Shearing Day has come and gone!

Today we started off the day getting ready for shearing when our shearers showed up early! They started right away on the sheep...

and then moved onto the goats...

some dental work was in deep need...

and then the drama began! Nothing like a screaming, spoiled brat alpaca to make you want to plug your ears. It's not like it's his first time around.

So the day netted, a herd of naked sheep and lambs screaming because they didn't recognize their moms...

some naked and cool looking alpacas...

and some naked angora goats!

Their locks came off so perfect and I can't wait to begin to work with it!

All is well again with some wool...

and some bonding time!

Leave the leaves!!!

 

Do you ever look at leaves as a burden, messy looking and have the urge to rake them up, get them out of the garden as soon as you can? Well don't!!! Did you know that worms are drawn to the damp, warm decomposing space that they give them?

and with that you get beautiful black, rich, healthy soil! All brought to you for free by the worms!

So I planted my tomatoes and used the leaves as my natural compost, a gift from nature!!!

The chicks first outing!

It's hard to believe that over a month has gone by since theses little fluff balls came to us! Today we opened the door and half of the 26 chicks came out to explore while the others huddled in the coop. They took dust baths, stretched out in the sun and checked out the older chickens who were also very curious of them. It's hard to believe in just 3 months these girls will be laying eggs!

Inspired by Nature and Springs Colorway

Using some mohair that I had...

some hot water...

and a box of old Rit dye I had, started out as a disaster in dyeing. First using the wrong mordant. I went with my regular vinegar but it should have been salt. I got the strangest steel color, so I decided to re-dye it and got a beautiful blue!

The disaster dyeing is on the right. Not too bad and such a lovely color. The other two piles are inspiration of Springs beautiful colors...

but my favorite dye attempt was this one! I was looking out the back door at all the beautiful colors Spring has to offer so I put it in a dye batch and call it a win!

Making Sassafras Tea

I love this time of year! Wild edibles are everywhere. Yesterday I picked some sassafras sapling roots. When you harvest them you need to get the whole root. Cut the stalk off and wash the dirt off well.

After your roots have dried somewhat, I put them in water and strain the water for anymore dirt. Once I have got a nice clean water I place the roots into a pot with that water and bring to a boil.

And there you have it, Sassafras Tea, no sugar needed! Nature takes care of the sweetness!

Moving day for the chicks!

Today our chicks moved into the small coop that doubles for a chick brooder. With a closed in area, lots of straw and a heat lamp they have lots of room to move. They have grown so fast, have feathers, all 26 of them!

They were fearful at first, but all it takes is food to get their attention. So now it is time to wipe the dust off of everything in the house. My favorite part of chicks is when they go outside!

A Chicken Funeral

Sadly, one of our Barred Rock chickens passed away. We are not sure why, she was fine and then Tim found her in the coop dead. I went to bury her, and the next thing I knew there were chickens all around her. Some touched her softly with their beaks, some cocked their heads and looked at her and some kicked dirt into the hole. The picture I snapped after I covered her, they continued to stand over her. Chickens are so sweet and sensitive.

CT Sheep and Wool Festival

What a great day! Sharing my booth with my friends Rose and Jody...

Jody's amazing hand crafted hats and pins found people in awe!

A peek of the room...

AJ was all smiles, every time I looked over she was chatting with someone new...

I only had a small amount of time to walk around, but I found this guy just stunning! And so, the festival is behind us now, but a fun time was had and some new things came home with me too! We all did so well, that I need to get onto spinning, knitting and getting more stock for upcoming events!

Chicken Math!!!

It's called Chicken Math! What it means is there are never enough chickens when you have a chicken obsession!!! Today 10 more came to live with us!

The 10 new Rhode Island Red pullets, already a week old, are fed, had water and are warm. They are resting after their long journey. So our numbers are now, 16 hens, 4 roosters, 16 three week olders and 10 1 week old...hmmmm it all adds up!!! More chickens!!!

We're going to the fair!!!

Or should we say "the festival"! This January we applied to the CT Sheep and Wool Festival and we got in!!! The fair organizer had one spot open and asked me what I could bring to the festival that would be different, my response, "quilters beeswax"! So I am packed up...

final skein of yarn is off the bobbin setting...

props are ready to go. The truck is packed, but the best part is sharing this with my friends, Jody and Rose. They will be sharing my booth with me and just around the corner is a few other friends sharing a booth. This should be fun!!!

The chicks they are a growin'

The chicks are just over two weeks old now. They are getting feathers and the combs are starting to come in!

This is just after they were cleaned which usually last about 5 minutes! They are eating and pooping machines. They are out growing their cage so we will have to come up with something bigger soon!

The release of the Queens!

After the threat of rain this morning I fired up the smoker and headed up to the hives to see if the queens had been released. All 3 queens were still in their queen cages.

I am also absolutely amazed at the quality and size of the drones! They are the size of miniature chihuahuas for gosh sakes! The big eyed honeybees in the picture are drones.

Here is a queen after being marked. This year we will mark all the queens blue as per the international code. It makes it easier to find her amongst thousands of bees and tells us she is a 2015 queen. We will revisit in a few days to make sure all is well with the queens and hives.

The bees are here!

We got the call! The girls were here, so off Tim went to pick them up, 2 packages for us and 1 for Kisha!

3 pounds of bees per package, that's a lot of bees!!!

Getting them ready to go in. We are starting our hives off this year with lots of drawn out comb filled with honey. All was not loss losing our bees over the winter, this will give these girls a great start.

The queen cage and her majesty. One of our queens was dead in the cage but we quickly went back and they replaced her. We get our bees from Roland's Bees in Southbury, great service and quality!

In they go! The feeder was filled with sugar water and Honey B Healthy. So lots for them to eat...

and bee season is under way!

Readying the hives for the girls

Last week with the help of Kisha and neighbor David, we disassembled the hives, scrapped and scrapped them clean.

Repositioned the cinder block stands and did our very best to get them level. We were at it for hours.

It paid off though, even in the rain, we are ready for the girls who will be arriving today!!!

Doube trouble!!!

These two have settled in not before we had some issues. We tried to put them in with the sheep, that lasted 5 minutes! One of them slammed poor Ivy in the head, ringing her bell pretty hard, so we put them in with the Alpacas. One of them attempted to ram one of the alpacas who quickly gave her a good kick. The look on her face was priceless when she realized maybe she had underestimated things! My mom wanted to name one of them Matilda, so we decided to call her Mattie (the bigger one with black horns) and the smaller one is Prudence and we will call her Pru. Over all they are doing great and becoming friendly too!

Planting and more!

Today was time to take a break from all these babies and get some planting done. The cold frame was planted with some lettuces.

This winter, a lot of the rabbit litter and manure was added to the gardens. I swear the pelleted newspaper litter makes all the difference!

The soil is like black gold with lots of worms!!!

Inside the greenhouse some nasturtiums and morning glories for now. It has just been so cold to begin planting in the greenhouse.

But the greatest thing of all today, the hose is no longer frozen!!!! Winter is over!!!

New chicks to the farm!

New life is busting out everywhere here! Our new chicks finally came in as soon as I got the call, neighbor David and I rushed right down to pick up our combined order!

They are warm and snuggly under their infra red lamp. Chicks at this age cannot regulate their body temperature. There is lots of food and water, they are doing great!

This time round we ordered some different breeds, Americanas, Black Sexlinks, Laced Wynadottes, Buff Orphingtons  and others. Can't wait to see them grow up into beautiful chickens!

Bidding farewell to Nigel

Our handsome Nigel left our farm for his new home at "Short and Sweet Farm" today. He has gone to begin his legacy and carry on his father's Mo. He is just the sweetest boy! He's in good hands with Liz Swanson his new mom!