Missing Willow Farm

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We assumed that the wallpaper had been attached to bare drywall because that’s how the previous homeowners/builders rolled.  We were correct.  After researching options and talking to a few wallpaper manufacturers, we decided to prime the wallpaper with oil based primer and then paint over it.  The color is ‘nautical gray’, a nice neutral.  Since we were painting over wallpaper, we opted for both crown molding and wainscoting.  The flooring is a laminate.   The mirror is an antique I purchased around 35 years ago.

I’m still amazed this went from gutting to completion in just nine days, by us (did I mention my husband is a genius?).  I still need to add the fun decorative touches.  We had planned to redo the bath this year, just didn’t know it would happen this soon!

Here are Summer and Shaggydog, two of Hermione’s triplets from this year.  Nymeria went to a new home a few weeks back, she’s got other goats, a giant sheep, chickens and cats to keep her company and a great pyrenees to keep her safe.  They grow up so fast!

FiFi rests during the day with her brother Milos so she can watch over everyone after dark.  We still can’t get a new flea collar on her.  She’s 150 pounds of ‘I don’t need a new necklace, thanks’.

We unfortunately lost our buck Rudy to intestinal parasites earlier this year.  We just got a replacement buck.  The best part?  He’s Rudy’s son.   He was born here last year and then went to a friend’s farm to help them keep their kudzu problem in check.  We’re calling him RJ (Rudy Jr.).   He looks just like his daddy, who we miss.

Cherokee purple tomatoes, Duke’s mayonnaise, iceberg lettuce and Benton’s bacon on toast.  The ultimate BLT.  If you haven’t discovered Benton’s bacon, there are no words….   http://bentonscountryhams2.com

Jack flies by on his way to round up our sheep during training.  Watching him accelerate is amazing.  He enjoys working very much.  Every border collie should have a few sheep to boss around!

Deer in our orchard.  A mom and two fawns, there are lots more running around here.  Our fishing line fence keeps them out of our garden, we may need to expand it up the hill.  At least they’re cute…

Our bees have been busy!  We just harvested 150 pounds of honey exactly one month after our first harvest.  It took us 9 hours, I’m still tired…  It’s a good thing because we are sold out of our first batch.  At this rate, we may get another harvest yet this summer.  We think this batch tastes even better than the last.  Our sourwood trees haven’t had much bloom this year so it doesn’t have the distinctive sour taste that lots of folks are looking for.  That’s OK by us, we’re harvesting what we enjoy!