Home, Home on the Range....

  We took a little break from the farm and went to our cabin. While we were there we went horseback riding. Here are some pictures.



 This is the drive up to the ranch







This is the ranch house. I think it would be a blast to stay here with a huge group of friends

 



 Aren't they cute!  Waiting for  the horses to be round up.



 I saw this horse and instantly fell in love with him. He is so beautiful!





  All our saddles ready to go. But where are the horses?



They assigned Cowboy to me. So as I went and got the saddle and my helmet they went out to the Yard and got Cowboy from the corral.  Guess what?

 


 This is cowboy!   I was so surprised.



The Turkeys are here!

  Ive been really wanting to raise our own food.  We are taking baby steps and starting with turkeys. The turkeys are shipped in the mail.  We ordered  broad breasted white turkeys.They are the most popular. Easy to dress because of their white feathers, they also get the biggest. The hens reach 25 pounds and the Toms as much as 45 pounds.



Turkeys in the box





 Yes.... they are in the house, for now. They will be going out side soon.

  

 Once a herding dog, always a herding dog.  Mia will actually take them out gently and watch them run around.


 

They are cuter then I thought they would be.  I know just wait.....



Shearing Day

Who would of known that finding a shearer on the eastside of the mountains would be so hard! It took me weeks of searching and phone calls to find a person who would come out and shear my two girls!  But I have to say the wait was worth it. Amy Wolf ( great name don't you think, Wolf in sheep's clothing! )  came out and sheared my sheep and did an awesome job! I learned so much from her.  Thank you Amy!



I swear this doesn't hurt them.





 I love the colors. Baby Doll sheep are either  black or white when they are born. As they get older the black color fades.





 Sweet  face. She took it very well!!



Sugar wasn't as easy. She fought it the whole way.

Sugars fleece drying out. Its been such a wet year in the northwest.



This is licorice's fleece drying out on my loom- which once was my Grandmothers. I feel lucky to have it.  Now I need to learn to use it.



Farm Chicks or Bust!!!

 This last weekend I went to Spokane to the Farm Chicks Antique Show. This was the first time I had been to this show and had no idea what to except.  It was overwhelming but so much fun. There were over 250 vendors.  Here are some pictures of the trip.

I wanted this tub, but someone beat me to it!

 I did buy three of these. I think we are going to put on the side of the barn.

 I need a pair of boots,. There are allot to choose from at the show

 I love this old Coke cooler

What is this?

Can You guess what this is?




A mummy tomb?









A coffin? 

 


This is stamped at the end.


Its a Romanian Bathtub.  Now you ask, What in the world are you going to do with a bathtub?  Remember, we are the Rusty Tub Farm! I couldn't pass up a bathtub!
 We are going to make a fountain out of it. My good neighbor and friend, Jodie  has fountains all over her property. Originally I was going to make it a planter,  but I could hear Jodie's heart drop when I told her that.  Making it a planter would mean I would have to drill holes in the tub. So this is what I did with the help of my handy dandy Husband.

We bought a pond kit. My husband wanted the fountain to match the tub. He bought some metal pipe to put over the plastic pump.

With out the metal pipe.

 
  

 My plan is the collect glass floats and turn it into a bubble bath!

Inspiration

 Last fall the family went to  Oxbow farm, a local organic farm, to pick pumpkins. We got inspired to do this:

 

Its a bean tepee. It looks really cool in the fall when all the beans are growing on it.  This is Oxbows tepee.




This is ours, just getting started

  

This is ours. We put a floor mat in the middle.







Here are other examples

At the heart of Oxbow Center is our 20-acre organic farm bordering an oxbow lake in Duvall. This horseshoe shaped lake provides critical habitat for salmon and other wildlife. The lake is fed by the Snoqualmie River, which also brings rich Cascade glacial till to our soil. These energizing minerals are the roots of the valley's food web and they course through the produce grown on our farm.

Here are some additional pictures of the farm