Update to the residents...Bovines!

Like I said the other day, it's been awhile since I updated the resident list.  Here are some pictures to go with the list...

*3 Jersey Cows.
*1 Jersey Steer
*2 Jersey Bull Calves

This is Hershey, The Mama (and Grandmama) of the Herd and MooSteer, the full grown Steer that still thinks he's a baby and is still nursing (!!)

Here is Frances Butter (Franci) on the left and Miracle Moo on the right.

These are Hershey's Twin daughters that were born right here on the homestead.

MooSteer

Moosteer will be leaving our farm in about 6 weeks to go to "freezer camp"  

He's been a nice animal. 

These are our Baby Bull Calves that were born this past summer on the homestead.

Left is Porter H.Ouse.  He is Franci's calf (looks just like her) and was born 5/26/16

Right (laying down) is Cousin Rump Roast.  He's Miracle's calf and was born 5/28/16.

Rump

Porter (looking like Mama!)

They are about 4 months old now and soon will be having a visit from the vet for

 those horns and umm..bull parts.

Update to Residents....Rabbits!

My parents have been coming over every week and Dad has been knocking out farm chores left and right! And Mom has chopped more than her fair share of onions in the past few weeks!  Many of the things that have been on the list for ages...are now done!  I'm so blessed!  

They surprised me today by coming up and just getting started while I was still out getting feed.  My guys were here so the Boy helped his Pawpa.

"Pawpa" got out the powerwasher and powerwashed the inside of the chicken coop...much to the dismay of the chickens!  

Then he and Boy set to work on the rabbitry.  They got most of the way done before the powerwasher broke.  (Lots of things have been breaking lately!!) The rabbitry looks (and smells) so nice!!

We currently have 19 Rabbits. Most are our breeders.

The newest addition is "Cory" named such because we got him the same day Boy got his "Licence to Drive"  (80's kids might get the reference...)

Cory is going to take over Spot's responsibilities. (But not replace him)

Spot has been here the longest and is Boy's pet Holland Lop, who is also the Lop Herd Sire.

When Cory is a bit older, he will become our new male Lop breeder.

The rest of the herd:

LOPS:

Spot (buck)

Duchess (doe)

Shadow (doe)

Cory (buck)

ALTEX:

Tex (buck)

NEW ZEALANDS:

Clyde (white-buck)

Biscuit (white-doe)

Gravy (white-doe-Biscuit's daughter)

Mopsy (red-doe)

Reba (red-doe-Mopsy's granddaughter)

CALIFORNIANS

Cali (doe)

Dumbo (for her big, big ears) (doe-Cali's daughter)

REX

Speckles (buck)

FLORIDA WHITE

Sally (doe)

GROW OUT LITTER

Sally & Rex's litter of 5

It's called a "soft opening"

In retail when they open a store with very little fan fair, just to see how it goes, it's called a Soft Opening....then in a few weeks after all the hiccups are worked out, they have the "Grand Opening..."

School started today as a "soft opening."  We've been so busy on the farm and with the CSA and with SALSA...that school snuck up on us.  So this morning there was a scramble to figure out what Boy was going to work on while I had milk delivery and "town day".  Next week (or soon..) I will hopefully have it together and have the chalkboard "First day of School" photos..as this is likely our last year of Homeschool (sniff, sniff).

Here he's working on....um...something...maybe science? at Nana & Pawpa's house.

Do you know the expression....

Do you know the expression...when I get my ducks all in a row??

Well, I managed to get the majority of my 70 chickens (roosters, guineas) in a row....

Longer post in a few with updated pics of the residents of Cackleberry Hollow.

And MORE Salsa!

So this has been the summer or Salsa!! 

Every week we have had an abundance of tomatoes:

Like our weeble-wobble people tomato?

Or the big heart tomato 

I have had lots of help from both my guys and also my parents!! 

 I'm so thankful for the help. 

And again this morning as I looked around the kitchen, 

I saw that we needed to get another batch going.  

Maters everywhere!

My loves!  Helping hands are the best.

This time the peppers were mostly yellow.

YUM!  7 More quarts of Salsa!

Currently the Salsa count is up to 145 jars

Barn Clean-up

Today was a big barn clean up day....lots of work!

Part of our winter hay

AND great news!!  My camera came today! 

Lets more posts with lots of pictures coming soon.

More ways to WIN!!

The last few days' blog posts have been short and late...but I appreciate that you are still sticking around to read!!

Keepin in real!  Quatro the kitty lovin on my boots!

I've been getting the gardens cleaned up for fall (and prepared for planting some cool weather crops) and it has been an "all daylight" kind of days. 

Today, I picked my guys up from the airport.  It's nice to have everyone here again.

In other news....my Ford Escape, whose name is Sadie...decided she needs all eyes on her.

Her muffler broke and it's like driving a 747 (or a harley?) down the freeway. 

 I feel all eyes on us now!

(BOY, I can't wait for the camera to get here!

As a THANK YOU for continuing to read along, I want to give you extra opportunities to win the reader prize package.  I've been trying to figure out "Rafflecopter" and all those things, but in the meantime....Here are more ways to get your name in the hat:

*Comment on every post.

*Send a friend over and have them mention you in their comment. (Entry for both of you).

*Share the post on Facebook

*Follow the blog (Wiget on the sideboard) 5 extra entries!

*Follow Cackleberry Hollow / Wallace Homestead on Pinterest

*Repin one of my posts on your Pinterest.

Giveaway will be on the Blogoversary and if you are local you can pick up your prize at the festival -or if you are not local, I will ship it after the festival on October 8th!

Thanks for helping get the word out!

Too busy....

I was too busy today to take any pictures...oh yeah, and also, I don't have a camera....

But good news, I found a replacement camera on eBay and it should be here next week.

My parents have been such a big help on the farm this fall!  They came out and we got so much done.
Dad and I had to do way too much re-wiring on the barn.  One light had an issue and once it was fixed that cause more issues.  But everything is working now.

Dad and I also harvested the last of the sweet corn, then Mom blanched it and we all got it packaged up for the freezer.  10 quarts.  That's besides the 2 dozen for the CSA tomorrow.  This was my first time doing a large scale corn patch.  One half of the patch was blown down about a month ago in a bad storm.

My guys have decided to take an earlier flight and will be home tomorrow afternoon.  I try to do "big" projects when they are away, but haven't even started on it....so I guess, no big project besides corn this time.

Happy Birthday Mom

Today is my Mother-in-law's 93rd birthday.

Portraits taken by K Aulger, September 2013

Man and Boy took a flight out this morning to spend the evening with her. 

This will likely be the "Good-bye for now" trip as she went into hospice care last week.

The "Fall Festival" is coming!!

It's just a little over a month (YIKES) until 

our 3rd annual "Really Local Farm Market & Craft Fair"!!

As you know I've been making jam, jelly and salsa like crazy for our booth!  

I was asked by a (new) reader (Hi, D!) for more information about the Festival.

It's always on the second Saturday of October, so this year it is on October 8th.

10 am to 2 pm.

I will have farm fresh produce, eggs, and (if I can get the chickens to quit eating them) pumpkins. 

Also, if weather cooperates, we will have fall decorations (Indian corn, mums, corn stalks, etc).

Additionally, we will have our Homestead Yummies

Jams, Jellies, Salsa, Pickles

Bread, Cookies, Candies

Possibly Jerky

Man will be cooking up his delicious BBQ Ribs and Pulled Pork.

Boy will have his Snack Shack with chips and drinks

He will also have a limited number of his wood and acrylic turned pens. And some other handmade gifts from wood.

Our vendors so far this year are outstanding!!  Applications are still rolling in, so there will be plenty more but currently we have:

NikCo is all about adding a little beauty and whimsy to every day life. http://www.etsy.com/shop/NikCo

https://www.facebook.com/NikCo-361111847309832/

Trigeminal Neuralgia Awareness Earrings.

Our "Kid Collection"-These are girls in our homeschooling group that have some of their homemade goodies to share including cupcakes, crocheted dish c

lothes, American Girl clothes, and friendship bracelets.

Daryl Roche Glass Artisan will be sharing his handmade Glass Drinking Straws, Glass icicles, and Glass Pendants.

Then we have the 5 Savvy Sisters each with a booth:

The Country Road: Variety of Hand crafted primitive decor items

Natures Emporium: Hand crafter potpourri, dried flowers, seeds

Take a Hike:  Walking sticks, bird houses, seeds

Houseplant Fever:  Houseplants home started and grown, in a variety of pots.

Bobbin Robin: Grocery bag holders, burp cloths, denim aprons, purses and more.

I'll update again on the 15th with all the additional vendors!!

BE SURE TO COME OUT TO SEE US!

Iona's Spa Day

About two weeks ago, Iona our guard Pyrenees broke her line and she and Danny went for a "run."  The two of them were gone the WHOLE night.  (usually when they go out for a run they are back within a few hours....but I digress.  When they got back both were covered in burrs from the sticker bushes.  All Pyrenees have double coats.  See how big our girl looks!  

Here's the "bad" dogs a few days before their adventure:

Well, after much brushing and sweat and tears, it became obvious that I was going to have to have Iona clipped.  As much as I hated to....

Here is my "Poodle" now:

She looks so small!!!

Jam...Jelly...Salsa!

We are in full swing getting ready for the coming "Really Local Farm Market & Craft Fair" and winter.

My whole family has been such a blessing, pitching in to chop, dice and stir stuff.  Both of my guys have helped and just this past week, my parents came out to put in long full days on the farm! Between the 5 of us, we have canned over 175 jars in the past 10 days!!  Mostly it's been Salsa, as I've come up with a recipe that is so yummy that everyone likes it!  We have 30 pints ready for the Festival, and another 60 quarts/pints for the winter.  On the "hot side", I have 27 jars of "cowboy candy" mellowing.


Plus, the jam/jelly machine has started.  Last year we sold out of 3 flavors of jam right away, so already I've been making double and triple batches of those (Strawberry/Rhubarb, Razzleberry, and Elderberry).  Plus Dad came up with a new combo to add to our selection this year of Strawberry/Blueberry--it is outstanding!!  This week, we also added more straight Strawberry and Lilac syrup for Ice cream.  Here's the list of what we have on hand so far:

• Strawberry
• Strawberry/Rhubarb
• Strawberry/Blueberry
• Blueberry
• Cherry
• Apple Cider
• Watermelon
• Black Raspberry (Jelly-no seeds)
• Red Raspberry
• Golden Raspberry
• Blackberry
• Peach
• Concord Grape
• Cinnamon Apple
• Peach Vanilla
• Carrot Cake
• Razzleberry (Red Raspberry/Blackberry)
• Coffee
• Lilac Jelly *
• Lilac Syrup *
• Violet *

*Small Batch, limited quantity, slightly higher priced due to nature of product.

On the current "To Make" list is:

• More Carrot Cake
• Sweet Tea Jelly
• Tomato Jam
• "Traffic" Jam
• Christmas Jelly
• Gingerbread Spice Jelly
• Red Pepper Jelly
• Root Beer or Mt.Dew Jelly (??)
• Pumpkin Pie Jam

What do you think?  What jams / jellies do you love?  What one have I forgotten??

Countdown to Blogoversary!!

I have been blogging on and off (more off than on lately) for 10 years!  Unbelievable!!! 

September 27, 2006 was the first post I ever wrote....it's on a blog that is no longer public and journals all the trials and tribulations as we worked on getting ready to open our scrapbook bed & breakfast in Amish country only to have the whole thing implode 3 days before closing...but that it was definitely God's will because shortly after that, I had to have spinal surgery.  

Then when I was spending all my time writing about our first chickens, and our dreams went a different direction, I started this blog.

Look at how little our Boy was with his first chicken!!

I haven't been writing for lots of reasons.  My beloved Canon Camera bit the bullet in the one day between the calves births this spring.  And not having pictures, has made it less fun to blog.  Add to that the crazy busy of teaching two new mamas the whole milking routine and growing (AND WEEDING-UG) for the CSA, milk delivery....etc.  I haven't had much down time. 

 Add to that a new tablet that will not post correctly (I got the tablet specifically to be able to "blog on the fly") and it's just been too frustrating.

Eh, excuses, excuses!  Enough of that!

But I've discovered, I miss doing it.  

And since I have a milestone blogoversary coming up, we are going to do something about that!!

So starting today, I will endeavor to blog everyday between now and then (September 27, 2016).  And for every comment posted on the posts, I will put your name into a drawing for a gift of our Wallace Homestead Jam/Jelly Gift package!  So if you comment every day, then you have 32 chances to win!!  If you refer a new reader and they comment and say you sent them, I'll add another entry for you!

Thanks for reading!  I appreciate you more than you know!