Siding A House

Since Spring, Emma and I have been helping Grandpa re-side his house in Whitestown. Goodness, we've learned a lot! The job took quite a while because near the end he decided to extended the roof, delaying the project a few weeks. On Thursday, we finally finished the two peeks. And the job is done. It looks great!

It went from a light green to this mist color. First the old siding came off, then the cardboard insulation, followed by prying off all the old shingles. Then the new insulation went up, the windows got fixed, and the siding was replaced. Em and I have officially "graduated nailing school." 

And I've certainly gotten a few hours of driving in, all added up.

Drying Dill

The dill was the first thing in my garden to get going this year (all on its own), and so it's way ahead of everything but the catnip. Well, before it gets too tall and stocky, it's time to harvest and dry it. 

I started with three clumps of the tallest dill. Ella kindly loaned me a couple of her bracelet rubber bands to hold the stems together at the ends. 

I'm using brown paper bags because Mama was saying how she didn't like drying dill and ending up with it all brown. I read online that being in the paper bag will keep sunlight from bleaching it, and also keep off dust. 

The dill needs a lot of air flow, though, to prevent mildew. I cut slits in the bottom. 

Slip the dill into the bag, up-side down. At first, I tried to staple the stem end to the bag to keep it closed and all held together, but that doesn't quite do the job, unless your clumps are much smaller. Instead, take a toothpick and start a couple holes through each side on both sides of the dill, then feed a twisty-tie through to secure it and close the bag. 

This is what it should look like...

The dill is supposed to hang for around two weeks or until brittle to the touch, in a dry warm place. My room works. I bound the three bags to a wooden ladder with pipe-cleaner. 

This was all two days ago... and then yesterday, when I went to the Goodwill with my Grandma and Emma, look what I found!

Old fashioned nails and everything; it's too cute. So the next time I dry herbs, I'll try some tiny clumps hanging from this. 

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Update: See the results!

New Kittens

Alice is a mommy again. Ella found her kittens yesterday in the haymow...

She made a home out of this discarded box next to a few hay bales. It's hard to believe she can fit in it! But cats and boxes are a thing, I guess. Where there's a will, there's a way. 

Three little cuties. ^_^

Their eyes are still closed, and we're resisting the urge to touch them... it's hard.

Picking Rocks

It's a rock-picking kind of day...

We went around the field strips in the Kubota, picking up rocks, while Daddy did the tractor work. Corn is going to get planted here today or tomorrow. 

We probably shouldn't have been having as much fun as we were. :P

But it always turns out like that.

This is Ella's creepy face...

(Thanks to Emmy for most of those photos. ^)

I seriously live in one of the most beautiful places in the world.

 Ah, Litchfield, God shed his grace on thee. 

Goats: Meet Alyssum & Sweetheart

On Monday, Mama and I drove to pick up our new goats!

Friday, we had gotten the outer enclosure all set for them by driving stakes into the ground and tying the fence pieces together, and she had been busy preparing the interior of the chicken coop to her taste. 

Well, after a struggle to get the mama goat into the crate up in the truck, we were all set. The baby rode home on my lap. 

Meet Sweetheart~

And Alyssum~

Sweetheart, (or Heart), is a Boer-Saanen cross. Alyssum isn't her kid, but she did have kids a while ago, and so she's all set to be milked. While she is constantly butting Lyssi away, she can't stand to be separated from her! When she's up on the milking stand, she won't be calm unless she has grain/grass to her liking, and Alyssum is eating on the other side of the wall right where she can see her. 

Alyssum, (or Lyssi), is a sweet little Saanen, about seven weeks old, I believe. 

The milking has gone about as smoothly as can be expected, what with the shake-up of being relocated. But Heart is getting better and more used to it. We're figuring out her quirks and what makes her feel comfortable. 

They have a pen in the chicken coop, since the rooster was... *cough*... evicted...

And the outer pen is right under a big maple tree. They have shade at all times of the day, and plenty of sunlight. 

Oh, and they have John Deere collars. :3

These goats love dandelions. 

I should have just named Lyssi after them. Then she would be Dandy for short. :P

After a few milkings, Mama had a gallon of milk. So she tried her hand at making chevre cheese. It came out a little wetter than intended, but it's more like cream cheese. It spreads great on bread. Ingredients: dill, onion powder, and sea salt. 

The goats are wonderful. ^_^ 

Every time I walk across the yard to the garden, they spy me and call out. I like their voices. Heart's is funny and loud in contrast with Lyssi's soft bleat. I love the smell of goats, too. XD

We're getting along well, and as the routine starts to sink in, everything will go smoother. Already it isn't such a struggle to coax Heart up onto the milking stand. 

Yep, I'm enjoying this. ;)

Red, White, & Tardis Blue

In the words of Emma, "It feels good to just be doing our nails like sisters." ^_^

Practicing for Independence Day, I guess. ;)

And gotta love the Tardis-blue. :3

Allons-y!

Slugs in the Garden

Recently, I've noticed some problems with my marigolds... all their leaves are getting eaten off! 

The reason I have marigolds in the first pace is to keep rabbits and critters out of the garden, and they've been doing their job well. But the poor little things are suffering attacks of another kind. 

They went from these lush-green fronds to these poor naked stalks...

Slugs.

And then the slugs proceed to cross my garden border and nibble on the spinach seedlings, as well. 

Well, this won't do.

I did some research on what deters them, and found some interesting methods. 

Last year, I didn't have marigolds, but I did have spinach. And the snails and slugs were merciless. I got the idea to sprinkle salt around the plants to kill their attackers. It must have worked, because the problem did go away. But the spinach was already pretty big by then, so it was kind of able to fend for itself, or at least not have a few nibbles make such a big difference. 

This time, however, they're still tiny and feeble.

When I googled the problem, I found that my salt method actually wasn't so original- people have been doing it with success. I also found that sand is supposed to be unpleasant for them to slither over, and pine needle mulch is like daggers. 

This morning I used about four pails of sand and mounded it up along the marigold perimeter. 

Then I sprinkled salt all around it. Half way through the process, I actually had slugs trying to cross the border I had established, and... ewww... I felt kind of bad. But hey, it works. 

I think probably the best method would be to give the sand a light salt-sprinkle in the evening before I go inside. The slugs are most active at night, so the deterrent will be fresh and should be quite effective. 

So, this is my new garden perimeter. Now hopefully everything can grow in peace and prosperity! 

And yes, we got our goats on Monday!! 

I am putting a post together about it; I just want to have some pictures of the milking process, too, before I post it. Here's a teaser picture, though....