Farm Day at Wehdo Sheep Farm

We were honored to be able to host a wonderful group of homeschoolers this spring for a Farm Day.  Renea Dyer,  our county's District Conservationist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and my husband, Charlie, were the speakers for the couple of hours they spent here with us.

We began mid morning with Charlie giving a welcome to the farm and the order of the day.

We were able to have the shearing demonstration filmed by Ginger Leigh owner of Blue Lantern Productions.  We hope to be able to share some of the farm and Charlie's shearing with you soon.  You can view some of Ginger's photography here.  Ginger uses her talent to help missionaries document their work through photography and video.  She has taught me so much about my camera (and then I show you the picture below with a reflective spot...who put that in there?).  We love that girl!

Renea Dyer began the day with a lesson on soils.  She began in our garden and then spied some bare soil where we have a few eroded areas and moved the rest of her lesson to a more interesting area of our farm.

Renea talked about different types of soils.

She also brought different soils with her so the students could see and touch the differences.

Charlie and Brandon McCray another employee of NRCS, take a rest while sitting on a eroded bank while Renea talks.

And yes, that is Charlie holding our Craigslist kitty, Lulu.  She has certainly made herself at home here and is totally content.  A great Craigslist find!

Charlie began his shearing session by explaining what equipment he used and how the clippers work.

He also answered questions before he began his shearing demonstration.

Below, he demonstrates the first position for the sheep.  The sheep is comfortable and relaxed.

He began shearing.

As he sheared, the wool seemed to peel off the sheep into a fluffy wool blanket.

And the blanket grew until he was able to release a much cooler ewe.

He began a second demonstration...

and was able to let a couple of spectators give shearing a try.

Much harder than it looks!

Our tour ended with questions and answers in the shade.  The students enjoyed visiting with our newborn twin lambs and seeing the llamas and other farm animals.  Their day continued at a memorial to an special young lady (Te-lah-nay) a Native American, who walked back to this region from Oklahoma after she was removed from this area by force (www.ifthelegendsfade.com) ...a must see if you are ever in our area.

What a beautiful day!  The weather was perfect, the sunshine was warm, and this group was a wonderful bunch of students and parents.  We loved having them!

Judy :)

If you haven't "Liked" A Meek Perspective on Facebook, please consider visiting our page here. 

  New entries are immediately post on our Facebook page for your convenience.  

We also love hearing from you!

Rasberries, Blueberries, and Blackberries...Oh, My!

Remember this?

This hard work is paying off!

Yum!

Judy :)

Around the Farm - Berries, Lambs, Kitten & Sheep

Expecting Twins?

This year's lambing season had very few twins.  Last year we had twins, triplets, and quadruplets so we felt such a let down for 2012.  What do you think Sunshine was going to have?

Yep, twins!!

These twins were our sheep in the middle of the street of Bethlehem during Vacation Bible School this year.  Will was fascinated!

Judy :)

Around the Farm - Berries, Lambs, Kitten & Sheep

Busy days around the farm lately from planting blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries to the beginning of the 2012 lambing season.  Enjoy some pictures:

 Judy :)

Royal Wade Kimes Cold Country

Had to share this country music video. This was filmed on my father-in-law's farm. The cabin in the video was built by him. We used to have our Christmas in this cabin yearly. Good memories! Hope you enjoy!

Judy :)

Road Trip: Lobelville, TN

...and Linden and Parsons, TN and Cypress Inn, AL.

My husband has been under the weather for the past couple of months, so I was thrilled when he announced he was ready for a little road trip.  He had his taste buds set on molasses and the best molasses are made by the Amish.  I had just purchased a new camera and was itching to try it out, so we headed for Lobelville, TN and the little Amish settlement there on the morning of New Years Eve.  From Alabama, Lobelville is just past Linden so Linden was our first stop.  We were searching for coffee and found a little cafe open in The Commodore Hotel on their main street.

About a month ago, we saw a Groupon ad for The Commodore Hotel so we did know a little about it.  After the gentleman poured our coffee, we complimented him on how nice the hotel was looking.  He asked us if we would like tour and we happily agreed.  (Of course, I had left my camera in the truck!)  He showed us the bedrooms upstairs and explained some of the history of the old hotel. It has about eight bedrooms that have all been recently restored.  The Commodore would be a nice weekend retreat.

With coffee in hand, we set out for Lobelville and turned off on a side road with signs pointing toward molasses.  We saw all of the usual sights when you enter an Amish community:  horse drawn wagons, children in their blue shirts, dark trousers, suspenders, blue dresses and aprons.  The men with their long beards, and the women with their hair bonnets.  I would love to have taken some pictures of them, especially the horses and wagons, but did not have a chance without invading their privacy.  Maybe another time. I did take the following pictures of their farms and homesteads.  Notice the absence of electrical lines.  I love seeing smoke coming from their chimneys.

We found our molasses and also purchased some blackberry and raspberry jam.  (Just to let you know...  homemade buttermilk biscuits were made to try out our new purchases after we got home and it was all delicious!)

On the way back, we drove through Parsons, TN so we could drive across the new bridge over the Tennessee River to Clifton, TN. When our son was a baby, we used to attend church in Clifton, TN.  Right before we moved to Georgia this bridge was projected to be built.  So, the bridge was actually "new" to us, but is now about 15 years old!  The drive from Clifton to Parsons was made so much easier and the bridge affords a nice view.

We ended up on the Natchez Trace on our way home, so I asked my husband to drive past this old country store at Cypress Inn, AL.  This store is about 5 miles from our house and I had always wanted to photograph it.  The day was beautiful with blue skies and sunshine and I was pleased with the outcome.

When we arrived home, we needed to check a new lamb who was born right before we left on our road trip that morning.

As you can see, the new lamb and mom were doing just fine!

Judy :)

It's A New Year

Reflecting on 2011 and making plans for 2012.

Judy :)

Christmas With Nature

Saturday afternoon, my husband and I had chance to walk to the back of our small farm to cut greenery for decorating our home for the holidays.  I find myself more and more wanting to simplify not only Christmas, but also my entire life...maybe this comes with approaching a half century in age.  Last year I wrote about Holding Off Christmas and after reading my post again, we have pretty much stuck to the same Christmas schedule this year.

Low Fog - Early December 2011 Morning

I wanted to bring more of nature into our decorations this year.  We used to purchase a "real" Christmas tree every year and the smell was so wonderful.  It soon became so much easier to have an artificial tree but I really missed that pine scent.  We walked to the back of our property and clipped boughs of cedar, pine, and privet berries.  The smell was wonderful and the greenery in our home looks very festive.

We had some sweet help on our walk from our Craiglist Kitties.

See our kitten, Percy, playing under the pine boughs?

I will post a few pictures of our decorations later in the week when I am home during the daylight to take pictures.

Have a good week as you finish your last minute Christmas details.

Judy :)

Craigslist Kitties

We have been without a barn cat since August when our barn cat, CC mysteriously died.  She was a wonderful mouser...keeping our barn and basement clear of all types of "varmints".    She was always on the lookout.  In the three months we have been without her, my husband began noticing a huge increase in our mice population.

He began looking on Craigslist for free cats or kittens in our area.  He found an ad posted by a family who lived on a farm but was selling out and moving to town.  They had a cat and 5 kittens that needed a home.  The ad stated that she was a great mouser but they couldn't vouch for the dad -- he was a "no count" wanderer.

Three or four weeks later we decided to contact this family.  We went out on a Saturday to see how many "mousers" they might have left.  We found a mama cat and two kittens waiting for us on their front porch.  We definitely wanted the mama cat since she was an "experienced" mouser, but wasn't really interested in the kittens.  We petted the mama cat and she was very friendly and sweet...then we made a mistake.  We reached in the kennel and picked up the two kittens - one gray and the other yellow.   They were both so soft and sweet and warm...there is nothing like sweet kittens.  The family mentioned their daughter had become attached to the little gray kitten, so before we knew it, we were headed to the truck with both the mama cat and the orange kitten.

These cats have been so much fun.  They are very attached to each other and are happiest curled up together.  The mama cat was already named Lou Lou.  I tend to all her "Mama Lou" (sounds like a dorm mother's name, doesn't it?).  The yellow kitten did not have a name yet.  Our son, Joseph, was in from college for Thanksgiving that week.  He decided that since it had "red hair" then it needed to be named one of the Weasley boys' names from Harry Potter.  He landed on Percy and so our yellow kitten is now Percy.  Percy is extremely playful and plays with the rugs, string, empty boxes, his mama's tail...anything that catches his eye.  Percy is a little more fearful of the world on the farm than his mother is.  We have had to rescue him from climbing trees twice.  Hopefully as his size increases his bravery will too.

Percy likes to keep me company outside the kitchen window while I'm washing dishes.  How sweet is that?

Judy :)