October Already?!

One of the nice things about having harvested some timber on our farm is that all the paths and roads are now wider and somewhat smoother and free of debris.  This is not always the case when timber is cut, but it was part of the terms with our timber guy that he smooth out ruts and push tree tops off of roads when he was done.  Believe me, in the real estate business for 16 years, we have seen some properties that were timbered and look like a bomb went off on them.  This is not something a land-owner should allow......

Not much to write about today.  The weather has been lovely, quite warm for late September and the start of October, but I understand that is about to change.  That is unfortunate since I am supposed to be hosting a dye day for my spinning guild on Saturday and the forecast is for a high of about 50 (today is Thursday and the high is to be 75 today), with rain showers.  Dye day is an outdoor activity, so not sure what will happen.

We are still enjoying fresh tomatoes daily.  

 We have had pizza with tomatoes, basil, peppers, and garlic (it was SO good!), bruschetta with tomatoes, garlic and basil, salad with tomatoes and peppers, pasta with fresh tomato sauce and (you guessed it) basil and garlic.  We still have lots of ripe tomatoes on the vines.  Not really enough to can anymore though. But if I have time this weekend or Monday, I will look into that.


On Saturday I opened the bee hive for the first time in too long.  I realized why they say to get in there every couple weeks:  the bees had everything so glued together with propolis that I had a hard time getting the boxes apart.  The top box was not very full, but the second box down had a lot of capped honey and I robbed them of one full frame, which looks like it has some dark buckwheat honey in it.  I haven't had a chance to extract it yet, though.  The bees seemed to be doing just fine, and I was surprised that they were quite docile.  I expected to get stung and pretty much shredded my nitrile gloves while trying to pry boxes apart and had bees crawling on my hands but did not get even one sting.  That makes me happy.

 On Saturday I also moved the 3 adult alpacas and 2 crias, who are now 4 months old, over to the main barn.  That just makes one less area I have to go to in the mornings to feed and clean up.  Plus, I now have that area next to the garage free to set up my agility stuff and I won't have to pick it all up if/when Sam mows (lawnmower problems in late Sept do not bode well for the grass getting cut again this year). 

 And speaking of agility, today I mailed in my entry for the Trial in Zanesville that is hosted by the Parkersburg Obedience Training Club (POTC) where Grover and I take classes.  We will be there on Friday Nov 21 and Sunday Nov 23 to run for our first time!  I debated about just going one of the 3 days, but decided on 2 (avoiding Saturday as the most busy), so that Grover could have one day where it was brand new to him and then a second day where it might be less overwhelming to him.  I hope Sam will come on Sunday and maybe get some photos of us.  

 Here's another swimming hole in the creek that the dogs love.  Even when the rest of the creek is dry, like now, somehow there is always water here and deep enough for them to need to swim.  Luca is still with us for another 10 days or so.

The End!