Interested in a quick and easy breakfast?

Check out this blog post, and then check out the rest of the blog. This is one I like to follow.

http://www.theyummylife.com/Instant_Oatmeal_Packets


http://www.theyummylife.com/

I snagged this from their blog!

Don't they look good?!

https://www.facebook.com/TheYummyLife

Piglets and flowers

 The little piggies were let out of their yard for the first time today.

They did not stay out too long. I think me being in their area taking 

pictures may have had something to do with that!

 I gave Jerry the camera while I picked up glass.

Can you tell? There is a LOT of broken bottle glass...

 Gizmo is trying to figure out what I am doing.

 Lots of mint in front of the flowers.

The chickens love it.

 My hollyhock is stunted....

Don't know why. But, it is still pretty.

Today was a day of rest with a little work thrown in.

We went to church for the first time in months. (Shearing don't you know!)

Was nice to visit with folks that we'd not seen in a long while.

Put up a temporary fence (seen above) for the pigs to get out and root.

Picked up glass and plastic. A never ending job here. Jerry brings greens home from

Hannafords and there is always plastic in there. The glass was here before we moved in.

It is now threatening to rain, so we are in relaxing and watching Cedar Cove.

I really like Andie MacDowell as an actress.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-andie-macdowell-20130724,0,2337435.story

Have a blessed Sunday all!

TTFN

Darn chickens!!

This article helps me feel a little better, but I am still annoyed at  my girls....
http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/chicken-behaviours-and-egg-laying-why-are-my-hens-not-laying

55 hens and 1 rooster. Yesterday we got a dozen eggs. Today we only got 7. It is not hot out....they have free choice food and water in 3 different locations....they are locked in their run. So, I know that they are not hiding them. They are not molting. The coops are high enough, and the house secure enough, that I am not concerned about something in there eating them.... I am home all day Sunday. I will have a chance then to collect eggs every few hours. Last summer we were getting 5 dozen a day..... Granted we slaughtered 20+ birds last fall, but I kept the younger birds.

If we get the 'new' farm, I will need to look into getting chicks.... But, I will continue to feed them as they are still my pets!

TTFN

Livestock & poultry information

http://extension.unh.edu/Food-Agriculture/Livestock-Poultry

Thinking of raising sheep?  http://extension.umaine.edu/publications/2186e/

And, I like the pig links. Especially this one. About the Cuts (How much meat comes from a 250 lb. (live weight) whole pig)  I also like that it shows you how to measure your pig to see if it is at butchering weight.

There is also lots of poultry information.

That is it for me tonight. It has been a long day and now it is bedtime.

TTFN!

List of NH Sheep shearers, plus Read this Before calling the shearer, and the preparing of a fleece

Just in case Jerry is overbooked and you can't wait....


http://www.nhswga.com/index.php/members-directories/list-of-shearers/41-membership/rosters
And the professional shearers- http://www.uvm.edu/extension/agriculture/?Page=sheepshearers.html

http://www.nhswga.com/index.php/preparing-the-fleece/171-read-this-before-you-call-the-shearer

http://www.nhswga.com/index.php/preparing-the-fleece

More great information. Also information about our next festival.
http://vtsheepandgoat.org/

Simply a wealth of good information!!
http://www.uvm.edu/extension/agriculture/?Page=sheep.html

Look! look! look!!

We may get hay after all!!!

We can't hay if it is going to continue to rain every night....

And, I am so bummed!! The 3 people I am getting hay from are totally held up by this weather. I may have to go to Battles Farm and see if they have anything left from their spring shearing. I really don't want to cut back on my flock at this point. We have some really nice blood lines out in the barn!!

This little piggie came home, eventually!

When the pigs came home last Sunday, there were only the cattle panels. Valery and Paul's pig, Hammy, was the first one in. Then came Wilbur. As I went to get Gizmo, Jerry said 'You have a run away pig!' And off to only God knew where (and apparently the neighbor across the river) went Hammy. In the meantime, I got Gizmo out of the car and loaded him in the temporary holding pen with Wilbur. Hammy was NOWHERE to be found!!

 

 

 

 

 

 Hammy is the only one with a tail.

 As you can see, Hammy returned. He managed to cross the river and showed up in the driveway of the neighbor across the river from us. He did call us to let us know what had happened. He came back at dinner time, but I could not catch him. By then, Jerry and I put up all of the pallets so that no one else could escape. Plus, I did not need to worry about the coyotes.

 He was sleeping on the other side of the pallets from his two brothers the next morning and I managed to get him in. They were thrilled to be together again!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 This is one week later.

 The 6' truck cap that we used when we had the baby chicks and their mothers on the front deck.

It is working out great for a bedtime area for them. As they get bigger it will be put up on some pallets

to become a larger house for them. They will be here until Thanksgiving/Christmas, depending on when the

butcher and smoker is available and the weather.

 They have one area that they poop. I did not know that about pigs...

They are doing a good job rutting up their area.

Next Sunday I will let them out into a bigger area to tear up.

We will leave this set up for them to have a safe place to go at night, 

and a place to eat and drink, and wallow. Right now the wallow is the black dishes...

Pygora goats

This is what Jerry is shearing today. We do have Pygora cloud available for sale. The Pygora we have is not from Painted Shadow Farm, but 3 other farms that he shears for. That will also be posted on the fleece blog for $10/oz. It is mainly white and B grade (which is both Angora and Pygmy) which is very soft.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pygora_goat

And, this is where he is. http://www.paintedshadowfarm.com/Pages/PygoraGoats.aspx

Bonny has great goats!  http://www.paintedshadowfarm.com/Pages/default.aspx

Cool!!

http://rawforbeauty.com/blog/

Interesting blog post on spinning Jacob wool. One fleece, many possibilities!

http://jackie-es.com/spinning/spinning-jacob-wool-one-fleece-many-colors.php


We have sheared many Jacob fleeces in the past few years. The Lilac (brown and white) get set aside.
The rest went to Friends Folly Farm- http://www.friendsfollyfarm.com/ -where they did a GREAT job with them. She took 1/2 and separated the colors. She then ran it through the carder that way and spun 1/2 of that into a great worsted weight yarn that shows the colors. The other 1/2 she ran through the picker, then the carder and 1/2 continued into worsted weight yarn. The yarn knits beautifully and the roving spins like melted butter! The roving and yarn will be on the fleece blog soon (if I don't get distracted again...). http://eweifarmfleece.blogspot.com/

With working 6 days a week for the Post Office and shearing/haying, life has been a little busy. I will be keeping my Sundays to myself and the farm even though hubby will still be shearing/haying... I have a LOT to catch up with here! I hope to have the blogs updated and to get ALL of the fleeces tagged, photographed and posted. My next big show is in only 67 days! YIKES!! What ever does not sell on the blog will be at the VT Sheep & Wool Festival. http://vtsheepandwoolfest.com/ And I have more fleeces that need to be washed and sent to the mills to become yarn...

TTFN!

Our next big show

We will have an expanded booth this year! We will go from 10x10 to 10x20. One tent will be all fleece!! (Unless I can sell out here first...)


http://vtsheepandwoolfest.org/


https://www.facebook.com/vtsheepandwoolfest

The hay is coming! The hay is coming!!

Finally! It will be a good afternoon to work on fleeces while hubby is hauling hay. And, I am SO GLAD the air conditioner works in my car while I am out delivering mail all week!

Maybe some of this will get done too....

Maybe today, Wednesday. Moved bluestone and filled in 'ditches' in the driveways. The heavy rain did some heavy damage to both. They look like new now!

Hazy, hot & humid, and surprise!! more rain....

At least I have tomorrow off and plan to get fleeces skirted. Hopefully they will be on the fleece blog in the next few days. After lunch we go get our 3 little piggies!!

Are we going to get our hay in this year?

Although we have had 3 days of sun, even though it rained at night....Can't hay in that kind of weather.

Eventually if will happen.