Monday, April 24, 2017

Farming/Homesteading Ain't For Sissy's


                                                



We have had some nice sunny, warm weather this past week. Now we are back to showers, rain and potential low snow (not here though) until Thursday. Then it promises to be dry and sunny plus warmer again. The lovely yellow rose is blooming as is just about everything else around here. I have six rose bushes and they are all in various stages of bloom. In fact I have already had to dead head three of them.



With the warmer dry weather comes the spring cleaning barn style. I got the hay barn cleaned and organized yesterday and also began to move thing into the new greenhouse.   The photo here is before cleaning. Of course I didn't get an after because when I get focused just about everything else goes out of my brain.  You have to trust me it is a clean hay barn now.                                                                                                     
                                                        
Here I will share a photo of what I took out of it and is now in the new and improved compost pile. 
I then washed out some pans and bucket that were really needing it. I also cleaned a few crates and got that organized as well.   Note Libby my lovely assistant director of quality control.                                            


Sherman in the foreground and Yarrow behind him. Good grief they were up all night keeping the bad guys on their toes. And it was a warm, lazy afternoon for some of us! 
The blueberries promise a bumper crop this year provided the birds keep their beaks off them. That is one reason they reside in pots on the deck. This is the "cat deck" so it provides natural bird control.

 I managed to get in a quick visit last week also to the Armstrong across the road . Janet introduced me to the latest "house calf" and of course I got to see LD (Lonesome Dove) the rejected wool/hair cross ram lamb. In fact I had come to take his manhood away but he was hanging on to them and that would have to wait for another day. 






I managed to go to free sew morning at the Blue Iris again. Got the binding on the quilt waiting on top of the sewing machine to load up done. Now just to take the time today to hand stitch the binding on the backside and then it will hit the couch. Promise photo when I get that far.

Don't you just love the fun tote that Janet gifted me with ? 

One of the neighbors on the east side of the driveway was watching my progress to the gate. I lovvvve my neighbors!!

Monkee was not a happy camper last week. Had some ear issues that earned him a cone of shame for a few days. April was not kind to us cat wise. First was sweet Helen who may be have beginnings of liver failure. She is twelve and a sweet girl . Chloe who had a dental issue and lastly Ari the English Setter had to break the cat streak with a bilateral puncture wound between the second and third digits. So a multiple $$$$ later and I am hoping we are done for awhile. Critter issues do seem to come in groups.

The temp is dropping and I need to get on with the quilt binding day. I will be back when life allows and hopeful to have some more wild flower photos for you all before they take their leave for another year.













 

5 Comments:

At April 24, 2017 at 11:28 AM , Blogger Rain said...

Hi Goatldi :))
Your rose bush is so pretty. I want a rose garden when we settle down. I don't want to start one now to have to transplant and move it in 2 years. It's something I always wanted!

Sorry about your critters...I know what you mean, it's happened here too, it all comes at the same time. So far, knock on wood, every pet here is healthy and fine!

I trust you that you have a clean hay barn lol...your dogs are so beautiful! :)

 
At April 24, 2017 at 4:27 PM , Blogger Leigh said...

Wow, your blueberries are really coming along! Mine have just finished flowering, but then, I'm usually not picking them until July.

I love the tote! Very clever.

Sounds like some really tough times with your cats (and company). Things like that do seem to run in streaks.

 
At April 24, 2017 at 5:52 PM , Blogger Goatldi said...

Wise woman not to start only to move. However you could use the large terra cotta pots. Just do one or two to make you smile and when you move easy as can be.

Yup everything comes in threes. Almost all of my cats came from a shelter I worked in the stray building.
So being a stray often predisposes health issues that may not emerge until later in life.

Thank you for your kind words about Sherman and Yarrow. They are my partners and help me sleep better.

 
At April 24, 2017 at 6:01 PM , Blogger Goatldi said...

Hi Leigh!

I got my blue berries in varieties that are zone specific and also bloom early bloom later . So the first should be ripe in May and the urges in late June or early July. I didn't trim the branches this year just to see what happens. So far largest crop since I got them four years back.

I love feed bag totes. Janet finds them on Zulily. But your handy with a sewing machine just call all your friends with various stock and snag the bags.

As I said to Rain things good and not so seem to come in three for certain. I hope we are done for now.

 
At April 25, 2017 at 10:07 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

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