This Week on the Farm is a series where I cover all things happening here at the farm including all and any other updates that have happened over the week all in one place. Week before last I kicked off the first this week on the farm series, and shared some adorable Spring inspired finds from the weekend and some upcoming Spring related goals of mine.
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This Week on the Farm and an Update
Today’s update really should be called Last Week on the Farm since today I’m technically catching you guys up on everything from last week, but whatever.
Earlier on the blog I shared some of my favorite and affordable Target and Amazon Spring finds a couple of my favorite finds included some adorable Smith & Hawken rain boots that I fell in love with as well as some Carhartt overalls I’ve had my eyes on for over a year now.
Have you guys been getting Spring vibes yet?
I feel like I’m a little early to be feeling Spring with snow still visiting the farm but then I see some people on Instagram in warmer areas who already have seedlings almost ready to transfer outside and I suddenly feel behind.
In my first post for this series I indulged my Spring vibes by doing a little Spring related shopping which included the rain boots and the Carhartt overalls from my earlier post. The rain boots I got right away but the overalls I had to wait for to arrive. Now that they have arrived I can’t tell you guys how excited I am!!!
The ones I bought are the lighter weight ones which I thought would be perfect for the warmer temps. Of course the beginning of last week totally flipped and it was freezing out, we even got a little snow, but later in the week the weather got slightly nicer and I was able to break them in.
I’ve got to tell you guys I LOVE my overalls. I know I’m going to be living in them from now on. They are super comfortable, and super cute I can wear them out while running errands too. I had wanted a pair of Carhartt overalls for 2 years now but didn’t want to pay the $70+ for them, (I’m a pretty frugal shopper).
Finally I decided to just do it and buy them. Now that they’ve arrived and I’ve worn them in, including around the farm while doing chores, I can honestly say I’m very happy with them they are completely worth the price. Just like every other Carhartt purchase I’ve made.
Side note, you can find some of my other Carhartt favorites HERE. I honest to goodness live in my Carhartt shirts. They are my go-to shirts anytime I go out or do anything around the farm!
I had also mentioned kicking off my gardening and this week. Well I finally started some of my seeds indoors. This is my very first year starting seeds indoors so I’m a little nervous but I’ll update you guys on how things go later on.
Our growing season is very short and last year I planted my seeds well after our last official frost date and then the very next day we got over a foot of snow, which I believe is one of the major reasons several rows of vegetables I planted never grew.
In fact, I actually planted my seeds late so as a result I had to harvest much of my tomatoes and butternut squash early because they were still maturing when fall rolled in and we once again started to get snow.
I’m hoping starting my seeds indoors this year will allow me to harvest a nice hardy fully grown garden.
Fingers crossed.
Have you guys started your planning or planting your garden yet?
My Recent Antique Find
A little while back I shared this antique French chair I picked up in an alleyway on a late night for free. I planned on reupholstering it but was unsure what fabric to reupholster it in. Plus I had ordered a couple of upholstery tools I was waiting to arrive before starting.
My last upholstery project I reupholstered a chair I picked up at a thrift store using ticking stripe fabric. This was my first time using ticking stripe fabric and I was very happy with the end result.
I thought maybe I’d use ticking stripe for this french chair too but worried it was too much of a pattern for this french chair with all the tufts.
After a lot of back and forth I said screw it. I decided to do ticking stripe again and dug in this week. I ended up removing all the existing upholstery fabric from the chair using the upholstery tools I had ordered.
Of course being the indecisive person I am, I’m questioning the ticking stripe again. So the chair is sitting in our office/my craft room until I make a final decision. My indecisiveness is the cause of why I start and stop so many projects mid-way through.
If you guys have any suggestions on what fabric I should use to reupholster it please let me know, and leave a comment below, I’d really love some input from you guys!
Side note, in past upholstery projects I’ve used whatever tools I had on hand to remove existing fabric and reupholster a piece. This generally includes needle nose pliers, a hammer, and a spackle, for the most part this works just fine.
However, the spackle and the hammer are not made for upholstery and oftentimes, due to their size, the tools have damaged the wood.
Since this is a vintage chair that has some really pretty hand carved floral designs along the frame I really didn’t want to risk damaging it. So I decided to invest in some upholstery specific tools. This included two very affordable and equally important tools, a staple and nail remover, and an upholstery hammer that has a much slimmer head.
Weekend with Family and a Piggy Predicament
This weekend was spent with family. Tom’s brother was in town on break from school and he still hadn’t seen Oliver and was eager to meet him so they stopped by the farm for a bit.
It was good timing too because Oliver was due for a shot, so we needed all hands on deck to secure him for it, it’s amazing how strong he is. It took Tom, his brother and his dad to hold him down just long enough to give him the shot.
Normally I don’t have to have so much backup when it comes to Oliver, he’s my little butterball baby.
For instance, in addition to a shot, Oliver also needed his hooves trimmed this last week. I’m able to easily trim his hooves by myself while Oliver lays pretty relaxed on his side for me. However, giving him a shot required a bit more manpower.
Let me explain.
WARNING: Below I’ve shared a couple slightly graphic photos. If you are not good with blood or injuries you might want to stop reading here.
In addition to being surprisingly strong, Ollie’s tusks have started to grow in. While he is not at all aggressive, his sight impairments make him even more apprehensive than the average pig.
Pigs are prey animals and by default are fearful creatures. One defense mechanism of pigs is to head swipe, and if not careful you can get really hurt by their tusks. Their tusks don’t have to be very big at all either.
Side note, like I mentioned Oliver is not an aggressive pig. He’s very tolerant, in the photo above you can see how he lets us gently lift the side of his cheek to show you his tusk without being bothered by it at all.
Anyway, you can understand why giving him a shot might not be the easiest of tasks. I mean who likes shots?
Months back, before we were really aware of Oliver’s tusks (they’re inconspicuously hidden underneath his cheeks), Tom had accidentally grazed the side of Ollie’s face/cheek with his hand startling Oliver suddenly by the contact.
His tusks had just started to grow in and were not at all very large (they still are fairly small as you can see from the above photo), but even that little contact with his tusk resulted in Tom having to go to the emergency room for stitches and required antibiotics.
Since that incident we’re much more careful any time we have to handle Oliver when doing anything we know he won’t necessarily like.
In the end, after an hour or so of trial and error Oliver got his shot, and was rewarded with some cucumber treats and belly rubs afterwards.
His favorite 🙂
Okay, that’s all I have for you guys. I hope you enjoyed this week’s update from my new series This Week on the Farm.
What do you guys like to see here on the blog? Do you enjoy reading about my upholstery projects, and other DIY’s and crafts. Or are you guys more interested in learning more about farm life?
Let me know in the comments below, I want to know what you guys are most interested in so I can continue to bring you helpful content!!
Thank you guys for joining me here on the blog today, it means so much to me!
