Two More Ewes!

Rainey and Windy

This post is a bit late in coming, but it's been really busy here at the farm lately.  These are the two latest sheep we acquired for a total of six, and they're beauties!  They're Katahdins, and we purchased them from our local veterinarian, Dr. Ben Ousley who owns and runs Cross Country Animal Hospital here in Lawndale.  

Soon we will be acquiring a ram from the same source for our herdsire.  We're hoping for some beautiful babies in the Spring!  

Katahdin sheep are called haired sheep, and they lose their wool every year therefore they don't need shearing.  It makes for a good choice for us as we're new at this farming thing, and very new at caring for livestock.  We don't have all the necessary tools in place as yet that would make it easier to both catch and work on the animals.

Rainey

There she is, a beautiful specimen!  We're still trying to get her to trust us, it's taking time and patience, but I know we'll get there eventually.

Windy

Isn't she gorgeous?  I just love her regal look.  I can't wait to see what her babies will look like.  We're still working on taming her also.  It took the two of them several weeks to integrate into our existing flock, but they are beginning to hang out and graze together quite often.  So, I'm thinking that if it's taken them that long to trust each other, it will take longer for them to begin to trust us, but it will happen.

I can't wait to get our ram here, and will be sure to put some pictures up of him also.  It won't be long now!

Carpe Diem! Lil and Bill

The Pasture Fence!

Phase 2 of Wit's End Farm is finally underway.  It's been a long time coming, Phase 1 of building Wit's End Farm took us much longer than we had anticipated, but we're here now, and I'm very excited to be moving forward with the pasture.

Clearing the fence line!  3-16-2015

You know, sometimes life, health, and other unexpected opportunities for growth present themselves, and we have the choice to either adapt, or to struggle against the situation.  As circumstances slow us down, we can choose to take that time to be still, to seek out what lesson there is to learn in each challenge.  Life isn't always about moving forward, but sometimes it's about learning how to get back up and press on after being knocked backwards.

Just the beginning...so much more to come!  3-16-2015

Having had Bill's youngest brother Jim here for several months was such a blessing. Not only for the work he has helped Bill with, but for his positive attitude and easy-going spirit.  God is certainly looking out for us.  What brought Jim here to us this time was a year of great loss for him, but he has turned it into a positive by focusing on helping others while waiting for direction for his future. There's a great lesson in there somewhere.

Setting some fence posts!  4-2-2015

So, with that said, time marches on, and the clearing of the fence line does as well. And it is a slow march, but they head out each day with the resolve to conquer a few more feet, and it's getting closer and closer.  As of the writing of this paragraph, and the photo below, it has been ten weeks of hard labor, mostly on the fence line every day.  There have been some days they worked on other things, like clearing out the garage so my car could be parked inside, and like planting fifteen or so trees and bushes that had been in need of a permanent home before the rains come.  And other stuff like machinery repairs, lawn maintenance, and some time off for much needed R&R.  But the major focus has always been the fence.

The last section to be cleared!  4-16-2015

Today is April 16th, and it is after 7:00 PM, they will be coming in soon for some dinner, so I need to get to it.  Got to keep these men well fed.  More later.

Now that's a lot of cleared brush and trees!  4-28-2015

And there it is burning down to nothing!  4-28-2015

They've been working very hard, today was a very long day.  Just about 9 hours straight of cutting, clearing, and stacking very heavy trees and logs.  I am amazed at my husband at 69 years old with an artificial heart valve, a pacemaker, and a bum knee, he can still work like a 50 year old man.  He loves this kind of work, too.  They are telling me that it won't be long now until they can string a line and dig more fence post holes on the last side.  Hopefully, they're right.

Yes, another pile of debris 5-22-2015

And, there it goes up in flames again 5-22-2015

September, 2016

And the clearing, and the burning, and the digging and the planting continued on for 2 1/2 more months.  Just before Jim left, the boys worked very hard on putting in the agricultural water lines.  Our son and daughter also helped out on this project.  That was a whole lot of digging and laying down lines, but it was another necessary evil to be conquered.  I took a long pause from this blog post, so will try to catch up on what's been happening. Jim met and ultimately married a wonderful woman.  He left us in August to tend to his own life. Waiting on God for direction is never a bad thing.  They are very happy together, and we love her dearly. 

Jim and Teresa

Building the fence has taken a long reprieve for Bill to have a knee replaced in February 2016.  It hasn't been an easy recovery for him, but now, September 2016 he is slowly getting back to being himself again.  Our daughter moved up here from Florida (July 2015) which has made us very happy.  Now all of our little family can be together again.  She had to deal with some medical issues, (she inherited my hips,) and we have taken some time out to help her recover.  She bounced back pretty quickly.  

Lovely Spring We're Having This Winter!

Okay, so, it's been a while since I've posted to this blog.   Last year was taken up with Bill getting his knee replaced, and it took a very long time before he was able to get back to his normal self.  We both are very happy that this entire experience is behind us.  Just to give you an idea of how difficult this surgery was for him, his doctor (the same doctor that replaced my hip three years ago) told him that he won't do his other knee.  He said Bill took 10 years off his life with all the complications. So, I think we both have decided not to go down that road again.

Plum Tree

I don't know where you live, but here in Southwest North Carolina, in the Piedmont area, we have been having a winter to beat records, warm winter that is.  I thought I'd take a few pictures so you could see how faked out nature is here.  This is February, supposedly the middle of winter.  I'm fairly certain we're going to have another frost or two, so, there goes all our fruit harvest again.  This will be the second or third year this has happened.  It is so disappointing.

Cherry Tree

So, here are our fruit trees in the middle of what is supposed to be winter.  The plum tree is just gorgeous with it's white blossoms bursting out all over.  I don't believe we've enjoyed a plum from it yet.  Maybe this year, forever hopeful!  The Cherry trees are beginning to bloom as well.  Last year we did get a bountiful harvest of tiny little cherries called Nanking Cherries, enough to make a nice batch of cherry jam.  I'm hoping they're not going to be frost bitten this year.

DIY Happy Hens Herbal Mix!

Oh my goodness, it smells so good!  I love mixing up these herbs and giving it to my girls every day.

I have found that the hens love this nesting box mixture of herbs I have concocted with the help of Treats For Chickens.  I purchased their Nesting Box Blend, and loved it so much that I determined to figure out how to make something like it.  It smells so good, and helps to keep away mites, lice, and other pests, like spiders and mice who don't like the scent of mint.  I just sprinkle a pinch or so into their nesting boxes daily. You can also sprinkle it around the perimeter of the coop if you need a little extra protection against those pests.  It's a great little extra I enjoy doing for them just to say thanks when I collect their eggs each day.  Who wouldn't want to snuggle down into a cozy bed of fresh hay that smells of lavender, mint, eucalyptus, etc.?

7 oz. Jar of Herbal Mix

I love chickens!  My hens are special to me.  They provide my family with eggs, plus some extra to sell to help offset the cost of their feed.  Poultry is a fairly easy backyard hobby that can be very rewarding.

Something Old Is New Again

In need of some tender loving care!

When we finished our pergola last fall, I wanted to throw away our old, faded, and battered glider.  The joints were coming apart, and I was afraid to let anyone sit on it.  Since we've now hung our new porch swing under the pergola, I have suddenly become a bit sentimental towards that old beat up glider.  It has provided us with many hours of relaxation.

Looking good!

So, Bill decided to get out his glue and clamps, and did some major repair work on the old thing.  Then he did some sanding.  I was rather surprised, it started looking pretty good.  We got out the linseed oil, and I put a good coat of it on the dry, parched wood.  Bill oiled all the metal working parts.  It's looking great!  I began looking for a new home for it, and I found one!

Baby Chicks At 24 Days Old!

You Lookin' At Me?

The chicks are growing so fast!  Every couple days it seems that they have just exploded another inch.  They are coming into the stage when their feathers are growing in, and they look rather ragged and prickly as their fuzzy down gives way to feathers.  This chick is one of the more advanced ones with her pretty red colors beginning to show.

Babies at the big girl feeder!

Here are a couple others where you can see the different stages of

A New Mystery On The Farm!

Mysterious Tiny Chicken Egg?

While collecting the eggs and feeding the chickens today, I found this remarkably small egg in the nest with all the hens eggs.  It's just a tiny bit larger than the malted milk candy eggs you find in the stores around Easter.  The hens have four nesting boxes, but all fifteen of them share one favorite box, go figure.

The Fence Project Completed!

The Fence Project Complete!

As I mentioned in the post about Kahn and Kheli, the fence surrounding the house property took us way longer to finish than we had expected.  But, it's finished now, and we are enjoying having the dogs running free and keeping out unwanted neighborhood creatures.

Kheli and Kahn - Doing So Well!

Kheli and Kahn

Haven't said much lately about our Livestock Guard Dogs from Clear Creek kennel. Thought it was about time I shared some of the experiences we've had with them these last few months.  It took us longer than we thought to finish building the fence around our two acre property on which the house sets.  During this time, Kheli and Kahn spent their time in the enclosed chicken yard.  They went for walks daily, and truly looked forward to it every evening.  Now that they are free, they are enjoying their space very much.

Our Meat Chickens Are Ready!

Those are the "thumbs up" of Hannah and Sarah!

I didn't know when we began this journey if I was capable of doing this - raising live creatures for food and then eating them.  Well, I did it, and I didn't have a problem with it.  I kept the mindset from the beginning that this was for food, and never had any second thoughts about it.  As for the chickens, the process was extremely humane.  They are rendered unconscious with a stun gun, it takes a second, then while unconscious the processing begins.  In a matter of seconds they are finished and ready to bag, cut up, or whatever you want.  Quite an operation.  I'll let you know how they taste in another post.

My First Homemade Grape Jam!

Homemade Grape Jam

This is the first year that we've had a nice harvest from our grapevines.  Last night Bill rescued them from the bees and earwigs!  He washed them all for me this morning, de-stemmed them, and got them ready for me to process.  We had about 23 cups of cleaned, ready to process grapes.  I placed them into a large pot and turned up the heat.  When almost all of the skins split or came off (about ten minutes), I then processed them in a food mill to remove all the skin and seeds.  I put the juice and pulp back into the pot, added sugar to our taste (about 8 cups), and brought it all back up to a rolling boil.  I then added the pectin according to the instructions on the package, brought it back up to a boil, then funneled it into freshly washed jars that I had placed in the oven at 225 degrees to sterilize and keep hot.   After all jars were filled, I wiped clean the rims, topped with the lids that had been soaking in hot water on the stove on low heat, and closed up with the rings tightened finger tight.  Time to place all the jars into the canner with boiling water for ten minutes.  That's it, I'm done!  Finished up with nine pints of wonderful homemade fresh grape jam!

Carpe diem! Lil and Bill

The Keets Are Growing!

The Keets at 3 weeks old

The keets are growing!  They are so cute, they are flying now, roosting on the highest perch in the coop with only a couple flight feathers on each wing!  At least that's all I can see.  They are skeetery little guys, I'm probably not handling them enough...so much to do and such little time in which to do it!  They're three weeks old in this photo, five more weeks and they're supposed to be ready to turn loose outside.  It doesn't seem possible, but we'll see.  I'll keep you posted on their progress.  I'm hoping Kheli and Kahn will have learned to leave them alone by then.  I believe they're good flyers, hoping that little fact will save them!

Carpe diem! Lil and Bill

What's That In The Chicken Yard!

Kheli and Kahn - day one at the farm!

This run was built for the chickens, but, another pressing purpose took priority.  Kahn and Kheli, our Anatolian Shepherds from Clear Creek Kennel in Mt. Vernon, KY will be sharing this space until the property fence can get done.  We ran into a few snags with the fencing project, but think we're on track to get it done now.  Not planning on Kahn and Kheli sharing these digs for too long, they need to begin doing their jobs as our livestock guard dogs, and the chickens need their yard back!

Carpe diem! Lil and Bill

The Chickens Love Their Yard!

Chickens Enjoying Their Yard!

Well, the chickens are just loving their new play yard!  It took them a little while to venture out and explore, but last night as I went to close them up, one of the white roosters decided he wasn't finished outside, so as he was making a run for it, I began to close the chicken door.  He made a fast turn around and dashed back inside.  It was clear he didn't want to be locked out all by himself!  They are learning really fast.  It is quite comical watching one of the white roosters jumping as high as he can trying to get to the blueberries higher up on the bush!  They LOVE the blueberries.

Carpe diem! Lil and Bill

The Chicken Yard!

The Chicken Yard Complete!

After thinking it will never happen, the chicken yard is getting completed. Bill built a frame for the run, it is 12' x 28' x6' high. He put about 6" of wire cloth below ground level and back-filled with rocks and soil to discourage predators from digging under. Then he put the fencing onto the wood frame. Next, constructing the 4' x 6' high gate, then, like magic, it's finished! Our plan is that the chickens won't be able to fly over the 6' fence, but that the guineas will, which will allow them to free roam the yard and garden and eat up all those Japanese beetles we have flying around here! 

Carpe diem! Lil and Bill

Bumper Crop Of Blueberries!

14 Quarts blueberries, 10 Pints Preserves!

I love blueberries, and this year we've had a bumper crop!  Bill has picked almost all of them by himself, the weather has been so HOT this past week!  I cleaned and canned fourteen quarts of them, ten half pints of preserves, and froze sixteen cups.  I'd consider that to be a productive day!  They look so pretty sitting on the counter, I almost hate to put them away.  We will be enjoying and sharing these for a long time.  God is good!  I am so thankful for the food we grow.

Carpe diem! Lil and Bill

Our Keets Have Arrived!

Four day old keets for the farm!

Our keets finally arrived yesterday.  These baby guineas are just the cutest tiny little things ever!  They're about half the size of chicks, such delicate little creatures.  They will be such a joy to raise, and, for me, I can't wait until we can turn them loose on the Japanese beetles in this yard!  Hope they like them.

Carpe diem! Lil and Bill

It's 102F, The Chicks Are Stressed!

Bill Building A Chicken Run

Wow!  It's 102F outside today, and that husband of mine is out there building a chicken run for the very hot and stressed chicks in the coop.  They were all panting so hard that I brought out a bucket of ice for them to lay beside.  After it melted, I gave them the ice water, hoping they didn't go into shock.  They seemed to know to drink it slowly, but they did enjoy the cold.  Here is one picture I took of the run today, more to follow as he gets more done.

Carpe diem! Lil and Bill

Who's Coming To Breakfast?

More adorable little chicks!

More chicks arrived today!  They are such cute and lively little guys.  The Farm is coming alive with little creatures.  I thought it would never happen!  Looking forward to having some delicious farm fresh eggs in a few months!  Who's coming to breakfast?

Carpe diem, Lil and Bill

The Chickens Have Moved In!

Baby chicks!

The girls have moved into the coop!  This is not just any ol' coop, this is Cluckinghen Palace! We have six Black Australorps, six Silver Laced Wyandottes, and one free unknown rare breed!  Next week we get a shipment of six New Hampshire Reds and fifteen White Leghorns.  The blacks, silvers, and reds are our dual purpose chicks, and the White Leghorns are meat chicks.    These babies are so cute and fuzzy!

Cluckinghen Palace, Completed!

Carpe diem, Lil and Bill