Things to do when you start summer vacation

A meeting on Monday morning at school, a doctor's visit in Columbia at 3:15 Monday afternoon, and then Danny and I drove back to the school to watch the Linn Co. Baseball team play baseball.  (So sorry that they lost.)   Then we get home to get the sheep in before dark.    Tuesday was a very full day too.  I washed 4 fleeces and had the clothes line full of little nylon bags filled with wool.  In between each load I cleaned house, then the wool room at the barn, picked strawberries, made a cake, ended up taking a shower at 10 PM and went to bed hurting...Danny let me sleep in on Wednesday....our 42nd Wedding Anniversary.  We both just took it easy,  and enjoyed ourselves.

Pick cherries....a total of 2 cherries...so they tasted great!

Pick strawberries and make a cake for strawberry cake

Sit on the front porch and watch the birds

Danny got Old Johnnie out and got the old JD mower working.  

Danny enjoys playing with old Johnnie.

I washed 4 fleeces on Tuesday.  I moved the stainless steel sink out by the new camp stove that I am using to heat water to wash the wool.

New camp stove that we got at Tractor Supply.

Danny parks old Johnnie on the hill so he can start it by letting it roll down the hill.  

I purchased two tubs at TS and filled them with my compost and plants.  I am going to put them on the patio .  I also planted the large planters by the front door.

I now need to card and spin some of this wool for weaving, rug hooking, and knitting.  I have been trying to rug hook, it is fun and addicting but I have a long ways to go.

My New Rug Hooking Frame Arrived

I have wanted to try my hand at rug hooking for many years...who can raise sheep, shear them, wash the wool, spin the wool, knit, dye,  felt, and weave the wool and not want  to hook the hand spun yarn?  Well, a few weeks ago I told Danny that I was going to order a new rug hooking frame and he said OK...it can be your Mother's Day present...I had my eye on an octagonal lap frame that also came with a floor frame.  I put in my order and it arrived!

Now I need to put it together.

I am so excited to give rug hooking a try.  Today was the last full day of school for this spring...1/2 day tomorrow and we are out.  I have so much to get done this summer.  I want to weave, spin, garden and can produce to restock our vegetable supply.  Not to mention wash fleeces, build more pens and fences for the livestock.  Danny and I will also be haying.  When will I get in time to learn rug hooking?....oh, I will.

Danny and I planted some garden tonight.  We have used all the radishes and the lettuce is about gone.  Danny disc up the garden spot and ran the tiller over parts of it.  We put down landscaping fiber down where we put in the tomato plants.  We will put the cages around the tomato plants when the plants are larger.  We put in Brandy Wine tomatoes, Super Beefsteaks, old fashion Amish Paste and some yellow pear tomatoes tonight.
We also planted 3 rows of Tender Treat Sweet corn and 4 green pepper plants.   Tomorrow afternoon when I get home, I will plant some Top Crop Green Beans and some beets.    Danny is going to grow a few melons in the garden this year instead of planting a large  truck patch of melons.  We don't want the garden to devour all our time this summer.

The fruit trees are  loaded with pears, apples, peaches this year.  My sweet cherry trees have just 2 red cherries on them.  No apricots this year.  I planted 3 apricot trees because I love apricots.  Last year one of my BIL's calves got out and broke one of my apricot trees  but it came back.  Well, last Sunday when his bulls got out, one of the bulls broke the same tree over again.  But there is  No coming back this year....I will be looking for a tree to take its place but now it will be 2 years behind the others.
I will be posting more this summer as I prepare our fiber and start my journey of learning rug hooking.
I was going to buy more sheep but I think I will see if I can go this summer without getting sick and see what next fall brings.
It is almost 10 PM, better get to bed so that I can roll out on time for the last day of school....Whopeeeeeeee!  

 

Trip to Arrow Rock Missouri

We had to go see what Arrow Rock was all about and check out the camping facilities.  We had talked about going all last summer and never made it.  I read my email one Saturday morning and had a message from the Friends of Arrow Rock.  They were having fiber activities that day.   Danny and I headed out, drove about 1 1/2 hours going the long way through the country.
Each fiber activity was in different buildings.  One lady was sewing penny rugs in a beautiful old house with appropriate   age furnishings.  She had some lovely penny rugs and demonstrated how she did her craft, dressed in attire of the times.
I am sorry that I didn't get pictures of the fellow sitting on the front porch of one house spinning shetland wool.  In that house were rug hookers, lace makers, rug braider and in another house was a weaver.  The fiber tour was very interesting.
The camp grounds were very nice too.  But before I drove miles and miles, I would be sure that they had a vacancy.  Check Arrow Rock out on the Internet.

We went into some of the stores downtown.

The sidewalks were brick  and wood.  The brick building is the tavern.  It was closed the day we were there.

I enjoyed myself so much in this store.  See the hooked rugs?  Replicas mixed in with real antiques.  

 I am not sure what this building was, we did not go in this one.  It might have been a private home.  There are several private homes.  Some had real estate sale signs in the front.

More items in the store.

We went to the visitors center and toured the museum.  I loved this old bed with the beautiful hand quilted cover.   But it was so narrow.

Of course all the fiber items were interesting to me.

More items for sale in the store.  The manager was such a nice guy.  If you get a chance  to go to Arrow  Rock, it was definitely a step back in time.  It was quite and not crowded the day we  were there but in October they tell me that they have a very busy crafts fair week end.  Camping spots are spoken for a year ahead of time for that week end.
I spent time visiting with the ladies doing the rug hooking and they were all a joy to talk to.

Mother's Day Yellow Roses

My yellow rose bush bloomed out just in time for Mother's Day.  I wish I could put the lovely fragrance here for you to smell and enjoy.  I took this picture just after the sun had come back out after a Spring shower.

We have been sitting out in the yard of an evening.  Sipping our ice tea or on cooler evenings, we have a hot coffee with Frech Vanilla or Ameretta creamer.  We watch the birds building their nest, the new lambs playing, and listening to all the Glorious music made by God's nature.
I hope you had a lovely Mother's Day.

Making Jewelry

I have many pairs of earrings but I have discovered that I enjoy making earrings and necklaces to match my outfits so I started watching YouTube videos and now I make 5 or 6 new pairs of earrings a week.  If I get new clothes, I take them up to my studio and match beads and then design new earrings and sometimes necklaces. I shop E bay, Hobby Lobby, Walmart and bead shops to find my stones and beads and findings. I can't even believe that I am doing this sometimes because I have never been a very jewelry wearing woman.

I had so many pairs of earrings that I ordered a new organizer to hang them all on.  These are mainly my own hand made earrings.

New organizer spread out.  

Organizer folds up.  Really saves space.

A few pairs of my handmade earrings.

A few of my necklaces.  I have allergies to many necklaces so I have started using ribbon and cord
necklaces.

Lambing Season 2012 has Ended

It is hard to believe it is May 1st.  Thanks to Danny for all his help this year, lambing season is over.  We had 10 ewes to lamb and ended up with 16 lambs...wow! what a difference from last year.  But all and all I am happy that our numbers were decreased this year.  I have been fighting an upper respiratory infection for most of the winter and two bouts in less than a month so I can rest now, no more every 3-4 hour trips to the barn day and night.  Soon school will be out and I plan to really relax, spin, rug hook, knit, clean house, wash wool, play in the garden, and spend time with Danny and the kids when they come to the farm.

It is a beautiful day.  We had clouds and rain last night and this morning but the sun is shining and the grass is green.  The warm sun just warms the soul.  I love to grab my camera and head to the pastures to get pictures of the new babies.   Sorry for being such a poor blogger the last few months...maybe I will do better this summer.

Gerty with her girl, Blue Bubbles.  Bubbles is our oldest lamb.  I might have named her something else at first but now she is Bubbles to me.  She has that personality.

This is Birdie's little girl, her name is Blue Bird.

This is one of Sammy's lambs.  He has the ears of a Cheviot doesn't he?

Both of these girls are out of Liam, our BFL ram.  

Huey and Louey are out of White Knight, BL ram.  Their mom is Tizzy, a shetland ewe.  They were bouncing around within 30 minutes of being born and I am here to tell you that they know everything that is happening here on the farm...nosest little guys!

Lady has to be where the babies are.  She loves the new borns.

This is Mini, our little pet ewe lamb.  She accidently got in with the rams and ended up having twins.  She prolapsed 4 days before her lambs were due and the vet even had to help deliver them.   She had a little girl, MEME and the little guy , Buster.  She is doing great now and she is a good little mother.  But she will not have anymore babies.  I plan to keep Meme and whether Buster so he can stay here on the farm, this will be Mini's only family.  If they put off the wool that Mini does....it will be great!
Thanks for joining me on the walk in the green pastures today.

Danny is giving me a rug hooking frame for Mother's Day.  I plan to use the hand spun yarns from our flock to make my rugs.  I have also been spinning some heavier weight yarns to weave.  I plan to air out the upstairs and get back to work up there soon.  I love to listen to music, have the windows all open and a breeze blowing through as I sit and weave.
I will plan on blogging about the espinners that Danny has made me.  I have been really cranking out the yarn lately.

God Bless, take care, and come back to the Spinning C Fiber Farm.