NowHere Farms

 It's funny what one does (and sometimes does not) notice walking around the yard. Last year our little satsuma tree suffered major damage from...something unknown...leaving us with bare stems, no leaves, and no flowers when it was supposed to flower (fall).  We truly thought we had lost it completely but in the spring it sprang back and we were hopeful we might have some fruit in a year or three.   Last week I was out looking at the fruit trees (fig, loquat, mulberry, and the satsuma) and discovered something very, very peculiar. WHAT IN THE WORLD???? MONSTER???   Oh yeah; definitely MONSTER!! I hurried into the house, let Cletus know there was something WEIRD on his satsuma tree, grabbed the tweezers out of the first aid kit and a disposable cup, went back out to the tree, and got to work.  We found a grand total of five of these little monsters.  We noticed a very odd smell as we were picking them off and they had the most peculiar little red horns ...

 I am frequently asked the question, "What about your weaving?  Are you still weaving?" One of my first 7 foot shawls The answer is a resounding YES.  The problem is making the time to go stand at the loom and zone out when so many other things are jumping up and down demanding attention.  It's like being an elementary school teacher again! But yes, I do still weave and even hope to get the piece which has been on my loom since early May before Cletus' knee surgery finished in the next week or so. Don't blame Geoffrey; he tries the best he can to get me in there! Currently I have a small inventory of mostly 5-foot shawls.  Once we have a business account set up at the bank I may set up an Etsy store.  In the meantime, if you are interested in purchasing one, or in a special order with a particular size (5, 6, or 7 foot) and color or yarn type, give me a shout.   A 7-foot plaid One of my favorites from October '23.  A 5-footer I do a lot of ...

 I got some work done in my herb garden today.  It needed it!  The summer was so hard even my (invasive) mint died off.  Here are some before and after pictures... Rosemary, tarragon, and turmeric were my only survivors A little happier now! Old, Used-to-Be Sage New, thriving sage (with parsley in the background)     Where the dill and thyme used to be   Thyme! I'm still shocked the tarragon survived! It looks happier with the oregano for company though. And finally, a little memory keeper.  I had a phone call from a friend recently to let me know her fur-baby had died.  We had some great walks with Ladybug in her time.  I'm glad I have a little reminder of her!

  Hatch Day is always exciting.   But sometimes it is also a bit disappointing. Remember the new Brinsea we were so excited about? We set 45 eggs in that baby.   At lockdown (day 14) we “candled” the eggs (we shine a special light over it in a dark room and see if it is developing) and discarded 8 which were clearly not fertile, leaving a whopping 37 eggs, an 82% fertility rate (not bad at all). A good hatch is 70% which would have given us 25-26 new babies. The hatch started late on day 16.   By day 18 we had 14 hatched and at least 2 dead-pipped. That’s just under a 38% hatch rate from the fertile eggs.   Talk about disappointment!   Other than one time a few years ago (pre-Quail University) when we had 0 hatch, this is the worst we have ever had. We moved the 14 out to the large brooder and left the unhatched eggs in to see if there might be some late hatches. Here are some variables we are going to change: 1.     ...

 What's up at NowHere? A quick trip to the Gulf Coast Zoo before the storm blew by. A visit to the beach the same day to catch the pelicans wave-skimming A faerie-ring Cats doing what cats do.  Up the quail shed. because why not?! And always, quail! Babies in the brooder.  These are barely 1 week old.  For size reference, that is a regular frisbee. ...and some teenagers getting moved outside to the tractor

  Our part of the world has Feed and Seed stores and Farmer’s Co-Ops.   These are great places!   They carry everything one needs for gardening, raising livestock, and all the local news.   The one closest to us even has a store pig who is quite famous in this area (she is a bit of a diva and loves to pose for the paparazzi).   They also have a monthly poultry swap.   If you raise poultry of any sort, you may come and sell chicks and/or adults.   If you would like to start raising poultry you may come and buy chicks and/or adults of most types.   From small chicks of multiple varieties of chickens to large turkeys, the poultry farmers who set up here have it all.     Some of them bring rabbits and pigs, and recently I saw small dachshund puppies available (they wanted to come home with me but Cletus reminded me the indoor cats might not take kindly to having a dog in the house). We are hoping to start having our quail available for...