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When we have slow days at work I make mental lists of all the things I could be doing at home. Then when I get home I’m usually tired or just don’t feel like getting much done. Well, the last few months I have been taking advantage of most weekends and gettin’ it done. Here’s a sample of what I’ve done so far today: I replaced the mildewy, moldy, gross white curtain in our shower with a piece of navy shower curtain. I had to buy it new but I saved the rest for another project someday. It looks so much better! I cleaned up 3 dozen eggs and sent them with Brian to some of our friends and neighbors. I taped off and painted a couple windowsills and some trim with some Opps paint that I found for half off. I’ve been putting up new trim in the kitchen but the windowsills and window frames would be really hard to replace so I did this instead. Below you can see what it looked like after 1 coat. All that white trim will be replaced with new eventually. When I went back to do a second coat I found this.

L to R: Rocky, Pistol, Pooh, Shady Can you see the little tracks? This is Lily, our boldest sheep. She climbs up on the feeder to say hi! Our two calves. They are doing pretty well. Still cleaning up. I’m sick of looking at it! Those who saw our logo here will recognize our motto on the big tarp. This is what we put up to block off the good end of the shed. We joked that night about using “Building On Tradition” as our motto and later decided that it really does fit perfectly so we’re keeping it! We really are building on what Brian’s family has done here in the last 120 years as we try to make this place more sustainable, and make it turn a profit! Whoever thought we’d find inspiration on an old billboard. 🙂 Check out who else is doing a Sunday Stroll.

Wow, you guys are great! I rarely ever miss a day of checking in and reading comments but yesterday I never made it to the computer. It was so comforting to find such positive comments waiting for me this morning. And people ask why I like blogging! Anyway, among the comments Abbie over at Farmer’s Daughter tagged me for the 7 facts about yourself doodad. Here’s how it works: Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog – some random, some weird.Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blog.Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog. Alright, here goes… 1. I love 4x4s. Especially diesels. Not very environmentally friendly, I know, but trucks are my weakness. I’ve had 2 trucks and really want another one. I sold the last one to go back to college and I really miss it (that’s the one up above). Our first Christmas together I even had a license plate made for Brian that says “She Thinks My Diesel’s Sexy”. 2. Lucky for my wallet one of

Remember how I said I was going to wait until February to start using my new sewing machine? I should have known better I guess because I completed my first project on Friday night. When we attended the Michigan Sheep Breeders’ Association (MSBA) Bred Ewe Sale at MSU in November we purchased two ewe lambs. One of the them had just been sheared and the former owners were nice enough to lend us a Sheep Sox to keep her warm. For those familiar with horses Sheep Sox are similar to slinkies. Basically it is a Lycra tube with leg holes in it. They are mainly used to keep animals clean before showing but also seemed to keep our sheep warm. I tucked a bath towel under her sock for an extra layer. I left the sock on for a few days when we got home to help her adjust to the temperature. Before I took it off she managed to put a good sized tear in the side. The garment didn’t look too hard to make so I bought some Lycra (spandex/nylon). I laid the old sock out and traced the basic outline on to the new fabric. I found

I was hoping to recap the varieties of produce I had grown last year but since last years invoice is currently missing I think I’ll wait and do that at a later date. I made my list of seeds to order awhile back and decided today was the perfect day so I went ahead and placed my order. First, I sorted through the seeds left from last year. Here is what I have left from 2008 (all purchased seeds): Dill – Bouquet: never opened, never did make pickles anywayGolden Bantam 8-Row Sweet Corn: After sweet talking my hubby in to rototilling the main garden (breaking sod for the first time) I decided not to push it and try for an extra patch for sweet corn. Maybe this year tho!Connecticut Field Pumpkin: Again, I didn’t have a separate patch for them. I think I’m going to plant these at my Mom’s house if she’ll let me since they’re relatively low maintenance and she has lots of room.Long Purple Eggplant: among my seed starting failures, a lot leftDanvers 126 Half Long carrot: LOTS left!Marketmore 76 cukes: a few seeds left, not very happy with their performanceShort Stuff sunflowers: never got around to

Happy 4th of July everybody! I hope y’all get to enjoy this day with your families. Here is an inspiring video for you to check out. I think it is great and hope this spreads to other sports teams around the country. Check out this video: Red Sox Go Green Add to My Profile | More Videos

I figured I might as well start out here with a cute picture of the newest additions to the farm. These are the two ewe lambs that I purchased from a breeder on Saturday. They are 3 months old. Their mamas are Suffolks and their daddy is a Hampshire. I am hoping to breed them in the fall and sell their lambs to the local 4-Hers to show in the county fair. There aren’t many quality lambs available in our area. Since I plan to have these girls for awhile of course I had to name them… Gwyneth (aka Gwenny) is on the left and Lily is on the right. I’ve been sitting in their pen every morning and night with their feed pan on my lap to get them used to me. Lily is pretty brave, she will already let me scratch under her chin and neck. Gwenny is still pretty timid but she did tolerate some petting today while she was eating. I’ve been feeding a 50:50 mix of corn and oats with 2 scoops of sheep pellets added to each 15 gallon batch. I’d feel better feeding an organic mix but it would be hard to justify