Sheep and Goat Club Annual Farm Tour

This year’s tour started at a solar farm.

The sheep graze under the panels and save on mowing expense.

The solar farm is part of the hospital.  This was the write up in the hospital annual report.

Sadie, Allie, Mike and Virginia joined us at the first stop.

Sadie stared picking grass and using her hat to collect it.  She wanted to feed it to the sheep.

The owner of the sheep poured out some sweet feed to get them to come.  This was the perfect spot for Sadie to put her grass pickings.

After hearing about the solar farm, another club member talked about the solar panels she had installed.  They are also used as shelters for her sheep.

Mike and Virginia took the girls on home and skipped the second stop.  This was at a goat dairy where they sell shares.  It is basically a work around to be able to sell raw milk. 
 

Then we ended up actually getting to eat some lamb at a catered meal.

I am pretty sure we were the only large producers other than the solar sheep guy at the meeting.  Most people seem to have the sheep and goats as pets or very small homestead type farms.  It was interesting seeing a couple of different small ruminate operations.

Reverse Tie Dying

I splurged and bought a bubblegum pink tee shirt at the DG clearance event last weekend.   There was no coupon so it was part of my $6.05 out of pocket.  I had the idea of doing reverse tie dying with it.  But I thought maybe I should practice some first.

I had this shirt that didn’t fit the best that I was going to donate.  So I pulled it out of the bag and made  it my first guinea pig.

 It was blue with black undertones. 

I am pretty happy with the results.

I think I might should have left the bleach on just a little bit longer.  But other than that I think it was a success.  I might do another practice run before I try the bubble gum  pink one from DG.

Couponing #84

There was a 3 day clearance event this past weekend at Dollar General.  I may have gone a little overboard.  But it is difficult to walk away when they are paying me to take it.

 Missing from the picture are 3 six packs of pop and a loaf of bread.  Not everything was clearance.  The cereal and Bugles were just good sales.  When my sister pays me for the Tide she wanted, my out of pocket for everything will be $6.05 plus tax. That is well over $200 in savings. 

Sadie Sunday

We brought Sadie home again after church today.  Allie got some alone time with Mike and Virginia.  It rained a lot of the afternoon so we had inside time.  After lunch and watching Frozen we went upstairs to the play room.

I let Sadie use more of the train track since we didn’t have Allie to be there deconstruction it.  

And we played with the Barbies and their clothes.  I am not getting out all of the accessories yet. Maybe in another year or two.

Then my favorite, “Mimi, can we ride the horse?”  Of course we can.  Otoelene is still a little off on that left hind but she was ok for a few trips around the barn.

And she is starting to really look forward to seeing Sadie with the treats after we finish.

Virginia brought Allie down to the barn.  She wasn’t too sure about whether or not to like Draper. 

But Sadie was ready to show her it was ok. 

 Then before they left, Sadie wanted to go out and pat Glitter.  It was a pretty big trip to where she was,  you can see the house in the background.  I ended up having to piggyback Sadie back most of the way.  Maybe I should move Glitter closer next time.

In Bloom At The 4Rs

With so much rain so far this summer, the flowers have been going crazy.

I know these sedums are not flowering but I just love how vibrant the pot full is.  I bought a mixed pot at the beginning on the season from Lowe’s.  Some of these came from that one as pieces broke off.  And some may have come from the ground at Lowe’s under more displays of sedums.  They root so easily, I’m obsessed with them.

My pot at the garage door is overflowing.

Before they started blooming, I told Joe that I would probably dig up the black eyed Susan’s this year.  It seems like every year, the petals just get eaten by Japanese beetles.

But this year they didn’t.  They are finally having a spectacular year.

My repurposed salt feeder planter is full of impatiens and petunias.   

The star gazer lilies in addition to being a lovely pink,

have a lovely scent.

I have left a few wildflowers.  I have always been a fan of queen Ann’s lace.

And this dahlia from Walmart is actually the color it was supposed to be, unlike those red ones I posted about before.

I have decided that impatiens will be just the thing for the rock garden.   I will be sure to plant more next year.

There is also a volunteer sunflower. I’m sure it came from all the sunflower seeds I fed the birds last winter.

And not a flower but something interesting.  My zucchini plants always wilt and die about now.  I read up on some possible problems, and squash vine borers seemed to fit what was happening.  One recommendation was to make a vertical cut in the stem to find the borers dig them out the put seven dust on it to kill any left.  I was surprised when I actually found them.  Maybe I will get a few more weeks of zucchinis now.

 

Hugo And The 3 Bolts

I was back to riding Hugo by myself yesterday. 

We got off the a very good start. 

Going down the gravel road, calves jumped up from under a rose bush and ran off, Hugo never flinched.  We passed by some trucks with flashing lights, no problem.  Then, when I was turning to go through the gate back onto the farm, some sheep rustled behind some bushes. Bolt #1.  But it wasn’t far because we were almost at the gate and there was nowhere else to go.  We spent some time there calming down. 

1

I thought I might try going past the red barn.  

But between the goats jumping around and the metal flapping on the roof, it just wasn’t worth it.  So I headed up the hill to go around. 

But something jumped out on the old pile of posts, Bolt #2.  It wasn’t far because he was trying to run sideways and just wasn’t coordinated enough to go far uphill like that. 

Next, I was finally back in the field next to the new barn going under some low branches that scraped on my helmet. Bolt #3.  This was a good one, I didn’t get him stopped for a couple 100 yards.  Then in was  back and forth across the hill several times and next in the barn riding and working to helmet tapping noises.  There is still work to do.  Thankfully, there has been no bucking associated with the bolting. Hugo is not yet ready for prime time.

Hugo And Joe

I guess I was making Hugo look so fun that Joe made time to ride him this morning.

So I moved over to Otoelene.

We had a nice ride around the farm but the biting flies were pretty annoying.

I felt Otoelene was a little off.  Joe didn’t notice anything while we were riding but when we got back it was clear she was lame on her left hind.  I gave her some bute and if she is no better tomorrow I guess I will have to hunt for an abscess.  I knew the recent long streak of soundness was too good to last.