Farm Happenings: Shoes, Sheep, and Hay

My Sweetie, in front of his dream machine at a recent tractor show.

(And no, it's not his tractor..... yet, he says.)

It's been wet, hot, humid, and busy around the farm lately.... veggies are growing fast (thanks to some sheep poop fertilizer) and the weather has been very summer-like which is also making the grass grow like crazy. My main chore around here lately is fly control in the barns and chicken coops... it's been a full-time job just trying to keep everything sprayed daily and I've already gone through 5 different fly traps in the last couple of weeks. The flies seem to be worse than usual this year... maybe because of the damp ground and humidity.

It was a sad day last week when my favorite barn shoes, my Muck boots, finally gave out and left me with wet feet one soggy morning... I knew this day would come, but had been trying to make them last as long as I could. These were my mud and poop resistant, toe protectors against sheep hoof tramplings, and all around great chore shoe, so I was really lost for a few days. I even wore an old pair of hiking boots until they wore a lovely blister on my heel, then they too went the way of the buffalo. (In the garbage can with the muck boots.)

On a trip to Tractor Supply this past weekend, I've found some summer replacements until I can save up enough money to buy some more Mucksters for winter.

What do ya think?

They are waterproof and really comfortable and cool, even though they're lined inside... and best of all, they're covered in cute little Ladybugs! *squeal*

This picture was taken before their inaugural trip to the barn... needless to say they are not this clean anymore. But a good spraying with the water hose and they'll be good as new!

Update on Miss Lucy: she is doing very well and is ready to be put back in the big lot with the rest of the woolies! *Yay!*

She has put on some weight, gained most of her strength back, and it seems we have finally cleared her hoof problems up. Thanks for all your concern and well wishes over the past few months.

By the way, here are her twins, Pepper and Polly, who are now 4 months old... can you believe it? (That's Polly with the grass hanging out of her mouth.)

Hubby started playing with his new equipment cutting the first field of hay last week and barely got it up before the rains came Friday.... he still has more that needed to be cut already but the weather has just not cooperated. I didn't get to take as many pictures as I would have liked to, but I will next time for sure. Here he is using the square baler....

All the equipment worked great and Hubby did an excellent job for a first-timer! It's lots of hard work putting up hay but it will be so great to not have to worry about buying any or running out this winter. Even better, Hubby has already sold most of this cutting, so the extra money was an added bonus!

I'm off to visit with all my bloggy friends now- Happy Friday, everybody!

Chickie Chalet

Big Bird finds a cool spot in the carport to escape this past weekend's 90-plus temperatures.

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I had to laugh at the title I picked for this post once I typed it down.... it sounds like a bad name for a 1950's movie starlet.

Anyhoo...

Without further delay, here is the latest project Hubby and I can mark off our never-ending to do list.....

the new hen house for our egg-laying girls!

Hubby worked so hard and now our young Rhode Island Reds are very happy and contented.

Since the house sits out in the sun with no shade trees around it, we left the underside of the house open so the girls could get under the house where it's nice and cool to escape the heat this summer.

And they've already figured it out as you can see....

Although this is a "Women Only" facility, that doesn't stop Whitey from dropping by for an occasional flirt, just in case he might find someone interested in a *ahem* fling....

All we need to finish the project is to build the nest boxes for the girls to lay their eggs in. They're still about a month away from egg production, so we have a little time left for that.

"Y'all come back!"

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My little garden spot is doing great- tomatoes, cucumbers, strawberries, and peppers have really taken off the last couple of weeks with the warmer temperatures we've been having.

My little apple tree is looking good, too- this is it's third year. 

Hubby will be cutting hay this week- his first time with the equipment he bought last year, so this will be an exciting week around the Fraker Farm. Pictures soon, I promise!

Happy Monday, everybody!

Upsizing, Downsizing, Broken Noses

In my last post I had a picture of our newest construction project but didn't tell you the details..... this is our new 24 x 24 sheep barn with a feed room for keeping hay and grain close at hand and also plenty of space to set up lambing pens next winter.

Here it is with the roof on, still under construction....

Here is a picture of what they are in now, with the new barn in the background-  

Definitely a much-needed upsizing for our woolies!


By the way, this is Whitey, our codes inspector.

Last year was a terrible year for our garden... in fact, we've had three tough years in a row trying to grow anything. Last year was very wet and a lot cooler than normal, and the two years before that we were in a drought. We've decided this year to cut the size of our garden way back..... this was the size of it last year before we planted...

And here is my new downsized garden... about 10 x 10.

Tomatos, cucumbers, peppers and strawberries are already in- Hubby is going to plant some corn at another location to sell but this is all we're going to attempt this year for our own table.

This is a picture of my new nose job, courtesy of sweet little Molly the sheep:

Molly was on the trimming stand getting her spring shearing and was already stressed out about the whirring of the shearer motor getting closer and closer to her head, when suddenly Smokey came bouncing up the driveway and she saw him out of the corner of her eye. Next thing I knew, WHAMMO... her head came off the stand and knocked me right square-dab in the face. My nose bled for 10 minutes... I haven't had a nose bleed in probably 10 years, so I guess I was due for a good one.
Thankfully, I don't think it's broken now, but I sure wasn't convinced right after it happened.
*Sigh*... nothing like have a sheep rearrange your face...

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend- Plow Day is this Saturday and Hubby is so excited... hopefully the weather will stay nice and I can take some good pictures!

Dreaming of what will be....

Hubby and I have been planning this year's garden and deciding on what kind of veggies we want- we're hoping the weather will cooperate and we'll be able to plant early this year. Corn and beans are always staples of our garden, but which ones do we want to try? There's so many varieties to choose from.... *sigh*... Burpee, why do you keep sending me your glorious catalog and messin' with my mind?

The weather has been cold, but we're supposed to be having some warmer days on the way.... I'm ready for it!

The raised beds Hubby made for me last year worked great for our cucumbers, sort of okay for the tomatoes and peppers, but not very well for the sweet potatoes. The beds didn't have enough room to stake the tomatoes and dig the sweet potatoes when they were ready. I'm thinking this year we will use one bed for peppers, one for cucumbers, and one for my herbs, and put the tomato plants and sweet potatoes out somewhere more roomy.

The Silkies have turned their coop into a regular Melrose Place.... "broody" does not even begin to describe how they're acting right now. Eggs are popping out every day, nests are being guarded fiercely, and the hens are turning on each other. Clementine screeches and pecks Gertie whenever she's less than three feet from her, Gertie is picking on Belle, and my once sweet little Sadie is picking a fight with everybody. She even tried to peck the end of Smokey's nose yesterday. (And yes, you can imagine how well that went over...)

Poor Beau and Cecil are looking at each other like, "What do we do? I'm not gettin' on HER back!"

"You talking about me?"

No way, Sadie- not me!

Time to plant some Punkins

The garden is almost finished for the year..... *sigh*.... it's always a little sad to see weeds and empty cornstalks, but now my pantry and freezer are full of wonderful veggies to last through cold weather. (Yay!) Hubby cleaned out the rows so we can plant some pumpkins and indian corn for Fall. I can't wait- Fall is my favorite time of the year!

I am catching up on some much needed indoor chores this week and since there is supposed to be some rain in the weather forecast for the next couple of days, I might even get to dust off my sewing machine. I have some projects in my craft room that have been just laying there waiting to be finished for some time now.... aprons with no straps, chickens with no beaks, patterns with missing pieces (ugh)... you get the picture.

I also have some wonderful new recipes to try out (and share!) so I'm planning on posting on those soon, as well as some new items for my ETSY store. By the way, any recipe you could ever want or need is over at my wonderful friend Linda's blog-Parker's General. She is also having a great give-a-way to celebrate 400 recipes posted, so be sure and enter while you're there!

Here's something to make you smile- my little silkie Belle doing her version of the "Happy Dance."

Oh Farmchick, where art thou?

Sorry to go missing again, but my life for the last couple of weeks can be summed up like this....
pick beans, break beans, can beans, repeat.

However, on a happy note, I have not blown up the Fraker Farm (yet) with my new canner, so everything is o-kay! (Unlike poor Cora's experience..... mine has been all good so far!)

The rain is falling steady today, and I need to run some errands, but for now I'm going to catch up on my blogging- I've missed you! I'll be dropping in for a visit on everyone today to see what's been going on, so this post will be short.

I do want to share a little something funny with you- this was an e-mail a friend of mine sent yesterday. Enjoy!

It's so hot right now in Tennessee- (or you can insert where you live)

.....the birds have to use potholders to pull worms out of the ground.

.....the trees are whistling for the dogs.

.....the best parking place is determined by shade instead of distance

......you learn that a seat belt buckle makes a pretty good branding iron

......you discover that in July it only takes 2 fingers to steer your car

.......the potatoes cook underground, so all you have to do is pull one out and add butter

......the cows are giving evaporated milk

......farmers are feeding their chickens crushed ice to keep them from laying boiled eggs.


And the best one-
.....your biggest bicycle wreck fear is,"What if I get knocked out and end up lying on the pavement and cook to death?"


STAY COOL, everybody!

Christmas in July

If you've ever seen my Amazon Wish List at the bottom right corner of my blog then you know the Presto 23 quart canner is one item I've wanted for quite some time. Well, the wait is over! I finally got the canner of my dreams; however, I opted for the 16 quart instead of the massive 23 quart, because 1) I really didn't need one that does 9 quart jars at a time, and 2) I don't have a space that big to store it when I'm not using it. The one I bought will also serve as a hot water-bath canner and will replace my old pressure-cooker that bit the dust a few months ago. I'm a little nervous about canning.... I'm not scared of the canner, because I'm very familiar with one of those, but I want to get it right so my precious veggies don't spoil. I remember my mother canning all summer when I was younger, but in later years she and I started freezing all our vegetables. At the same time, I'm really excited about the whole process.... I can't wait to get started!! Now I can mark this off my Wish List! (squeal)

Isn't she a beauty? Thank you, Hubby.

By the way... we finally got rain!!! Praise the Lord! Friday, Saturday and Sunday we got some really good soaking rains... everything is green again!

Here's what else has been going on around here lately:

Some updated photos of the "Pouthouse Takeover"- (click to enlarge these... her expression almost looks like the "Little Terrorist"! Yeek!)

Blackberries are almost ready! Doesn't this picture make your mouth water?

This is one row of peanut beans, ready to be canned! Only 3 more rows to go....

Did I mention each row is about 100 feet long? So... that means 300 more feet of beans to pick....

If you need me, I'll be in the garden.

Farm Happenings

Just so you'll know.... I'm still here! So much has been going on the past couple of weeks, I don't even know where to start, but here is a little update on a few things-




I'm getting ready to make a batch of zucchini pickles. (My first time-wish me luck!)




Yellow squash.




My sweet potatoes are getting runners and will soon be covering their little bed with vines.

My tomatoes are doing great... the peppers are slow.

I finished the landscaping around my new walkway...

The beans are being watered with a soaker hose, but they are looking terrific! The corn is to the left, it's looking good, too.

The Little Terrorist and her babies. (Who aren't babies anymore!)

The newest resident of the farm... "Tiny"- a silver Japanese Bantam.

After having some problems recently with the Burb, we took it to our mechanic and he gave us the bad news... it was terminal. We were looking at having to replace the motor. (Ugh.) So after much thought, Hubby and I felt we needed to just say goodbye to the old gal. *sniff sniff* Rest in peace, Burb.

Her replacement....
I love it!! I had a 4-Runner once before that I drove for 11 years and foolishly sold when we bought the Burb. I missed it so bad.... I'm glad to have another one!

Sunsets have been pretty, but still no rain!!!

I have chores to do now, but I'll be dropping by for a visit at your place later on today!!

Long time no blog!

I can't believe it's been a week since I last posted... I think this is the longest I've gone without saying Howdy to everybody. I used to "blog" early in the morning after Hubby left for work but my schedule has been turned upside down by the fact that now it's daylight at 6:00 am. The main reason, however, is I've been trying to get most of my outdoor chores done early in the day before the heat and humidity gets so high. Yesterday the temperature was 91, but when you factor in the East Tennessee humidity, it's like being in a sauna.

I've been trying to blog in the evening after I come inside, so bear with me as I try to get caught up with what's been going on in your life. I've missed you!

I've been cleaning out coops and stalls the last few days to try to keep the flies at a minimum. (And no, it doesn't seem to be working.) We bought this barn fan last year at Tractor Supply-

We really couldn't afford it, but Daisy and Edie would have really suffered through last years' horrible heat without it.

In my beds-

I can almost taste the jelly!

We are already having to water everything... I've been watering my raised beds every day. Hubby ran a soaker hose to the beans Tuesday night, and today they look so much better. I'm praying for a good shower... but the weather man says nothing in sight for the next 7 days. We need rain!

And finally.... some pictures of my "pout house"! This was when it was still a chicken coop-

This is now!

I still have to fix up around it with some lattice and landscaping, and Hubby needs to build a step, but we are finished for now- we ran out of money on closing in the side walls, so they will have to stay open for a little while longer. Yay! I can move in!

A view from my world

One of my favorite visitors...

Peanut beans...

Sweet corn...

Another welcome visitor... this little honey bee can have all the clover he wants.

The Little Terrorist and her babies....

My maters....

Ruthie and Whitey, my strawberry thieves...

My baby....

My other baby....

My Buddy.....

My Love.