A Social Experiment

A Social Experiment
That is what our friends now call our farm..A social experiment with animals. None of the animals act the way their species is supposed to. Cats nursing on dogs and now we have vegetable loving dogs! We never thought through putting corn stalks on our front porch and having deer. Took a month but Willow figured out that there was still corn on the stalks. Gus got in on the action too! They gobbled up all the corn. All the dogs will eat any veggies and argue with the deer and goat for them.

WOW! A Local Livestock Auction!

WOW! We were in for a surprise. I do auctions regularly but we have never done a livestock auction. All sorts of animals including beautiful Flemish bunnies. But we were after a friend for Willow. Some of the livestock was sick and some with broken legs. Some were pets now going to be dinner. The buyers were from all over! NY,NJ, PA,FL. Different nationalities. Arabs, Jews, Italians, and quite a bit of locals.

In the end we got the little one below. We thought it was a young girl but turns out it is a boy. We think it is a Nigerian Dwarf Goat but if anyone has a suggestion I am willing to hear it!

Never Again!

Never again will I have another yard sale! I say it every time but this will be my last. I am just too far out in the country. The only thing strangers wanted to see was Willow the deer. It was cute to see the kids feed her apples but I really wanted to get rid of stuff! Of course all the friends were stopping by because it is a social gathering makes for a great day too. (but take some stuff home!)

The last picture is all the stuff left over! Now it will all go to auction next week where one man's stuff is another man's treasure.

I'm Having a Barn Sale!

I can't take the clutter any more!! Part of estate hunting is collecting to many goodies and some of it has to go! So we are going to have a barn sale and around here barn sales seem to attract people so I hope ours does. We do live off the beaten path. Hopefully having a deer prancing around will help people want to stop by for a little petting and picture time!

When and how does a deer lose it spots?!

I have the answer! At about three months. Just about to the day! Willow will be 3 months tomorrow and her last spot will be gone. The spots shed out just like normal fur and they do it rather quickly.Sept.23 she started losing her spots and on the 28th they are almost all gone.

Very Rural Horse Show

There are two things I just love doing on the weekends. Going to the kids
horse shows and soccer games! They are always scenic and always with a good group of people.
This weekend was no exception and the weather was perfect. We even brought the new puppy along to the horse show and he didn't get stepped on. Things couldn't have been more perfect.

New Dominion Blues Studios

I wanted to give a special shout out to Tracy. She has a GREAT blog! She has found great items all over Etsy. Her blog has all things that I just love! Country, country primitive and typewriters. Oh, how I love typewriters. I have a whole site set up on etsy for them!

Check out her blog and take the time to check out her Etsy site! New Dominion Blues Studios

Stone House Country Porch

I love the idea of putting old primitive tables on the front porch. Accenting them with old apothecary bottles is the perfect choice.

My friend, Kim, owns her own cottage gardening business and introduced me to the idea of using furniture outside. The current pictures are all her designs.

Willow and the new Pup

It seems that on the farm there is NEVER a dull moment when it comes to animals. Be it our animals, the neighbor's or the wild animals. Today we got a new puppy and Willow (deer) and the pup took to playing tag with each other. Willow definitely enjoyed teasing the new puppy!

After all that fun outside we came in to find that our award winning Sunny learned how to open the hamster's cage. Not a very good ending for Twix.

A Couple of Humours Pictures

My daughter is great with animals. Rhode Island Reds made this a little easier than Leg Horns would have. We used 2 different chickens. She dressed them and I snapped the pictures.

Using Barn or Boat Pulleys in designs

You can use pulleys to hang lanterns to light up your deck for garden parties at night! Great to place around as decorations too. Even inside if you have a country or nautical theme.

Beautiful Garden Ideas

Using an old exterior shutter as a
back drop helps make the smaller plants pop. Also great for vines or to hang little pots.

Another nice addition in gardens are old windows. Usually easy to find as people are replacing windows. They just add a little interest in a garden.

Eventually the old statuary will be put in an English garden.

Another Local Country Fair

We had a local country fair and my daughter and I entered a few photos. The one below (Snickers) that my daughter entered won Best in show! The gangsta Kitty below won 3. Check out her blog The Funny Farm (link on right) for more fun pictures.

Hot Summer Days

For weeks the days have been really warm!! They start out really foggy and my daughter has to get her early morning practice in the soup.
I can't imagine being the farmer sitting inside the enclosed tractor! Tractors aren't an unusual sight but usually we don't have many enclosed ones in the area.

Chickens! What's wrong with them? or is it me.

We have 6 chickens and Daisy Duck. I am SO glad we have Daisy. She lets us know where everyone is because she is always quacking. But she is one happy duck when it rains and she gets a puddle to take a dip in.

But our chickens! Why won't they lay their eggs in the nesting boxes?! They are only 4 months old but the boxes would making it easy for them and us. At first it was eggs where ever. On the barn floor or the coop floor. Now it is in the hay loft! The loft is really hot and it is very hard to find eggs up there. And hay hurts to crawls around in and the poo is disgusting!

The coop is so nice and inviting, why are they using it??

Ahhh..a day with the animals.

Sunny

Being out in the country means that we can have a few animals. Sometimes it seems like a zoo. Anyone who has animals knows that they hold a special place in your heart. Ours certainly do! Most of them let us do anything with them especially the 'boys". Sunny and Mouse. Above is Sunny who didn't mind us putting a frog on his head. Who also spends time hanging with the chickens. Now if I can only get him to herd the chickens! The dog won't do it!

All Purpose Country Container

Mason Jars

The all purpose country containers...The ones on the table have tea lights. The ones that I put in the garden had some in there. You can use them to store buttons. We have various sizes with lids that store hamster and cat food. Just use your imagination!
Mason

Country Tractors

Country Tractors

I went to Jacktown's Blue Mountain Steam Engine and Tractor Show. I just LOVE this country gathering! Tractor pulls. Little booths with folks showing off their steam engines and some of the engines can do tricks. A flea market. Families pulling their tots in wagons or pedal tractors.

All the Farmall tractors belong to one man. They have been in his family for generations! He has restored and maintains them. The mailbox does NOT belong to him but it should!

Anitque and Vintage goodies used in the garden

An old diary crate, watering can and a wooden basket. The watering can is being used as eye candy but the others are filled with dirt and flowers.

Garden Inspirations

With summer time in full swing I am inspired to use antiques and collectibles in the garden. I have a friend, Kim, who owns cottage gardening business who provides me with loads of inspiration!