Our Babydoll ram has been losing some of his fleece. Our oldest son decided to collect it and wash it.
Steps to follow when washing Babydoll sheep wool:
1. Filled the sink with hot, hot water. He said he got it up to 180′ F.
2. Then stir wool around.
3. Put a tiny bit of dish soap or laundry detergent in the water. Keep stirring. Not too hard.
4. Change the water. Repeat the process.
5. Lay out to dry on top of dryer.
Here is what it looked like:
Kind of disgusting, isn’t it?
About three weeks ago my husband borrowed a Case mini loader to move moldy hay and manure. He had fun but said it was difficult to keep it stable at times as it wanted to tip over. So there was a bit of a learning curve for him! Men and their toys!
What kind of toys does your significant other like to “play” with?
You all know we are on this farming journey. Well, it is not yet a profitable venture, so we try to conserve, save and reuse. Someone suggested a DIY goat stall from wood pallets. Usually wood pallets are easy enough to find and many times are even free. Gotta love free stuff! There’s a subdivision not far from us on a busy road, which we pass all the time. One house has had a pile of wood pallets there for what seems like years. My husband decided to drop buy and ask if he could have some….just a few days before the goats were due to arrive home! To our delight the man said yes and gave them to us for free! I don’t remember how many pallets my husband and son brought home but they’ve built two stalls so far and have a couple more yet to build. These photos are not the greatest since our barn is so dark but it gives you and idea of how hubby did it. It was our oldest son’s idea to have the goat stall gate swing two ways to save on building another gate.
We just found another source for free wood pallets and we are hoping they still have some left! With the warmer weather coming this weekend (we hope!) it would be nice to get a little pasture fenced off for the goats, another stall done for the sheep and ?????
This is a guest post.
If your water bills are costing more than usual, you need to read this.
A bill that is much higher than what you have been paying then the first indication is that you might be having some leaking pipes. The sound of running sound is audible even when you turn off all the fixtures but you are still to able to find it, this is when you actually need to call a professional and get it fixed right away. Besides your water bill, the leaking water might damage your house flooring and the furniture. It is important that you check the faucets after use and make sure that they are properly closed. Then check the water meter, if it is still moving then surely there is a leakage which needs to be repaired.
Photo compliments of Peter Griffin. Used with permission.
• Finding the exact point
Try the following tips to locate the exact leaking spot. If the sound helps then you can easily locate the source. Else you will have to find an amplifier devices that will give you the exact location when help close to the pipeline. Check for the satins in the ceiling, and then it might be the water tank that is leaking.
• Get professional help to locate the problem
At times, water travels along a line and gets accumulated on the roof top so the exact location might be somewhere else than the staining. If there are no stains and signs but the water meter seems to be moving, then locating the hidden leakage can be little trouble. Make use of a flashlight to get the pipeline in the basement or in case you have a crawl space.
• Fixing the problem
If the leaking is too an extent then you needs to turn off the water supply first in order to fix it. Make use of the main shut off valve to deal with it. The leaky section might need to be replaced or can be stopped with the help of a sealant. However, if you are not able to reach the pipe that needs to be repaired, calling a plumber has to be the ideal choice.
• Clamps can help
Make use of a clamp that will stop the leakage for few months if you don’t wish to replace the pipe immediately. A solid rubber blanket keeps the clamp in position and will hold it for several months to come. Get to the nearest store to buy a rubber sheet and some clamps exactly the size of the pipe that needs to be repaired.
• Measure the diameter of the sleeve clamp
Sleeve clamp of the pipe’s diameter will work the best. Protect the leakage by wrapping the rubber blanket and then carefully screw the clamp. A pinhole leaking can be fixed with a hose adjustable clamp. You are not able to find anything else, and then you can always go for a C-clamp.
• Apply epoxy putty
To make it even more secure, you can apply epoxy putty around the fixture where you are not able to apply the clamp. Make sure that the pipe is thoroughly cleaned and dry before the application. No matter, what you are doing, turn of the water supply and let the solution to stay for a while and get solid. All the above measures can be taken care as a DIY program but in case of any trouble, if you’re currently
residing at Simi Valley, CA. Find plumber in Simi Valley who spent years in plumbing industry.
Our version of fencing!
Fencing supplies from Premier One.
Hubby pounding t-posts.
Baby boy helping. Sorry the photo is blurry. I was disappointed when I went to download it. 
End product – fenced in pasture for Miss Moo! And we need to move it again since she has just about sufficiently cut this pasture down. Since she respects the electric fencing, we only needed to put up one strand of fencing compared to three strands or 4-7 strands for escapee horses and goats!
If you click on the photo it’s not so blurry. I don’t know why the editing program does that to photos!
This post was inspired by http://www.repeatcrafterme.com/2013/05/wooden-pallet-herb-garden.html?showComment=1372278599739&m=1 but I did not originally hear about it from her. I can’t even remember where I learned of this unique way to recycle pallet and plant a wood pallet herb garden. All I remember is seeing the idea and liking it. Then when we got our bags of soil, still on a wood pallet, I told the family I wanted to keep the wood pallet for an herb garden.
This was very easy to do. I just took a small roll of landscaping fabric and stapled it to the bottom of the wood pallet. Then my husband and I filled it up with about 2.5 bags of organic soil mix (sorry cannot remember the size of the bags right now), added some perlite and then planted our herbs.
We planted from left to right: rosemary, chives, curly leaf parsley, oregano and basil in the last two rows. These plants all came from a friend’s farm. She specializes in transplants, has a greenhouse; and since we never got our herbs planted from seed we got these from her. I’ll have to let you know how well the plants grow in this wood pallet herb garden, as this is the first time we’ve tried growing something this way.
We still have fennel, more parsley and oregano to plant, as well as all our fall planting…amidst everything else – one monthly market, a weekly market and possibly a corporate market for just five weeks this summer. Oy!
So much to do and so little time….We cannot wait to cook with our own herbs and share them with our CSA members (Consumer Supported Agriculture) and customers! Here’s to hoping the plants yield enough for all.
This is a featured post.
Reality TV is here and probably here to stay since so many reality shows are popular among viewers. Our family watches a few like X-factor, Shark Tank, Undercover Boss, Secret Millionaire. Then there are others that we just shake our heads wondering why they are even on the air. We have also seen a few episodes of a home buyers show and another one where they go in and demolish homes, fix them up and resell them. They were fun to watch too. If you are into real estate and construction etc. then the new home renovation competition show Brother vs. Brother on HGTV will be of interest to you.
HGTV’s popular property brothers face-off in new home renovation competition, brother vs. brother. Identical twins, Jonathan Scott, a licensed contractor, goes up against is realtor brother, Drew Scott, in this battle of the skills competition of home renovation upgrades and highest increase in property value. The show will also feature other HGTV real estate stars like, Mike Aubrey (Power Broker), Kennon Earl (Selling LA) and Hilary Farr and David Visentin (Love It or List It). The winning team takes home a $50,000 grand prize.
Viewers can even vote for their favorite brother team by using hashtags #TeamDrew or #TeamJonathan Via HGTV.com/brothers.
Take a peek at the show’s promo video:
The show premieres Sunday, July 21, at 10 pm ET with a six-episode series to give us a taste of the Property Brothers skills set.
What reality shows do you watch? And will you be catching the Brother vs. Brother show?
