What Greets Me Each Morning

Peepies!

Aren't they cute?! First time I've been involved in raising peeps! This is so exciting, but boy are they a lot more work than I thought! They do nothing but poop! These are not all mine. I am 'peep-sitting' for a friend, but I will get to keep two of these little yellow ones. They are supposed to be the Easter-eggers (green egg layers) I so desperately want! I sure hope so. I see the kaleidoscope of of colored eggs of other blogs I read and I have (I hate to admit) "egg envy". You know you're meant to do what you're doing when you covet thy neighbors eggs! LOL

G'day all! They sun's shining; get out and enjoy it!

Living Off the Grid

A Very Eventful Week(end)!

So much has happened or been accomplished over the past week and weekend it's hard to know where to start! I'll try the 'beginning' with all my little captions:

A NEW BAG

I absolutely love to sew! And I love the fact that I always have so many projects going at once. Sure, sure, it can get hectic, especially when it seems like I never get one project accomplished before I am starting the next. But on those occasions when I do actually finish what I set out to do...well it's just pure bliss! Above is one of my creations from this past week. I found this Debbie Mumm fabric on sale a few weeks ago and couldn't pass it up. The pattern was actually for a simple bag (which would consist of only the outside layer that can be seen. I thought it was far to beautiful for that so I added the inside fabric and quilted them together with bamboo/cotton batting. I threw this together pretty much in one evening. Other than a few minor problems (one of the straps got sewn on twisted...you'd never know) it turned out fabulous! I have some more of the same panels to make a couple more. Simple, fun, and very colorful! I have collected a bunch more of her fabric since I first bought this and I'm hoping to make an Earth Day themed dress before the event next month!

THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS

Some friends of my husband's (I've yet to meet them) sent me some amazing huacaya alpaca fiber (the brown fiber) to spin! I love how God puts such thoughtful people into our paths. I was blown away to think that someone I've never met would send me a gift. You better believe I had that spun as soon as I could get my paws on it. What a dream it was to spin! I'm going to ply it with some Suri alpaca fiber a bought a couple months ago. Oh, and that wasn't the only fiber I received! Another alpaca owner sent me (via my husband) some her her alpaca fiber to card and spin (the white fiber)! Talk about fiber overload! Guess its time to be looking for an affordable drum carder. I still have a whole Lincoln sheep fleece and some llama fiber to wash and card (these were also given to me). My most sincerest thanks go out to all of those people who help make my dreams a reality. What more can I say, I'm blessed!

COW IN THE BACKYARD

We got home late on Friday night. It was dark by the time we pulled up to the house. It had been another gorgeous day! I went about the nightly chores of covering up the buns and closing the coop when low and behold I came face to face with a cow in my backyard! If I haven't already told you, we live on a diary farm; not our cows, our landlord's. I suppose this isn't the strangest thing I've encountered before, but she sure did make my heart jump. We chased her through the fields and back through the yard before we finally got her corralled back into the pasture with the rest of her lot. Oh the adventures of farm life! I absolutely love it!!

CHICKS

This week I will be chick-sitting for a friend. I'm really excited because some of those chicks will find a new home on my farm! And these aren't just any old chicks...two are supposed to lay chocolate-colored eggs and two are supposed to lay green eggs (called Easter Eggers)! I got to see them only a couple days out of the egg and already they were peeping up a storm and waddling all over their cage. Amazing! And the funniest thing is they all seem to have these narcoleptic moments where they just lay down and fall asleep. It's a hard knock life being a chick, I guess. They'll be coming to stay on Tuesday, so stay tuned: more to come!

G'night!

A Pluckin'

Mr. Buns got his first hair pluckin' today. As you can see, there wasn't much left of him. He looks a little pathetic after this event, but it just made me want to cuddle him all the more. I made him a yellow fleece coat to wear to get him through the colder March nights.

You can't deny that he's pretty cute. I've checked on him tonight more times than I'll admit. This was my first time collecting the angora, and I'd be lying if I told you I didn't feel bad. I gave him some extra fleece to lay on, a piece of an old blanket, and a towel wrapped around the edges. The coat covers his core, but that poor bare butt is hanging right out. I tried to convince my husband that we should just bring him to bed with us, but apparently I wasn't very convincing . Alas, Mr. Buns remains in his hutch. We did however install 'windows' so that Mr. Buns could see Mrs. Buns. I think they do better when they can see each other. Once the weather stays a bit warmer, I will attempt to breed them again. I can't wait to have a bunch of Little Buns hopping around the farm.

New Addition

Today started as a pretty typical day: Sleep in till 8:30; farm paths shoveled, coop cleaned, chickens and rabbits fed by 9:30; breakfast by 10am. By 10:30 we were headed off to a local Reptile Show in a neighboring town. My husband used to be big into the reptile scene and with all the support he gives me towards my farm dreams, I wanted to support his too! Not to mention, I've owned a few of my own. Boy were we in for a surprise!

I wasn't sure what to expect. I had imagined grandeur. He had described some of the events that he had been to before. As we drove to the location, a thought crossed my mined, "Hmm, small town...this could end up being a few breeders with a few dozen or so animals." It ended up being somewhere in between. I was actually quite impressed. There were a couple dozen breeders and a few hundred animals (or more, I'm guessing). We saw all sorts of different species of snakes, bearded dragons, tegus, even some tarantulas. We got to hold a couple of snakes that I found rather appealing, wondering if we would go home with one (not that we had gone to come home with anything....it was just an outing). Then I found the chameleons! I have always wanted a chameleon with their oven mit hands and googley eyes. They are really fascinating creatures. When my husband saw my eyes light up I think he decided then and there that he would get me one. He's good to me. And as you can see above, there he is! Cute little feller, isn't he? I know, I know...he's not a fiber animal, and I'm not quite sure how he fits into the 'farm', but he helps to satisfy that mothering instinct I have. It took a little trickery to get that shot. Although he seems pretty friendly, he is convinced that the camera will eat him and hisses at it like a cat! Now he just needs a name.

Mornings Like These

It's mornings like these that I live for. Our little farm sits perfectly up on top of a hill, providing us with the most gorgeous sun and moon rises and sets. As soon as walked out of the front door with a bucket of fresh water for the chickens I was met with the magenta sunrise just barely peeping over the horizon. I dropped the bucket and scrambled back into the house to grab my camera, then proceeded to snap about a dozen pictures of the sunrise at various stages of it's rebirth that morning. I felt blessed to capture such an intimate moment with mother nature.

These past few weeks have been quite busy. We've had snow.....snow.....and more snow! I'm beginning to wonder if it is ever going to end. I'm told this much snow is atypical for this area. So much for global warming. We have FEET of it. I even had an entire week off of work due to the state of emergency we were under. Today I bought myself two pots of bulb flowers: tulips and hyacinths. They should bloom within the next week I suspect. I placed them on one of my windowsills in attempt to scare off old man winter. I'll let you know if it works! Yes, I'm feeling desperate! I dream of lush gardens of flowers and vegetables, of spring chicks and bunnies. I can't wait to get into the dirt! Oh, and speaking of Mrs. Bun Bun, it appears that she was not pregnant after all. Her due date would have been this past Tuesday.....no babies came. No worries though. I'll breed her again once the weather breaks and I don't have to worry about bringing her inside to give birth. For now I'll just enjoy the amazing fiber they both give me. They're due for a pluckin'.