when everyone was getting a second crop. The hay was nice, with little waste, but it was full of some kind of awful seed head. Seed heads and marketable wool crops don't go well together.


About a week ago I called my square bale hay man. I left a message and he got back to me last night. It's summer, he farms. I knew it would take awhile. I think I ordered 175 squares. I haven't a clue what kind I will end up with, but I'm sure it will be good. We talked the merits of the alfalfa that is just coming on its second cutting. This is one of the few fields that he was able to mow when we had a 'dry spell' about a month ago. All of a four day dry spell. Most of his fields he hasn't been able to get into. We talked about there not being any lespedeza (seed too expensive this year). I was pleased with how well the sheepies ate the brome this past winter and how far it went. I want to hold out for a second cutting of mixed grass/brome, but I am fearful. What if it turns dry? What if hay is scarce? What if? What to do?? First cutting of almost any of the grasses around here yields allot of seed head and stem--especially with the fields being cut later. Good hay, but pointless with the sheep. They won't eat the stem. They waste a good portion of the hay. Second cutting yields the best crop and most useful, and cost effective hay for my sheep. But there is always the chance it will turn off desert dry and hot. Or it may stay wet and swampy and the first cutting won't get taken until it's too late for a second!



I put out feelers for round bales at the same time. The square bale man has a brother who sometimes bales rounds the size I need (or can handle). What about the red clover he asks? I say not too much, but some is okay. Low hops and grass make up some of the fields. Sounds good to me. The round bales don't have to have the quality of the squares. But again if its all stem it is like throwing my money in the wind. The ewes feed on the rounds throughout early pregnancy, when its best not to overfeed them anyway. Finding good round bales is even harder than squares. Getting someone to deliver them gets even tougher.

I really don't know how 'real farmers' are making it. Gas prices, seed prices, fertilizer---it's all astronomical. If you have to buy your hay on a large scale it's like putting out rolls of solid gold every time a farmer sets a big bale out. Rolls of gold, devoured in a day.


We didn't discuss price. Oh well, we did. Like this. "I don't even know what to ask for them (the squares) yet, with everything the way it is". My reply---Well, I figure hay'll be terrible this year with gas prices and everything else. So, I think I ordered 175 bales, and I'll find out what they cost sometime...... I trust my supplier not to overcharge, but I also understand he has to make costs and something for his time, so it ain't gonna be cheap, I'm sure. He is going to 'keep his eye out' for a nice looking patch when he is cutting. If he sees something suitable he will bale it for me. Otherwise we will try for a second cutting.


Last year, at the eleventh hour I got my hay, but it was very nice quality. A hot and dry summer spell of about six weeks set everything back. In the end though, the rains came and the fall cuttings were abundant.

I'll be praying for a good second cutting this year. In the meantime, the fields are ripe for harvest, soon as it drys out a bit.

I wrote this post a few weeks back, but hadn't gotten it up yet. My hay guy called me a few nights ago and brought over 24 bales for me to look at. It is a first cutting brome with some fescue mixed in. It's nice hay, although of course it does have some stem. We 'test fed' it to the sheep. I really wasn't thinking and fed them a whole bale, so they didn't clean it up. I think there will be some waste, but there is also some really good stuff in there, and no big seed heads. I went ahead and had him bring another load the next night. I got 71 bales all told, and still have around 30 from last fall. I paid $3.80 a bale (delivered and unloaded) which is a good price I think. He waffled between $3.75 and $4.00 but decided to 'split the difference' at $3.80. He also threw in a bale free, since it was a 'short one'. He is very fair to me, and I appreciate that so much. I've requested another 50 or so bales if he gets a nice fall cutting of brome or alfalfa, that I will use for the ewes at lambing time. Now, the quest is on for rounds!