Rained out

Anyway that was the way the craft show felt today.  It didn't rain, rain, just a steady mist all day.  We left early.  It was only in the mid-50's and with the mist it felt cold.  Really too bad as the show had a lot of potential of being a really good one.  A great variety of vendors.   

Finished another small project on the inkle loom.  Not quite sure what I will do with it yet.  Went to Jo-Ann Fabric after the show and brought belt closures so guess I have committed to making a belt.  

Taking turns packing here.  Josh my son-in-law is packing to leave for New Hampshire.  He is temporarily working there 4 days a week.  Tomorrow is my turn.  Leaving Friday for Michigan.  

Got all 20 trees planted yesterday.  The cub scouts did a really awesome job.  Even put away tools before they left.  I can't say how thankful I am for their assistance.  

Had a great dinner tonight.  My son smoked a beef roast.  We had French onion soup, rice and mixed vegetable also.  Then for desert Dark Chocolate. Yum!!

Hope you had a good day.  Mine tired me out.  ]

Did you know?  A study found that people who spend a lot time on the internet are more likely to be depressed, lonely and mentally unstable.

Busy Dayand

Another one of those days where I have been on the run all day and don't feel like I accomplished anything.

Started the day dealing with eggs.  Had orders for 4 dozen that had to be delivered to Forest.  While washing eggs,  I found 3 that had small holes in them.  Can't sell those so went to the hen house to see if there were any eggs laid this morning or last night.  No matter how much I talked to the hens (and I do on a regular basis anyway) I could only get one hen to help out.  So one order was two eggs short.  Explained it to the lady and she was agreeable to getting other two next week.

Washed up all four dozen duck eggs also.  When I was at church last night Sandy, the head of the kitchen, said they didn't need them for any up coming events but to bring them in and people could buy them out of the kitchen.  So today while I was in Forest, Lisa took them to the church.

Decided I needed to put labels with my name on them to attach to the egg cartons. Tonight Lisa and I designed the following label:

Something Special Homestead

Bedford, VA

Chicken Eggs

Best by:

Kay Bivens

cell: 540-309-5705

I offer a variety of products on my "Something Special" Facebook page and you can visit my farm at

http://ssefy.blogspot.com 

I decided I like Something Special Homestead instead of Something Special Farm because I produce more than farm items here.  Anyway I try.

Things are coming together for the cub scouts to plant trees tomorrow night.  Miss Utility  came today to mark the utility lines so they don't cut a line.  Twenty of the trees came today.  Now if the weather cooperates, we will be all set.

The warm weather and the small amount of rain is helping the potatoes recover.  My daughter that moved to Wy had a chicken coop that had not been cleaned in over a year so Lisa and I decided that would be good fertilizer for the potatoes.  Almost killed them.  It was too hot (not decomposed).  Took it off the best I could about a week after I put it on.  Thought the potatoes were done for but guess not.  They look pretty good if you ask me. 

Lisa was out checking on the female ducks that are determined there are not enough ducks living here. Lucky had visitors.  Lisa shot the following video:

Had to put the animals to bed early tonight.  Lisa happened to be in the yard when she heard the male animals like the drake and roosters start making a strange sound.  All the females started gathering together.  Lisa looked up for some reason and there was a hawk flying overhead.  

Hope you had a good day.

Did you know?  A 3-year old Boy's voice is louder than 200 adults in a crowded restaurant.

Another project completed

The garden paths are all mulched.  It will so nice not to have to weed the paths in the garden.  Keeping up with the vegetables is enough work.  Going to start planting tomatoes tomorrow morning.  Master Gardener's Annual Plant Sale is this weekend in Bedford, VA at the community college campus. Have to send Lisa since I have a craft show at the Masonic Temple on Shadwell in Roanoke.






Hope you had a good day.







Did you know?  The early Egyptians built the Great Sphinx so that it points directly toward the rising sun on the spring equinox.

Moving right along

Got a couple of projects finished today.  Finished mulching the orchard with wood chips.  It looks so good.  The weeds were coming back.

The load of compost is completely unloaded.  Still need more but it is suppose to rain for a week or so.  Think we will wait til it stops.  The compost is heavy to begin with and then it gets heavier when it is wet.

Got wood chips around the rhubarb and strawberries also.

Nothing too exciting around here today. The mother duck has decided to take over the small chicken coop.  Last night one of hens that normally sleeps in there ended up sleeping with the baby chicks because Mama duck won't let her into the small coop.  Tonight I was a little late closing coops.  The recovering rooster (Big Boy), and both the hens had been allowed into the small coop but Mama duck (Lucki) has her corner with her eggs.  Guess I don't have enough ducks.   The other Mama duck's (Silver) eggs should be hatching any day now.  Last count there were 7 eggs in her nest.

Wait it never stays calm here for long.

Did you know? Asia is the home to 7 out of the 10 most populated cities in the world.

Sad Day

My prayers are sent today for my friend Jewel and her family.  They were eagerly awaiting the arrival of a daughter.  Eva was due the end of this month.  We received word today that she died.  Don't know what happened.  The lord must have needed a very special baby in heaven and she was chosen.  

Not a good day here either.  There was a crate in the baby chicks run which fell on one of the babies.  So now we only have nine.  We took down the fence dividing them from the two hens and a rooster and all went well.  No one got picked on.  

One of the female ducks invaded the pen.  "Lucki" decided the house that the 2 hens and the recovering rooster sleep in is now hers.  She kept biting the hens tonight when they tried to go to bed. Lucki has two eggs in the house.  Guess she thinks we need more ducks.  Interesting thing is that she wasn't sitting on the eggs, the rooster was.  She had laid them in his corner.   

Planted my green beans tonight.  It is suppose to rain tonight and tomorrow so decided it is a good time.  Our last frost day is in the middle of May so may end up having to cover them.  

Hope you had a good day.

Did you know?  Apple has more operating cash than the U.S. Treasury.

Planting time

Got some garden time in this morning.  Planted the asparagus and strawberries that I brought yesterday.  Daughter is sick so I took her children to school and stopped on the way home and brought some brussel sprouts (which have been planted also). Planted some sunflower seeds that we harvested last fall and some dill seeds that I harvested 2 years ago.  We will see how successful that is.

Jelly and Jam time came next.  Made some coffee jelly.  That is for all my customers that are coffee lovers or know someone that is a coffee lover.  Not too bad tasting.

Went to cub scouts and T-ball game after supper.  At cub scouts Aiden received awards for the work he has done.  The weblos crossed over the bridge to boy scouts.  It was a nice ceremony.  It made me think about how so my two younger grandsons are going to  leave their boyhood and become young men.  After cub scouts Aiden and I went to Stewardsville where my other grandson was having a T-ball game.  We were too late to see him play.  Just before we got to the field a lady coming up the path from the game told us the game had just ended.  We said hi to everyone and headed home.  At least he knew we tried.

Hope you had a good day.

Did you know?  Three important Eagle Scouts all have names beginning with “A.” The first Eagle Scout is Arthur Eldred (1912) of Long Island, New York; the 1 millionth Eagle (1982) is Alexander Holsinger of Normal, Illinois; and the 2 millionth Eagle (2009) is Anthony Thomas of Lakeville, Minnesota. 

Have you ever tasted?

Newest jelly - Strawberry/Banana Jam.  Wow!  I have never been a great jam and jelly fan.  Loved to make it but not a must have food.  Until lately.  There is so much more than plain grape jelly.  That is what I was fed growing up.  

Last week someone asked my daughter to make a cake with Strawberry/Banana filling.  So we started looking for a recipe for jam for the filling.  Found it on the Kraft website and made it today.  The cake is going to be great.  The jam is great. 

Went and got more cement blocks today.  Only need 19 more to get the two block high level.  That means at least 2 more trips to my son's to get blocks.  Our goal this year is 2 blocks high.  Maybe 3 high next year.  Sure will save my back and knees to have such a nice raise beds.  



Also went on a shopping spree.  Got some more asparagus, and strawberries.  The poor asparagus that I got from my daughter's garden had a rough time as the chickens kept uncovering the roots. Had to have more strawberries for that strawberry bed that I enlarged.  Also brought 3 rhubarb plants.  It is hard to find in the store.  Last year my daughter-in-law went to a specially store on her way home from work to get me some.  This year I just happened into Kroger's and was able to get some.  The produce manager said it is a seasonal item and when they do get some it is gone within the day that it comes in.  So I will grow my own. 

Hope you had a good day. 

Did you know?   The redder the rhubarb stalk, the sweeter the taste.

Cake is finished

This  picture does not do the cake justice.  It is the latest my daughter created.  The bottom layer has variegated blue frosting.  The next layer has brown sand like coating and the top layer has a tiki hut on it.  



Busy day.  This morning I went to a 4-H event and helped judge presentations.  It was amazing the great job that the 10 and 11 years did.  Such great experience for them.  

Got another load of compost today.  Decided to expand the strawberry bed.  Quite a project. 




First I arranged bricks around a piece of black landscaping cloth.  Three bricks high. 

 Then I added a layer of hay for drainage and for future compost for the strawberries.  Just happen to have old hay setting along the side of my field.  




Next came the hard part.  Adding the compost to top of the bed.  As you can see I had a lot of help. 

Some of the animals said to heck with a small amount they went for the larger amount. They were eating the worms out of the soil. 



A little later a lady traveling from Richmond had a flat tire so she pulled into my driveway.  She called the friend that she was coming to visit and the friend's husband came over and changed the tire.  She didn't have a jack so loaned her one of mine. 

Hope you had a good day.

Did you know?  Heart attacks are more likely to happen on a Monday.

Orchard Project

Since I got the orchard weeded.  I have all of 6 trees in my orchard.  So it wasn't a huge job.  Now I can mulch it for the year.  

Made collars for around the base of the trees to keep the mulch off the base of the trees.  I had some old 6" plastic drain pipe that has been laying around for a couple of years.  I cut 12" pieces off it and then cut a slit down the side.  I put them around each tree.  

Now I have to take the wood chips that are in a pile on one side of the driveway and get them over to the orchard which is on the other side of the driveway.  My plan is to attach my small trailer to the lawn tractor.  Fill the trailer with wood chips and drive over to the orchard and dump the trailer and spread out the chips.  It will take several loads but sounds a lot easier than walking wheel barrow loads over.  I'll let you know how my plan works. 

Went  and got more cider blocks tonight.  My son has a pile of them on his property.  We can only bring 15 at a time because of the weight.  I figure about 2 or 3 more loads and we will have enough to finish the last section of the garden.  It is so much easier for me to work the garden if I don't have to get down on the ground and then try to get back up. 

Hope you had a good day.

Did you know?  If a homeowner chip pile contains lots of green wood, the center of the pile may become hot – but not hot enough to burn. A pile six feet tall and fifteen feet wide might give off a small plume of steam (condensed water vapor) on a chilly morning. Fortunately, though, steam is not the same as smoke.

Strawberry/Rhubarb Jam

Strawberry/Rhubarb Jam my great accomplishment for the day. Made a batch of it today. I had never tasted it until a couple of years ago. It is far one of my most favorite. Hard to find the rhubarb. I use to have plants but don't anymore. Tried to buy some the other day but was told it is too early. Maybe next week. Other people must really like it as I sold out of it quickly last year.

Animals never crease to amaze me. My cat who is very aloof. Is laying on me purring. She usually only purrs when she is out of food. Checked about an hour ago and she had plenty. Acts like she just wants someplace to go to sleep.

I was late shutting up the chickens tonight. The three chickens that are off by themselves have a small house to sleep in. There are two hens with a rooster. Big Boy is still recovering from the dog attack. Anyway Big Boy sleeps in back of the hens. Tonight he must have heard me coming. He up standing up at the doorway. As soon as I spoke to him, he started moving back to his normal place. Think he was protecting his hens.

Got to work outside today. Which always helps my mood. It was a beautiful day just right for doing yard work. Weeded the orchard today. Pulled some grass out it which was soft and silky. Won't mind having a whole yard of it. It would be relaxing just to walk barefoot in it.

Hope you had a good day.


Did you know? A healthy lawn can increase a home's value by up to 20%.

Paperwork, paperworka

Beginning to really hate paperwork.  Spend 3 hours doing paperwork and still have not finished it.  Trying to keep up with mine and finish up Mom's is a real challenge when you want to be outside working in the yard or weaving pretty towels.  Stuck with it.  Probably best.

Had a spot taken off my back yesterday and it aches tonight.  Just trying to fold a load of laundry made it ache more.  So decided to stop while I was a head.

Lisa got the rest of the wire around the buildings.  Ready to block off an area when Silver hatches her eggs.  Wonder what she is going to do when she hatches those chicken eggs she is sitting on.  Have to separate the babies from the rest of the flock otherwise the others pick on the babies. 

Hope you had a good day.

Did you know?  George Washington did not have a middle name

She changed her mind.

Latest news on baby ducks. "Pretty Girl" must have changed her mind.  She wasn't the least bit interested in sitting on those eggs once the sun csme up. So we brought the eggs inside.  I really think the babies from "Silver" will be plenty of babies.  

We fenced around one building today so the babies and other feathered friends couldn't get under it.  The building sets from 0" to 12" off the ground. I have had a problem with the chickens and ducks wanting to spend the night under the coop with no protection.  We tried laying bricks around the edge but those got moved.  This will be better because it will allow ventilation under the coop.  In the winter I load the coop with so much straw that the ventilation will be stopped. We have one more building to secure the bottom.  It is only about 3 ft. from the coop.

My daughter woke up to a surprise this morning.  Evidently we had a guest in the night.  There was a dead mouse next to her bed.  "Snowy" is a very good mouser.  Maybe that is why I didn't sleep real good last night.  I am sure it was quite a cat/mouse chase.  

Found my camera today.  I had left it at the church yesterday.  When I asked if one had been found the reply was "It comes with a hair band"  Em had given me her headband and I must have laid them down together.  

Found some rhubarb today.  Had to run an errand down by the Kroger store so went in there.  First the produce manager said he didn't have any then he said wait there is some on that shelf.  So I was able to get some for Strawberry/Rhubarb Jam.  I got enough for 24 jars.  Last year I could only find enough for 8 jars.  
Hope you had a good day.

Did you know? Rhubarb is also known as "pie plant" because it is most commonly used for the preparation of pies.

Ducks eggs anyone?

Just got in from shutting up my animals for the night.  Took some time tonight as one of my ducks was missing.  I do a bed count every night.  Besides when you only have two black ducks it is easy to realize that one is missing.  Finally found her.  She had decided to sit on eggs in a rabbit nesting box that was stored next to the house.  If this keeps up I am going to have a lot of ducks. Going to have to do something about the location.  Not the safest location.  Because of the woods on three sides of my house there are a lot of creatures that like to feed at night.  That is why all my animals are locked up at night. So "pretty girl" is a tomorrow problem.  Too dark to do much tonight.

  
Pretty girl is standing in back of the dish of strawberry tops. She is black with a white head. 



Scout Sunday was at church today.  I wasn't surprised at the number of people in the congregation that had been scouts but there were actually 7 to 10 eagle scouts and one senior girl scout.  There was about 150 people there.  There was cake after wards and only 4 pieces were brought home and the cake served 50.  So I would say the day was well received.  It has been several years since the church had honored the scouts but Rev. Lord said he thinks we should have Scout Sunday every year now.  I was very proud of my two grandsons.  The boys recited the cub scout oath.  Logan wasn't shy or anything.  He stood up front and said it loud and clear. The rest of scouts was getting stage fright by the end of the oath.  

Hope everyone had as nice of day as I did.  

Did you know:  In 2013, service projects were conducted by more than 2.6 million youth members and more than 1 million volunteers

Jelly Anyone?

Finally feel like I accomplished something.  

Made jelly today.  The ones to the right are Strawberry Jelly.  The ones above are a blend of violets and lilac.  The picture below is Lilac Jelly. I will be selling them at the farmers markets this summer.  

Even had time to weave on the big loom today.  This item will be dishtowels for the market also.  I started them in November and am about 3" from finishing the first towel.  Should make about five towels before I get done.  Hopefully they will be done before the first craft show of the season which is April 23. 

I told you about the paste tomatoes coming up.  Think I have more than will fit into my garden.  Too bad I didn't get them started earlier.  I could have donated the extras to the Master Gardeners for their plant sale on April 30th in Bedford, VA.  It is our annual fund raising project. 

Hope tomorrow will go as smooth as today went. Hope you had a good day.

Did you know? Tomatoes are rich in lycopene, an antioxidant that is good for the heart and effective against certain cancers. Cooked tomatoes are actually better for you than raw ones, as more beneficial chemicals are released. Tomatoes are also packed with vitamins A and C, calcium, potassium.

And the week coninues on the same path

Another day where the day just didn't flow right.  

With it staying lighter later bedtime around here has become a nightmare.  The kids will not go to sleep and then in the morning it is exceptionally difficult to get them up and dressed for school. It is still light outside when they are suppose to go to bed and dark when they get up.  After school it is nothing but fighting because they are too tired.  I would like to enlist whoever thought of daylight savings time to come over to here and have them put children to bed.  I have been over an hour trying to convince two five-year olds that it is bedtime. Okay I am off my soap box.  It just is irritating to fight with them night after night.  

Sold some more eggs today.  It is really nice to be able to re-cope some of the money I put out for feed.  I love my feathered friends but they sure eat a lot.  

The paste tomato seeds sprouted today.  So did the marigolds.  I didn't have much hope that they would as the seeds were old and it isn't that warm in the basement where I have them.  

Still no violets for a second batch of jelly.  Maybe when it warms back up some more will bloom.  Going to transplant some over to my property so I have my own supply.  The blackberries seem real healthy.  The blueberries are ify.  One looks like something has been eating on it so I put a cage around it.  Hopefully I was fast enough.  

Hope your day went smoother than what my week has.  

Did you know?  We naturally feel tired at two different times of the day: about 2:00 AM and 2:00 PM. It is this natural dip in alertness that is primarily responsible for the post-lunch dip.

Monday, Monday

The day wasn't bad. Wasn't real good.  Always make a schedule for the day to keep me on track.  Didn't seem to work too good today.  Went to pick violets and lilacs for jelly and came home with lilacs only.  Scheduled de-stemming lilac later in the day then realized that I needed to do it while they were still very fresh so that changed the schedule.  Took longer than I had scheduled to plant and water the garden.  As I said it just didn't flow today.  




Got the baby chicks outdoors for a few hours today.  As you can see the older animals was real interested in what was making all that noise.  If the temperature didn't yoyo as bad as they have been I would put them outside all the time.  But one night is in the 50's and the next night it is down in the lower 30's.  They have feathers but not quite that many.

No dandelion jelly this year.  My daughter picked some for me and it took at least four hours to take the flower off the green part.  We got at least 95% of the green out.  Soaked them over night.  Strained them today.  The tea is green not yellow like it should be and it tastes bitter.  Which means we didn't get enough green out of the mixture.  Not willing to try again.  

Got a female duck sitting on eggs.  Should have new babies in about 20 days.  Duck eggs take about 30 days and then there are the 2 chicken eggs she is also sitting on.  They take about 20 days to hatch we are real curious to see  what she will do when the chicks hatch before the baby ducks.  She is a real protective mom and I am not about to try to take any of the eggs away from her. 

Hope you had a wonder day.

Did you know? A cow on a dairy farm drinks as much as 50 gallons of water daily.

Wedding is over

The wedding is over so it is back to the crazy normal that we have in this household. 


My nephew's son was married on Saturday.  Beautiful wedding, beautiful bride what more could you ask for on a windy day.  


Think we spend more time coming and going than we did at the wedding.  The wedding was about 100 miles from my house.  My grandson ended up driving the entire way by himself.  He was suppose to be at my house at 7:30 a.m. so at 7:35 a.m. I called to find out where he was at.  Still in Farmville where he goes to college.  Farmville is 70 miles from my house in the wrong direction.  So he met us at the wedding. 

The kids did really good at the wedding.  We got over the reception hall early and they were able to get their energy out before a lot of people came in so that worked out really good.

One my five year old granddaughter caught the bouquet.  None of the big girls were even trying to catch it. None of the single guys were trying to catch the garter either.  In fact most of them had their hands in their pockets.





The cake was beautiful even if I am a little prejudice.  My youngest daughter make it.  She took cake decorating in high school.  She is trying to get into the cake business now.



Today was just a relaxing Sunday.  Went to early church services and then just bummed around until it was time to leave for my guild meeting.  Still trying to learn how to do inkle weaving.  The lady that taught the inkle weaving class was at the guild meeting and helped me some more.

We are in for round three of the sickness.  Aiden has a temperature and sore throat.  Off the to the doctor's tomorrow.

Hope everyone had a very pleasant day.

Did you know?  Butterflies can see red, green, and yellow.

Spring Break Almost Over

The girls teacher said today is the last day of spring break.  The weekend does not count as they get every weekend off.  At least they got a couple days this week to spend with their dad in Radford.  

Picked violets on Wednesday and made jelly out of them today.  I think it is so pretty and even tastes good.  I got to lick the spoon.  It sold real good last year at the Farmer's Market so hope to make several batches this year.  

Keeping my eyes open for large patches of dandelions.  It takes 10 cups of flowers to make one batch of jelly.  Had several people ask for it last year so if I can find enough I will make a couple of batches.  One batch makes four 8 oz. jars. 

Been getting my retail therapy last couple of days.  The girls needed new dresses for an upcoming wedding and I found some at Peebles in Bedford for only $15 each.  They were $40 dresses with 60% off.  Lucked out, sometimes it is had to find sale dresses that are alike and in sizes that will fit each girl.  I also found some real cute outfits for my niece's babyshower.

Hope you had a good day.

Did you know?  There is 3,805,927 square miles in the United States.