New Art

I watched a show on PBS, Nature. This episode was about the wolverine. These large weasels are one of the least known mammals in the northern hemisphere. They have the reputation of being solitary and ferocious, but actually are loving and tolerant of their mates and kits. One male will breed with several females, and then help raise all the kits of each family. They will even make the rounds to each group, gather up the growing kits and take the whole bunch on an adventure, teaching them how to be wolverines. Gives me new faith in the power of fatherhood!

This little painting is currently being listed on eBay.

The Rut is on in Gwinnett County

I went out in the backyard along the woods and overnight a buck had made three scrapes. He is going to have a hard time finding a girlfriend. The only one I know of in this area is a huge old doe. She comes and eats out of the bird feeder. There was a younger doe and her yearling daughter but both were killed in the same accident, struck by a car.

I have seen several dead does on the side of the road. Part of deer courtship is for the doe to run away from the bucks, testing them to see how long and how fast they can follow. Eventually they will stop and stand for the most worthy buck. Unfortunately in this patchwork of woods, fields and suburbs they run out into the road and that is the end of them. And the end of many cars and some people too.

I am glad we don't have moose!

Christmas in a Bad Economy

This year I hope to slow down, sit back and enjoy Christmas more. We don't have much money to spend on gifts so that should simplify things. I am trying to think carefully about what I am buying. Would this person really enjoy this gift? Would it be a passing fad that they would discard. I want to give people gifts that they get some miles out of.

If I can organize my time I hope to make some gifts. I have home made soap that I just have to remelt, add essential oils and pour into pretty soap molds. I have some paintings that I could give as gifts. I have some of my artwork printed onto tote bags.

Thinking ahead to next year, too and the garden and the bees. I would love to increase to 25 hives. That would produce a good bit of honey. And we have such good soil, I need to spend the winter adding compost to it and planning what to grow for market next year. No more fancy stuff like Korean melons, just tried and true sellers like good old watermelons!

Easing into Fall..

It seems that suddenly the leaves just started turning. The muscadine vines are turning an attractive yellow, the blueberry bushes are turning red. The trees are turning shades of brown, yellow and red. My heirloom apple trees (Arkansas Black and Enterprise) were loaded with apples that were supposed to ripen mid October, but all the apples disappeared! The trees are right beside the sidewalk, so I have my suspicions. My baby pineapple pear trees in the back yard are doing so-so. The deer love the bark and also to rub their antlers on the trunks.

This winter I hope to improve the soil quality of our front and back yard gardens. Some friends went and got free fish compost (trout poop) from the trout hatchery up near Buford Dam and now their cabbages are going crazy. I hope to gather leaves and mix everything in to make a great garden soil.

I bought a variety of sweet clover from Johnnyseeds. It is supposed to be great as a cover crop and the blooms will feed the bees. Speaking of bees, I joined the newly formed Gwinnett Beekeeping Club and hope to learn a lot and network. I should be winterizing the bees now, too.

The last day of the Lawrenceville Farmer's Market was yesterday. I had a good run of honey for spring and summer, but late summer was a bust. The drought hurt nectar production and the bees suffered for it. I didn't want to supplement them with sugar water because that would get into the honey. But it is OK now as we get ready for winter. I hope to increase my hives next year and have more honey. There is definitely more demand than supply!

Pearl the Pup is in training for herding competition. If all goes well, we are shooting for an ASCA competition in March. Right now we are shaping her outrun. This is when the dog goes in to gather the sheep. She has a linear outrun, which is natural. We want an outrun in the shape of a half circle. Right now we are training in a round pen. As she learns to use it's maximum area, we will move to progressively larger pens until we are out in a field.

Back from vaction, time for serious BEEzness

After our week of camping out, we returned home to a dry, dry garden and yard. The bees suffered for the lack of rain. With no nectar being produced, they had to eat the honey that I would normally rob. So I didn't have much honey for the farmers market. But with all the rain coming in now, hopefully they will get going again. Also, my brown turkey figs are starting to come in and with the rain making them swell and split the bees will have lots of food.

Training is going nicely with Pearl the pup. I got a book by Karen Pryor the famous dolphin trainer, called "Reaching the Animal Mind". This is a great book about clicker training and it has an accompanying website with videos to watch. My favorite is the "Happy Ferret Dance". Pearl loves clicker training. Currently we are working on "roll over", "go" and "stand". The stand is at a distance. This could save her life one day if she gets across a road.

Also, we joined United Blood Trackers. This is a non-profit group for people training their dogs to blood trail wounded game. We worked mock blood trails while on vacation and Pearl did really well even after the kids ran over the trail with 4 wheelers. We might go to the GON Outdoor Blast and help man the booth depending on what else is going on. Hubby's birthday comes first!

Summer is Here!!! And the bees are busy...

Well we have settled into a summertime weather pattern here in Georgia, with heat and scattered thunderstorms. The garden is looking good! Maybe I can plant the cucumbers that I forgot to plant. The Silverline melons are swelling up, the corn is getting taller, and the tomatoes are starting to ripen. I have volunteer dipper gourds coming up, too. My multiplying onions have nice big heads on them so I will plant them later in the summer. I also need to harvest the Italian garlic. The German Butter Ball potatoes are starting to yellow and die back which means it is time to go dig up spuds!

This year we only have one baby Pilgrim goose, a female. Alex the goose laid plenty of eggs, probably enough for 2 clutch's worth but every time something would get them, even after she laid in the greenhouse. The little goose has her mama and 5 adult ganders to protect her so she is a very cherished baby.

Well, off to go pick blueberries before the worst of the heat arrives!

Lawrenceville Farmer's Market Opens Again!

Yesterday was our first market of the season. It was good to see old familiar faces both vendors and customers. There was a parade for a group of soldiers coming home from Afghanistan. The turn-out of people to cheer them home was very touching. Later we saw the soldiers go by in the Lawrenceville Trolley, all waving at us.

I sold out of honey so I had to rob the bees again today. They are still doing well, except that 2 of the starter hives are either missing their queens or they are just too quick for me to spot! Anyway, I love my "mutt" bees that I got from Don of www.fatbeeman.com. They outwork the Italians hands down.

This year at the Lawrenceville Farmer's Market I will have my honey, Bee Lip Balm and my beeswax hand cream. I plan to make a mosquito repellent cream as soon as I get in the required essential oils. I will also have tote bags printed with my original artwork, painted gourds and needle felted animals. I am currently working on a needle felted Savannah Cat with posable wire skeleton.

Of course I am still working full time at Research Think Tank in Buford Georgia doing viral loads and genotyping of HIV and hepatitis B and C. We are currently working on a genotyping assay for the Integrase region of the HIV genome. My boss is in Croatia presenting a poster on clones and reproducibility tomorrow.

Last Friday I had my beloved Emma dog put to sleep. What a wonderful life she had, and what a dear little girl she was! I love you Em and you will never be replaced in my heart!
Kathy

My Latest Offering on eBay: a needle felted duckling

The protective coloration of animals has always fascinated me, and wood ducks are one of my favorite ducks. So, for my first needle felted animal that also uses Apoxy Sculpt for the beak and feet, I did a wood duck duckling.

I sent out photos of Woody posing in a bantam hen's nest and some people thought he was real! Ha ha! Maybe I will do a chick next!

Here is a link to the duckling auction:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330436473374&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

Chicks and Goslings in Our Future..maybe

Poor Alex, my Pilgrim goose. In April she would lay an egg a day but something kept getting them, probably a fox. Finally whatever was eating them stopped and she got 4 eggs under her and promptly began incubating. She is in her usual spot, the green house. I still have seedlings to water so I have to step past her, but kindly and patient goose that she is, she doesn't even hiss.

My little English/Serama bantam hen was not on the roost when I locked up the chickens one evening. The next day I looked for her and found her sitting on a nest amongst the honeysuckle. She blends in very well. I have decided to let her take her chances and maybe we will see some wee chicks 20 days from now.

Yesterday I planted more corn seed and also some banana and bell pepper plants. Every time I go to the grocery store the prices scare me to death so hopefully we will have a good crop to put in the freezer this year, and lots of fresh corn on the cob to eat. The Asian melons for the market are growing steadily too, but no blooms yet.

The rat bait in the front garden seems to have done the trick too. I am finding dead rats.

I finished needle felting my blue Lacy dog and shipped it to Texas for an auction. Next up: a needle felted mallard duckling with Apoxy Sculpt feet and beak! Hope I can pull it off!

Kathy

Hooray for drugs!

I have been taking Synthroid, a synthetic T4 thyroid hormone for almost a month now. Except for some occasional heart racing, I feel better and even want to start painting again.

It is raining, so I don't have to water the baby corn plants or the blueberry bushes. I do need to go feed them though.

I think I am going to stop watching TV for a few days, the politics is too upsetting. The oil spill in the gulf is really upsetting. I hope our stock in a company that mines for Lithium goes through the roof as a result...

RATS!!!!

One of my tomato plants disappeared days after I planted it, leaves and all. So I planted another one in its place, a 2 foot tall one that cost some $$$. Not a wimpy seedling. It too disappeared! I sifted through the soil but found no cutworms.

Today I went to the other side of the fence to study the area more closely. That corner of the garden butts up to our metal storage building, and you could see a burrow and well-worn little trail leading from the building to the tomato garden and also into the front yard garden. Walking in the front yard garden I noticed that there were so many burrow holes and tunnels that the ground was collapsing under my feet! I have a major rat problem and never even knew it. I had one block of rat bait left so I stuck it in the hole under the building, and I will get more traps.

I hope they did not get my Jerusalem artichoke roots. There were burrow holes all around last year's dried stalks. I had been wanting to taste the roots which you cook like potatoes. Now I don't know if I will get any or not.

I will definitely have to get rid of all the rats before the corn comes in.

Cur Herding Style

My little Texas Lacy Game Dog likes to herd my pilgrim geese. Imagine, an heirloom dog herding heirloom geese! :) Both animal breeds were created right here in the USA to be good all-round homestead animals. The Pilgrims are a medium sized, hardy breed that lack the heart and arthritis issues of larger goose breeds like the Embden. Texas Lacys are great all round workers with almost no health issues and they commonly live to be 16 or so. My little Pearl has the instincts of both a hunting hound and a herding dog. She loves to hunt rats, rabbits and squirrels. I have already started her blood trailing in anticipation of deer season. She could bay hogs if I let her, her siblings are already doing it. But I would just be undone if she were hurt. She is my baby.

Just today I was out pottering in the vegetable garden and she fetched the goose flock to me, LOL! She is very patient with them and so far (knock on wood) has not used her teeth on them. She just endlessly circles them to keep them bunched up. This is cur herding style. Catahoulas and black mouthed curs also do this.

I hope Alex the goose can successfully raise some babies. I think a fox comes every night to get the eggs.

The best spring in years

So far Spring has been kind to my bees. No late frosts and just the right amount of rain. I have 2 kinds of Asian melons planted for the farmers market. We have some supersweet white corn which maybe the rodents will leave alone. The bees will like the pollen.

I wish I would get over this cold or whatever it is.