Random stuff

April has been a busy month, a good but busy month. We've had baby bunnies born, we scheduled the tilling of the garden (hopefully that happens soon) We've moved the chicks outside that came in February (I think it was then, I cannot remember) Although, we still have some chicks inside due to crate room outside. I  sold some hens off, and then I had some new hens start to lay. And of course we've bought hundreds and hundreds of pounds worth of feed!!!

May should hopefully be a good month as well. Frank and Aaron both took a few days off from work to get the rabbit house finished.  They are going to be putting down some cement on one side of the rabbit house to hold it up or something along those lines...I guess to keep it in place, I am not sure about how construction works.  We are also hoping to get our other two chicken houses here and up. Then we can get everything moving a bit more smoothly.

I am pretty much so ready for my craft show that's this weekend. I just need to put the buttons on the hanging dish towels and I'm done. I have a lot of other crochet projects that need to be started and finished as well. It's a never ending cycle, but one that I enjoy.

I've been thinking about trying to get into making quilted purses. My thoughts are that they are small projects, and if I can keep my sewing machine behaving properly, then I could probably do at least 1 a week. (That would be fun.) I'm thinking Christmas gifts, and craft show stuff.

Well that's about it from this end of things. Hope you are all having a great week!!!!

Baby Bunny Pictures!!!!

Well, here are the pictures  promised you all!!!! Ethel had 5 babies!!! 4 Black and 1 blue. Doris's babies were split down the middle, 4 Black and 4 Blue. That actually cracked me up a bit. As you can see, Doris is doing a great job feeding her little ones. I can't tell about Ethel yet, these guys were still pretty knew when I took the pic, so they probably have a lot of catching up to do.

More buns

Finally!!! Ethel had her kits this morning. No pictures yet, because I'm giving her a few hours before I check them all to see how many she had, and to make sure everybody is healthy. She looked like she felt much better after she had them. She was looking pretty miserable this morning when we went out to feed and water. I can imagine that she was though if she was in labor.

So, pictures to come sometime today or tomorrow!!!

Pictures as promised!!!

Well, after I went out to do my animal chores, I discovered that Doris had her babies!!! She didn't have as large of a batch as she has the last 2 times. This time she had 8 in the nest box, and 1 on the wire. From it's location, I'm thinking she just couldn't make it to the nest box in time. But all of the ones in the nest box are warm, moving and alive!!! It was still kind of chilly out so I didn't get as good of a picture as I would have liked to have, but I got a baby picture at least!!!

I took pictures of my peach trees and some flowers and of course my dogs!!! Hope you enjoy the scenery!!!! (Oh, the apple trees and the red buds are in there as well.)

please excuse the yellow strap that's in some of the shots. I was carrying it around to toss. It's a strap from a bale of hay that was in the rabbit house.

So much!!!

Hi there everybody, I know...I seriously owe you a blog with some pictures, do not worry, I will be taking care of that today!!!! I've been working on getting ready for another craft show, keeping up with the last batch of chicks we got in, who aren't really chick size any longer, and have been doing some extra housework, trying to get ahead...but as I've learned there is NO getting ahead in housework.

The weather here has been playing back and forth a lot between cold, hot and humid. The other night, it was 50 something outside, and I still had the house windows open because it was just so warm, and close in here, even with the windows open we were all miserable, so finally I gave up, shut the window, and turned on the AC for the night. HOWEVER I woke up freezing the next morning. I simply cut the air off. I've had to turn it on at night one other time since. I have had to cut the heat back on a few times. Spring here in Virginia is such a crazy season. You seem to have all 4 seasons in one day at times.

The great news is, my apple trees did survive the winter, and I'm seeing green on them. My peach tree's have all blossomed out, and are absolutely beautiful, and best of all, the red buds are in bloom. I love those trees, and cannot even begin to tell you how thrilled I was when I learned we had a few of them on our property. If I could do it without killing them off, I would move one or two of the smaller ones to a better spot, where I could enjoy them better. I'm not about to purchase one, because at one of our local nurseries, they were priced between $125 and $175...It was all about the different sizes. Well, I'm not about to pay that kind of cash for something that's just naturally here. My thoughts are that maybe if I can find one that's starting up, maybe I can dig it up and put it in a pot or something until it's bigger. (Of course with my luck, I would kill the darn thing.)

A couple of weeks ago, I sold my 5 Buff Orpington hen's that I got last spring from Tractor Supply. It's a much quieter place in the Hen house now. They liked to go in and stir up trouble. Part of me misses them, but the other part knows that their new home is an awesome place, and that they have their very own rooster to keep them in line. (The gal that I got my original 8 hens from was the one that came and got them. She had a lonely roo who everybody else was picking on.)  In the  chicken world, it's always great to make chicken friends.

We have finally decided that we are going to have to groom Sam ourselves. The lady who was our groomer could no longer physically do the job because of her back. (I understand that completely) She was a wonderful groomer. When we walked into her building, it didn't have a wet dog smell. It was clean. The people who worked there were clean. I loved it!!! I've checked out a few other places around here, but none of them meet my standards. I walked into one that's in a strip mall. You walk in there and it smells like ammonia...like a dirty litter box that has not been changed in months. The employees look like they need a bath, it's just not a place I would want to take my Sam. The other one wasn't so bad, but still not up to my standards. We used to take Nikki to the Vets office. They did a great job there, butt they were so expensive!!! So, we are going to replace the head on the dog shower that we have. (Sam broke it) and we are going to start taking care of that ourselves in an easier manner. (It's not easy without that shower thing) And then we are going to buy some dog clippers, and take care of the other part. Now let me say, I know that you all are aware that Sam is a Siberian Husky. When I say I'm going to clip him, he is in no way getting shaved. The problem is, he has incredibly long fur on his back legs and his hind end. The plan is to trim it down so that it's just not so long. He gets mud caked in there, because he likes to lay in the mud, and sometimes if he eats something outside that upsets his tummy a bit, he gets runny poo in there. So we are simply going to trim it down to a manageable length. I'm almost betting though that after the first go with that, we will probably give in and take him to the vet to be groomed.

Well, I suppose I had better close this up. The day is getting on, and there is as always much to do.
I'm going to get some fun pictures snapped today for you all, and will either post them on here tonight, or in the morning.

Happy Easter All!!!!

Hello everybody, We here at our little farm would like to wish you all a very  Happy Easter, and I hope that wherever you are, the weather is as beautiful and sunny as it is here. Sorry for the lack of pictures in this post.

I realize things have been rather quiet here on the blog lately. I've been working on writing some new patterns, doing some spring cleaning, and keeping up with those chicks that came in the mail last month. We have to figure out what we are going to do with all of the roosters that are currently in the grow out section, because we need that area for these guys here soon. (of course it will have to be shoveled out, and new bedding put down, and the houses scrubbed)(Truly it is never ending)

I know you all know that we had gotten the Rhode Island Red pullets, and the White Leghorn pullets, but Frank took me to Tractor Supply when the chicks came in, and I came home with 6 Isa Brown pullets, which is a reddish brown sex link. They are only a week behind the RIR and WL pullets. Size wise though, they are right there with them. As soon as we get everybody situated I will be adding some pictures of the now teenager pullets.

I am going to be trying a newish jelly recipe here in the next week or two. I had wanted to make it sooner, but I have some cluttered kitchen counters due to the tomato starts, which I have effectively killed all but 3 of. I am a horrible plant keeper.

So, back to the chicken stuff. We are hoping to start getting the house built for the Easter Egg chickens, so that we can get them out of the run that they are currently in, and get the girls in with them that are in with the main bunch. I will admit, that I find the Eggers to be quite beautiful. They all look different, and are all different sizes. They are like a rainbow.
Then We are also hoping to get the chick house/grow out area built and put together soon. We will be putting a large incubator in there, and will no longer be doing hatch outs in the house. Although, I may do small hatch outs here in the house for special breeds.

OH! Bunny update. Doris and Ethel are due anytime now. I'm not completely sure when, but they do have their nest boxes. Cad's babies are 4 weeks old already, and are eating drinking, and running around like crazy bunnies!!! My mother is taking one of them, and has already named it Moon Beam.  So we've been working on handling that one, and getting it used to people. I'll admit, my hubby is completely adorable playing with a baby bunny.

Well, that's all, hope you all are having a fantastic day!!!!!!

Two Dogs, Two Stories, One Heart

For those of you who have been following me since we have started up, you will remember that once upon a time, we had a beautiful red and white Husky named Nikki. Nikki was the most wonderful dog anybody could ever have in their lives. Everybody loved Nikki. I don't think there was anybody that ever came in contact with her that didn't notice her sense of humor, her swift wit, or her keen intelligence. Nikki crossed the rainbow bridge in In August of 2013.  Her last year was a rough one. She had severe Alzheimer's disease, and her back hips were pretty much so gone.
I met Nikki when I started dating my husband. I learned that if I was taking fresh eggs to his place, that I'd better be careful, because she was an egg thief, and knew how to get you to drop one. I knew that she was part of a package deal, and I didn't care, I loved her from the moment I met her. When we bought this house, and moved in, and got her moved in, she was trained not to get on the furniture prior to moving in...well, I swiftly changed that, and she swiftly embraced that change. She was my buddy, and my pal. When I was feeling bad, or having a bad day with my hips, she would stick with me, and we would watch Sponge Bob, or Scooby Doo together. If she was in another room, and herd the theme song to Sponge Bob, she came running, and up on that couch she got. I loved Nikki. Frank Loved Nikki, everybody loved Nikki.  And yes, Sam and Jasper loved Nikki.

We waited until May of 2014 to bring home another family member. We had answered several ads on Craigslist, to only find out that it was either a scam, or that somebody else had beaten us to the punch. We went to the animal shelter, only to find that there were only dogs in there that needed to in a one dog home. Well, that most certainly wasn't going to work, because we had Sam and Jasper waiting at home for us. Then, a friend of ours had a dog that she needed to rehome. We talked about it, and finally went to meet Bella. Bella was 11 months old at the time, and when I saw that hound dog face, I was in love. We brought her home, with all of her gear, and worked on the introductions, and within a months time, we were able to trust all 3 dogs together. She pretty much so worships Jasper, and gets into trouble with Sam.  Those first couple of months I went through some serious emotions.. I was happy to have her here with us. I felt like I was betraying Nikki's memory and home bringing her here. I was up, I was down, I was still hurting over Nikki. (I still have moments when I tear up, and just break down over a picture, or a random post, or just something. Those feelings are fewer and further in between now, but she will always be there in my heart.) I can pinpoint the moment when I stopped feeling guilty. Frank was at work, and Sam, Jasper, Bella and myself were settled in for the night. Bella had gotten in my chair and was curled up sleeping. She let out the sweetest sigh, and I knew, that she truly does belong. She's happy. We all love her, and Sam and Jasper have made her part of the pack. She makes me laugh, she gives me headaches, she drags the toys out of the toy box and leaves them all over, and she loves us back.

I don't know if any of you have ever gone through these feelings of remorse and guilt when it comes to the circle of life with your 4 legged friends. This post is dedicated to you, to let you know that you are not alone. Every dog is different, and comes with their own personalities, but one thing is for sure and certain, they will love you until their last breath.