Happy New Year Greetings from the Farm!

Happy New Year!

Yes, I know I am two days late but we have been up at the new farm for about a week and JUST TODAY we got our Internet connection setup finally! It was kind of sad in a way, getting connected to the world again as I always felt so wonderfully isolated in our own little world here at the farm. But, on the other hand I am terribly addicted to being online and researching every little thing so it is nice to be online again too!

While here at the farm we have a few projects we want to get done. The first of the two major ones being insulating the attic and under the house and the second being installing the wooden playset we purchased for the kids. We are well on our way on both projects.... Neil has worked hard on getting power to the attic so he could have lights up there to work by. Neil has also been putting our new tractor to work moving soil from the back of the property to level out the area we have ear tagged for the playset. Today he got some railroad ties to shear up the down side of the play area, leveled the soil and topped the whole area with 5 yards our playground mulch. We are all set to tackle the playset assembly tomorrow!

Two days of assembly and this is what we ended up with... the kids love it!

He's got a name!

We finally decided on a name for our newest little alpaca. It will be Finley. Finley is Scottish for "White Warrior". A perfect name for our little white ball of fluff. Here is a photo of him taken a dusk a few days ago...

My seeds are here! My seeds are here!

I was so excited to come home from work today to find the package from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds waiting for me! I have started my planning for my raised beds (that haven't even been built yet) for the new house. When I first opened the box my first thought was "OMG what have I done... I will never plant all these!" It wasn't an hour after sorting through all the seed packets that I was placing another order online with Heirloom Seeds for the few things that Baker Creek didn't carry or didn't have in stock.

Here is the list of seed I got from Baker Creek:
Herbs:
Russian Tarragon
Cumin
Broad Leaf Sage
Lavender
French Summer Thyme
Common Chives
Slo-Bolt Cilantro
Siam Queen Thai Basil
Fine Verde Basil
Peppermint

Vegetables:
Purple Tomatillo
Golden Greek Pepperoncini
Mini Red Bell Sweet Pepper
Charlseton Belle Sweet Pepper
Thai Little Red Chili
Homestead Tomato
Amish Paste Red Tomato
Riesentraube Red Tomato
White Currant Tomato
Gold Medal Striped Tomato
Yellow Brandywine Tomato
Catskills Brussels Sprouts
Calabrese Green Sprouting Broccoli
Snowball Cauliflower
Brunswick Cabbage
Lettuce Rocky Top Mix
Iceburg Lettuce
Bloomsdale Long Standing Spinach
Five Color Silverbeet Swiss Chard
Giant Musselburgh Leek
Texas Early Grano 502 Onion
Red Creole Onion
Connecticut Field Pumpkin
Bush Buttercup
Baby Blue Hubbard
Yellow Scallop Squash
Black Beauty Summer Squash
Early Prolific Straightneck Summer Squash
Charentais Melon (Free Gift)
Bush Sugar Baby Watermelon
Thai Bai Khuen Chai Celery
Kuroda Long 8" Carrot
Green Globe Artichoke
Precoce D'Argenteuil Asparagus
Mayflower Bean
Henderson's Black Valentine Bean
Chinese Green Noodle Long Bean
Lincoln Garden Pea

Flowers:
Mammoth Grey Striped Sunflower
Mexican Sunflower-Torch Sunflower
Clarke's Heavenly Blue Morning Glory
Pink Panther Pansy

Gourds:
Birdhouse Gourd
Small Spoon Gourd

A visit with our new boy...

The kids and I drove up to Abbondanza Alpacas to visit with our new little boy. He was very cute and up and bouncing around at five days old. Here is a photo of him in a brief moment where he laid down to rest.

Now we just need to think of a name for this little puff of fiber. I have thought of a few names that I like but Neil has been less then excited by them so I will keep searching.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today is my favorite day of the year! I love Thanksgiving! Family getting together and catching up on each others lives, no pressure of gift giving, great food... what could be better?

Well, being on our own farm eating our own homegrown turkey and veggies would be great but that will have to wait until next Thanksgiving. That is my goal for next year... have the entire meal either grown on the farm our at least locally (as I don't expect to have cranberries or wheat our first year!)

But, for this year, we are going to be spending the day with Neil's family. His sister, McKay, is hosting the big meal at their home here in Anderson, SC. We will be having 2 Turkeys with stuffing, cornbread dressing, mashed potatos, squash, peas, cranberry sauce and rolls. I am bringing the rolls, squash, a homemade pumpkin pie and some snacky food as well.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Noodle's cria is born...

Got a phone call from Abbandanza Alpacas this morning to let us know that the newest member of our alpaca family has arrived! It is a little white boy out of our beige Pastina di Oro (aka Noodle). We don't know much about him yet and due to my work schedule we won't be able to visit with him until Sunday. I will post more then... with photos of course!

Our new Suburban!

While we were out and about visiting our cows and alpacas this past Sunday Neil spotted a Suburban for sale in a small car lot in Easley, SC. We stopped in to peak in the windows as the dealership was closed for the night. It was dark out but from what Neil could see of it he was very interested!

So, Tuesday, after class, Neil went up to talk with the dealer and take a closer look in daylight. He must of liked what he saw because he called me up and asked if I was ready to buy a car! He drove home to pick the kids and I up and we went to buy our new Suburban. Here it is still sitting on the lot:

We will be selling our Jeep and should break even on the deal. We are very happy to be getting a bigger vechicle to have around the farm. It is also great because Neil is very familiar with this vechicle and will be able to do most of the repair work himself.