Tuesday, November 23, 2010

It's Thanksgiving week...and time to be thankful.  I'm thankful for my family who have had to deal yet AGAIN with my health issues....and my mental health issues.  For the farm despite all the work it is.  For bountiful crops and full pantries. For a job that has been here even when I don't love it and even gives me time to blog occasionally.

Last week we took the last 10 meat chickens to be butchered.  Well, I thought it was the last 10 birds...after returning from the processor...two more were lurking around.  We have a bit of a challenge with "chicken math".  Two nights before it was time to take them, I tried to count the number of birds we have.  There are so many right now that I don't really break it out by what they are...just a beak count.  I came up with 73.  THEN we took 10 to the processor...so it should be 63, right??  I counted 67...then found 4 more sleeping in a tree...HUH?!?!  So God multiplied where I subtracted.  Since then we have lost 3.  We had gone almost 6 weeks without finding a dead bird, so it was a bit disheartning to start counting again only to have them go and die on me.  So I think we are at "about" 70 birds. 

  • 2 silkies (Professor & Princess)
  • 3 adult Muscovy Ducks (1 Drake-Drake, 2 hens- Brownie & Quack)
  • 6 "teen" Muscovies (1 Drake, 5 Hens)
  • 1 Turkey (Thanksgiving-whom I think has been dieting as he is not ready for Thursday)
  • 11 Guineas (2 white, 8 purple, 1 white & purple)
  • 2 "left over" meat birds
  • 2 roosters (Boo the Americauna and Mohawk the Rhode Island Red)
  • 43 Hens (20 newish Americaunas, 2 newish RIR, and some of our named birds including the original Buffy and Muffy and Arica.  Also Susie and Gibby-Gaby)
We've had a dwindling of baby rabbits and are down to 2 "teen" Californias.  So the Rabbit Count is:
  • Robbie (Buck-Californian)
  • Meg & Mollie (Does-Californians)
  • Spot (Buck-Lop)
  • Sweetie & Frosty (Does-Lops)
  • 2 Teen Californians that need to be "checked"
  • There is a possiblity that I will be picking up another female "mini-lop" today.
Everyone is going to be breed this weekend.

We still have the 3 dogs.  Kristl, the inside Eskimo Princess.  Danny, the inside Eskimo Spazz (who was fixed on November 8th and just finished wearing the "Cone of Shame". and Iona, our barn dog Pyrenees.  She is getting on the thin side so we are working on getting her fattened up for winter.  Also, we are not completely convinced that Danny didn't have a romantic interlude with her before his trip to the vet....those cold be some interesting looking pups!

Friends of ours has asked if we would consider keeping a meat cow on the property for them.  We are considering it.  There is the whole fence situation...some areas are not very secure....and I'd like to have a goat or two to take care of the weeds and such.  If we do keep a steer for meat....I'm thinking we ought to have one for milk too.  But that's kinda getting the horse before the cart....oh and speaking of a horse....JK!

Our church had a "Thanksgiving" dinner last night.  I didn't get to go because of work, but the guys went and took my entry for the Cranberry contest.  Each family needed to make a dish with cranberries in it. It could be dessert, salad, etc.  I made a Cranberry and Apple Crisp Bake with Honey Crisp Apples.  There were 18 entries....and I got 3rd!!  WOOT!  So I hope I wrote down.....somewhere.....what I did!

So there's a quick update as to the happenings on the farm.  I am looking to redo the blog so it has tabs and catagories instead of having 6 different blogs going on.  I have been accepted as a local and national blogger for an online magazine site so I need to get this stuff figured out soon.  The bonus of having deadlines for my blogging is that you will now get more timely updates!  There will be tabs for homeschooling, homesteading, canning, scrapbooking, and also one for Zachary's "Smiles for Sam" blog...which was also updated this week.  There are also some other things that I am working on that will be a cool addition if I can get it worked out....hopefully by January. 

Stay tuned.....and please comment!

Thursday, November 11, 2010

My apoligies

I have been very far from blogging lately....you see, I have a bad back.  And it has it's moments when it MUST have all the attention.  The last 5 weeks have been all about it.

It's not really better, and I'm coming to realize, that this is my "thorn", as Paul put it.  I'm learning to cope and relearn how to do what must be done, and can be done....just differently.

We'll be back with farm antics, homeschool antics, my new cupcake obsession, and the last of the canning very soon.