Eggs!

Farm Fresh Eggs from free range chickens that are hormone free $2 dozen!

We Have a New Bunny!

This is Busey our Flemish Giant Buck. He's only 8 weeks old. He will get up to 25lbs at full grown. He's such a sweetie.

This is Romona the Flemish Giant doe. She's going to be Busey's mate. We tried to weigh her today, and before she jumped off the scales it read 22lbs.

Caroline & Romona

Busey & Romona

We also have spring chicks arriving. Our Mama Cochin Bantam hen laid 12 eggs, and so far 10 have hatched. Here are their pictures.

Aren't they cute!

Here Mama hen with her babies.

We Now Have Honey Bees!

Eddie and I went today and bought 2lbs of honey bees for our new hive. We bought these from Dixie Bee Supply in Lula, GA. These are a hybrid bee. They are mixed with Russian, Carniolan, and Italian.

Eddie getting ready to install his first package of bees. He did wonderful.

He wasn't scared one bit.

I placed the queen in the middle of the frames, and dumped the bees on top.

It was amazing to be surrounded by that many bees.

I hope they like their new home.

This is me getting ready to close the hive up. We will check on them in a couple of days to make sure that the worker bees released the queen from her cage. If not, then I will have to do it for them. We will also have to keep a close check on the sugar water that we are feeding them. They will need a lot of sugar water to start the comb on the wax foundation.

Bee Hive

Yay!! My grandpa finally finished my bee hive. This spring we are adding bees to our little farm. What you see here is the hive stand, brood box, super, and top. I've still got to paint it white and put the handles on the super.

This is my son Eddie, and he will be my assistant beekeeper. Our helmets and veils arrived in the mail this week, and he couldn't wait to try it on.

This is my grandpa's new hive. He already has established hives, so that's why this one is huge. It looks like he has 3 brood boxes and 3 supers on this one. What a show off. LOL

The Garden

This is the first day in 4 days that we've seen the sun. I'm not complaining too much, because we've been in a drought for about 2 years now. This is my romaine that I've planted in a pot. It's doing quite nicely.

Here is my solar dryer. (LOL) I love the smell of sheets that have been hung out on the line. This really cuts down on the electric bill.

Here is my herbs. I'm growning lemon balm, mint, and lavender. However, the lavender isn't doing so well. I love to make tea with the lemon balm and mint. That's why they aren't as big as they should be. I've been cutting on them. :0)

The hens are laying. I've told the kids not to take up anymore eggs. We're hoping one of the hens will start sitting.

Sewing

Here is my latest apron that I've sewn. The pattern is McCall's #3979. There are 5 different retro aprons you can sew from this pattern. This is (E) American Diner Apron. These are very simple to sew aprons. This apron I used 1/2" double-fold bias tape in brick red. I did make some modifications to the directions. I put my bias tape on first to the sections, and then sewed the pieces together. It was telling me to sew the pieces together, and add the bias tape to the over-lapping seam. I figured that could be tricky in some areas. I think next time I'll make two rolls of stitches along the bias tape. That second rolls of stitches would hide where I've had to attach my ties. I love this apron, and can't wait to wear it at work. (I work at a flower shop.) :0)

This is apron (A) Smock Pocket. I made this for St. Patrick's Day. This again is a real simple pattern to sew from. I love the waist band on this apron. I had bought the green checkered material on sale at Walmart for $1 yrd. At the time it seemed like a bargin. But the material was thin, and it made it difficult to sew at times. The shamrock material was cotton and thicker. Next time I'll buy thicker material when sewing this apron.

I bought this book a while back, and I love it. It has a lot of neat apron designs. I love the fabrics they use for some of their aprons. It really inspires you to sew. :0)

Save Money On Electric Bill

We are a family of 4 living in a brick house that is roughly 1800 sq ft. We have 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, living room, dining room, country kitchen, laundry room, and office. My electric bill during the winter months is around $94. Our bill during the summer months runs about $150 to $175. Here are a few things that we do to save money on our electric bill:

1. My house is 95% compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL's). I did not change them out all at one time. As the old light bulbs burned out, I replaced them with CFL's. My outside flood lights have not been changed yet.



2. I have energy star appliances. I have 2 refrigerators and 1 freezer. When the freezers start to get low with food. I fill up 2 liter soda bottles with water and freeze them to take up the extra space. When your freezer is full it uses less energy. I also clean the coils underneath the refrigerators and freezer every 2 to 3 months. They work harder if they are full of lint and trash. I bought a special brush just for this job, and I use a vacuum cleaner to suck up as much lint as I can.



3. In the winter months we heat our home with a wood stove heater. We have Central heat & air; however, Our furnace is natural gas, so I try not to use it very often. You can purchase space heaters and use them to cut down on your central heating bill too.



4. I have thermal drapes instead cotton ones over the windows. This helps keep the house warm during the winter, and cool during the summer months.



5. I do all my cooking either on the stove, or in the oven. I try not to use both at one time. I also use the crock pot or George Foreman grill. The stove & oven takes a lot of energy, and they heat up your house during the summer. It's better to use a toaster oven to bake rolls. During the spring/summer months we use the gas grill outside.



6. Laundry is washed in cold water, and hung outside on a clothesline. We only use the dryer when we are having rain for more than 3 days straight. You would not believe how much the dryer sucks up energy. It's an energy hog! Plus your clothes smell so much better when hung outside.



7. Showers and baths are limited to 5 minutes at our house. This cuts down on the hot water tank. If you are in the shower for more than 5 minutes, then you are just standing under the hot water day dreaming. (LOL) I have teenagers in the house, who like to shower with music on. They know after 2 songs it's time to get out. Songs usually are 2 to 3 minutes long on average, so I figure 2 songs should be ample time to get clean. We also turn down the heat on the hot water heater. And when we go on vacation we cut it off.



8. If you are cold, put on more clothes or get a blanket. If you are hot, turn on a ceiling fan. But by no means do we adjust the thermostat. Our thermostat stays on 65 degrees during the winter, and 78 degrees during the summer. The less you adjust your thermostat the better off you are. Your unit works harder and uses more energy if you flip back and forth between temps.



9. I have replaced my kids desk top computers to lap tops. They use less energy. My computer is a desk top, but when I'm not using it I put it to sleep. And when I'm going to be away from it for a long period of time. I turn it off, and turn off the power strip.



10. If you aren't using it, unplug it! All small appliances such as toasters, electric can openers, and microwave ovens should be unplugged. When they aren't in use, they still suck up energy. It's good to unplug chargers when not in use too.


11. I only use the dishwasher when it's at full capacity.

"There can be no economy where there is no efficiency" - Benjamin Disraeli