Of Bees and Grapes

The bees swarmed again.  I was coming up from the barn and noticed a lot of activity around the hive.  When I went back after lunch I saw this. 

 A swarm was hanging off of the same tree branch that had a swarm a couple of years ago.

 We called a neighbor with bees and he came and got the swarm.  We have a new hive for ours and hope he will get them moved into it soon.

 Since they were calling for frost Monday night, I tried covering the plants that I thought might be in danger of damage.  The grape vines were at a very tender stage.

Even with covering they still got a little frost bite, but not so much I think it will hurt anything.

Brother Outside

The weather has be so bad all spring that we've not gotten a chance to work with Brother outside until today.  It was windy but at least the ground was dry. (We even had a frost this morning, pretty late for Southwest Virginia.)

 J worked on lunging Brother first.  He does fine with this in the round pen but it is a bit of a struggle on the lunge line.

 I was riding Otoelene and decided to try and pony Brother.  She was very tolerant of this arrangement and only half heartily kicked back at him when he had his chest up to her tail.  

 Then I went ahead and braved getting on.

Nothing to worry about, he did great.  We walked and trotted, circled and serpentined, halted and backed, all without problems.   Looks like it will be J's turn next time. 

Moving Out

V finishes up exams on Wednesday and will be coming back home for the summer.  We were up there Sunday and helped her move some of her stuff out of the dorm (at least all that the Rav could hold).

 She had such grand plans at the start of the school year for her dorm room.  She wanted to coordinate colors with her roommate and have a nice cozy space to study and hang out.

 She ended up with what she termed, a jail cell.

 There's a little problem with you pick a roommate that is even messier that you.

 I see now why she spent more and more time at grandma's house.  Yes, that is a can of spaghettios and dirty dishes in the sink.  V said this was actually the cleaner version.

I'm glad to get V back for the summer but am so sorry for her that dorm life didn't work out like she had planned.   Looks like she will be living at Grandma's house full time next year.

Just Kit Sunday #13

First off, Happy Mother's Day.  I love you Mama.  

 After talking last week about putting things on Kit like "Things on my Rabbit", I decided that just wasn't Kit's style.  So I've decided to try and put Kit "in" things.  This week he is sitting "in" the barn window.

 To make it more interesting, I tried playing with the color.  My guess is that sister C will like this blue one best.

 I like how he has a halo effect.

But I do have an attraction to pink.

Yellow seems to be the hardest one to come up with.  Look out Andy Warhol, here comes Kit.    

Here's What's Blooming

Trying to catch a time to take flower pictures between rain storms has been challenging.  Here are a few things that are blooming at my house.  

I was going to use this picture of an Allium in front of the fence for Friday's Fences yesterday but didn't get around to it.

 These snow drops came from an old home site on one of  our farms.  Someone told me recently that they have never seen ones this big.

 This old fashioned iris is the first one to bloom.

 Poppies are beautiful but I have to work hard to keep them from spreading everywhere 

 This is the first year that this clematis has bloomed this nicely.  It is really stunning.

The scent from this Carolina Allspice/Strawberry Bush/Bubby Bush, is heavenly.
What's blooming at your house.

Lover Boy

I've been leaving my 4 bottle goats out during the day then back to the pen in the barn at night.  (Frosty has been weaned and stays out all of the time in hopes that she will go with the rest of the goats.  That hasn't happened yet.)

They come running and screaming as soon as we round the corner to the barn and they see us. 

 I read where someone described a bottle goat as "having a 3rd leg."  I thought that was a very accurate description.  You have to get pretty rough with some of them just to be able to walk without tripping.

 I finally saw a tip in Progressive Farmer that I could use.  It was by a 5 year old.  He wanted some cable ties to attach a freezer basket to the fence to hold hay for the goats.  I used a bungee cord and a dish drain rack.  It works great.  

 I usually don't name the boy goats since we sell them but Big Boy just happened.  That left this little white one the only one without a name.  But see that beautiful black spot?  It looked like a heart to me so I've been calling him Lover Boy.   I really hope this bunch goes with the herd when we wean them.  I don't think J could stand 5 more Sissys.

Way Too Much Water

We have had another 2 inches of rain on already saturated ground.  That means lots of run off (the perils of living on a steep farm). 

 The springs are overflowing and water is running down any crevice.

 We have several culverts which always seem to get blocked up when it rains hard.

 J spent 15 minutes digging this one out.

 Success, at least until the next rain.

And never waste an opportunity to dig up a thistle if you are walking through a field with a shovel.