Laptop died

Hey everyone! Our laptop took a dump, so it's going to be
A bit before I can get back to baby pics and stuff. I'm not
Going to buy the app for my phone because it's a bit
Crazy. So hopefully in the next 2 weeks I can do a big update for you
All!!!

Ranting

So, having chickens means that we have to have water containers, and feeders and all that good stuff.
Well, We went with the top fill bucket type water containers for the big run because it was "easier" let me tell you, I don't like the bucket type water containers anymore. I'm done with them. Yes the ones where you have to screw the little lid on the hole may be a bit of a pain, but they don't have the problems those bucket types have.
The problems are as follows, if the screw thing in the bottom gets too lose then all of the water just leaks out and you have a puddly mess....however if you don't have the blasted thing sitting perfectly flat, then either the water wont come out at all, or it wont stop coming out...if the little hole gets a speck of dirt in it, water wont come out, its almost like playing Russian Roullet...either the water will do what its supposed to and my birds will have water, OR I'll walk away and come back an hour later and they don't have any water at all. Sure, those things seem super convenient, and like they are going to work out perfectly, but they don't.
Now that I've gotten that off my chest, I feel better!!!

keeping busy

Hey there everyone! Just a random blog, full of my rambles. We've been keeping busy here, but in a good way. I'm hoping that we can get around to butchering here soon, because my meat supply is just about gone.
It wont be long before the eggs in the incubator go into lockdown, so I'll have newly hatched chicks by next week. I've already started setting back Easter Egg, hatching eggs again. So, I'll be able to rotate everyone out, and then in again. I may end up setting up the old incubator, so that I can get them in if I get all that I need sooner. I'm not sure if I'm going to sell the chicks about to hatch as straight run, or if I'll grow them out and sell them. Depending on how many hatch, I may just split it up and sell half as straight run chicks, and then grow out the other half.
We're going to breed Lucy this weekend. She grew out into a really beautiful Doe. (Lucy is the daughter of Fred and Ethel) Ethel and Doris's current babies are growing quickly, and are in all honesty some of the biggest kits we've had. I'm thinking about putting Lucy with George, because I know what genetics Lucy carries due to Fred and Ethel, and see what happens if we use George. (George is the Son of Fred and Betty)(George is my chocolate buck)
Once we have had 3 good litters from George, we're going to go ahead and write up his pedigree, and get his ear tattoo done. The same goes for Lucy. I seriously love Silver Fox Rabbits, but the pedigree part is hard, because you don't want to pedigree and SF rabbit that doesn't fit the breed standards.
We still don't have my peas planted!!!! When we had the time to till, it snowed...and then it rained...seriously??? I hate that I'm starting to run so short on time to get my peas in the ground.
Its funny though, how many people give me the odd look about the amount of peas I'm planning on planting. They just don't get that by planting a large crop of peas this year, I'll be able to can up enough to last for 2 or 3 years. Its like when I buy large amounts of Fresh carrots. I'm almost out of them now, and they've lasted me for 3 years. Its awesome being able to grow/produce my own food!!!
Well...that's about it from here for today! Hope everyone has had a fantastic week so far!!!

Crochet Pattern Round up

Hello everybody! Since I did the recipe round up a few weeks or so ago, I had been meaning to do a crochet pattern round up. I thought that there was no better time than now, since I'm waiting on my sweatshirt to wash and dry. (I have a sweat shirt that I wear this time of the year to do the animal chores and stuff...it got a little funky and needed to be washed.) So, with cup of coffee in hand, I'm going to provide you links to the patterns I've written, or shared. I think there is only one that I did a link to that's not my own.  That being said, with cup of coffee in hand, here we go!

Snow Flake Throw
Towel Topper
Doll
Ducky and bunny easter egg cozies
Basic Crochet Stitch Abbreviations
Textured Scrubby
Chicken Hat
Easy Christmas Wreath
American Flag Afghan (Link)
Summer Granny Throw

I'm hoping to write a few new patterns to share with you all! You guys have been a fantastic audience (even if you don't comment to let me know how you like things)

Reuben casserole

Hello, and happy Monday to all!!! We had a great weekend, and a fantastic family dinner at my in-laws yesterday. We had some different faces, and were missing some faces, but in a large family you just never know who's going to pop up, or not.  I made a Reuben Casserole for the Sunday supper, and it does look a little different when baked. (I snapped this shot before I popped it in the oven, I didn't want to forget a picture) Anyways, I've made this for Frank before and he absolutely loves it! I cannot remember if I've shared this recipe with you all before, but it never hurts to re-share something that's fantastic!

1 (12 oz.) can corned beef (or cook about 2 pounds fresh) (I prefer fresh, because its just better tasting)
1 (14 oz.) can or 2 cups packed Sauer Kraut, drained (I used the stuff out of the glass jar)
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 cup thousand island dressing
1/4 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup bread crumbs

Crumble corned beef, mix in Sauer Kraut and place in a 1 & 1/2 to 2 quart casserole dish. Mix dressings together and pour over top and cover with cheese. Melt butter and mix with bread crumbs. Sprinkle over top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes.

And there you have it! This recipe would actually be an easy make ahead, and throw in the oven later kind of dish. I would just wait to put the breadcrumbs on right before you put it in the oven.
There were no leftovers either by the way!!!

Week in review

This week, has been a long, productive, crazy week. Last Saturday (March 12th) was my 36th birthday. I can't believe that I'm 36 already, I'm not quite sure where time went.  I had a friend and her daughter bring me a Doctor Who themed Birthday cake, and she did fantastic!!! (the cake is the last picture, my Whovian friends will know what it is)
On Monday, we had to take Bella to the vet for an emergency situation. She scared the ever loving life out of me. She wasn't walking, making noise or eating. It turns out she had a pretty bad case of Lyme disease. Honestly, even using flea and tick repellents, dogs just aren't safe from Lyme disease. I had actually been getting the Lyme shot for my dogs, but they were still getting it, so I stopped, because there was no point in paying that kind of money, to just have to turn around to pay to have them treated for it anyways.
The baby bunnies in the first two pics are Fred and Ethel's babies. They are absolutely huge for being the age they are!!! They make Doris's babies look like runts. (Doris is the big blue bunny I took a picture of, she's rather photogenic)
I've been working on cleaning out the freezer and making jam's and jellies, so that I can finish getting ready for spring/summer. I really should have had it done back in the fall, but well you know how easy it is for time to get away from us.
My chicks that we moved outside that we got in January are doing really well. They are picking up speed on their growing, which is good.
My Orpington hens and roosters are getting huge as well.
I'm still pulling green beans out of the pantry to use that we canned last summer. They taste just as fresh as they did when we canned them. That's such an awesome feeling!
Finally, we're going to be planting peas soon!!! I was hoping to get that done today, but its snowing. Oh I can't tell you how frustrated this snow is leaving me!! I was hoping that it was going to be warm for the rest of the season! But I lost out on that one!!

January's Mail Order Chicks are outside!

Back in January, we ordered some chicks because we had to replace our Rhode Island Red Roosters who passed away (you all remember Sinatra and Martin, every day I miss those two out in that run). Those little Rhode Island Red Rooster chicks, and the Easter Egg Pullets that we ordered have grown fast, and are well feathered out. Thankfully though, the warmer temps are here, and I won't stress as much about them as I normally would.
My Orpington Hens and roosters, as you can see from the pictures are quite curious about their new neighbors, and their new neighbors are very curious about these birds who, right now are much bigger than they are.
In all honesty, I'm very curious as to who is going to be bigger once all of them are fully grown rooster wise, The Orpingtons, or the Rhode Islands. I've never had Orpington roosters before, so this will be kind of fun to see. I already know that the RIR roosters will be bigger than my Easter Egg Roosters, because I've seen Pete and Rufus with Sinatra and Martin...so that being said, I cant wait to see exactly where Wesley (My orp rooster) (yes I named him Wesley...can you guess the movie reference?)
Now that I have these guys outside, with lots of extra feed, they should really have a huge growth spurt!!!
Oh, for those of you who have been following me, and are wondering, no, I didn't add on to the run anymore, we went to Rockingham Co-op and bought just a door panel, and with the two of us working fast, Frank undid the hardware holding the panels together, and we opened it up a bit, and with me inside of the run, we got the panel slid in, and managed to not let anyone get out. (Where Jasper was watching and waiting very keenly, as only a Siberian Husky can do)
If anyone has any questions or comments about anything I post here, please, feel free to comment, or email me ( crochetbrandi@gmail.com)
I'm open to suggestions, or even recipe's that you would like me to try and post.

Baby Bunnies, and Orpingtons

Ignore the mud in the one picture on my pinky finger! when you are outside doing farm type stuff on a regular basis, there's going to be mud, dirt and poop! LOL One of the baby bunnies let loose and peed in my hand today. That's really no surprise, because that's what babies do, but this bunny is a little guy, and I can't figure out how it had so much in it!!! However, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised as right now they are pretty much so on an all liquid diet.

I realized yesterday that my Orpington chicks that are outside are almost 4 months old already! That time went kind of quick!!!

Whats in a dozen eggs???

What's really in a dozen eggs??? Well, when you buy a dozen eggs from the store, just the yolk, and the whites, and not much flavor. HOWEVER, when you buy eggs from a back yard farmer, there is so much more. There is love, dedication, and friendship. When you buy eggs from someone like me, who runs a small farm, some would even call it a hobby farm, you get to know me, and I get to know you. I hear stories and see pictures of your children, and you see pictures of my animals, and even get to see pictures of the chickens that those eggs came from.
I recently took some eggs to a really sweet lady who works in our favorite place to eat. She had asked us about them, so I brought her some, and gave her my information for when she was ready for more. She was really surprised that I charge as little as I do, but I come out ok in the end (more to that here in a moment). I assured her that I sell them better at a lower price.

Recently there was a conversation in one of those groups that I belong to on Face Book, and that conversation did get a little heated. People were discussing how much they should be charging for eggs. People were attacking those who charged too much, and then people were attacking those who charged too little.  One man even went so far as to say that charging such low prices, you will never get back what you had to put into that chicken to get it to lay the first egg. As far as I'm concerned, that's like a high school graduate saying ok, I need to make $80 an hour for anything I do to make up for all the time I had to spend in school to get to this point. You will never get back what you put into that bird to get it to the first egg, until it comes time to harvest that bird for meat.

I get my Chicken feed local, I buy it from the local Co-op, and I get it for less than $9 for a 50 pound bag. I'm buying it local, its also milled local, so, I'm taking money that I made locally, and spending it locally, and that money is staying local...I'm meeting other local farmers, and workers, and I'm helping out my own community. Now, I find that most people that charge high amounts are going to the big box stores, and paying huge amounts of money for feed. That money is not staying local, that feed is not made local, etc etc.

So what's in my carton of 12 eggs??? Local love, and community support.

Sour Cream Chocolate Cake

I'm sorry that there are no pictures of this fantastic desert!! Unfortunately it was gone before I remembered to take pictures!!! It was good to the last bite!!!
This was a recipe from scratch that  was pretty easy. Although, I can tell you all that separating egg whites from the yolks when the eggs are like just laid fresh, they do not separate quickly or easily.

I made this for Todays family dinner, with my husband family. My husbands family gathers together every Sunday, its a beautiful thing, and our group has grown this past year. My husbands one Aunt has started being a regular face at the table, and his one cousin, and his cousin's girlfriend have started having Sunday Dinner with us. Its been so great, warm and fabulous to have everyone together as a group. I've loved every minute of it. We had a health scare with my Father In Law, but Thanks to God, and Medical Science, he's going to be just fine. It's been an emotional few weeks, waiting and worrying, and not knowing what was going to happen.  You see, my husbands family is special to me in more ways than I will ever be able to vocalize, so I'm just going to move on, because finding words is getting hard here.

So here we go with the ingredients!
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup boiling water
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick), butter, softened
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
1 & 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 egg whites
2 (16 oz) cans chocolate frosting

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour two 9- inch round cake pans.

2. Combine the cocoa powder and boiling water in a bowl and stir until the cocoa is dissolved, about 30 seconds.

3. Combine the sugar and butter in a large bowl. Beat with mixer until light and fluffy, 1-2 minutes. Add the Cocoa mixture and mix for 1 minute longer. Beat in the sour cream, vanilla and baking soda. Add the flour and salt. Mix for 1 minute more.

4. Beat the egg whites in a medium bowl until stiff peaks for, 2-3 minutes. Fold into the batter.

5. Spoon the batter into the prepared cake pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cake comes out clean, 25-28 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool. Spread the frosting between the layers, and over the top and sides of the cooled cake.

That's it, that's all there is to it!!! It may not sound quick and easy, but it surprisingly is!!!
If anyone makes this cake, send me pics, and I'll share them on here!!!!!

Raspberry Crumble Bars

So yesterday (March 5th) Was my husbands birthday. I was actually making these to share with everybody at our Sunday supper along with the cake that I made (recipe for that coming up as well), these were so good, that they got sampled by him out of sharability. So, I'm planning on making these again in a couple of weeks, in a larger batch.

This recipe is so quick and easy!! I really think its one of those things that can be whipped up for any event quickly and easily!!!

1 & 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup quick cooking oats
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 jar (12 oz.) raspberry jam or preserves
(Makes 20bars)

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Coat an 8 inch square baking pan with cooking spray.

2. Combine flour, oats, brown sugar and baking soda in a large bowl. Cut in butter with a  pastry blender until mixture resembles course crumbles.

3. Reserve 1 & 1/2cups crumb mixture. Press remaining mixture onto bottom of prepared pan. Spread jam on crust to within 1/4 inch of edges.

4. Sprinkle reserved crumb mixture evenly on top; press gently. Bake until crumb mixture is light brown, 20-25 minutes. Cook completely on a wire rack. Cut into bars.

Been a little busy

Hey everyone!!! Yes, it's been a bit since my last blog post, but things tend to get a little bit busy on the farm here lately, especially since I've been working hard on staying on top of the hatching, and chick raising.  About 2 weeks ago, I hatched out some Buff Orpington chicks, and then bought some black chicks from Tractor Supply. This week, we bought some more ISA Browns, which are some brown sex links. The ones we got last year were so good, we decided to get a few more for this year.
My Chicks that we got in the mail in January are about ready to go out, as they are fully feathered, and are getting too big for their brooder cage. I'm only keeping six of the Easter Egg chicks, the other 4 I'm putting up for sale in another 2 weeks.
Four of the six tetra tints we hatched out in October have started laying. I have 1 with the Buff Orpingtons, and so far, she has laid 12 days in a row!!! I cant wait to see how many days she lays in a row before she stops.
On Friday (The 4th) Doris gave me 8 cute little baby bunnies, and then today, Ethel gave us a litter, but I have no clue how many she's had yet. I can't wait until tomorrow morning when I can dig into that nest box and see what's waiting for me!!! Ethel tends to have the best kits!!!
I have a bunch of pictures to share with you guys. They aren't all in any particular order, because well, I've been taking pics to share with you all for quite some time, but I've been posting them on my FB Farm page One Crazy Little Chicken Farm if you get a chance, go over there and take a look, and give us a like!!!
So, here goes with the pictures so you can see some of what I've been up to!!!

I had more, but for some reason, they wouldn't load! My computer kept telling me they were already loaded, even though they weren't! I'll have to work on it more another day!!!
Coming up next, I have 2 new recipes for you all!!!