Spring Frenzy

Spring exploded into a frenzy of activity a few weeks ago and I've barely managed to keep up with it all. For a couple of weeks our bees swarmed constantly.



We managed to rehive three swarms, so we now have seven bee hives total. Two swarms congregated on branches so high in the air we could not possibly get to them. They ended up joining the ranks of feral bees in our neighborhood and I hope they prosper for the good of all.



I don't know how many swarms we missed. A couple of our hives swarmed over and over again. The bees would pour out of the hive and then swirl into the air. Bees would climb all over themselves getting out of the hive.



The pile would grow and grow.



Until the bees would launch themselves into the air filling the sky with their buzzing.



Most of the time we would discover the swarm from the loud buzzing. Even my neighbor said she could hear it on her own property. We also witnessed a mating flight early one morning. At first we thought it was a swarm, but then the bees all went back into their hive. They swarmed for real a couple hours later.

Finally, unprepared, out of spare equipment and exhausted, Kurt opened the repeatedly swarming hives and eliminated the queen cells to give us a bit of a break. In the meantime, we've built a couple more hive boxes, frames and started our goat barn.



I don't know why, but apparently the Lord thinks we need dairy goats. We've wanted them for a long time, but something always stopped the process. That is no longer the case.

Recently, when Strider, our LPG dog kept getting out of his fence and we were so busy we prayed for the Lord to keep him inside, I told Kurt I thought the Lord was getting us ready to finally get our goats because we were learning all about building secure fencing. Literally moments later the telephone rang. Out of the blue the people from whom we always wanted to purchase goats called wanting to know if we wanted to buy some goats. We definitely wanted to get the goats, but after months of fixing our new house and building chicken coops, we were as broke as we've ever been. So we prayed.

Still feeling the Lord's leading in this we told the goat people we were going to go forward though we had no idea how. But first, we had to finish building the meat chicken coop for the chickens that had already been ordered.

As we discussed how were were going to manage the whole dairy goat thing, we considered robbing the kids' piggy banks for goat money. Then we got an anonymous gift of money so we could buy our goats. It was exactly the amount we thought we would need. God definitely provides.

As we started looking around for materials to build a goat shelter, we realized we were going to need much more money than we expected. Then someone told Kurt she and her husband had built a horse shelter on rented property and then got rid of the horses and were planning to move. They told Kurt he could have the shelter if he wanted to disassemble it. He did. God's provision continues to amaze us, though I don't know why. By now you would think we would be perfectly familiar with God's love and goodness considering our history. But we continue to be amazed anyway.

The horse shed ended up being a tremendous blessing, way better than anything we could have ever imagined for ourselves. We needed to replace the roof, but so far everything else is working.



Gregory and Kurt started assembling our new barn in the front yard, where we plan to pasture the goats.



A couple of times the Lord sent friends over to help out when we most needed the help. He is so good.



They have now finished the outer structure and we are going to have to figure out how to build the inside part next. We also need to buy fencing materials and get our pastures ready. Everything seems to take such a long time.

As we were building, I noticed the tree next to the barn has wisteria dripping from its limbs.



I love experiencing our first Spring in our new house. There are so many surprises to discover.

Yesterday, as I worked in my garden I paused to listen to the cry of the seagulls. I glanced back at the woods by the creek and noticed something different. So I went to explore.



I discovered a wall of flowers cascading down from the highest tree branches on the edge of our woods.



It was beautiful and looked like something you would find in Hawaii.



The annoying vines constantly cropping up to strangle the trees and block our access to the creek had burst into bloom.



The blooms were not only beautiful, but smelled divine.



The blossoms are fairly large and Gabrielle knew what to do immediately.



The flowers are quite delicate looking.



And they do look like a large dogwood blossom with five petals instead of four.



A friend suggested they might be wild dogwood.



I'd sure love to know what these are if anyone knows.

In the meantime, I've planted most of my garden. I've been busy taking care of our meat chickens and turkeys. I've done a bit of knitting. In fact, I finished making the fingerless gloves I promised to Asa.



He loved them and I am very glad. I hope they help keep his hands warm next winter.

I've also done some canning. A couple days ago I cooked and canned four and a half gallons of turkey soup with the turkey carcass left over from Easter.



I love stocking our pantry with homemade food. And home canned food works as fast food around here.

Today we got rain and so we are inside. But we will be back to the Spring frenzy soon with more gardening, bee chores, chicken and turkey raising and butchering and preparing for our dairy goats. I also promised my Mom I would finish her sweater by the time she visited next month. Whew! We are going to be busy for awhile still.

Goodbye Mr. Winter

We've had more winter this year than I can remember for some time. But I finally believe it is over because the bees know. And one of our bee hives swarmed.



In the Spring before the "honey flow," bees sometimes get it into their little heads to swarm. A strong colony will divide itself into two smaller colonies and the Queen and a bunch of bees will leave their hive in search of a new home. Some bees will remain in the old hive and will raise up a new Queen, who must then mate and begin growing up the hive again.

The swarming bees will all of a sudden pour out of the hive entrance in a massive swirl, filling the air with a tornado of bees. They will find a branch or something similar and will congregate into a mass that looks like it hangs down from the branch.



The bees will "hang out" for a limited period of time while they determine where to move the colony. As beekeepers, we have our own ideas about where they should live. In fact, Kurt had a new beehive just about ready. Unfortunately, the bees settled on a fairly high branch and we weren't prepared to recover a swarm that high in the air. Kurt called a beekeeper friend and then raced to collect a swarm grabbing tool - a bucket on a stick. He had to get back before the bees left once and for all.



Our friends came with the bucket. James went after the swarm.



After cutting down some lower branches, James eased the bucket under the swarm. Then he smacked the branch.



The vibration dislodged the cluster of bees. They dropped into the bucket and James closed the lid with the attached string. Kurt and James dropped the bees into a new hive box and if all goes well, we will have five hives of bees instead of the four we had a couple of days ago.

Granted, the bee swarm rearranged our priorities yesterday but we are very excited about the new hive. Gregory quickly reminded everyone he was promised the first swarm of bees so the new bee hive will be Gregory's. He wants to raise honey and sell it to earn money. I hope he prospers with it. Especially since he will have to reimburse us for the equipment first.

I finally finished Asa's sweater and it fits perfectly.



He loved it and I am glad. I loved the lack of fabric bunching in his arm pits. Little people just don't have clothes stores to shop. Everyone should have at least a few clothes that absolutely fit. I am so blessed I was able to give Asa his first custom piece of clothing.



I'm so grateful the Lord gave me that nudge a few months ago, even if the sweater did not get finished until Winter finished too.

A New Addiction?

I think I might easily fall prey to addiction. I'm showing the early signs of an irrepressible urge to bring treadle sewing machines into my home and it needs to stop. I don't have the money or room.

Now that I have positively affirmed my choice to be responsible forevermore, I will post about the road trip I dragged the kids on yesterday.

Kurt procured a lovely Singer Model 27 sewing machine for me for my birthday. Unfortunately, it was in pretty rough condition and I doubted my ability to ever get it into working, usable condition. So I started haunting Craig's List looking for parts or for other Singer Model 27 sewing machines. I didn't actually intend to buy another sewing machine; I was simply looking.

Yeah right. Last week, I found this Singer Model 27:



The table was in beautiful shape for a sewing machine manufactured in 1903. My pulse raced every time I saw it. I made several phone calls, requested more pictures and finally made a ridiculously low offer to buy the machine. Knowing I was quite a drive away from Ariton, Alabama, the owner of the antique store decided he would sell me the machine for what I offered if I was willing to make the drive. I think he'd had it in his shop for awhile. The sewing machine has lovely "pheasant" decals I believe.



I really couldn't believe I would be able to get such a lovely machine for so little so yesterday, I grabbed the kids and we headed out for a small town in Alabama whose name I'd never even heard referenced before. I don't have GPS, but I did print out a map from Mapquest. The map would have been sufficient had I not missed a turn early on in our journey and traveled many miles before discovering my mistake. In the end, Gregory learned how to read and navigate from a printed map, which comprised our homeschooling lessons for the day. We created our own route from faded gray lines representing "secondary" roads without names on the large United States Map Book I've had in our car since our last trip across country to visit family. Secondary roads are interesting. There is almost no traffic on secondary roads which I like, and fortunately we had no car problems while in the middle of nowhere, for which I prayed the entire time. We also saw a lot of cows. We even saw a pasture full of miniature cows. I had no idea Alabama had so many cows. I suspect we might have more cows than people.



Despite all the wrong and missed turns and the long trip and all the cows, the machine was every bit as lovely as I'd hoped for a 107 year old sewing machine. I think I should be able to get this machine into working condition, though I feel rough and clumsy around it.



Before traveling to Ariton, I asked the proprietor of "Not Too Shabby" antiques (a LOVELY store by the way) if the Model 27 Singer had any of the attachments with it. He told me no, but that he had another treadle machine in his store that had lots of attachments. If the attachments fit the Model 27, he would let me have them.

Another TREADLE MACHINE? Why wasn't I told???

He tried, but the attachments wouldn't fit. I got the serial number for the second machine and my research told me it was a Singer Model 66, supposedly a good work horse machine that can handle fabric as thick as leather. It sounded interesting. I thought my trip would be a great excuse to learn about another model treadle machine. So upon arrival, the kids and I innocently asked to see the second machine.



While not as ornate, the table was in pretty good condition for a machine manufactured in 1924. I casually asked the price. It was more than I was willing to pay and I walked away. Gregory moaned and told me since we'd come so far, we really should bring both machines home. It was a lovely "red eye" Model 66.



In the end, the man made me an offer I couldn't refuse if I would take both. And I did.

I didn't know how to tell Kurt because he tends to be too practical to understand my love for antique tools beyond what I "need." I did call him and reminded him he loved me very much. I reminded him 3 times so he knew something was up. In the end, he took the news very well and helped me get the Model 66 out of the car. (I did a bit of damage trying to get the Model 27 out of the car with just Gregory's help. It made me sick to my stomach although it is fixable.)

I think one of the things that excites me most about the Model 66 is all the accessories.



I see what looks like a hemmer. I haven't looked at anything too closely yet to determine what else might be there. I decided the clean up of these machines will be my summer project once it gets too hot to garden. I can hardly wait.

Of course Gregory, Kurt and I are now sick today with something that is going around. I'd hoped to get some more seeds in the ground, but don't have the strength for it. Lousy germs. But my new sewing machines are happy things despite colds and flu and work left undone.

Ready for Spring

After a very long winter (to us Southern folk anyway), we are itching for Spring. I've ordered my vegetable seeds for the year and I signed up for a tree grafting class. I planted potatoes.



In Brewton, my potatoes generally rotted before growing. I think the heavy clay and winter rains conspired to kill my potatoes year after year. The soil in our new house does not appear to be as full of clay and I'm hoping we will get our first potatoes this year. I planted gold, red and white potatoes.



Next up will be lettuce. The weather forecast calls for rain tomorrow so I will have to wait until later in the week to plant my salad garden.

In the meantime, I am trying to finish my knitting projects because I don't get to do much knitting in the Spring. I finished my Farmhouse Monkey socks.



And I've been knitting as much as possible on Asa's sweater.



Normally I would not knit something with skulls. We don't like to celebrate death in any form around here. But, I do think Jesus meets us where we are sometimes. Asa is a neat kid in our new neighborhood. He has a growth disorder which makes it impossible for him to buy clothes that fit. Ever. After seeing him in a new jacket with sleeves almost double the length of his arms, I felt the Lord whisper to me to knit something warm for Asa. Something that fits. So, I pulled out my budding design skills and worked up a pattern for someone who doesn't fit within typical pattern proportions (proof that all that math I had to learn in school had application to my life after all). And since I was designing the sweater from scratch anyway, I thought I would design a yoke pattern that would appeal to the young man for whom I am knitting. He likes the whole pirate and skull fad so I'm knitting skulls.



As creepy as the skulls look, I have to admit I'm pretty proud of the way they are turning out. I have one more round of skulls and the yoke will be done.

In the meantime, we actually saw another forecast for snow a week or so ago. Since Brewton got three to four inches of snow the snow forecast before, I thought I'd be ready to travel if snow arrived again. Both Michael and Gabrielle have mittens, but Gregory only had fingerless gloves. So I let him choose some yarn and I hurriedly knit him a pair of wool mittens - just in case.



We didn't get any snow near here after all. Oh well, I'm really clamouring for Spring anyway.

Winter Keeps Hanging On

Winter keeps going and going and going this year, sort of like the Energizer Bunny. Our new house cannot keep up with it's lack of insulation and gappy doors. For us, winter means lots of rain and the rain keeps coming. We've found a couple unrepaired roof leaks that are fortunately not too bad and my gardening efforts have been on hold.

Last Fall, I did manage to plant some garlic and onion bulbs. They are peaking through already.



I haven't done any soil testing at all yet. I did throw a bit of chicken manure into the ground when I dug the beds hoping for the best. Eventually I'll walk the more scientific path. In the meantime, I plan to see what will grow in the native ground.

It rained again last night and the creek once again overflowed its banks.



A small bend of this creek cuts through the corner of our property. I think it is quite pretty.



I would love to build a little deck by the creek with a porch swing structure or something. It would make a lovely place to sit outside and feed the mosquitoes in the summer.



Originally I wanted to truck in a load of sand and make my own private beach. But everyone keeps telling me the sand would wash away in the rain and during these times when the creek overflows its banks.



But first, the house needs work. Lots of work.

I thought I was done with big remodeling projects, like ripping up floors, tiling, grouting, etc. But apparently not. A couple of days ago, my oldest child sat on the toilet. A couple of minutes later, we all heard a big crash.



The side of the toilet bowl literally disintegrated and fell to the ground. Fortunately for my son, the toilet seat remained intact. Ugg. Now we have to replace the toilet. But the prior homeowner laid the floor in that bathroom and instead of doing it properly, he carefully cut around the base of the toilet, custom fitting the floor to the broken toilet. There is probably no way we are going to be able to find a toilet with a big enough base in exactly the shape to fit the opening. And since I always figured we'd have to redo that floor eventually, we figure we better rip out the bathroom floor when we replace the toilet. Fortunately, we have just enough tiles left over from the kitchen floor, if I don't mess anything up, to tile the bathroom. And then the room needs painting, so I should probably go ahead and paint before I install the new floor and toilet. Nothing with this house is ever easy.

During the brief period of time between things going very wrong in our house, and winter keeping me inside, I did manage to finish my Christian Artisans Stash Sock Club socks.



They are Monkey Socks. I liked the Monkey Sock pattern so much, I actually started a second pair.



I'm knitting this pair from stash yarn too. It is Socks that Rock in the Farmhouse colorway. When I look at the yarn I can see an old red barn sitting in a golden field under a blue sky. This is the first yarn I've used where I think I can glimpse the dyer's vision.

I'm actually very close to finishing my second pair of Monkey socks. However, Gabrielle has me distracted. Gabrielle told some new friends that she could sew skirts and they asked her if she would sew a skirt for each of them. Gabrielle readily agreed. It finally got to the point where the girls were going to each have a matching skirt. Every time Gabrielle saw her friends, they asked her about the skirts. I knew the project was really beyond Gabrielle, so I thought I'd help her out and do them for her. So, that has been my afternoon project for the last few days.



We found some fabric in my stash. (It is not actually so bright.) I had barely enough. Unfortunately, I don't have adequate light yet in my sewing corner so I can only work on them when the sun is right. I'm hoping to be able to finish them today or tomorrow.

I finally started combing out the beautiful wool Caroline sent me for our Queen Susan spinning. The fiber is just beautiful!



I'm a little concerned about the range of colors in this fleece. While I love the colors, I'm not sure they will work for a lace shawl.



I hate the waste combing produces.



So, I started carding up the waste pile and spindle spinning a waste yarn. It feels bumpy and rough, but I'm sure it can be used for something. Otherwise, it is nice to be spindling again. I haven't picked up a spindle in a long time.

I'm really tired of being cold all the time and I want to eat fresh garden food again. However, I really enjoy the knitting, spinning and sewing time cold, nasty weather affords.