RAMPS, LAMBS & GARDEN TIME!!

Our little mountain "full-time getaway"!

Well, it's that time of year!! The annual Ramp Tramp in Reliance, Tn was held on Sat., 4/25/09. We've gone for the past 3 years and enjoyed the bluegrass bands, the crafts and of course, the meal...eggs and ramps, streak 'o lean, white beans, corn bread, sweet tea and pie! Grilled hot dogs with ramps served on top were also available. For those unfamiliar with ramps, they are a wonderful plant that grows wild in the mountains...a combination of onion and garlic! So flavorful with most any helpin' of country eatin'!! Jordan, our youngest son, has joined a long-lived tradition with several older mule riding friends from the area...they make a trek up into the mountains in Tellico, TN, spend several nights and dig ramps during the mornings and evenings. Of course, riding the mules is part of the fun, but he loves hearing the history, finding the best patches of ramps and being part of the group!

MeMe & Ray-- 3 weeks old
Ray and MeMe, our 2 newest lambs, are growing like little pigs! They are still on the bottle, 3-4 times a day and now, during the day, we're putting them in the pasture with Blossom, our pygmy nanny and the older lamb, Doe. Larry's busy with the garden, finishing up with adding fertilizer and mulch. Our fertilizer, of course, is naturally generated from our mules, horses and chickens, here at AWESOME ASS ACRES and due to the recent high winds, the mulch piles have been generously "donated" and delivered by several tree crews here in the area. We use it for soooo many things here. We put it around flowers, trees, in the garden, even in our barn hall. I have so many flowering plants that are getting ready to show their colors. One of my favorites is my "red hot poker lily". I'd never heard of these, 'till moving here and they're really spectacular...I'll post pictures when they turn flaming red!

My wisteria in the front yard

I have my wisteria out front, with an antique metal bed frame as the trellis...I'm hoping it blooms this year! We still absolutely love living here...there's so much to do, see and enjoy!

Sunrise at AWESOME ASS ACRES

This farm is an abundance of sights, sounds, smells...that inspire us every day! God surely shows his handiwork here in the mountains! It's perfect for my painting, with so much to take in!!

Jett, one of our rescues from the Humane Society...(picked her up a couple of years ago on Thurs.-was to meet the Grim Reaper on Monday!)

Painting the guineas, horses, mules, raccoons...they're all ideas that come from AWESOME ASS ACRES! It's also fun meeting the good folks that collect my work through Ebay!! Take care and come back soon!!

A LOOK AROUND AAA

The weather is beautiful here at AWESOME ASS ACRES! I can barely stand to stay inside and paint...Larry's prepping the garden spot and everything's bursting in buds, blooms or foliage! The lambs are doing so well...growing and now eating 3-4 times a day! This year we finally got to hang martin gourds...always wanted to, but we'd always wait too long, didn't have the time, the gourds, wondered about location...but, this year, THANKS to a wonderful, sweet friend, Elaine, we hung 12 and already have residents!! She had several that she was planning to use, but her property was too "woodsy", so she gave them to us!! Larry used a small cable and devised the perfect way to raise and lower them for cleaning and upkeep. They hang between the house and barn and the martins seem very happy here at AWESOME ASS ACRES!! Between them and our thriving guinea flock, we should be rid of alot of pesky insects during the hot weather coming up! We're planning on 2 garden spots for corn, squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, okra, eggplant, watermelon, cantalope, beets and peas. Larry's keeping close watch on the Almanac to make sure he plants when the signs are right! We're both from families that really believe in going by the signs when doing anything on the farm...from digging the well, planting the garden, weaning livestock, to castrating livestock. Past generations have taught us and now, we're passing it on to our kids.

HAPPY EASTER!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter Sunday! For anyone that practices the Christian faith, the written description of the Resurrection is a very exciting, new beginning each year...although it follows the Crucifixion, a very sad, tragic event in Biblical history. Our family believes the Bible literally and we're glad in the fact that death could not hold our Savior in the grave. That same faith is deep inside when it comes to our own mortality...a faith that gives us comfort and strength through the loss of a loved one or friend, a faith that we lean on in sickness and need, and a faith that is strong when it comes to what happens after we're gone.
I wish all, a wonderful, healthy, blessed spring and many more to come!!

2 @ 52...Who Knew??

Who knew I'd be a moma again at 52 (53 next week!)?? Yes, we've been given 2 more lamb babies this week from a friend in Knoxville! He called on Wednesday night and said that he'd had 2 sets of triplets born...one set on Tuesday and the other on Wednesday. Due to the circumstances that I've posted before, lambs grow better when there's just two...I said yes, of course, so now we have 3 babies. I met him near Knoxville yesterday, (Thursday) and picked them up. Doe is the first of my "herd"...3 months old and growing like a weed and now, Ray and Me-Me! Get it...Doe, Ray, Me...!! Ray and Me-Me are soooo tiny and soooo sweet! Ray is the black and white spotted male and Me-Me is the white female! Since they're only a couple of days old, I'm feeding them a bottle EVERY 4 hours, yes, that's day and night! Oh, how I've forgotten nightly feedings and HOW WONDERFUL breast feeding was!! These babies are still fragile with their digestion and there's alot that could go wrong, so PLEASE wish me luck!! I'm one that gets really attached to these critters around AWESOME ASS ACRES and I don't want to lose one! I've posted pics (that's normal for a proud new mom, right??), so let me know what you think!!

MORE PICS!!

Just wanted to add a few more pics from Mule Day...my favorite is the chunky, chocolate mule with the lady and dog riding. The mule is 22 years old and she's had him 10 years...I think he's out of a Paso Fino mare. One shows another mini, in full harness and the grey mule was one, of a pair of wagon mules, that camped next to us. The spotted saddle mule belongs to a friend and is gaited...there were several gaited classes this year and all had great entries! For those that are surprised to hear that there are gaited mules...ALOT of folks nowadays are breeding the best jackstock to Walking Horse, Paso Fino, Foxtrotter mares and getting mules that are as smooth as silk to ride. The annual Columbia Mule Sale was held on Tuesday and we were amazed to see gaited, riding mules going for $4500.00 & up...especially when in todays market, horses are being given away! I guess that's what happens when hybrids are "in"!!

WE'RE BACK!

Well, another fun time in Columbia, TN has come and gone...already looking forward to 2010! The week was filled with riding, laughing, visiting with old friends, making new ones, sittin' round the fire, tellin' tales, listening to others tell tales, more riding, seeing some BEAUTIFUL ears, hearing non-stop braying and oh yeah, a tornado evacuation! We wagon rode 28 miles from Etheridge to Columbia on Monday...the day was gorgeous, about 70* and sunny! We pulled into the park about 4:30, set up camp, and started the week there. Things were very uneventful until Thursday...a tornado touched down in Mt. Pleasant, about 8 miles away and the officials decided to evacuate the park and have us "visit" in the hallway of a nearby high school. That lasted 2 hours, with flooding, hail, wind outside, but no touch down that we know of. Several large campers that were parked in a low area of the park were sitting in water up to their windows...we felt bad for those folks, but no injury to anyone. We rolled back into AWESOME ASS ACRES this past Sunday evening, glad to be home, but already planning next year's trip! I've posted several pictures...one is of the back of our trailer, we're always surprised at the folks that want to take a picture of it!! The next is a pair of grey mules that were in a "one line, voice command" class...it was AMAZING to watch these draft mules respond to a slight built, older man as he held a LOOSE line and softly told them how to navigate an obstacle course, dragging a log behind, to boot! They also stood UNTIED, throughout the class waiting for their turn! The next one is "Shorty"...of course, I'm referring to the mule...the mountain man in front, is my husband, Larry!! Shorty is the tallest known mule in the world...he's out of a Percheron mare, 8 years old and measures 19.2". I wish Larry had gotten closer to his shoulder, but Shorty was a little antsy and didn't want to stand still. The last picture is of some miniature mules that are soooo cute...I'm afraid that I'm going to have to add a couple of those to the farm sometime in the future!!

I'm back to painting now...will be adding some more things to Ebay this week!!

Take care and let me hear from you!!