Slapdash Farm

Okay, you can now try www.slapdashfarm.blogspot.com. I will start posting there exclusively starting now. Goodbye...

decisions, decisions

Ok, so I think I have decided I like Slapdash Farms. The question now is how do I proceed. Do I leave this blog and start a new one with the new farm name, or do I keep using Rocking Rabbit Ranch address? I'm thinking I might start a whole new blog with a new address. This one will still be here for posterity.

Whats in a name?

I've been thinking, I don't want to be a ranch, I want to be a farm. Sooooo... What do you all think about....Wait for it.... Wait for it...Slapdash Farms? Misty and Jeff said they liked it and Stef chuckled when I told him. Let me know!

Got Pig??

We do! We picked up our pigs today. They are a barrow (castrated male) and a gilt (young female) about 4 months old and around 85 lbs. They Berkshire/Hampshire crosses.

We put them in the old buck pen with JD and Jake. JD is a little apprehensive about them right now, but Jake wants to make friends right away.

Sleeping outside

The boys have started sleeping outside with the animals. And before you even ask... NO, we are not making them. They are doing it of their own volition. They sleep on a tarp and a sleeping bag on the ground and some of the animals sleep with them.

I Did It

The ranch is now 7 roosters lighter. The boys and I did it ourselves today. I was able to cut the heads off okay. The boys need to get faster at plucking though. We lost the last few roos to dog food. They were getting so dried out from being dead when I tried to eviscerate them the smallest knick and they leaked out yucky stuff and soiled the meat. Oh well, at least they won't go to waste.

I was going to do the ducks today also, but couldn't do it. I had a few chicken heads that didn't come off clean enough. I think the butcher knife needs sharpened and I didn't want to risk it with the ducks. And honestly, duck feet kind of freak me out with the claws at the end of them and all. They will just have to wait for Stef.

More Dogs...

...than goats now! I am very happy today. I put an ad in Craigslist for the remaining goats and someone came to look at them today. He told me they were going to use the girls for breeding and possibly milking. I was very happy because I didn't want Frosty turned into a taco. He only took the boys because they were such a good price. Well he showed up with his wife and their 4 young children and I was beside myself knowing all of the goats are going to a happy in their new home. YEAH!!

We are thinking about getting a couple of pigs to put in the old buck's pen. J.D. needs someone to protect now that the boys are gone. He gets too nervous around all the other animals and dogs.

Stef also finished getting electricity to the barn today. Now we don't have to go to the shed to turn the light on in the barn anymore. We can also put a radio in the barn now.

So, yes we have 4 Great Pyrenees and only 3 goats. Next week we will be getting another Alpine doe that is already in milk and don't forget about the pigs! So we will start evening out a little bit!

Some goats are gone....

...more to go tomorrow. Our neighbors took Big Mama, Elvis and the kids today. They also took Taco. Everyone seems very happy in their new home.

Tomorrow some people are coming out to take a look at the Nubians for sale. I hope they take them because they are going to try and breed Frosty and try to milk her again. At least they will give her a chance and not just turn her into tacos right away! WE will see how it goes.

Right now I have Lil' Bit in with the Nubian Bucklings. I'm trying to get her bred to one of them before they leave.

Bye, Bye, Goaties

Edwin, our neighbor, and a dad of the boys' friends will be taking 4 of our goats this weekend. They are taking our Boer goats, Big Mama, Elvis, Sissy, and Dekley. They are also buying one of the puppies, Taco.

Now I can take pictures of the rest of them and put them for sale on Craigslist. We are only keeping 3 does and one buck. We are keeping Holly, Lil Bit, Flower and Rocky. So that means I am going to try to sell Trouble, Alvin, Tipsy, and Frosty. I am so torn on what to do with Frosty. She has become such a pet goat, always looking to be loved on. I don't want to keep her and have her get mastitis again. I can't put anymore money into her. Plus, her daughter, Tipsy has fish teats, and I don't want to feed her through the winter and her give me more does with messed up teats. I might see if I can give her to someone willing to give her a chance and not eat her. Actually, if I decide to do that, I bet Edwin would take her.

After, or probably while, I am rehoming these goats, I am looking to acquire 2 new ones. I am looking at a new Alpine buck. Fran and I are going to take a field trip to His Fruitfulness Farm to look at a couple of registered bucks. I am also looking for another registered Alpine doe.

Then we will breed Rocky to Lil Bit, and the Alpine buck to Holly, Flower, and the other new goat.

Garden Update

Yesterday Stef took the boys out to the garden and fixed it. He put new gates, set up the drip hose, watered all of the still living plants and fixed the plastic. I haven't gone out to look yet so this is all still hearsay but I am feeling a bit better about this subject.

Gelato

Forget about ice cream. We have discovered Gelato! We were watching the show Diners, Drive-ins and Dives on the Food Network about gelato. It looked so good I searched for a recipe and found this one from Cooks.com



CHOCOLATE GELATO

4 egg yolks
2/3 c. sugar
2 c. milk
3 1/2 o. bitter sweet chocolate
1 1/2 oz. unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tbsp. sugar

In a bowl beat yolks, gradually add sugar. Beat until creamy and pale yellow. In saucepan bring milk to boil, remove, slowly pour yolk mixture, stirring constantly and quickly. Melt chocolate in double boiler until smooth and satiny. Stir. Pour into custard mixture. Add cocoa powder; mix. Pour into large saucepan, medium heat. DO NOT BOIL. Stir until thick and coats spoon. Heat 2 tablespoons sugar with 2 tablespoons water until dark brown and caramel colored. Add to custard. Pour in clean bowl. Chill. Pour into ice cream maker and follow manufacturer's directions. Serves 6.


It is not as simple to make as it sounds. I think I used up every bowl in the kitchen, but it was definitely worth it. I found out too late I didn't have the bitter sweet chocolate and it still tastes fantastic. Niko says it is better than store bought ice cream, Deklan thinks it is about the same.

A Rant

I give up, I give up, I give up!

I can't even begin to do justice to the feelings of helplessness overwhelming me this morning.

You all know I have been struggling with the garden. The spring garden was first pillaged by the chickens. We put a temporary, flimsy fence around it to keep goats and chickens alike out. The fence didn't even have a real door, we had to disassemble the fence a bit to get in and out. To keep the goats off the fence we surrounded it with hot wire. It didn't take long to figure out the garden was not going to recuperate in the Texas heat of July and August so I took the hot wire down and opened the fence up for the goats to clear the rest of the garden and get rid of some of the weeds. Well, in this process the goats managed to tear up the fence around the garden.

A week ago I decided it couldn't be put off any longer; I needed to get the fall garden put in. I fixed up the fence with the help of Stef and hooked up the hot wire. I was completely stumped with what to do about all of the weeds in the garden area though. The goats had eaten them down but without the goats they would come back. Let me tell you, these are not just ordinary weeds. These are stickers or sand burrs or weeds from the very depths of hell, whichever you prefer. You simply cannot just pull them up. They grow a foot a day. If you till them they still come back. So after telling Stef then that I give up on the garden and then him telling me I couldn't, I decided to just cover the entire garden with plastic. Clear plastic for any spot that was not growing garden produce and black landscape fabric for where plants would be. Not pretty and I really don't know how practical or even long term it is but I did it. Then I went to the nursery and got plants. Tomatoes, green peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, collard greens, mustard greens, cabbage, broccoli, and my favorite red peppers (I really had to hunt these down). Stef and I got the fence really patched up and I finally get my garden in. Planting in the plastic was not easy. I start watering everything and found that the landscape fabric that is suppose to be water permeable, isn't. At least not enough to water from the top. Ok, fine. I say once again to Stef it is not worth it, I GIVE UP. He said no. He would go out and put down the drip tape underneath the fabric. While he was at it he also put a real door in the fence for easy in and out. Ok,fine.

This morning, after chores, I went for a little peak at the garden....I give up, I give up, I give up.

The new door Stef put on the garden fence apparently didn't have a lock, and the hot wire was apparently not put back up around the fence after installation of said door. The goats had been in the garden. Little tell tale goat berries lay everywhere. Good news is they don't like eggplant (just pulled them up by the stem and left them on the ground)and they also left most of the cucumbers and tomatoes alone. Bad news they do like greens, and broccoli and cabbage and they LOVE pepper plants. Especially, apparently, red peppers. Not one is left.

I can't keep putting this much effort, not to mention cash, into the garden for it to get ruined. I'm not sure what we will do now. I guess I will just be an even more frequent buyer at the farmer's market. Better my time and money go there than into the stomachs of any 2 or 4 legged fiends around here.

Crazy Chickens or Crazy Goat?

Why do the chickens think it is more comfortable to sit on a goat's back than on the ground? Usually Awkward, the chicken, is sitting on Lil Bits back. I saw this and went in to get my camera and when I came back they were on Big Momma's back. It's not like they just sit up there for a second and get down either. They hunker down and stay on for quite awhile.

Goat pics

Just a couple pics I took while doing chores tonight.

Woodpecker

I have been trying to get a picture of these woodpeckers all summer. They are wiley suckers though. This is the best I could do tonight ( you can see it's outline at the top of the pole). We think he is an Acorn Woodpecker. They live in families of 15 or so and hoard acorns in trees and utility poles. They are pretty big too. Sometimes they will swoop low in the woods and it looks like a giant squirrel.

Big puppies

Here are some pics of the puppies some of you were asking for. This first one is Jake. Jake is the best puppy. At dinner time he just lays near his bowl and waits for me to come and hook him up to the leash. He is very calm.

The next pic is of DeeDee. She is also a very good puppy, not quite as laid back as Jake, but still pretty good. She will follow us around and during mealtime will follow me while I get everyone ready and then calmly waits to be fed herself.


The last puppy is Taco. Oh Taco. Right now this pup is the bane of our ranching existance. He is the reason for all of the scratched legs and arms you will see around here right now. He is very hyper and NOT laid back at all. He cannot lay still to save his life. I am working with him on not jumping and being a little calmer during mealtimes, but boy is he testing me. He has the sharpest dang claws too. He caught me off guard tonight during chores and I about kicked him accross the yard, (sorry Grandma, I really didn't mean to).

Chopping, Plucking, Butchering

We killed and plucked and butchered 6 or 7 chickens yesterday. I caught some of the roosters and put them in the chicken tractor overnight so they wouldn't be full of food and they would be easy to retrieve the next day. When Stef got home from work we started. Stef chopped their heads off and bled them out, soaked them in hot water and brought them to the boys. The boys plucked and then brought them to me. I, after Stef showed me how, butchered them. I was pretty proud of myself. A year ago I would have let the guys do all of the dirty work. Now, I'm pretty confident I could do it all on my own. I still "let" Stef chop the heads off, though, I think I will do it next time. I got pretty good and fast at eviscerating them though.

Some of the chickens were pretty skinny. The types we have are dual purpose breeds so they are not overly meaty. I am looking into getting more meat birds. They will grow out faster but not be good layers. I am going to go with either of two french breeds; Marans or Freedom Rangers. Cornish Xs are the usual meat bird for large scale and a lot of smaller scale operations, but they are very sorry birds. They gain weight at such a fast rate the rest of their body can't keep up and they are prone to broken legs and heart attacks. They also do not forage, basically they don't act very chickenish. I read somewhere someone called them Franken-chickens. That is a good name; very unnatural.

Jealous much??

Okay, this post is directed at Misty. I made focaccia bread yesterday! It was so yummy!!! I made it the same as at the farmers market, with tomatoes, goat mozz, and fresh basil. My basil came out a bit crispy though. I think they may have sauteed theirs. I also added some fresh rosemary to the actual bread. OOh, it is good. For dinner last night, and I admit, for breakfast this morning, we had cheese raviolis, with tomato sauce, fresh mozz, and fresh basil with the focaccia bread. Good, Good, Good.

Herd Reduction

Stef and I have decided that we are going to get rid of our meat goats and focus on the rabbits and chickens for meat and just dairy from the goats. I have been struggling with what to do with the animals, eat them or try to sell them? Today we were invited to a bbq at one of the boys' friends (they live up the road a bit). They are fencing in their land and will be wanting meat goats in a couple of weeks and wants us to hold the goats for them. I think this is the perfect solution. The boys were very upset at the news of loosing these goats, but now they can still visit.

Mozzarella!!!

I made mozzarella!!! I honestly did not think it would turn out, so now that it did I am super excited. It tasted so good! I guess the next cheese to try is cheddar. Cheddar needs to be pressed and aged and all sorts of new stuff, so it might be awhile before I do it.
This is a picture of the pizza I made today. For the crust I used tortillas that turned out too hard, tomato paste for the sauce, and topped it with cherry tomatoes, basil leaves, and red peppers. Oh boy, was that good!

I got the idea for the whole basil leaves from a foccacia bread Misty bought at the farmer's market yesterday. I am thinking that when I get better at this bread and cheese making I might start selling at the farmer's market. Stef is building me a very large solar oven that I could bake several loaves in at the same time.

Baking

I baked and baked and baked some more today. I baked 3 loaves of bread today. One whole wheat, the other 2 white with oatmeal. The oatmeal bread is the boys favorite, of course it is not as good for them.

Here is the recipe:

3 cups bread flour
1 cup rolled oats
2T butter
1 1/2 tsp salt
3T honey
1 packet active dry yeast
1 1/4C lukewarm milk (goats milk of course)

In a large mixing bowl combine all of the ingredients, mixing to form a shaggy dough. I knead dough by hand 10 minutes till it's smooth. Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover and rest it for 1 hour.

Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled surface, and shape it into a log. Place the log in a lightly greased 9x5 in loaf pan, cover the pan with greased plastic wrap. Allow dough to rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, til it's crested 1 to 2 inches over the rim of the pan.

Bake the bread in a 350 degree oven for 40 minutes, until a thermometer in the center reads 190 degrees.

It is really yummy. I don't have the whole wheat down to perfection yet. It is very good with goat cheese for breakfast though. I will post that recipe when I get it down better.

I also made two batches of tortillas for fajitas tomorrow night. One batch was made with goats milk and vegetable oil and one batch with whey from cheese making and shortening. There isn't much of a difference in how they taste at all. The second batch was easier to work with, but I let that dough rest longer than the first and I think that made a big difference. Still trying to find the perfect tortilla recipe for whole wheat tortillas.

I made the beginnings of mozzarella cheese yesterday. Today I tried to finish it but it wasn't quite ready yet. I will try again tomorrow.

I also made spanish rice for fajitas tomorrow. I would usually get Rice a Roni rice, but not any more! It smells super good!

While I did all of my baking and cooking I watched the Design Star that my mom taped for me. I was able to watch the entire series in one setting.

Feather Foot

I can't believe I forgot to post about our new rooster, Feather Foot, that we got from Fran! The boys just fell in love with her feather-footed chickens so she sent a rooster home with us. He is so sweet, but still a little tentative with us. We are keeping him and Mr. Tibbles as our roos. This is the best pic Deklan could get of him. He was scared of the camera.

Bun Buns

It is really tricky to get picks of these little kits. They are still real skittish around us. There are 2 of them in this picture, but we have 3 altogether.

Flower

This is our new girl Flower. She is an Alpine dairy goat. She is the goat we traded Fran for the dog. She is our first papered goat and is from a good milking line. She not only looks like a deer, she jumps like one too. We have had to beef up our fencing. She was a bottle baby and VERY friendly. Because all of the old goats are mean to her she keeps jumping the fence to come hang out with us. She hangs out with the new babies when Big Momma is out foraging, but it seems today everyone else may have been a little friendlier towards her. I hope they get used to each other soon, I feel bad for her.

Great Day!

We had a very nice day today. Well, first we started with raking and cleaning out all of the pens, not so much fun, but productive. Then we went to Fran's. She taught me and the boys how to do fecals on the goats to see whether or not they need to be wormed. (Gma and Gpa, I'm finally using that microscope from Drake!) Fran showed us all around her property and we got to see all of her animals. It was really nice. Fran also took a puppy; we are trading her for an Alpine goat.

After Fran's we went into Elgin and picked up 22 chickens. I saw an ad in Craigslist and couldn't pass it up. 14 of the chickens were 2 or 3 months old and 8 of the chicks were 3 weeks old. We got them for $1 each! What a bargain. Oh, and Gpa, they are Barred Rocks.

So we had a great day. Learned to do fecals, found a puppy a new home, got a new goat, and 22 new chickens. Pretty good for a days work.

The Duck Goosed the Chicken

I actually said these words today. Too funny!

Tortillas

This was my first homemade tortilla. My first batch was hard,thick, and non-pliable; we are using these for pizza crust. For the second batch I almost doubled the shortening and milk in the recipe and came up with beautiful tortillas. They are whole grain, of course, and very yummy. Tortillas are easier to make than bread, so instead of sandwiches, we might be eating a lot of roll-ups!

Pups

We sold another female pup today. One male, one female left. Fran, my local goat mentor, may be interested in the female. I picked her out the best one and only let these last people pick from one female and the male. Lala has an appointment to get spayed July 30th. I would get the puppies done too but they have to be 3 months old. I would also get JD fixed, but he freaks out when I try to get him to go anywhere with me. I think Stef would have to carry him.

Stef's dog is named DD. It stands for Dad's Dog or as Niko says,"Dum Dum".

Property layout

This is obviously not to scale, but GGpa asked awhile back for a rendering of some sort of the layout of the land and buildings and such.

The dotted lines are fenced areas.

1. house
2. pool
3. dojo
4. storage shed
5. barn (2 kidding pens, milk and food storage room, loafing area)
6. storage shed/ young buck pen
7. chicken coop
8. rabbit colony
9. buck pen
10. barnyard
11. young buck outer yard
12. garden (by next spring, after we clear out the million and five rocks, this area will be a complete square)
13. future compost site

Humanure!!!

Yes, we are converting our household to a no flush zone. I got a couple of toilet seats and 5 gallon buckets today and Stef is going to built a little cabinet to set the bucket in and put the seats on. You can check out http://www.jenkinspublishing.com/humanure.html for more info on human waste composting. In two years we will have the best compost around, not to mention the greenest garden! As you can imagine the boys were less than thrilled upon hearing this news. Niko was especially disgusted, not by the idea of carrying excrement around in 5 gallon buckets, but because his friends will think we are crazy. I told him when he is older he will be impressed with his childhood in this family.

We are also going to divert our greywater from the septic tank. Not sure where it is going though. I'll update you all as this progresses.

Puppies

One more down, 3 to go!! Tell your friends! BTW, Niko is not keeping Covert. He changed to a different puppy and named him Taco. It is actually some my fault. I liked Taco and asked if either if them would be willing to switch.

Chicken and Kid

Just a couple random pics. We are keeping a rooster with the chickens to fertilize the eggs we will be getting soon. We are going to build an incubator to make new chicks! This is our favorite Roo. His name is Mr. Tibbles.
He is the prettiest chicken I've ever seen. You can't really see all of his colors in the picture, but his tail is green and purple, he is just so pretty.

Speaking of pretty here is another pic of the baby girl.

Hoof Trimming

Well thats one way to get it done. Poor Trouble didn't think this was very funny but I sure did. We trimmed hooves today. It is a tedious job and we hate doing it so it doesn't get done as often as it should. We have decided though, it will be easier if we do it once a month.

Holy S*#%!

As inappropriate as these words may be, they were nevertheless the first words out of my mouth today as I walked up to the rabbit colony. I saw a baby bunny. We have Bunnies! I only saw one and I ran to tell Stef. We walked back and saw one again. It went into the rabbit hole and we haven't seen anything else from the rabbits today so I haven't got a picture yet. I hope there is more than one. I'm so excited!! Yea!!

New Additions

Well, we didn't have to keep wondering for long...



The little girl looks like a typical Boer, just like her daddy. The boy is pure white. He is dirty in the picture. I was really hoping we would get some spotted kids because their mom has some, but no, we are sticking with the basics.


When we went out for morning chores Big Momma wasn't anywhere to be found. You didn't hear Frosty and Lil Bit complaining! This was the first quiet meal they have had since Big Momma came here. She is VERY bossy. So we noticed right away things were way to calm to be normal. We got everyone fed and went to look for Big Momma. Niko found her in the woods on the paintball course. The twins were fairly new, they were still a little wet and Big Momma was still delivering the placenta. The twins were up and walking and I was able to help them nurse for the first time. After she delivered most of the placenta I decided we should try to move her and the babies to the barn. Oh Boy. We picked the babies up and started carrying them to the barn. It's funny about goats, when you pick the kids up it is like they turn invisible to their mothers. Big Momma freaked out. I've never seen something with that big of an udder run so fast. I was afraid she was going to rupture her udder it was swinging around so wildly. She ran past us into the barnyard where she was ambushed by every animal we have wanting to know what the excitement was about. We put the babies in a kidding pen hoping Big Momma would follow, but I think she got confused by the other million or so animals following us and she ran off into the woods again. Great. By now Lala has figured out we have new babies, her favorite. She makes her rounds making sure everyone knows she is in control now and barks to let everyone else know they better behave. Now Big Momma is back in the barnyard hollering for her babies and we are trying to get the babies to holler too, but now they are quiet, so we have to make baby noises. Momma didn't buy it, but finally one of them hollers, she finds them and we get them all in the pen. After physically removing Lala everyone is taken care of.


After I snipped belly buttons and put iodine on feet (and spilled half the iodine bottle down the front of myself) and all that good stuff, I locked the new family in for some quiet time. Lala gave me the most pitiful look. Poor baby wants in with them so bad. It's funny how proud I can be of a dog doing what she is supposed to do without any intervention from me. She is such a good girl. (Her kids will be good guards too. Tell your friends!)

Big Momma

So since we first got Big Momma we have been going back and forth back and forth on whether she was pregnant or not. Well I think we all agree now she IS. She has developed quite an udder and is waddling around pitifully. For several weeks we have been waiting for her to pop these kids out. Today she started making silly goat noises that are very unbecoming of a goat queen and pawing at the ground. It shouldn't be much longer until we have another kid or two or three around here.

Fresh, Homemade Bread

I made fresh wheat bread today. It is really yummy! I just used a recipe from my favorite Betty Crocker Cookbook, except I used whey from my cheese making in place of the water in the recipe. The whey adds protein to the bread. The only problem (you knew there would be a problem) is it didn't seem to rise enough while in the oven. I'm not sure what to do to correct this, but will try again. I need another bread pan, I only have one.

Pups

One more puppy down, 2 females and 2 males to go. Tell your friends!!

Air Conditioning

I don't think I've mentioned this on here before, but we have not turned the air conditioner on at all this summer yet! It is shocking how easy it is to get used to. At first, Stef and I were eating every meal IN the pool and hanging out in it a lot also. Then one day I found myself in the kitchen cooking at the hottest time of the day and realized it wasn't so bad. Now, the last few days it has been over 100 degrees and, yes, it did get uncomfortably warm in the house, but that was nothing a quick dip in the pool couldn't cure! It can be tough at night trying to sleep, but we all have our own personal fan which helps a lot. Just thought I'd share!

Pup Update

We have sold 2 puppies. We still have 3 females and 2 males to get gone now. Tell your friends!!!

MMM... Ice Cream

Misty and I went garage saling Saturday and found some really great stuff. I am trying to downsize, but somehow it was all MY stuff packed into Misty's car. Some of the items I can't tell you about because they are a surprise for one of my most avid readers. (you didn't think I forgot your birthday present did you Gma? You know me, no matter what the occasion you get to celebrate extra long because my gifts never make it on time).

One item I can tell you about is the $2.00 ice cream maker with rock salt! Misty talked me into it, it's her fault. It is a huge model, but I have enough milk to make large quantities at one time and I would hate to have to make ice cream two times because the maker was too small. That is my story and I'm sticking to it. Those of you who know me, know I do not have room in this house for an extra large ice cream machine, but I'm so glad I got it.

We made ice cream Saturday and it was fantastic! This batch was just vanilla. Next will be a peach ice cream with Aunt Anne's recipe then I want to try chocolate.

Also, I found a cheese I am in love with! It is just the chevre with herbs d provence. Tastes like France to me! I still don't have the creamy texture I want, but the crumbly cheeses are awesome on salads. The cranberry cinnamon sugar cheese turned out great too. WOOHOO!

Goat Cheese

I made my fifth and sixth batch of cheese today. They turned out better than the others. My first batch was okay but very dry (I squeezed out the whey, when I should have just let it drip). The second and third were rubbery and weird looking. The fourth batch was pretty good at first but got real crumbly and a bit dry. All of the above tasted good, it is just the texture I can't seem to get right. So after asking some questions on different forums I tried making sure the rennet was equally distributed in the milk and I did not let them drain very long. The fifth batch was a little better, but I think it is going to end up a bit dry even though I only let it drain 2 hours. I put french onion soup mix in it for Stef. The sixth batch turned out super soupy before I drained it. I didn't think it would turn out at all, but after 6 hours of draining it kind of looked like creamy cheese. I added some cinnamon and sugar and cranberries to this one for me. I'm letting it firm up some in the fridge then I will give it a try. I think this was my best one yet. I will try more later this week.

Bad Ama

We had a rabbit escape from one of the cages and unfortunately she did not survive this time. Niko went out to do chores early this morning and Ama went out with him and caught the rabbit. Just like with Little Bit, Ama didn't break the skin at all. Niko grabbed the rabbit right away and brought her inside to us. She was alive and moving some, but obviously injured. I gave her some Benamine I have on hand for the goats. It is a pain killer and muscle relaxer. She died almost immediately after the injection. I thought I might have given her an overdose or maybe rabbits aren't suppose to get Benamine. I still have to check that out.

Stef butchered the rabbit and we were surprised at how much meat was on it. I was very impressed. Stef discovered that the rabbit had many broken ribs and a punctured lung, so I probably helped her die a little more peacefully with the Benamine, not overdosed her.

After stef cleaned the rabbit he set it on the kitchen counter for me to cut into smaller chunks to feed the dogs later. Niko was disappointed to learn the dogs were going to get to eat the rabbit and not us. I was pretty impressed with that. It did look yummy.

Garden trouble

Or should I say chicken trouble. The chickens have been decimating my garden. They just figured out they can get under the electric fence around it and are eating everything in it. Stef is getting some 5 foot fence to put around it today. I hope this helps. I am very discouraged.

Mystery solved!

The last few days Holly has presented us with a mystery. Over 2 milkings her milk had increased about 25 %. That was great. Then all of the sudden her milk was WAY down. Her teats were all uneven and she just didn't have any milk. I took her temp and everything was normal and her teats weren't hard and everything else seemed fine. Nothing in her environment had changed. I just couldn't figure it out, but was getting worried because since Frosty is dried up Holly is our only source of milk. Well I walked out back yesterday and Mystery Solved! Holly is nursing Rocky through the fence! It took her long enough to figure that out. So now we have to put up a better barrier between them. Ranch work is never done.

Puppies

Yesterday I gave 10 puppies 10 baths. It took me 5 hours! They are officially for sale now. We will see how it goes. We are apparently keeping 3. Deklan picked out a girl and named her Suzy. Niko picked a boy and named him Covert. Stef's pick isn't named yet but she's a girl.

Internet Probs

Just want to let everyone know our internet has been screwy and I haven't been able to get online to post anything. I have read all your comments and appreciate them. All of the animals are fine. Stef did a great job. I will post more when the internet stays on for more than a few minutes at a time!

Up North

Up North is where my Dad's parents lived. On the farm. Now I go to visit my Aunt Candice and my cousin Travis and his family. Travis has three boys and one on the way. The two older boys are the same ages as Niko and Deklan. We were able to go to Tiago's third bday party while we were there. My other cousin Tina was also there with her family, but my camera ran out of batteries and I didn't get any pics of them.


The boys always have a good time when we visit.

Gma n Gpa

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This is my grandma, better known as Gma. She HATES to have her picture taken. Hee Hee Hee.

This is my grandpa, better know as Gpa. He's not quite as shy.

We always play croquet when we are at Gmas.

We also went bowling this time. This is a pic of Deklan after his first spare.


Deklan also beat Gpa in a game of Chess for the first time. I didn't get a picture of that game. This is the second game. Gpa got him this time.

My favorite past time at Gma and Gpa's is sitting on the swing and looking out on the backyard watching the birds and the squirrels. Gma told us she likes watching the squirrels mate. I think that is a little weird, but to each his own!

I just had to show this pic too. It cracks me up. Not sure why. They look like an old couple. Maybe the Odd couple?

Colfax

I lived in Colfax, Ia from 2 years old to 14. I hadn't been back in many, many years. I have dreams about it all the time though. I bribed the kids with a trip to Colfax's great swim pool to go with me. This first picture is from the base of Cemetery Hill looking down the road at the trailer Park I lived in. Our house is gone, but our lot was the one with the blue trailer with the mini van in front of it. The tree was a lot smaller when we were there!!

Here is a picture of the kids rolling down Cemetery Hill. I used to slide down this hill in the snow. See the tree to the left? I carved my initials into it with my friend Lisa Hopkins.

Here is a view of the street I rode my bike up and down as a kid. Those lamp posts in front of the trailers were there when we were there. The one in front of our trailer was broken though. My cousin Tina was visiting and some boys came over to flirt with her and broke our lamp.

While we were waiting for the pool to open, we stopped by Trainland USA. This place opened up when I was 5 years old. I wasn't sure if the boys would like it or not, but they wanted to check it out. They ended up having a GREAT time. Basically these people turned their entire basement into a huge train track system. It's pretty cool.

Finally the pool was open. I spent a LOT of time here as a kid. This brought back a bunch of memories. The best thing about the pool is the high dive.

Here is one last pic of Colfax. They also had a bit of flooding.