Homestead Mama | 
05 29th, 2008| 
5/7/2008: More rain today. We will stay in, bake some bread knit, and write.<br>
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5/6/2008: We woke up to the pitter patter of rain on the rooftop. It was just on time, I won’t have to water the new trees today!<br>
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5/5/2008: Kids were asking me this morning if it will frost again…. They are anxious to get some seeds in the ground. How much longer should we wait?<br>
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5/4/2008: The days are getting longer and longer. This morning at oh-should-still-be-dark-early the birds were singing like mad. The forecast was calling for rain today, but we have beautiful blue sky’s. I think I will work on preparing a garden plot.<br>
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5/3/2008: Sunny day. The turkeys and baby chicken have been kicked out of the coop. Time for them to roam around. They were unsure at first, but after a few hours they felt more comfortable venturing out. The sheep were let out into a new pen. The lambs were so happy the pranced in circles for an hour.<br>
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5/2/2008: Spring is definitely here. We are having some beautiful days – weather in the 60s or 70s. The turkeys and the lambs are growing like mad. We finally gave our broody hen some new eggs – she sat on one clutch but none of them hatched. I think the clutch was too big and she wasn’t able to keep them all warm all the time. We finally took those eggs and gave her a new clutch (only four this time) to sit on. That was on the last day of April, so the 21st of May should be the day.<br>
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5/1/2008: May day today. The kids got some flowers and took them to the neighbors. I think it added a little sunshine to everyone’s day.
I’ve been so busy lately, I think I have forgotten how my camera even works.
Time to get back into the photo hunt. Here are some upcoming themes:
Now…. If I can remember to bring my camera with me during the month of May.
We were able to reclaim some old brick. Because of the condition they have been in for the past several years, they have a large variety of shapes and colors. I am so excited about these bricks – they will really add a lot of character to the house.
reclaimed brick
Right now, our plan is to use them in the cove behind the wood stove and behind the cook stove in the kitchen.
Our new house is coming along. Our contractor (read – - overworked husband) says we will be able to move in in two months. So, I figure we will be in by Christmas!
We have found a lot of reclaimed material that I am really excited about. We dis-assembled a barn about a month ago and found another barn that someone else had already disassembled.
I got a pretty cool picture of the barn we took down. I think I will frame it and put it somewhere in the house.
barn
The house will have a story to tell, even though it is brand new. We have the story of the barn wood, and we will have the story of the brick (more on that tomorrow).
Here are a few pics of the material before it goes onto the walls and ceilings.
barn wood
red barn wood
No…. they were not born on the Lazy Sombrero, but they did come to us in April.
It is the big “farm note” of the month.
Here are a few pics to celebrate the newest addition to the homestead.
ewe
babies
The baby lambs the day we brought them home. They are twins – though you can see the black one was much larger than the brown one.
We started off very small – one ewe and her two ewe lambs. One reason I liked this match is because of the different wool colors I will have to spin next year. Each one is a different color. We brought them all home when the lambs were 2 weeks old. The littlest one, Cinnimon, didn’t seem to be doing well after a couple of days. It was very lethargic and seemed to be losing weight. Our caretaker told us he believed she was starving to death. Yikes! We brought her in and fed her with a bottle – - and still tried to encourage her to nurse. After a few days of this, she perked up and it was clear she had begun to nurse.
Now, they really seem to be settled in and are thriving.
