Perigee Moon

There's been so much going on this past five months, it's hard to know where to start.  I suppose the best place to begin is with the present and then continue to revisit the past until I've covered it all.  At least what I can remember.

This past Saturday was this year's Perigee Full Moon (aka. the Super Moon).  Did anyone get to see it?  The perigee moon is it's point in orbit where it is closest to the earth on it's elliptical travels.  This actually happens once a month, but doesn't always coincide with the full moon (which only happens once a year). Because it is closest to the earth, it appears much larger and brighter.  I have always had a fascination with the moon.  I stare at in amazed that there is this huge orb floating out in space, circling the earth, affecting the tides and perhaps all other life on earth.  After all, we are 70-ish percent water.  So I had my photographer husband outside taking pictures for me.  He doesn't yet have a telephoto lens, but I'd say his pictures still came out pretty good.

We finally got some rain today.  It's been hitting just about every place but on top of our little hill lately.  And we've desperately needed it.  I took a friend for a hike to Hell's Hollow on Saturday and can't think of a time that I've ever seen the creek so low.  This concerns me as this is supposed to be the rainiest time of year, and already the water table is low.  Those of us who rely on well water have to think about these things.  Even now it is thundering outside.  I'm very thankful for this.  Rain plus thunder, who could asks for more.  

We got our garden fenced this past Sunday.  Clearly you can see that it's not ready for planting.  But now that it's staked out we can begin preparing the mini plots inside, and keep the chickens out.  They were quite helpful in scattering the rabbit droppings, though.  Handy little birds, those chickens are.  Hopefully this rain will open up the soil a bit.  It was so dry.  And we've accumulated a great compost pile to mix in since last summer.  Here's a few other recent shots from the farm:

There's a few Jersey cows on the farm now!  

Found some Lemon Balm growing in a pot my mom gave me last summer!
Yay for Lemon Balm!!  What a nice surprise!

My new love...hanging my batik fabric out to dry on the line.
It looks so pretty blowing in the wind.  

And I'll end with the story of this little bird.  Yesterday I found her wandering around in the "seed row" where we scatter seed in the morning for the chickens.  I picked her up hoping that her mama and papa were somewhere close by, but no one came squawking.  I put her next to the garage in a grassy spot hoping she'd find a safe spot for the night, but fearing that she'd be.....er.....food for someone else.  This evening I went out to collect eggs with my husband, and who did I find in the seed pit?  This little girl.  I knelt down and she hopped up into my had chirping.  She then hopped right up my arm to my shoulder and started pecking my nose!  I think she thought maybe it was my "beak".  She stayed on my shoulder for a bit and then flew away.  She's not quite a competent flier yet, but I figured she flew well enough that I would just leave her be.  

Well as dark grew closer I went out to close up the chickens for the night.  I got them all in and accounted for (we just integrated our new spring chicks), closed the door and heard a peep at my feet.  Lo and behold, there she was looking up at me.  It was like she was saying, "what about me?"  She then began scurrying around the coop trying to find a way inside.  Finally I just scooped her up and took her in the coop.  I had a broody hen that I thought would keep her for the night.  She snuggled right into the hen's feathers, and the hen certainly didn't mind.  Those chickens would mother an alligator when they are broody.  I thought I would check on her once more before coming back in the house.  The hen was on a roost and the little sparrow had fallen off.  She was asleep in a corner, but I wanted a safer place for her.  So I put her in one of the least used nest boxes and surrounded her with a bit of hay.  She immediately fell back asleep.  I don't know what will become of her.  And I typically try to let Mother Nature take care of her own.  But there's something special about this little sparrow.  If she thinks she's a chicken, so be it.  That's all for now I suppose.  So I will bid you all a good night and head off to enjoy the thunder and rain.  

New Peeps for Spring of 2012 and Other Goin' Ons

Last Sunday we picked up our peeps at the post office.  This is not the first set of peeps that we've raised (we've had plenty of peeps on the farm), but they ARE the first ones that we ordered and picked up ourselves.  We ordered from McMurry Hatchery based on their excellent reputation, as so far, couldn't be more pleased.  We got the message that they were shipped on Saturday, I was beside myself.  Glad we got that brooder done!  First thing Sunday morning I checked their tracking to see how far they had traveled.  They at one of the main post office hubs  in Pittsburgh!!  We live about 35 miles outside of the city, but I was willing to drive in if I could pick them up.  My first thought was, "It's a Sunday!  No one will be available!"  But we called all the same, and a return phone call gave us the answer we'd been waiting for, "Come and get 'em!"  And that we did.

Newly hatched chicks can survive for about 72 hours without needing food or water.  For mama hens, hatching her own chicks this is important.  She must patiently sit on her chicks until they have all hatched.  And this can take 48-72 hours.  So these little guys and gals absorb their yolk sac just before hatching to provide them with the nourishment to survive those hours before mama hen can take them out looking for food.  Pretty darn creative, don't you think.  This allows chicks to be shipped in the mail. However, warmth is another consideration, therefore typically they are shipped in no less that groups of 25 so that they can keep each other warm.  Larger birds, like ducks or geese, can be shipped in few numbers.  I'm happy to say that every last one of our birds arrived safely, and all seem to be happy, healthy, and thriving.

On another note, the weather here has been crazy.  Definitely an uncharacteristically warm winter.  I'm not really complaining.  I checked the weather this morning when I woke up (as I always do - I'm a weather junky) to find that it should be nice and sunny and warm all morning and into the first part of the afternoon, where then it will turn into rain....and then more rain....and then thunderstorms....followed by a wind advisory!  I had to laugh!  Folks, on any given day we have a wind advisory up here on the farm!  Don't believe me?  Stop by for a visit; I guarantee it will blow your socks off.  Guess I better get my outside chores done soon then.

This semester has seemed to leave a lot less time to blog.  So bear with me folks!  I'm trying to return to a bit of normalcy.

In Comes the New Year

Whether we like it or not, the new year has crept in (for me) almost unnoticed.  I think the older I get, the faster each year passes.  Does anyone else remember how time used to pass slower when we were kids?  Summer breaks went on for ever, Christmas's and Birthday's couldn't come quick enough.  Perhaps that's just part of the magic of being children.

So with the advent of the new year, most people are busy making their new year's resolutions.  I will admit, I've never been one for new year's resolutions.  I think you should be able to make resolutions any time of the year, not just January first.  However, I do like to reflect on where the journey has led me, and where I hope to travel in the up and coming.

This past year we saw the birth of our very first alpaca cria, Bramble (aka "string bean").  She is strong, healthy, and independent.  Don't let the fact that I call her a string bean mean she's "lanky," she's a sturdy little thing - just all legs and neck!  If you're curious about what an alpaca birth is like check out this link to our YouTube site. 

The following month we did our own very first breeding while working out at the farm we board our girls at.  It was a success, and we can expect Bracken to deliver another cria next fall.  We are  very excited to see what this year's breeding will produce.  The funniest thing about breeding, is that it is quite literally a herd 'affair'.  All the unbred (and ready to breed) females cush next to the breeding pair.  The little up and coming herd sires 'practice' on all the cushing mamas.  Don't worry, they're not old enough to be successful yet!  Bramble wouldn't keep her nose out of the face of the breeding herdsire, nor would the other little females.  This is all a part of it.  It's a learning experience, so to speak, for the young ones.

I also vended at my first ever fair, the Johnny Appleseed festival in my hometown.  I was delighted and amazed by how well it went and can't wait to do it again.  Perhaps this has given me the confidence to participate in a few other events.  On top of this, I reopened my Etsy site, which has also done well.  It is sort of surreal to know that you've sent your crafts all over the country.  That my baskets and yarn are being enjoyed by someone other than myself.  I started making basket out of necessity.  I needed some place to put all the yarn I was spinning; something 'pretty' and colorful.  But once I started making them, I just  couldn't stop!  They are just so much fun to watch come together.  And while I'm a huge proponent of baskets, I realized that a girl could really only have so many.  So I reluctantly (at first) decided to offer them to others, though I wan't sure how I could bear to sell them.  The reluctance has since passed, and has been replaced with the joy of knowing that someone too will smile at my creations.  My advice to anyone who has always wanted to be share their creations with others - just do it!  Get out there!  You may be completely surprised by the support and encouragement from others.  I know I was!

Here are some of the other highlights of the year:

We hiked...

...gardened...

...canned...

...spun at festivals...

...grew pumpkins...

...learned to dye fiber...

...attended the Mother Earth News Fair...

...supported my sister's purchase of three meat
rabbits at the Mother Earth News Fair...

...found that we had quite the demand for our eggs...

...learned (or began to learn) to cook in cast iron...

...learned to play the banjo...

...learned to weave...

...and taught my sister and nieces how to weave...

...developed a love for blue cochin chickens...

...and ended the year with family (and pets!).

It's Just Part of the Journey

Morning farm chores were pretty miserable this morning.  The mild and sunny weather that graced us for the Christmas weekend has now allowed a large rain system to move into northwestern Pennsylvania.  They are calling for it's change into snow by evening, but for now it's just a lot of wet.  All this rain we've had recently has really turned this farm into a mucky mess!  Needless to say, the chickens have been 'cooped' up since Saturday, so they didn't much care what was going on outside, they just wanted out.  I can't blame them.  I propped  open the rabbits just a bit to let some air flow in, but that's the best that I could do.  I've always been told that "a wet angora, is a dead angora."  Sounds kind of harsh, but it's true.  All that fiber is great for keeping them warm in the winter, but it would be like trying to sled ride in a soaking wet snow suit.

It's supposed to rain all week...

While my farm chores only took all of 20 minutes, I feel worse for my husband, who is out working at the alpaca farm the next three days.  At least he'll get to spend most of his time in the barns.  All I could think as I was sloshing a fresh bucket of water down to the coop (half of which some how ended up in my boot) was how nice it would be to just have a barn to work in today.  One of these days.

On a 'sunnier' note, we were blessed by a friend who at the last minute offered to stop out and take care of the animals for a couple of days so we could go home for Christmas.  I was extremely thankful for her help.  We may only be three hours from home, but it's still too far to just swing back to the farm to close up the animals after that filling Christmas dinner.  I think sometimes it upsets my mom that I can't come home as much.  It upsets me too.  But becoming a "farmer" is a choice that I am serious about.   It's not just a ephemeral hobby.  I am a determined woman.  I know she understands that, and even looks forward to a day when she can participate in the whole process.

Christmas brought pretty much our whole family together; even those a half a country away.  We had 36 people at my grandparent's house on Sunday!  We chatted, played some music, and ate lots of food.  It was I good time.  But we are home now (as of yesterday evening).  It's sad to see the holiday's end.  If we were home, we'd spend most of the next week's days with family.  Sharing meals.  Chatting about old memories.  I do so look forward to the day when we will be homeward bound.  But for now, I will make the best of my life here.  After all, this is where many of my dreams have begun to come true.  I will never forget that.  Life is a journey.  We glean from our travels.  For me, this is a big part of it.  I have learned skills that I will have for a lifetime.

For now, I will take these (literally) soggy bottoms, soak in a nice hot bath, and reflect on the journey.

Anachronism

I've often felt like I am a living anachronism.  Out of place in time.  That I should have lived some time ago, when life was simpler.  You worked hard for what you had, and still had little.  Yet those few things you did have were cherished beyond today's worldly comprehension.  My whole life I have been drawn to skills of the past such as sewing, gardening, and animal husbandry.  I remember as a little girl, tagging along to my mother's garden club meetings, and hours spent with her and my grandmothers teaching me how to sew and knit and crochet.  These used to be skills that every little girl learned as she grew up.  I raised quite a menagerie of critters too, from hamsters and ferrets, to chinchillas and lizards!

Today, most I my time is spent spinning, knitting, and sewing.  We have lived down here near Pittsburgh for two years now and have accomplished quite a lot.  We raise our own chickens for meat and eggs, have two alpacas, 5 angora rabbits and a big enough garden to provide some of our own produce.  This is small in comparison to most farms, but this one has BIG dreams.  We still rent you see.  We have been fortunate though, to be located far enough north of the city as to seriously live in farm country.  The house we rent sits on a working diary farm.  But still it's not our own.  Don't get me wrong, we feel blessed for what we have, but are so desperately hoping that we will find our own property soon enough so that our our farm can grow.  We've reached our capacity where we're at without getting ourselves evicted.  But our alpacas have to be boarded on another farm and there are sheep, pigs, and other livestock calling to us.  More like bellowing.  I have such a desire to become more of a farmer that it aches.  I sit at work dreaming about furry creatures, spinning wool, canning vegetables, and yes, mucking out stalls.  While most other girls are reading magazines about fashion and gossip, this girl scours the pages of her Grit and Mother Earth News trying to devise new schemes for building a cold frame, raising meat rabbits, and composting.  I collect buckets, mason jars, chicken wire, and books on homesteading.  I visit other homesteader's blogs trying to glean from their experiences and long for the experience to hold day old piglets in my arms.  Barn boots are not just the latest fashion statement, they are a necessity.

I realize that for most this may sound unusual.  Especially in this day and age.  But this is who I am.  In a day and age of uncertainty, of rumors of economic collapse and instability, this girl wants to be prepared for anything.  And even if these things weren't a possibility, I would still want to be doing exactly what I'm doing.  Farming.  Gaining skills from a lost generation.  And one day, perhaps helping others to learn these skills as well.  There are joys to be found in these simpler ways, and I intend to find discover them!

In the Silence of the Day

I woke up this morning to the sound of thunder rolling across the hills.  It was a slow drone that seemed to fill the air you breathed.  My husband had just gotten up and was preparing to meet a friend to work on a new butcher block for the kitchen, while me and the dog still laid in bed in that twilight somewhere between sleep and awake.  It was a still morning; still is.  One of the kind that make you feel like if you move too fast, you might accidentally stir something up, and awake the farm in a flurry of commotion.  A morning where you seem to walk gently and purposefully as you do your morning chores.

I checked the weather channel on my iPhone before I got out of bed to see what kind of weather I could be expecting (we still appreciate some of this fancy technology here on the farm) and was excited to see that we had a severe thunderstorm warning listed.  I love thunderstorms!  But when I turned to look at the map, I found that it looked like nothing more than a tiny red, orange, and green burp in the sky.  Oh well.  Another day perhaps.  I got up anyway.  Might as well at least enjoy the morning chores as the burp passed.

An hour later and that thunder can still be heard passing over hills and through fields, but the sun has broken through the clouds now and chickens are fancying their nest boxes and fussing when one of their fellow hens seems to be taking too long.  I appreciate these exaggerated mornings.  They give us time to reflect.  The storms long gone now, and though the Weather Channel says there's a 40% chance of rain all day, the movement of the radar seems to indicate otherwise.  Then again, I'm no meteorologist.  So we'll just have to wait and see.

All In A Day

ella's first art batt!

Yesterday was quite the busy one.  I was blessed with the company of my sister and two nieces for the whole day.  The older of the two was working on a wrapped clothesline basket to enter into their county fair later this month, and wanted to use my sewing machine to complete it.  She worked hard all day and turned out a beautiful project.  I'm hoping to see a ribbon on it come judging time.

Sewing baskets wasn't the only tasks performed and completed.  My younger niece (and sister) carded, spun, and plied a wonderful art yarn.  We also made two new hoops for my nieces, which were used on and off all day, and made origami omega stars.  It was quite the busy and productive day!

Come evening, I had them happily on their way back north and my husband and I headed up to the Farm Show.  Let me tell you, farm shows have a whole new meaning once you enter into the world of farming yourself.  Even if your farm just  consists of chickens, angora rabbits, and alpacas.  The first place we always head for is the Poultry tent, perusing through the menagerie of different breeds and admiring their plumage, color, and size.  Also of interest were of course the sheep barns and the rabbit tent.  Meat rabbits are seriously on our list, and visiting the rabbit tent allowed us to get a good idea of the breeds out there raised for that purpose.

By the end of the evening I was exhausted and ready to go home, put my feet up, and work on some knitting before heading to bed.  It was a good exhaustion though.  I love that sense of accomplishment and the sleep that comes after a good day's work.

And there we go!

The 31 days of May comes to an end.  Hope you enjoyed.  Now back to normal blogging.  There's still lots going on round the farm, so stay tuned.  Oh, and Beaky says, "Hello!"  It sounds more like a "cluck cluck squak," but I'm sure that's what she means.

Meat Bird Processing

The time to process our meat birds is quickly approaching.  This will be a new experience for us this year.  We talked about raising our own meat last year, but were still new chicken farmers.  This year, however, we felt we could give it a try.  So once again, I went to my old friend YouTube to learn how.  You'd be surprised how much you can learn from YouTube.  I found a few really great tutorials on meat bird processing, and my hat is off to these individuals along with a huge thanks for their contributions.  There were 3 videos that I assimilated info from, but posted above is my favorite.  It's pretty raw, so if you have a weak stomach, consider yourself warned.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

{oh the colorful eggs - I particularly love the green ones}

It's hard to know when we transitioned from winter to spring.  Sometimes I question whether or not we have.  It was a balmy 45 degree today.  And yes, it rained.  If there is one thing we have seen A LOT of the past few months, it's rain.  We've had so much rain in fact, that none of the farmers around here have even been able to turn over their fields to prepare for planting.  Last year at this time we already had new corn peeking out of the soil.  This has many people concerned as the rain is supposed to continue all the way through summer.  So says the Farmer's Almanac, and they've been pretty close to right on this past winter and into spring.

Our garden sits on an incline and much of the soil has been washed away revealing many rocks and pieces of glass.  We planted on a corner of our landlords fields last year.  I'm curious as to why all this, for lack of a better term, garbage is in the fields.  If we're lucky, our compost pile will cover what we've lost.  I've also been putting the rabbit droppings over the soil.  It's funny to see that where I raked it over, is now growing greenage.  I am guessing that greenage is left over or spilled grain from their feed.  Either way, I'm letting it alone for now.  It's holding what's left of the soil in place.  I've still not decided if it is going to be worth attempting the garden this summer.  We're hoping to find and move onto our own property this summer.  It would be so disappointing to plant a garden only to leave it wasted.  Yet at the same time, if we don't find our 'dream farm' this summer, I will be disappointed that I didn't plant.  I can't stand the thought of not growing my own food this summer.  I'm considering some potted plants, but nothing's growing yet except my Bleeding Hearts (which I am so happy to see survived the winter).

The girls (meaning the hens) are also confused about the weather.  We had a week about a month back of warmer weather which got them laying pretty regularly; maybe 6 dozen eggs per week.  Since the rain and cooler temps returned, their egg laying has backed off again.  Tomorrow it's supposed to be in the 60s and sunny; at least for the day.  It should do us all some good to get out and enjoy it.  It's not supposed to last for long.

Spring Chicken Activity

Spring is upon us (finally), and there's been lots of chicken activity on the farm the past few weeks.  Three weeks ago we bought our first ever Cornish-Rock crosses for meat.  They are four weeks old now and huge.  I would never have imagined how big these birds get so quickly.  So big in fact that we had to move them outside into the cage attached to the chicken coop.  They seem to be adjusting to their new living arrangements quite well and are enjoying a little more room to stretch their wings and legs.   They've even been moving around a bit more than their typical 'step-step-plop'.  Perhaps in another few days I will see if they would like out to free range with the rest of the chickens.  They sure do like to eat - and poop - and eat  - and poop some more.  It makes me wonder what those large-scale meat poultry houses must be like.  On second thought, I don't want to wonder about that.  It must be a horrible mess.

We also picked up 16 Americauna (Easter Egger) peeps this weekend.  Straight run only.  I guess this means we are going to have a few more chickens in our freezer come winter.  The first 10 peeps were found on Craigslist.  We placed them under Pearl, my white silkie hen who has been sitting on phantom eggs for about a month now.  They were already 4 days old but she too to them like they hatched beneath her fluffy little self.  She's not quite the mother that Delilah was, but she's doing her part.  The other 6 were found during a trip to Tractor Supply a few days later.  Since we aren't 100% convinced that Pearl's peeps really are all Americauna, we grabbed this half dozen just in case.  They are in the basement.  By this time next year my egg customers should happily be receiving some more greenies.  Everyone loves to see a green egg.  Including me.

31 Days of May

{Henny Penny - what a look!}

Life gets busy.  There are so many things that pull is in 100 different directions, and if we're not  careful, we can forget about the things that keep us sane and relaxed.  These things are just as important (if not more) as life's other obligations.  I wish I could homestead full time.  But alas, I cannot.  At least not yet. It is a big goal, a slow goal, a jump-in-head-first goal; all of this and more.  For now, I supplement.  And this supplement has taken quite a bit of my time lately.  However, my semester is a week away from the end, at which time I will get (almost) a whole month off!  So I am going to call this month "31 Days of May" and am dedicating myself to posting one thing each day.  It may not be big, but it will be something.   There's a lot going on 'round here lately.  And a lot more to come in the month of May.  So keep on stopping back to catch all the...err...excitement!

Meat Birds

We bought our first ever meat birds today. Eight in all. The feed store was a bustle with future poultry owners today, as everyone is getting a bit of spring fever, and who can resist all these cute little puffy balls of fluff. We've been talking about raising a few meat birds this year and when we saw the 2 for a dollar, WE couldn't resist. This is going to be a new experience. I'm not sure how I will feel come processing day, but I'm going to find out. I've mentioned before: we are omnivores moving towards a more sustainable lifestyle. I want to know where my food came from and how it was raised as much as possible. I know that these birds will be well cared for and appreciated. My goal is to do my best to make sure that they only have ONE bad day. This will take a little research on our part as we've never processed our own poultry before. I will be doing a lot of reading, watching, and talking to other fellow chicken farmers in the next 2-3 months to make sure we are prepared. In the mean time, I too will adore their cute fuzziness. It's all a part of the process.

Update On Our Sick Cochin

Our Cochin hen is doing fine. Still confined to the 'sick ward', but hopefully in the direction to a quick mend. I'm just thankful to finally wake up to a hen that is better off than she was the day before (for Fanny, it was the other way around). We armed ourselves yesterday with a little bit of knowledge and a remedy recommended from Guy the chicken guy we met at tractor supply a few weeks ago. We were told that he is one of the top chicken judges around the area and is ridiculously knowledgeable in poultry. I think I need to get to know this guy better. He diagnosed our bird with Coryza, a common infectious poultry bacterium (Avibacterium paragallinarum - sorry, I'm a microbiologist, so I have to throw that in!) that is, for the bird, the equivalent to the human cold. Apparently once the birds have it, they become carriers. You're options? Cull the whole flock and start over, inoculate the new comers, or treat them as they get sick. Since we have a small flock of chickens with which we are 'attached' to, culling is out. I'm sure that this will travel through all of the recent additions until everyone has had it, so we will treat as necessary. Perhaps in the future, I will research and try inoculating any other new additions. Fortunately those who have already had this should not have a reoccurrence, and the potential for death is low.

Treatment? Guy recommended penicillin in a pill form. We couldn't locate any penicillin safe for them yesterday, so we are using Colloidal Silver. There's not a lot of information out there about using silver in poults but it's what we found worked best in during the last outbreak. We use it for ourselves and it works wonders. If anyone has information otherwise, as always, please pass it along. The bacteria is apparently showing resistance to Terramycin and Erythromycin (this would explain why the Terramycin didn't do a lick of good the last time). He also recommended VetRx (the orange/yellow box above), which is like Vicks for chickens. It looks to be all natural with the main active ingredient being Camphor (like in Vicks). And while we were picking it up at Agway yesterday, I found The Chicken Health Handbook by Gail Damerow, which I've been looking for; I picked that up too.

So that's that! Blue Cochin is on the mend, and hopefully we can treat any other infections that pop up quickly. I'll keep you posted...

Some Days You Win, Some Days You Lose...

And the past two days, I've lost. Fanny, our only Jersey Giant finally past. Sadly, with a little help. It was a tough decision, but se was literally down to feathers, skin, and bones. It was so sad. I felt so bad watching her get worse each day. We tried hard for the past week, but it just got to be too much for her and I felt guilty watching her suffer. She was a good ole hen and will be sorely missed.

A new hen has now replaced her on the front porch sick chicken ward. One of our new Blue Cochins has come down with the same thing that our other chickens had last November: bubbley eyes (literally, bubbles coming from the eyes) and snot. Anyone have any ideas?? We searched high and low for info last year, and never really came up with a definitive answer. It went through all of our chickens. All recovered but one old hen. So we're hoping that this will pass with her too and that none of our others will come down with it again.

And if all that wasn't bad enough, I come out to the rabbit hutch yesterday morning to find a dead male bunny. They boys and girls were separated about three weeks ago. I had 3 boys and two girls. Apparently, boys of 3 months old come into their male hormones and will fight (really? 3 months?). I feel so bad. This was all my fault. Nothing that I have read, or any info that has come through other rabbit owners expressed that this would happen SO early. So, I am banking this as yet 'another' lesson learned. Next time I will be smarter. Of the two males that were left yesterday, one found a new home. Everyone else is fine. Onward...

Second sunny day in a row and the temperature has been in the 30s during the day and teens at night. Could someone please send spring? I'm not sure I'm ever going to thaw. I've been trying to get all my bunnies plucked, but I don't want to pluck them when the nights are in the teens. I spun a bit of angora last weekend (hopefully I will finish a skein this weekend), and boy is it ever nice. All I can say, if you are a spinner and want to start to raise your own fiber animals, angora rabbits are a good place to start.

A Sleepy Sheepdog and His Hippo

I really love my dog! Truthfully, he is just one of the cutest things to walk on four legs. This is him sleeping on 'his' couch with his most favorite toy: Hippo. Kenai is not one of those destructive dogs that chews and shreds his stuffed toys (thankfully). Instead, he sort of mouths them with an occasional lick or two. One of his draws to Hippo is the beans that fill his feet. My guess is that it is analogous to a a child's thumb. They both get gratification from sucking on them (or in Kenai's case, chewing). He has two other toys that run a close second and third to Hippo, and they are Kiwi and Pelican, which are both Beanie Babies. Kenai also has many other cute and useful traits: he gives me my socks when I get up in the morning (no seriously! check out the picture below)...

As a matter of fact, he picks up anything I drop. This really comes in handy when I'm knitting, sewing, or working on any other project around the house (don't worry, no needles folks); this includes handing me hangers when I'm hanging up clothes. He rings a bell in order to tell us that he needs to potty (and of course when he just wants to go outside and play); he brings you his towel after he drinks to wipe his face; slide down the sliding board at the playground (he loves that); dives off the dock like a labrador (he loves to swim!), and of course all the other basic dog commands. He's also great with the chickens and bunnies, which I'm grateful for. Occasionally, when the chickens are all in a group, he gets the fire in him to run through and scatter them (some sheepdog, huh?), but he never hurts them. I feel lucky to have a dog like him.

Fanny the sour crop hen is doing okay. Her crop finally seems to be emptying, and we've started to give her some baby food vegetables and fruits, which she happily ate. Her color is pretty poor, though. I'm hoping that it will return with some real nourishment. She must not mind her confinement to the front porch though. As soon as we set her down on the ground after flushing her crop, she waddles right for the cage door and waits for us to open it so she can return to perching on her nestbox. What a good girl! By no means are we out of the water yet, but I'm sure hoping to see her back to normal soon.

The Time Change and a Sour Crop

This time change has really been a hard one this year. I'm not sure why. Usually after the first night's sleep I've got it down, but every day I wake up, I still feel like I've lost an hour. Oh to be a chicken (or any other farm animal), not bound by these biannual constraints. They still get up at the same time and follow suit with their night time rituals. The extra hour of light (can't say 'sunlight' as we haven't seen much of that, though it IS sunny today) is nice, but I was really enjoying waking up with the dawn. Now it's dark. I realize that will change, I'm just extremely ready for spring. This winter has been holding on for so long.

On another note, one of our hens seems to have come down with some sort of sour or impacted crop. We've lost a hen to this before when we first started out. I'm hoping to save this girl. She's our only Jersey Giant and such a good hen. We did some research online to find some treatments; the information was varied. So we gave her olive oil a few times, and are now giving her saline; massaging her crop each time we treat her. She was taken off of solid food and is now eating some plain yogurt. Her crop is still full. Not as big as it was when we started but it just doesn't seem to want to empty. This concerns me. She is pooing a bit, which gives me some hope, but I'd feel better if that crop would empty. That's her pictured above.

Good Morning Chickens

Etsy Shop Reopening!

I've finally re-opened my Etsy shop! And it's about time. I've been...err...collecting finished projects. There are a bunch; I'm starting with posting some of my fiber and then moving on to some of the other handmade goods. I'll have everything from yarn to fiber projects (and carded batts coming soon!) to clothing and origami. I have too many creative outlets. Life is never dull that way. If you are a knitter and/or crocheter you will definitely want to check it out. My favorite fiber to spin is ALPACA! And if you've never worked with it...you are in for a treat! It is amazing and oh so warm!

On a different note, the farm has kept us busy. Mostly with the chickens. We've lost a couple to the hawks (which is very sad) and there seems to be some sort of upper respiratory infection going around. Most seem to be responding to the antibiotics and colloidal silver pretty well, but it's heart-wrenching (for a chicken-lover like me) to watch them suffer through the snots and sniffles. And if you know us well enough, you would know that antibiotics would be a last resort. Some might say to cull the sick ones (others, the whole flock), but THAT would be the absolute last resort. Those only mildly affected are still outside; others who are a bit worse for wear are brought into the house...a sort of chicken hospital.

Mrs. Buns tricked us with yet another false pregnancy. I'm not sure yet if I will breed her again.

On a happier note, I will hopefully have news of a NEW ADDITION to our farm family soon! So stay tuned!

Gardening, Grilling, and a Gorgeous Summer Day

(starting sunflower head)

The past couple of days have been gorgeous now that the heat wave has passed! The mornings are cooler, giving way to the mid-80s by afternoon. It's acceptable, I'll give it that. My perfect temperature is still anywhere between 60 and 75, but I'll take the mid-80s over pushing 100 any day.

The garden is coming along well. Much better than I would have ever thought. The sunflowers and corn are taller than me and already showing flower heads and silk (respectively). I'm very pleased. I have to admit, I was a bit intimidated by the thought of planting a garden this year. I remember helping my mom as a little girl in her garden, but many years went by without one. I inherited my mom's green thumb, but still have never planted my very own garden before. Sure, there's all sorts of science behind it, but it really can be as simple as popping a seed in the ground, watering it, and watching it grow. We've already reaped some of the harvest with fresh zucchini and cucumbers for dinner tonight. It might be small by comparison, but it's thriving despite the heat. Let me give you a closer tour...

(Sunflowers from outside the fence)

(Cucumbers, Zucchini, and yellow Zucchini Squash)

(overflowing tomatoes - hoping to can some)

(sweet potatoes)

(beets and other varieties of potatoes)

(cornsilk, folks!)

We also decided to move the compost pile closer to the garden for easier access and better lawn aesthetics. It was on a small hill just above the chicken coop. The chickens loved to dig through it, making a huge mess that I raked up each evening. The plot that our landlord left for our garden is slightly triangular and sloped. We used the bottom square for the garden and the top now holds our compost. I think it looks much better, and the chickens wasted no time in relocating it as well. No need to worry about their messes here.

(digging through the 'new' compost pile)

(sometimes the chickens get stuck in the garden fence)

(oh, and we finally broke down and bought a grill - that zucchini is from our garden!)