surprise

i leaned over the pond today to clean out some of the debris from the rain storm last night and found about two hundred baby tilopia.  wow breeding must have worked.  we pulled some to put in an aquarium in the green house in case the other adults eat the babies.  they have a good mama, she was hovering under them as they swam along.  if they get frightened they go to her mouth and she holds them there until they swim back out.  we have a couple bluegill in the pond too and not real sure what they would do. we have some round tubes in the bottom of the water for them to hide in when not in mama's care anymore.  its been fun watching the babies swim around their new tank.  they are little piggies and will need fed six or seven times a day, at least until fingerling's or able to feed themselves.

the sheep are loose in the pen again.  mohawk took one look at me and it was game on.  now i carry a big stick.  it looks like several are pregnant again.  should be twins this time. they are little piggies too.  they completely ate all of the grass down in their new pen so now they are back in ours.  the rain has been slow to reach us out here so the new grasses haven't had time to come up.  i hope the rain we got last night kicks that off.  the garden is exploding with plants,  some i don't even remember what i planted.  i prepped plums for jelly this week and zucchini for the freezer for breads.  some of the summer squash came in for eating and green beans are about to bloom.  the tomato are suffering from the hungry quail and the pack rats keep running away with the corn seeds.  its a zoo.  the green house is fantastic.  the aquaponics was a winning success, the items planted were lettuces, tomato, shallots, and Swiss chard, all doing great.  we are going to expand the system. and the new baby tilopia will help with that system.

we had company last weekend.  some people came out to visit and camp over night.  it was great fun.  the heavens provided a lightning show for all of us to enjoy.  there was no rain so they camped under the stars.  you know how sometimes someone looks familiar but you cant place them.  turns out one of our guests was on a television series. i guess that explains it.  they are coming back to visit in September.

have a new friend that lives down the road and we are going to see the new home they are building tomorrow.  that will be fun.

and last night we found out a guest is coming on Friday to spend some time with us.  she is from Switzerland and will be flying out later next week and will stay with us till then.  its been very busy on the homestead this month and enjoyable.

i will continue to post on the blog because i missed doing it.  if you want to follow along that is fine as well.  stop by and visit.  deb@homesteadbarnyard.com