~ ~ Goats and Violets ~ ~

( Jazzlyn )

I didn't get a chance to blog yesterday , it was a busy day. Grocery shopping was at the top of the list yesterday and now that it's out of the way , it's on to better things. I did have a chance to pick-up a few broccoli , cabbage and herbs while I was in town. Dh bought potatoes the other day , so we'll be planting in the garden this week.

It's been a long wait , but we finally got our future milking goats. I decided to get Nigerian Dwarf Goats , we got 2 females this past weekend. I got young goats so they would grow up around the Grands , it'll be awhile before we have milk. My girls and the grands came over yesterday afternoon to see the goats , of course they all fell in love with the kids. Curious J said "aww " when he saw them and Little Froggy eyes lit up , he said " Sheep " , we all got a laugh out of that. Little Missy loves them and wants to let them out to follow her and Little Time wanted to pull their ears , the kids didn't like that and they bellowed out and let him know(LOL). I've been pondering names the last couple of days. I've decided to name them Jazzlyn and Joyelle , but we'll call them Jazz and Joy. Jazz has more black and Joy has more white , so they're easily identified. They're so precious and I know we're really going to enjoy having them around.

The violets are in full bloom , I harvested a bowl full yesterday and hope to gather another bowl today. I'll be making jelly tomorrow , if I get enough gathered today.

~ Many Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ The Weekend ~

Little Froggy and I headed out to feed the chickens early Saturday morning.


He fed the guinea also.


It's all gone (LOL) !




Time for some fun !

Getting started .........................

Weeeee !!

Time for a little scoccer :0)

We picked a few daffodils before going inside.


Hubby and I picked up our future milk goats Sunday afternoon. I'll post more about them tomorrow. But I just had to show a pic , they're so cute.

Hope Your weekend was Great !

~ Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ Blessing ~

May This Day Bring You Wonderment !!

~ Be Blessed ~

JoyceAnn

~ Awww ~ Spring ~

I think Spring fever has set in , my thoughts are all over the place , so much I want to do and so much I need to do. I finally found a background for this blog I'm satisfied with , I've changed it several times over the last few days. I really like this egg background alot. The tulip tree and daffodils are in full bloom , they're beautiful this year.

I've been washing and hanging the clothes out to dry , a couple of weeks ago I made this clothespin bag. I had seen one made out of a little girls dress in the Lehman's catalog and thought I could make one of those. But I couldn't find a dress to my liking and since I don't have a sewing machine , a little hand stitching would have to do. I found this little pair of coverall shorts and went to work. I sewed the bottom up and simply tacked the straps above the button closure to hold them in place on the hanger. It works great , I just undo the button closure and it hangs down so I have easy access to the clothespins.

Dh cleaned the ashes out of the wood furnace yesterday , so this morning I gathered a bucket and spread some out in the places were the chickens dust bathe. I read a tip in Country Side magazine that said to put ashes under the straw in the hen's nesting boxes , it's suppose to help prevent lice. I thought it might work just as well to add it to the places they dust.

Two of the hens seemed pretty fascinated by the ashes , they kept pecking around in them , then they finally settled down to dust.

Monday I put a new roosting pole in the coop , this hen seem to be afraid of heights yesterday morning. She wouldn't fly down , she kept pacing back and forth , she would stop , look at me and cackle , then pace back and forth again. After awhile she finally decided to jump down to the roost below and then down to the floor , Silly chicken (LOL).

So , do you have " Spring Fever " yet ?

~ Green Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ I've Been Tagged by Art From My Heart ~

Bet you're wondering why I have a picture of a Christmas ornament on my blog. I've been tagged and the game goes like this ..........

Rules:

Open the first file in your picture folder.
Scroll to the 10th photo.
Post the photo and tell the story behind it.

Link to the person that tagged you.
Tag five more people and let them know.

I made this Christmas ornament a few years , actually I made quite a few of them. I sold some of them and gave some to friends. You can see Marie's tagged photo and read about it here ~ http://mariesegal.blogspot.com/2010/03/i-have-been-tagged-by-moonwolf.html ~. I found it interesting that her photo was about Christmas too.

I'm tagging anyone that would like to play , it's pretty interesting to take a peek into the past and see what you were up to at that time. So click on your first picture folder and scroll to the 10th photo , post a story about the photo and let me know because I would love to read about it. You don't have to tag anyone else unless you want too. I'm " It " and I'm changing the rules of the game (LOL).

Thanks Marie , I enjoyed playing tag !

~ Be Blessed ~

JoyceAnn

~ Hard Day's Work ~

Yesterday started out with a beautiful sunrise ,

after my coffee and a little blogging , I went out to feed the chickens. Just as I was getting ready to start raking leaves , that little hawk came flying in and landed in a oak tree near the dog lot. I wish you could have heard me hollering at that bird and making boom , boom sounds like a gun (LOL) , hoping to scare him off. I think it worked , it flew away and I didn't see it anymore yesterday. Of course it probably thought I was a
" human " loony bird :0)


The chickens enjoyed the freshly plowed garden while I was mulching the garlic. I bet there was some good " grub " in the dirt.

Between raking , mulching and picking up sticks I dug a few day lilies and planted them near the pool deck.

I picked up and dumped about 3 loads of sticks in the hugelkultur bed ,

loaded up some rotted wood and started filling in the bed.

It took about 6 wagon loads of leaves to mulch those two rows of garlic , this was the last load.

I finished the mulching , but didn't get as much done on the hugelkultur bed as I would have liked. I was one give out Nana , ready for bath and bed afterwards. It was a hard day's work , but I'm glad it's done.

~ Many Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ * ~ Wild Onions & Eggs ~ * ~

Yesterday , I cooked up some wild onions with eggs just like my ancestors have always did this time of the year. It was a ritual of the Cherokee people to cook wild onions and scrabbled eggs to celebrate Spring's arrival. Making them with fresh eggs really gave them a better flavor , so umm umm good.

Dh mowed/mulched our leaves the weekend , so today I plan to rake and mulch the garlic with them. I mulched the garlic back in the Fall but the winds have blew most the leaves through the woods. I'll probably work on the hugelkultur bed too.

What's on your agenda today ?

~ Spring Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ Dawn ~

The signs of the dawn are seen in the east and the breath of the new life is here.

Tahirussawichi

Pawnee

~ 1st Day of Spring and Feeling Grateful ~

I'm always Grateful for my family & friends , but thought I would mention a few other things I've been Grateful for this week.

I'm Grateful that when the boys came last Saturday , they both had a handful of buttercups for me. Curious J's were nice and neat , but Little Froggy's were twisted and bent (LOL). I graciously accepted them and put them in this little jar to enjoy , they made my heart smile each time I looked at them.

I Grateful that my oldest daughter , Little Missy and Little Time got Nana this wonderful t-shirt. I love the colors and the wonderful sentiment.

I'm grateful to see the dandelions blooming and the herbs growing.

I am Grateful for that gorgeous sunset I witnessed this week.

I am Grateful Spring is here !!

What are you Grateful for Today ?

~ Spring Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ Yesterday .......................................

the weather was gorgeous. My daughter had to take Little Time for a Dr's appt. , so Little Missy and I had the day to ourselves. We spent the day outdoors , we fed the chickens and found out " It takes Two " to lay an egg today (LOL).

She swung for awhile .........................................................

We enjoyed the view ...................................................

We hung the Moon ....................................................

We discovered the enchinacea was coming alive.................

then we got to work cleaning out this small herb bed , so I could plant cilantro .

Little Missy was a big help ..................................................

Yay , the cilantro is planted and covered with netting to keep the chickens out.

And the day ended with this view .................................. Perfect !!!

Hope your Day was Perfect too !

~ Be Blessed ~

JoyceAnn

~ Hugelkultur ~

I've found a new blog I've enjoyed reading over the last few weeks , it's called ~ Chickens On The Porch ~ , her blog is listed on my sidebar if you would like to visit. . Callie writes about her chickens and many other things , awhile back she mentioned a garden method called " kugelkultur " . I read the link she had on her blog , it really captured my interest as I'm creating a new garden bed this year. After reading more info on this method , I've decided to try this method on the latest garden bed I'm starting. You can read more about this garden method here ~ http://hubpages.com/hub/Hugelkultur-Using-Woody-Waste-in-Composting ~.

Earlier this week , Dh and I boxed in the garden beds near his garage. The bed to the side of the garage receives the most sun , but the bed on the backside doesn't. I plan to plant some herbs and veggies that like partial shade there , this is the bed I'll be trying the kugelkultur method with too. I found this wonderful link about what types of plants do well in partial shade , you can read about them here ~ http://www.rickharrison.com/texts/info/shade_tolerant.html ~. Next week I plan to clean the area and put down sticks and rotted logs , I'll add some chicken poop straw and a layer of leaves over that. The last layer will be mushroom compost and some dirt. I think the chicken poop has broken down enough that it won't burn the plants. Looking forward to seeing how this method works.

~ Green Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ Spring Fling Giveaway ~

There's a giveaway going on over at the " The Candy Corn Chronicles " , it's a nice giveaway for all you gardeners. Jeanne has put together a fabulous giveaway , it includes the hand stitched covered garden journal pictured above , echinacea & hollyhock seeds , some wonderful lavender scented sachets and whimsical butterfly plant stakes made from recycled aluminum cans. Just click here ~ http://wildwoodsartstudio.blogspot.com/2010/03/spring-fling-giveaway.html ~ and leave a comment to enter. You can also become a follower of her blog for a second chance at winning this delightful ~ Spring Fling Giveaway ~. She will announce the winner Saturday , the first day of Spring ( Yay ). This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only. Good Luck to you all and Happy St. Paddy's Day.

~ Green Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

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