The days are just packed it seems. 5:30 am I was out the door again heading to town to pickup more grain. I got a text Thursday from the one brewery that he had neglected to let me know he was brewing but it worked since he was brewing more that day and I could pick it up on Friday. On my way down I swung by the other brewery to drop off the empties I had and when I pulled up there were barrels of grain sitting there for me. He had not let me know they would be there so it was by chance I showed up. I loaded the 3 full barrels onto the trailer and shoveled the little bit from the 4th barrel into the others. I tossed an empty barrel in the mix to make it even then headed down to the other brewery.
I had 3 barrels waiting for me at the smaller brewery down town. I loaded the short barrels into the bed of the truck and the full size onto the trailer with the 3 other full barrels. In the median of the road there was a couple of women doing some kind of street art with chalk it looked like. They had a protractor made out of two big sticks they were using. I didn't go look to see what they were making but will likely see it next pickup.
This is 12 barrels of grain this week dumped into the pen. Figuring an average weight of about 200 pounds per barrel put me at over 1 ton of grain this week alone.
Thursday I had cut out the stencil for the sign and then yesterday I made it. I found a piece of wood in the wood shed that was an old piece of sub flooring from the kitchen. I cut ti to length, sanded the face some, then taped down the stencil.
I sprayed 4 or 5 coats to make sure it soaked into the wood well. I had to use the stick to hold the stencil down where it broke at the base between the k and a.
I hope this will make the UPS/FEDEX/USPS/etc realize the box it there for them.
We have a pair of swallows that are fighter jet flying around over the trampoline and I took a bit to investigate. They have built a nest in the falling apart back porch of the studio and have a pair of babies that make a healthy racket of noise.
I went out to the hill trail and took the pruning shears to the brush along it. It had become quite overgrown and needed a good trimming. The worst part was the steepest section at the base of the trail, but after a short bit it opened up nicely and will be good for the season.
I then went and raked the trail to the creek. The thing gets pretty fluffy with dirt and debris so a good raking helps eliminate the loose soil everywhere. It makes the climb a bit safer as the footing is not moving all around under us. At times the trail ends up a slide more than anything.
I was sitting at my computer for a little break and I looked out towards the little creek and I saw the bees swarming, AGAIN. I immediately went up to the hives and checked that they had not swarmed then I went down to the swarm. They were a bit pissy so I left them to do their thing. I was hoping they would pick a new spot to land out on the trees where it would be easier to get them, but not my luck.
A while later they had all landed again and when I went down to check they had all landed back whre they were. The nice thing is that they had just swarmed so they were ALL there and had just used a bunch of energy so were not ready to all fly.
After suiting up again I grabbed my bucket and I put it right next to the mass of bees and then shoveled them in with my gloved hand. As I swept them in I grabbed a mass of bees gently and when I tossed them into the bucket a small honeycomb went with.
I managed to get most of the bees this time and in the bottom of the bucket you can see the little bit of comb they made. It is super cool to feel the buzzing of the bucket. It kind of acts like a mega phone as they buzz in the bucket.
I pulled a frame and then dumped the mass of bees into the hive with the rest of their brethren.
The garden is constantly needing weeding but yesterday was for another reason. I needed delectables for the sheep to draw them into the pen so I could close off the fence to keep them corralled for shearing.
They were not too pleased but at least they have their bale and water and shade.
We have another hen who has popped out some chicks. This one only has a pair but that makes 8 chicks so far with 4 other hens sitting still. Looks like we will be well into double digits for free chicken additions to the farm for the year.
After 
I tested the temperature difference. It was 75 F at the tunnel, mostly in the shade, and 20 feet below the upper thermometer.
I left the other one on the top of the post at the top of the hill above the creek. It was about 98 F and this was all of maybe 75 feet away from the tunnel. That is a 23 degree difference!!!
The first summer squash harvest! They were not huge but there was more than enough for us to have with dinner. Cut up and sauteed in olive oil they tasted amazing.
I grilled out burger patties outside so less heat is in the house. With these temps I am trying to cook outside as much as I can.
This morning we have to shear however many sheep we can. We need to get through 4 of them and the alpaca but may only manage 2 today. The shears are the thing that needs a rest between more than anything. This afternoon we have a get together in town so we will need to be done shearing before noon.
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