denim and burgundy

I have an aunt who taught me to love old barns. We could be driving along just about anywhere, and she'd spot and old barn and comment on what a great subject for a painting it would be. She trained me to look for them without even realizing it.

There is a barn a few miles from my house that I just love. It's not particularly interesting in it's structure, and it's probably not really that old. But the colors draw me in! The way the galvanized tin and rust blend is so beautiful. I look forward to seeing it every time I drive by. One day I stopped to take pictures so I could send them to her and I thought I'd share them here as well.

Sailors Take Warnin'

My daddy and I were avid fishing buddies when I was growing up. It never got too hot or too cold for us to go fishing. (In Tennessee the water never (that I know of) froze enough that you couldn't get a boat through.) On nearly every trip, Daddy would look at the sun and quote, "Red sky in the mornin', sailors take warnin'. Red sky at night, sailor's delight." I was reminded of this as I came in from milking. The sun had just popped over the horizon, and it was a beautiful blaze.

My Wrecking Crew

The goats have proven to be a wonderful addition to our homestead. I'm afraid Wayne may not agree, though! He has "help" any time he tries to work outside. Most of the time it's just a challenge, but sometimes it can be a little too much. Like this day when he was working on a riding mower, and Miracle decided to have a taste.

You last heard that I was buying Perle and "Jasper." A lot has changed since then. The breeder had named "Jasper" Bill after Buffalo Bill because he looked like a baby bison when he was born. I'd known him for almost two months before he came home, and I never could remember Jasper quickly enough and called him Bill at least half the time. I gave in and he is Bill. Getting a good picture of him is like trying to capture a wild animal in the jungle!
Perle is the original dairy goat I selected to bring home. She has proven to be a real sweetheart, and a joy to milk twice a day. (She does have ornery moments from time to time, but who doesn't?!) I am very pleased with her. So much so that I may not branch out into the Nubians like I originally planned.

Pete (as in, Peter Pan) was a sweet surprise. I was there while Pete's mother was in labor, and also next day, but not at his actual birth. Michele (my breeder) gave him to me, which was such a blessing because I didn't really get to enjoy Bill's "bottle baby" phase. Pete is truly my baby!

Miracle is our most recent addition to our herd. She's quite a mess! She is very sweet, loving, and attached to people. I'm not sure she even thinks she's a goat.
She's also into EVERYTHING!!! -including my flower pot. LOL!
Miracle has a precocious udder. She is only six months old, and her udder is nearly as big as Perle's.

Home

I'm expecting a very special visitor to my blog soon. She's coming specifically to see pictures of our home, which I've failed to mail her. This is a duplicate of my very first post, and I'm hoping she'll stick around and see what else I've been up to. *wink*


Our new home! After spending over three years looking for, and going through the process of buying, a home- here it is!

This is the view standing on the west side of the house looking back east.

And this is the back side, looking south. I love the hand pump in the back patio. It connects to a huge cistern underneath the patio. I can't wait to get it repaired so we can use it for watering the garden and flower beds!

This is the barn, taken from the back patio. Soon it will be filled with a milk cow, chickens, and Wayne's small engine repair shop. (Don't Whine, Call Wayne!)


This was also taken from the back patio, facing northeast. It shows the root cellar and outhouse, two of my favorite features of our home, sweet home.

FYI

I miss you terribly! As you've already figured out, I don't have reglar internet access in the summer. I feel so disconnected with no internet access at home. After spending over $500 for car repairs a month ago, it has broken down again. It's worse than ever. We don't even know if we are going to be able to get it running again. And they started taking out "benefits" from Wayne's paycheck, and so instead of having money left after the bills are paid, we are short. It's so frustrating!!! I do get a raise this fall, though, so hopefully it will cover the deficit and we're making it between me packing worms and Wayne working on lawn mowers for people. I was supposed to have a job at Home Depot, but that fell through. They told me I had the job at the interview, and the HR person was supposed to call me to schedule my drug test. Supposedly she forgot about me and went on vacation. I called back threee different times, and never had my calls returned. It's a good thing by now that they didn't call. For one, I probably would have been fired for lack of dependable transportation, but the other is that I would have told them what I thought of their disorganized mess of an excuse for a hiring process and burned any bridges that I might have had in the future! So.. I'm packing worms here and there (when they need me- I'm the backup for their niece who's an MK from Kharkov, Ukrane) while Wayne is at work. It's stressful to have to drive back and forth with milking Perle. ( I have to take Wayne to work(45 minutes one way), drive back home and milk, and then drive 40 minutes to do the worms.) I dread for school to start back and have to deal with a milk goat and one vehicle. I doubt I'll be able to do it. It would mean milking at 4 AM and we wouldn't even be home in 12 hours to do it again. Our garden is strictly volunteer plants this year. We have potatoes, tomatoes, zucchini, and yellow squash. I bought two black breasted brown game hens to be mommas for my chicks that they will raise. ... and I think that's about it for what's new with me. If you try to comment and think I've rejected you, I haven't! I just haven't seen your comment yet! Have a great summer, everyone!