Tomorrow is day 31 for Macy, our tort Mini Rex. She's a first time doe so we're hoping for the best!

Merry Christmas

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! 

Just took our little house guests out to their momma and she jumped right in to feed them. The Opal litter is nice and toasty. I worried about them all night! Glad to see them this morning.

It's supposed to be -20 degrees tonight. Good night to bring in our little ones for the night. Ice has a wonderful, warm nest and she stays with her babies, so I'm leaving them in the rabbitry. Shea's nest didn't feel as warm to me, so they're spending the night in the house.

Went out earlier to do the chores. At least the sleet that we had on top of the ice actually made walking a little less tricky. Let's see what happens when we get the snow on top of the mix.

Just went out for final critter check for tonight. Man, that ice is thick! Very tricky getting around out there.

Woke up to ice covering everything this morning. Not thrilled with that! We are in a winter storm warning until tomorrow night at 6 pm. Chores are done for now. Bunny checks later on.

The newest litters are doing well today.

Babies in the nest boxes today. WOO HOO!!! One litter of Champagnes and one litter of Mini Rex.Yeah!

The mini rex are from Ice (broken Opal) and Turbo (blue). There's two solids and two brokens:)

At the afternoon critter check, I saw Ice (Opal Mini Rex) gathering hay for her nest. What an awesome sight!

Shea (Champagne) is acting like she wants to dig to China in her box. First time doe so we'll see how she does.

Unfortunately, I think Flipper (Champagne) missed this time. She was due yesterday. I'll still give her a few more days just in case. She's a first timer too.

We grew Soldier Beans in the garden this year. We finally just ate some of them tonight. They're pretty good, so we'll probably grow more next year.

We finally got caught up on some of the rabbit stuff around here. We picked out several grow outs, then butchered eight, got some moved around to different pens and got the computer program updated.

Finally got dug out of the 9.5 inches of snow. At least we can get around to the barn and rabbitry.

I'll be staying inside today except for critter checks and watering. Minus 0 is not really worth being outside for. These horribly cold days, I think of our youngest son, David, who climbs towers in this mess. Stay safe and we love you Davy!

The weather outside is frightful...........SOOO cold!

I would like to see the 30 degree days back again. What an awesome time to be expecting new litters....Here's hoping.

Got some much needed breeding done today. It's about time! Champagnes and Rex hopefully on the way.

Such a beautiful weekend. We got a lot done outside in the yard and the rabbitry. Enjoyed walking the farm and deciding on some needed changes for next year.

Unfortunately, we're having a lot of misses in the rabbitry. Bad time of the year to have babies. IF the doe breeds at all, they seem to not get pregnant. I know this is very common during the winter. Oh well. Another day at Changing Winds. We'll keep trying.

Just got the new Mini Rex torts bred. New litter due December 27!

Brought home our new additions to the Mini Rex herd yesterday. We now have torts! Welcome home Kyle's Warrior and Kyle's Stacy (Macy). I know you will give us some awesome babies in the future!

Checked Violet's new litter and it looks like we have 3 brokens, possibly one solid and the rest are OTTERS!! Love those otters!!

McCabe's Glory was added to the Mini Rex herd today. She is a beautiful Broken Blue Otter and will be a great match to Turbo, our Blue buck.

Went to the Peoria show today and brought home some wins. Changing Winds Casper won Best of Variety AND Best Opposite Sex! Woo Hoo!! So excited!

We have nest boxes going in today and tomorrow. WOO HOO!!

Got one of the new Cal does bred last night. Californians on the way:)

Got one of the new Opal Mini Rex does bred to Turbo, our Blue.

Brought home a trio of Californians yesterday along with three new Opals Mini Rex does. Very excited about the new additions. A long 350 mile round trip but well worth it.

     As some of you know, a few years ago, I lost my job due to "downsizing" of the company I worked for. I had been there almost five years, was a manager of one of the stores, and was third in line of seniority in the whole company. Needless to say, that it was a huge shock to us and quite the adjustment. We, like so many others these days, had to make a lot of changes.
     We are not die hard preppers by any means. We do what we can. We raise and grow as much as we can each year and add to it the following year. We learn new skills. When we make any kind of purchase, we make sure that we both agree to it and it is a needed purchase that will be worth the money and will benefit this farm and to help us to maintain it.
     I was let go at the end of August, so the garden growing didn't start until the following year. We started our own seedlings, guessing on how much we would need. Usually in the past, we would have a garden, but just some tomato and green pepper plants that we would buy and throw in the garden. If they grew, great. If not, oh well. This time, things were more serious. We worked the ground, tended the garden and weeded it like our lives depended on it--because it did! We now grow more each year, can everything possible, work the ground, and plan for the next year to be even bigger.
     We've always been animal people. We've had chickens, ducks, turkeys, horses, goats, dogs, rabbits and even a pig or two. We've learned over the years how to take of them, from daily chores to tending wounds, illnesses and even birthing. There were always a few types of  animals that ended up back on the farm, rabbits being one of them. Rabbits are an inexpensive animal to keep, reaches processing weight faster, and takes little time or effort to raise. They are quiet, don't smell and are still great to talk to. They have their own personalities, like other animals. Some are grumpy, some are funny, some could care less if you are there or not. Some are very loving and want your attention as soon as they see you. If they could wag their tail, they would. Rabbits are awesome!
     Over the years, we've been brought back to reality. No spending the money that we have stupidly, everything fits the "big picture", everything fits in to what we want to see here on this farm. To us, losing the job I had, made us realize how much we wanted to make changes, we just hadn't done it. We were going through the motions of everyday living and the stress involved in trying to keep up with everything, at home and at work. Now, we enjoy LIFE. We want QUALITY of life. To us, making some very needed changes in our lives has given us so much more that money could ever buy.
   

Peoria Show is NEXT WEEKEND!!! I'm getting excited but also nervous since we haven't done one for so long. We've been to a few shows to check them out, but to actually show at one, the boys were still in school. Long time ago!

Another dreary rainy day, UGH!

We got the rabbitry cleaned out today. LOTS of new black gold put out in the garden. It was nice to have our four year old little helper today too. Our grandson, Camden, is such a hard worker. He thought it was loads of fun to take the poop to the garden in his little wheel barrow. He's such a good kid:)

Twenty-three less mouths to feed in the rabbitry today. Looks like I will be canning for the next few days:)

I'm getting real tired of all this rain! I went out to get some rabbits to breed and they just sat there and looked at me like, "Are you freakin' kiddin'?"  Guess these raining days affect us all. Maybe if we get a few sunny days, I can get the breedings all caught up.

We have decided to build on to the rabbitry in the very near future. Eventually, we will have room for another sixteen working does.

We are also looking for a trio of Californian rabbits. Dewayne has really been wanting these for a long time.We know where we can get a pair, so we'll see how it all turns out.

I missed canning so I cleaned out some tomatoes I had put in the freezer. Actually, I need to clean out the freezer any way since it is so full (zucchini, corn, rabbit, tomatoes, berries, etc) This batch of tomatoes I got 3 quarts of juice. I have a big box still to process, but will have to be another day.

We have four healthy new mini rex babies. There is one solid black and 3 broken blacks.

We have a new litter of Cremes that should be kindled today. Popcorn was pulling hair this morning. She's a wonderful mother so we'll see how many she has this time.

We had a wonderful, relaxing weekend. Had the grandbabies on Saturday for awhile. We spent some time out in the cabin cooking soup on the wood stove.  Today or tomorrow, I will be canning the rest of the soup. We picked a few more tomatoes that I need to can also. Guess it's time to get this week started.

We like to reuse things around here. We use the canning lids only once when canning. We reuse the lids though to put on the rabbit cages with their ear number, call name and DOB. We spray paint them white and then use a sharpie to write with.
We also used the lids to mark the different varieties of tomato plants. Works great!

I have saved enough marigold and calendula seeds to plant about an acre of each next year. Well, maybe not an acre, but there will be lots to plant and harvest.

We saved the last batch of our best green beans to harvest them for seeds. Don't know if that's the way your supposed to do them or not, but it's worth a try.

Just a quick list of items canned, frozen or dried from the farm this year:
Tomatoes (juice, whole and ketchup), green beans, pickles, black raspberry jelly, grape syrup, rabbit, lemon grass, rosemary, lemon verbena, Greek oregano, summer sage, thyme, lavender, hyssop, Calendula, chocolate mint, spearmint, peppermint, chives, onions, garlic, zucchini, sauerkraut, soldier beans and basil.

We grew potatoes but they are all gone already, They were very tasty:)

If I think of more, I'll be sure to add them. We are very happy with our work this year and know what needs to be added to for next year. (like LOTS more potatoes, lol)

Canned seven more quarts of tomato juice yesterday. I realized that I have missed the canning. I guess its about time to drag out all the berries we picked this summer and get at that jelly making.

This morning while I was making tomato juice, I had some visitors. It was our daughter-in-law and grandkids.
Of course, Camden, being four years old, has to always see what we are doing. After about twenty questions, firing one after the other with hardly a breath between, he slid the chair over to "help".  He was really excited and had to show me his muscles and tell me how strong he is so he could help crank the food mill. So cute. He really was a big help, until Spongebob came on.....then I lost him!

Woke up this morning to an awesome litter of 8 from Iris (Creme d'Argent). This is a crossbreed with our Champagne d'Argent buck, Champ. This litter is for meat only, none will be sold for any reason. Actually, in our experience, we have had an awesome meat rabbit come from the crossbreeds. The ones we have done with the Cremes and the Rex seem to grow to butchering size faster than the purebreds. Can't wait to see how these guys do.

We got our first litter of Champagnes yesterday. Although she lost two right away, she still has four. Not a great number, but she is taking good care of them, so we'll see.

Another box goes in for the first litter of Champagne/Creme cross. Once in awhile, we do crossbreed our rabbits. However, they are for meat only, none will be sold or kept for brood stock. We don't do it on a regular basis, but if the buck for that breed isn't up to doing his job or the doe doesn't like him, we will use another buck.

We happily brought home two new additions today.

We have a blue Mini Rex jr doe we've named KJ, from Jerry Hicks. She has Cresthill, Compart and Redelman in her pedigree. She's very pretty:)

We also brought home Kaycee, a Rex Broken Castor jr doe, that we got from Justin Vincent at Walnut Lane Rabbitry. Kaycee is actually a granddaughter to our Mocha that has Double R, and Two Rivers in her background. Yeah!

New litter born to Ivy and Scooter. Looks like 1 otter, 2 solids and 4 broken.

We're very excited about our new purchase yesterday. We brought home a blue Mini Rex buck. We've named him Turbo:) He has an awesome pedigree with a lot of Grand Champions in his background. One great grandparent even had 17 Grand Champion legs, WOW! Lots of show critters and well known names from the show circuit. Very excited to have already bred him to one of our black and white does (with nice pedigree of her own). We should be getting some blues with this litter.

We've been busy in the rabbitry lately. We're working with potentials for an upcoming show (if we go, haven't decided yet for sure) We have a trio of Cremes for a meat pen and we have Casper, our Castor rex, for jr buck.

We have several  litters. Currently, we have
REX: Violet and Mocha with new litters just born in the last few days, Nibbles with 4 week old litter, and Ivy's box goes in tomorrow.
Cremes: Popcorn with 4 week old litter
Dutch: Ginger just had litter the other day and Lily with 3 week old litter

We have 3 boxes in for the mini rex, although I would be surprised if we get anything.

We also have several other does that are bred but are a ways out from kindling.  Everyone is doing a great job, looks good and they are all healthy. Can't ask for more than that.

Hopefully, we're past the heat for a while. Maybe tomorrow I can get something else done instead of running back and forth to the rabbitry all afternoon.

Not real thrilled with the ketchup I made today. I think as I open them, I will add some brown sugar to it. I think it is too vinegary. I like my ketchup a little sweeter. Not a complete waste of time though.

Making some ketchup this morning. Trying to get it done before the heat of the day really kicks in.

I check rabbits about every hour during the hottest part of the day. If I think somebody needs to be brought into the house to cool down, they WILL be keeping me company:)

I have a facebook page as well as this blog. It's under Changing Winds Farm. Hope you like our page!

Seven more quarts of tomatoes are in the canner.

Puddles, the new baby goat is settling in. Mudd, our older goat, is showing her around and being her big brother.

Here's the new addition: Puddles.

Ended up with twenty-five quarts of green beans today. Not too shabby:)

We will be adding a new addition to our critter family this weekend. We are going to get another goat. She's a young doeling that was born in May. We are trying to think about some neat names for her. Haven't thought of anything yet. We may have to meet her first to really figure out what would suit her. I think next year, we will find her a boyfriend so I can start milking again.

This heat is getting worse! I have to check the animals every hour through the hottest part of the day to make sure nobody's overheating. Running in and out of the air conditioning gives me a migraine, so that's annoying! Put this on top of the green bean canning I have going on all day, I'm getting a bit stressed out. I'll be so glad when this heat breaks.

I picked an entire bushel of green beans yesterday. It took about two hours to just get them picked, another two hours to snap them all and today is the canning. I have seven quarts done, seven more in the canner now and I have no idea how many more by the end of the day. That's not too shabby! Lots of green beans for the winter.

Harvested some this morning. I got some lavender, rosemary, lemon verbena, lemongrass, calendula, and rose petals. Now to do something with it all.

Calendula

Rosemary

Lavender

Rose Petals (these will be added to potpourri)

Lemongrass (top) and Lemon Verbena

I like to harvest herbs a little at a time since I dry them all in different ways. 

Fourteen quarts of green beans done today. Tomorrow, fourteen quarts of rabbit.

 I put several gallons of tomatoes in the freezer, because I know I won't get to them in the next few days. I glanced at the tomatoes in the garden this morning when I picked green beans (for about an hour and a half!), and I wanted to cry. There's so many, I didn't look to hard! I guess when I get the rabbit all done tomorrow, I'll go pick some tomatoes and get at them next, before there's more green beans ready at the end of the week.

 I like the canning but sometimes it's a little overwhelming trying to keep up with that, chores, and household/ every-day stuff. That's ok. It's also a visual at the end of the day to actually see what I accomplished. And I know everything will be worth it this winter:)

I got eight quarts of grape syrup done and canned this morning.

We also have two new litters of bunnies this morning. Will count in a bit, just letting mommas settle in.

I went out to harvest this morning. An hour and half later, I had harvested about 1/3 bushel of grapes (jelly making time!), lemon verbena, lemongrass, green beans, cucumbers, tomatoes and calendula. Now I just need to get everything taken care of. So much for cleaning the house or getting anything else done today!

The tomatoes need to be added to what I already have in the house. More canned tomatoes coming up!

I will be going back out to harvest more lemon verbena and lemongrass. The calendula is backing off for the year but I should still get a few more flowers before it's done.

Six quarts of green beans and seven of tomatoes done:)

Spent about all day today cleaning the rabbitry. Cages, feeders, scooping black gold for the garden, and getting the new Mini Rex settled into their new homes. Names for the new members: Star, Waffles, Phebee and Zorro.

Finally decided on the new Champagne names too: Shea, Flipper and Moxie.

Shouldn't have to be coming up with any names for a long time, thankfully!

I'm having a day "off" today. By that, I mean no canning today. I feel kind of weird about it though. Like I'm lost and don't know what else to do. Guess housework is next, yuck!

Got the walls painted on the new addition of the rabbit shed today. Lots more to do, but it's a start!

August 8, 2013

The shelves so far.There will be two more on top. Then another whole section beside this one.

Canned seven more quarts of rabbit this morning, along with four quarts of tomatoes. This afternoon, I will be canning some pork loin that I bought the other day.

This is why we're building new shelves for the canned food:)

I think it's long overdue!

I made a trip to our rabbit guy on Saturday to pick up our new Champagne does. We've known we would be getting them in August, we've been waiting all summer. I went to get three does and ended up bringing home four:) Our fourth is a beautiful Blue-Otter Rex. She has been named Violet. We're very excited to have all of our girls home, finally!

Lots of good things happening around here lately. Our oldest son, Daryle, is starting a new job, It is a wonderful opportunity for him and his family. We wish them all the best and are very happy for them.

Things are also looking up for our youngest son, David. We'll keep our fingers crossed that everything works out for him as well.

We heard from our rabbit guy yesterday. His kids show rabbits at their local fair.Anyway, our Rex buck, Scooter, has a full sister that won best in show. They were told by the judge that he could find no fault in her and she should be on the show circuit. We knew we had purchased awesome stock from him, but that's really cool to know!

Our new rabbit cages are here. We ordered them last week in hopes of getting them put together and hung up before we get the new ladies tomorrow. They may have to bunk together for awhile until we get a little extra time. They'll be fine:)

Seven quarts of tomatoes are in the canner.

I went to get the lumber for my soon-to-be shelves that Dewayne is building downstairs for the canned food. I am running out of room in the kitchen. Hopefully, I will have shelves and be a little more organized in the kitchen.

The sauerkraut recipe that I have calls for the kraut to ferment for six weeks, but is edible at two weeks. Dewayne tried a bite and said it wasn't bad, but does need to go longer. Now we at least know that we can do up the rest of the cabbage we harvested tonight (something has been eating it!)

We're going to try some of the sauerkraut that I started a few weeks ago. I hope it isn't disgusting.

It's been a slow week around here for some things and busy with others. The "normal" things like canning is slow, I only did six quarts of tomatoes yesterday. The green beans are slowing down and almost done in one section of the garden and  just starting in the other, so there's a little gap of time for me to do something else. The tomatoes are coming on nicely, but we want to eat them as we pick them. Until we get our fill, there may not be to many going in the canner:)

We also have a gap in rabbit butchering. We plan to do a litter on Sunday though. I will have them to can next week along with green beans and tomatoes. I actually should work on some soup, I guess. I could make and can that. OR, I could just enjoy the "time off".

We're having such a beautiful weekend, weather-wise. We had the kids over yesterday and we cooked a huge pot of soup over the fire. The soup was potatoes, green beans, tomatoes, onion, rosemary, thyme, all from the garden with a lot of rabbit meat thrown in:) Added some carrots and celery (store bought unfortunately). It was very good!

It was a wonderful weekend. This weather makes me want to go camping.

We are on the search for a Nubian doe goat. I really miss the goats! I even miss milking and taking care of the milk. I think we will do things a little different this time we have a milker. She can raise her babies, but when I need to milk, I'll just separate them overnight and milk her in the morning. That way we don't end up with too much milk and I won't have to bottle feed as much. I don't know at this point if that will work or not, it will depend on the doe. I just want a little fresh milk for the fridge and a little for making soap. Hopefully, she will cooperate, or we'll have to figure out something else. Need to find her first! Wish us luck.

We have some more rabbit cages coming soon. We will be getting three more does next weekend. For sure, there will be two Champagnes, maybe three. We'll see what happens and what he has available.

I currently am taking a break. Busy morning so far. I have 6 quarts of rabbit in the pressure canner and 3 quarts of tomatoes in the water bath canner. I haven't even done chores yet, which I am quite sure the rabbits are NOT happy about! As soon as the canners are done, I'll get right to that.

We are in the process of making plans to build some shelves downstairs in the laundry room for the canned food. It will be basically floor to ceiling shelves that go from one doorway to the other. Should hold lots of jars:) I have run out of room upstairs for the food. I guess that's really good though. Shows there's lots of food!

The tomatoes are coming on nicely. The Porters are producing nice fruit, as well as the Big Reds. First impressions of the Porters with canning them, they are nice little tomatoes to work with. They work up quickly and stay together instead of turning to mush like the Big Reds.(by the time the skins split on the Big Reds, they've cooked a little more than I would like them to)

The other day, I bought some chicken quarters and got them canned. They look good, except that you can still see some fat deposits in the jar. Comparing to the rabbit jars that have NO fat deposits, I am a little disappointed. I know I cut the fat off, it just seemed to make some of it's own anyway. I don't like to see fat!

If a real live person is reading and enjoying this blog, please feel free to comment. It would be nice to know who I'm talking too. Thanks!

Did a little work in the garden today. We also made tags for the tomatoes out of used canning lids. Since we have so many varieties, it will be so much easier.

Tomato time is here! Picked some cherry tomatoes, along with a few each of our Campbells, Porters and First Pick. Yummy!

Got another cabbage this morning along with another mess of green beans and about a dozen cucumbers.

I was very excited this morning to see the tomatoes. I SAW RED!! We will be picking tonight! I held back and waited for Dewayne to help pick the first glorious red fruit that we will both greatly enjoy.

Now I need to get in gear and finish the laundry and get back to cleaning. Bummer, I'd rather be canning:)

I have noticed lately how cool it is to go to Macomb to get groceries and not need much. With the rabbits and garden,, there's very little I have to actually go and buy. I'm still stocking up on canning jars. I know I'll be needing them more and more as the tomatoes start. We have been canning the rabbit in the wide mouth quart jars. We don't have to cut them up as much and they fit nicely (without the rib section. They will be cooked for more soups)

Okay, so I didn't get as much done on Tuesday as I had planned. Turns out I got to babysit a sweet little baby girl instead:) Mommy had to take Camden to the doctor for a VERY swollen ear. Poor kid, it looked so painful. We think he had spider bites on his ear and a couple on his neck. He's fine now.

Wednesday is when I canned the rabbit and started the sauerkraut.

 I am "taking the day off" today since it is our anniversary:) Twenty-six years today. Can't wait for another 26+!

Tomorrow I plan to harvest again. Probably beans and more cucumbers for pickles. We went out back last night and picked a couple of gallons of berries. This weekend we plan to get more. Some day soon will be a major jelly makin' day! Tomatoes are just about there. We're watching a couple that just make you want to drool at the sight of them. Today or tomorrow? Can't wait!

Due to the heat all week, I have to check critters more often. I have been misting the rabbit shed about every hour or so. The huge fan helps but the misting brings down the temperature for a little while. They have been handling things nicely. NOTE: To cool a rabbit quickly, take a wet washcloth and drape over their ears, or get your hands wet and rub the ears, being careful not to drip water down into the ears. I also have taken a mister bottle to them before. Cool their ears and it will cool them. If they look wet around their mouth and they are breathing very rapidly, get busy quick!

Harvested this morning, watered, chores done. Now it's time to get started on the day. On the agenda: start sauerkraut, can more beans, make mulberry and black raspberry jellies, maybe even get some more pickles made. I'll see what happens and how much I actually get done. Wish me luck!

After an amazing supper last night, we had company. My dad and stepmom came over to visit and we had a nice chat and a nice walk around the property. Different evening for a change, no work!

Five quarts of green beans canned,  baking powder biscuits and zucchini bars baked, kitchen organized better (had no place to put all the canning jars and canned items).

 Will be having shredded rabbit on the baking powder biscuits, chilled tomatoes and cucumbers, steamed green beans and mashed potatoes (all from the garden) with rabbit gravy (made from the juice of the canned rabbit, very concentrated rabbit yummyness). .Zucchini bars for desert. This is truly a 'homemade" supper:)

A few of the harvests so far.

Cabbage, zucchini, cucumbers, green beans and calendula flowers. 

A quick pass through the garden tonight.

The harvest on Saturday morning.

The tomatoes are getting closer to being ready. 

We have done several quarts of beans (15 so far) and will have several more:)

Zucchini and cucumbers are doing nicely. Got seven packages of zucchini grated and put in the freezer so far and seven quarts and four pints of bread and butter pickles.

We had such a beautiful day today. All of the kids were here. We all went out as a family to pick berries and had a great time reminiscing about the years past. We really got a lot of berries, a lot in the bucket and a lot in the bellies:)

Dewayne grated up seven packages of zucchini for the freezer today too. Tomorrow I plan to make jelly, can green beans I picked yesterday and see what else I can come up with.

Got seven quarts and four pints of bread and butter pickles done. Woo hoo!

It's been busy around here lately. We have seven more rabbits canned, the first three quarts of green beans, tomatoes are starting to turn their beautiful colors, and cucumbers and zucchini are going completely crazy.

Besides trying to keep up with the normal stuff and the start of canning, we were blessed with a beautiful baby girl to our family. Our granddaughter, Cadence Jolene was born 7/5/13. She is welcomed home by her big brother Camden. We went to see them at home yesterday and Camden came running out to tell us, " I have a baby sister in the house. She's not in mommy's belly anymore!" He was so cute and so excited! Love those grandbabies!!

I just took a quick look at this blog and realized that I don't even have updated pictures of the gardens. Hum. Maybe I need to remedy that?!?

Canning again today. I have five quarts of rabbit in the pressure canner. This afternoon I plan to can some rabbit soup:)

Another load of laundry up. Harvested rosemary and lavender.

Now I have a huge pot of rabbit ribs cooking for soup and broth. I plan to can both. This batch I added green onion, rosemary, salt, pepper, carrots, celery and thyme.

On a role today! Around the patio is mowed, chores done, two loads of laundry done and on the line, and harvested basil (filled the dehydrator), calendula and chocolate mint.....and it's only 8 am:)  Gonna be a good day!

The last few weeks have been busy. Finished the rabbitry addition and have everyone settled in their new homes, just need to paint the outside.

We have our first litter (this go-around) in the fridge.

Another box went in for another expected litter with more boxes to go in throughout this week.

I will hopefully be getting some pictures of the Dutch litter this week to get them posted for sale. They are 6 weeks old now. They won't be let go to their new homes until they are 8 weeks.

The garden is doing nice. We've been eating some cucumbers. Lots of green tomatoes coming on.

We are waiting for the arrival of our newest family member. Her actual due date is July 7th, so we'll see when she decides to come meet her family. We know she will be a little beauty and look like her big brother...........Cadence Jolene, our new granddaughter:) This grandma is getting very anxious for her to make her appearance!

Woke up to a new litter this morning. Rex/creme mix. Haven't checked them yet, will in a bit.

Bunny count as of today....45! Another litter is expected on Sunday. Although 8 will be at freezer camp shortly, everyone is doing wonderful:)

I'm really liking the new pressure canner. I did a few pints of carrots and a few of pork today. Unfortunately, I ran out of things to can. Maybe I'll come up with something tomorrow. I think I'm becoming an addict:)

Made more jelly today, 6 orange and 8 apple. Yoummy!

We have 9 new rex babies this morning. First time doe Nibbles did a wonderful job.

Beautiful day for a little poop scoopin! Rabbit shed is cleaned out and the compost piles just got a LOT bigger:)

It truly is a wonderful sound to hear those little "pops" of the jars sealing when you can. All that work and you did everything right!

We canned 5 quarts of potatoes today. Success!! The new pressure canner is wonderful.

More rain. UGH!
Made some strawberry jelly though. At least that's more for the food cabinet, since I can't get a chance to get to the gardens.

I am currently working on our hay supply for the rabbits. I have a very complicated system. I cut down hand fulls of tall grass and throw it on a sheet and my fancy drying rack. Don't be jealous when you see my fancy setup!

This was the first batch after a day of drying.

Yep, cattle panel on blocks of wood. 

Fancy, huh?

I tie it up in a bundle and put it in the cabin overnight then put the bundle out for an extra day to continue drying.

This was the day I cut this batch. I got a little carried away with the cutting. I don't like to get too much at once so everything has plenty of room to dry.

When everything is completely dry, I stuff all of it in a burlap bag, tie it up and hang it in the potting shed. 

I haven't had the laptop for awhile so haven't added new pictures. These are all a few weeks old but I decided to add them anyway.

These are Pickles litter: pure creme.

Popcorn's litter: pure creme.

These are Mocha's litter: rex/creme cross.

Iris's litter: pure cremes.

Mocha's

My first litter of Dutch babies:) Ginger had 8! 

We actually had BEEF over the weekend. First time in months. It was pretty good, especially with the homegrown lettuce,  and homemade pickles. Now I just need to get busy on that homemade ketchup:)

We're battling the floods again. All this water is getting tiring! In a few months we'll probably be begging for some rain, but now we just want a break from it!

We started another rain barrel. We'll probably need it.

Rainy day today so I made some blueberry syrup and some black raspberry jelly. Yummy!!

I harvested some thyme, basil and Greek oregano today. The thyme I put in the freezer, the others I put in the dehydrator.

I sowed more annual rye out in the compost lot today. What's there is growing nicely, but some of it got washed away when we had heavy rains. I guess it wasn't really washed away as much as it was washed into a few big areas instead of spread out like it was supposed to be. I went around to try to fill in the holes.

I also cut our first hay. I took a sheet out, cut the tall grass by hand fulls and threw it on the sheet to dry. I will do the same thing, hopefully, every day for awhile to get our supply started. It was some work, but will be worth it!

I took a good look at the litter of Dutch this morning. It appears that we have 5 black and 3 of something else, chocolate maybe? Not real sure on the Dutch colors yet since they are new to me and the first litter. I guess I'll learn as I go:)

We had a good day yesterday with Daryle, Tina and poor little Camden who didn't feel real good. We went to a few antique shops and a nursery where I got a few nice plants. We got them all planted today. We got some lemon verbena, chocolate mint, and a few replacement cucumber plants.

After spending a few days in the hospital, Dewayne is doing well again.

Happy Mother's Day to everyone out there. Hope you have a wonderful day. I will!!

We are hoping to add on to the rabbitry soon. We will double the size of what it is now. It won't be full of breeding stock for a while though. We want to put in a few pens and use everything to see what we may need different. We will move the Champagnes in the new part for sure but don't now if we will have fattening pens or what we'll do. Will decide as we go.

Another box went in today. Now it's Ivy's turn with Ginger's box going in Tuesday. Pretty sure Ivy is pregnant, but not sure about Ginger. We'll see. We still have 31 babies in the rabbitry. All are doing well and growing nicely, with awesome mommas.

We covered all the plants last night, just in case it actually did frost and will do so tonight as well. I'd rather be safe! To much work to not take time now to be assured the plants are not damaged.

Tonight is supposed to be a chance of frost. WHAT!! We just got the plants in the ground. Oh well, you have to roll with the punches right? ( and there seems to be quite a few from Mother Nature lately!) Now to figure out how to cover everything. Hmmmm.

Went out to do night check on critters and stood watching three deer on the back part of our property. I stood watching them as they were watching me. Beautiful:)

On the morning critter check this morning, all are doing wonderful. We are at 31 in the nest boxes. We are very excited! All does are doing an awesome job and babies are fat and healthy. We have four more does that are bred and do within the next few weeks. Next month around Father's Day will be the day of freezer camp for the oldest younguns.

Dewayne made a new arbor for the front fence that separates the front yard from the rest.  We also got the rest of the garden planted, sunflowers and gourds planted and several different flowers. Whew! Busy day, but it's finally done! Now it can rain:)

Cucumbers, zucchini, tomatoes and bush beans are in the garden:) Only 18 tomatoes! We are trying several kinds of heirlooms this year to see what we like.

Today's planting so far is hyssop, summer savory, more cherry tomatoes, more banana peppers, and pink dianthus. Unfortunately, the cherry tomatoes are store bought. UGH! I only had one that made it past the birds.Everything was started from seed. Very rewarding planting your little seedlings in the ground after months of care and attention:)

The cabbage, broccoli and basil are in the garden! The plants looked great going in, hope they continue to thrive:) These are all from seeds we started.

Several weeks ago, I noticed I needed to do something with my worm bin. It didn't look quite right. Well, I forgot about it again soon after. Whoops! Now, today, I finally got around to doing something with it. Needless to say, there are a lot less worms that what I had weeks ago. The good news is, there are some worms left and they should be happy now. Time will tell. Hopefully we'll get back to where we were before my memory lapse. If it's not something I do every day, it tends to slip my mind. Old age? I think so!

We had an eventful but relaxing and fun weekend. Davy spent the weekend here since Erin was at a hair show in St. Louis. It was great visiting with the kids Saturday when Daryle and family came over too. It's crowded but nice to have the kids here. We always miss Erin though. Maybe one of these days, her schedule will slow down a little so we can all get together.

The newest litter of 8 was born to Pickles on Saturday night. We lost one this morning. It still had some yuck attached to its belly. I really had to dig it out of the box Sunday because it was wrapped up with so much fur. I think she just missed it when she was cleaning them up. I also don't think it was fed. we were expecting to lose it. Oh well. That happens. She is taking very good care of the rest of them.

Now the wait is on for Iris. Her box went in Sunday.

Another 3 1/2 inches of rain:( Can't we space this rain out just a little?!? Next thing you know, we'll have a drought again.

I didn't get much done through the day. Our youngest son was here....ALL DAY!! I think this is the longest I've gotten to see Davy for a LONG time. I very much enjoyed it:) Love you Davy!!

Popcorn's litter is getting along nicely.

Now, today I put the box in for Pickles. She should be due on Saturday. She's huge and miserable:)

Got some planting done tonight. We started soldier beans and I transplanted calendula and borage. We may wait a bit longer for anything else to be planted but have working the ground. The area for the tomatoes is ready to plant. We are transplanting over a dozen tomatoes this year. Don't remember the types and amounts, will post later about them.

We also have the area ready to go for the cabbage, broccoli,and  pole beans.

Okay, so for yesterday afternoon I ended up spraying weed killer around the rocks on the patio and in front of the porch. Since our grandson likes to play in the rocks around the patio, we refuse to use something chemical that could harm him. We use the vinegar, salt and soap solution and it works really well.

Before

About an hour later

That evening

The recipe I use is 1 gallon vinegar, 1/2 cup salt, 2 Tablespoons dish soap. I spray the whole weed and then concentrate on the roots. Make sure you get enough on the plant to saturate it. The best time to spray them is in the early afternoon, after the dew is gone, but with direct sun. 

Mocha's litter. Gettin big:) They are starting to get adventurous. Won't be long and they will be hopping out of the box.

Taters!

We have a new litter of 7 beautiful Creme d'Argents:) Popcorn did a wonderful job. Very proud of her for being a first time doe.

Busy day so far. Scrubbed the whole side of the barn (where dogs used to be and made a mess of); scrubbed rabbit bowls and feeders; scrubbed Domino's cage (he's our Dutch buck and sprays everything! He BETTER make pretty babies or he will be replaced!!); 2 loads of laundry done and on the line. Time for lunch and see what this afternoon brings:)

Today is also another bunny watch day. Popcorn is in labor!

Since it was too wet to plant yesterday, we were "Weed Warriors". Trimmed out a lot of weeds along the garden fence. We actually dug up all the sod so we won't have to trim it all the time.

Good news. The annual rye grass that we started in the compost lot is taking off nicely. It's a little sparse because of the downpour and all the rain we got right after putting it out, but we're happy it's growing. Will be trying to get some more out soon.

We are also working on some ideas for drying the grasses, plantain, chickweed, dandelions, etc. for hay for the rabbits. We have some ideas on how to reuse the chicken pen to make some drying racks. Will post pictures when we get a chance to make it. It's currently at the bottom of a VERY long to-do list.

Popcorn (creme) is due today. I put a box in for Nibbles (rex) today. We're not sure if she's pregnant or not. She was only bred one time and it was the first time for her and Scooter, so we'll see. No big deal either way.

Had a great weekend. Today, the sun is shining for now. Supposed to storm this afternoon. Who knows.

Having a family day today. Will be making some zucchini bars and mac and cheese for the potluck. There are so many things I want to make for today. It's all things that Dewayne and I are not supposed to eat any more. This way, I can get the taste of it but not have to worry about eating too much of it. Everyone else can help clean it up. Good thing we have a family that likes to eat!

Popcorn

WOO HOO!! All signs point to a new litter coming:) Popcorn was working like crazy on her nest.

 Poor thing. She's stretching out trying to get more comfortable. She's so big:)

ALL RIGHT!! THAT'S IT!!!

I am officially declaring war.......on SQUIRRELS! I have some potted flowers on the porch that I started from seed that are just starting to sprout and those stinking squirrels are digging them up. THIS IS WAR!!!
 Yummmmm...squirrel soup comin up:)

Mocha's 8 at 1 week

All of them are doing great!

There's one laying on it's back. So cute!

Rain barrel......

     We have a couple of 55 gallon barrels that we will be using as rain barrels when we get time to adapt them for what we need. Since we haven't had time to work on them yet, and I knew we would be getting a LOT of rain, I just moved it over under the edge of the carport where I've seen the rain dripping off before.  Needless to say, when we recently got our 5 1/2 inches of rain, it filled up the barrel. Now, all I have to do is figure out how I'll get the water out. Hmmmm..............

Are you a prepper?

     I've heard people make fun of preppers. Not all preppers are crazy! Not everyone that prides themselves as a prepper are planning for the zombie takeover. Most of them are just planning for the inevitable. Power outages, flooding, tornadoes, etc....in a word, NATURE. It's gonna happen sometime. Look at the area around us now. Record flooding. Town evacuations. Not good.
     Being any kind of prepper means to be prepared for something like this. Having food, water and medications  stocked up. Have a plan of action. Where are you going to go if you have to evacuate? Do you have what you need to survive if you can't just run to the store? We can get to our nearby "city", but what will be available when we get there? So many roads and bridges are closed, can the delivery trucks even get there to re-supply everything? Can gas trucks get to the gas stations?
     If being a "prepper" is someone who thinks ahead and tries to see what may happen and try to have a plan in mind, then I guess I am a prepper. Are you? If you are not now, maybe you need to be.

Spring flowers but........

Spring flowers but where's the spring??