March is almost over!

Spring, where are you?

The flowers in the house say it's time!

 

 

Sir Lambs Alot, napping in the rare sunshine we've had this month!

 Mr. Bojangles wool separated on it's own beautifully! Gorgeous wool! It's too bad, because he's probably going to end up in the freezer, as he's taken to chasing our youngest and butting at him.



 

Honey, our smallest ewe... she didn't get pregnant last fall but hopefully will this spring. She's grown quite a bit over the winter. If not, hello lamb-chops.

 

 

Where's the grain!?  Ya know, I'd really love if one of these Icelandic ewes would go ahead and lamb for me.  Mr Thorin there in the middle with the white beard is next in line to be sheared. I try and do 2 sheep a week so that it doesn't turn into one long shearing marathon.

 

 

Our faithful herd-puppy 

 

 

 

 Baby bunnies! Getting their fur...18 in all! 

 

 

 

Dagny thinks she's a sheep...waiting for grain. She eats their food & the sheep eat her dog food. Crazies!

 

Mr Baxter, finding the first blades of spring grass. 

 

 

The ducks in their favorite muddy spot.  

 

 

 

 

Best lamby-friends.  These two are keepers.

 

Mr Bingley was not so lucky in his wool separation...he got a chop job. 

 

 

Out with the scissors having a good ol' time. Poor Dangny was depressed that we wouldn't let her help with the wool. :-P  Her idea included tearing it out in clumps with her teeth.

 

 

 

Loki has glasses? Cool ram horns we let weather outside over the winter.  

 

 

Our awesome teenage daughter sitting on the porch...her 15th birthday! :) Her little brothers muddy footprints across the porch behind her... ah, boys.

 

Birthday girl with Dad...
The Woodstock Health department is a total joke...we've been trying for nearly 7 months to get a permit to replace the septic system on our house, but they've given us nothing but hassle to the point of a potential law suit...we've considered using that outhouse in the background... ha!

 

 

We had the wonderful opportunity to meet the former owner of our home. A former officer in the British Navy who made our house his home for nearly 20 years. It was such a pleasure to have him visit and share stories of renovation and history about the house, we had so much to talk about! He had also given us a very thick binder with over 200 years of information and research that he compiled on both the home and it's many residents over the years. Such a gift & such a treat to have someone to share the love of our home and property with.  <3

 

 

These shutters used to hang on the house at some point... I re purposed them into country shelves for our dishes. I don't think this is it's permanent spot because I love the view out my window, but as our old kitchen has no upper cabinets, it's been pretty useful.

 

 

 This week I have to wish a happy birthday to my beautiful daughter who is turning 21 tomorrow. She loves our family and our farm, but is away from home serving a mission for our church. I miss her, but am so proud of her! :)  

 

 

 

 

 

For more information on our farm, please visit :

 http://samsbillthepony.wix.com/getting-liberty#

or email us at samsbillthepony@yahoo.com

Coconut, baby bunnies, & nooo....more snow!

Happy St. Patricks Day! We celebratated the day with yet ANOTHER snow day out of school...we must have had 10 inches on the ground this morning. Please, oh please, let this be the last of it this spring!

 

My poor garden plot, buried under that snow are early spring seeds... I hope they make it! I've got twig stakes and chicken wire around it to keep the chickens and ducks out, but I'm hoping to turn it into a colonial style woven twig fence...eventually.  

 

:Sigh: winter blues.

 

 

 My boys found the hidden 'pot of gold' at the end of the rainbow that the leprechaun leaves every year...

 Green breakfast! In the background is a really beautiful toile curtain the former owner  delivered to us... hanging over the door to keep out the cold.

 

 

My new soap label! ! Right now it's $2 for a standard bar of sheep milk soap, and $4 for a felted wool bar.

 

Since it was miserable out, I decided it was a good day for washing wool...this is from my 2 Tunis ewes. It is the softest wool!!!

 

 

...And then I realized it's too cold to hang it outside to dry, so we're working around heaps of damp wool. ;-)

Now this is another project I was working on today... My husband and I are on a low carb diet and I don't like paying high prices for special flour. I get coconuts for $1.50 each, and this is my first attempt at making coconut milk & flour from scratch. :) This is the coconut meal with the milk draining off into a pitcher, after I poured about 8 cups of boiling water on top of 4 cups shredded fresh coconut & blended in the blender to 5 minutes.

 

So easy! Here is the milk in jars which is absolutely creamy and delicious! the 'pulp' is about to go into the oven to dry out for flour.

 In the meantime...hungry animals wait...

 Awesome surprise... 10 baby rabbits born from my young NZ-California mix rabbit. They look like they are floating in a fluffy cloud! :)

 

Sir Lambs A lot, chillin.

 

Dagny is going to help me rake up some hay... she's getting big!

 

Kitty... looking innocent... unfortunately my 6 little chicks disappeared from their cage, which apparently wasn't as safe as I thought.  :(

 

Mr Bojangles, looking for a snack.

Back inside, my daughter gets stuck in a laundry basket.... ;-)

 

And my coconut flour is finished! I made an amazing low carb coconut cupcake in the microwave... comfort food for a cold day!
3 TBSP coconut flour, 1 egg, 1 TBSP coconut oil, 1/2 tsp bkg pwdr, splenda or xylitol to taste...whip together in a mug and microwave for 1:30, and add a butter & cream cheese frosting with coconut flavoring and xylitol.

 

Didn't totally hit the spot for comfort food, so we cooked up some cabbage, hamburger, lamb, bacon, garlic & onion in our dutch oven for St. Patricks Day dinner... delicious!!!

 

 

My youngest prefers to spear his...

 

For more information on our farm, please visit :

 http://samsbillthepony.wix.com/getting-liberty#

or email us at samsbillthepony@yahoo.com

Lambs & soap & signs of spring!

We have survived the winter here...finally, the temperatures are starting to feel like spring! We're down to one fire a day just to warm up the house in the morning.  Everyone is ready for it... the horses are bored & tired of hay and ready for some pasture grass!

 

 

March came in with one big snowfall!

 

 

We had another lamb born just before the snow hit. This little guy is a California Red - Tunis mix. Our son named him Sir Lambs- A lot. Tunis is a breed that Thomas Jefferson had at Monticello. I would love to find a nice Tunis ram...these are such gentle sheep!

Poppy & the ducks...



 

This is a new experiment, making felted soap with Icelandic wool. This is the sheep milk soap I made 2 weeks ago. Look at that lather!! It still has 2-3 weeks to cure.

 

Our new chickies... I have no idea what breed they are since the teenage boys bought them.

 

This was just funny... My youngest son decided this morning that his pajamas were immodest because they didn't have a top button, so he taped it closed. I guess after  being bundled in the house up all winter, a little bit of air on skin is shocking, ha!

I absolutely love how this turned out! It is felted soap made with black Icelandic wool. Isn't that beautiful!?

 

 

The other is made with the Red's wool... I love the slight variation of color!  The wool acts as a washcloth and shrinks in size as your soap shrinks. When the bar runs out you can cut open the felted wool and insert a new bar. These are available to purchase. :)

 

 

Another sign of spring...the egg production is stepping up. I'm getting about 4-5 eggs a day from 6 hens. Aren't those the cutest little salt and pepper shakers? I found them at a local thrift shop and couldn't resist, even if they don't dispense the salt fast enough. ;)

 

My teenage son loves digging around in the yard and finding old buried vintage bottles. I'd rather he found some lost civil war gold, but that's beside the point. ;-) I've turned them into spice jars, and for the ones I can't find cork sizes to fit, I made felted wool balls to help keep the moisture out.

 

I found this hideous -but -really- cute- in-a -weird- way poncho at a local thrift shop and bought it for my 15 yr old daughter. She loved it and has been wearing it around the house all winter. This is her favorite place to sit, warm by the fire in her poncho with old teddy, keeping me company in the kitchen while I cook. :)

This is the 3rd lamb of the year to be born on a Sunday!  Protected by our watchful Pyrenees & sons with swords...

 

Lambs curious about their new playmate

 

This is Molly, another Tunis ewe, and half Red- half Tunis lamb that we named Ember. He's a big boy!

 

Defenders of the barn

Good mom...this is her pawing the ground like a bull, making sure the puppy knows to stay away from her lamb. 

Sunbathing... I can't blame them, the sunshine feels amazing! Finally! 

Is there anything better than a belly scratching?

 

These gourds have been sitting out all winter and I think they're finally dried out enough to clean and paint. :) Now that I wont be tending fires all day, I might actually have time to do it...at least until gardening & shearing season kicks in... uuuhhh...and that is very soon.

 

Last but not least, a vintage lamb pan. A friend told us about an important tradition in his family where the lamb cake is decorated in coconut, and the head is chopped off and saved for whatever relative isn't in attendance...it was just bizarre enough that I knew we had to adopt the tradition! Haha!

 

Last but in no way least, my oldest son has just enlisted in the Marines. I am so proud of him! I know the hours he's spent working for me chopping wood, moving hay,  and doing garden work had made him tougher than you're average 19 yr old, and he is a God fearing, good man. Fighting to preserve our liberties...what parent could ask for more?

 

 

For more information on our farm, please visit :

 http://samsbillthepony.wix.com/getting-liberty#