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!!

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!!