Double Rainbow and critter update

I didn't mean to make a spoof video, really. It's just that I had my camera while we visiting our goats and chickens after a big storm, and Hubby noticed the double rainbow. It's almost faded away by the time I shot this, but still... Sorry Double Rainbow guy. I wanted a little joy in my life too!



To see it on Youtube, go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDlYmnu0xpI


Hope this brought a little joy to your day!


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Goaties doing well, and are even surprising us by going out of their little house and playing in the rain. That is, until it started to downpour.


Chickens looking great. Henny and Lenny Penny like rummaging through my corn for grasshoppers (get 'um!), and we've started letting the chicks out, a few at a time. Here's a picture of Warf (get why we named him/her that?) outside the coop with Cream. Warf has a beautiful comb, and look at the size of that crop! Black Australorp.

All this rain is really making our corn and other plants grow. Maybe the hail and microburst didn't kill off EVERYTHING last month!

Arsenic in Backyard Eggs

Read this posting at http://backyardfarming.blogspot.com/2010/07/arsenic-in-your-eggs.html and thought everyone should be aware of it.

Threw our last bag of chicken feed (and chick feed) away so can't check it but from now on ... will be checking our feed for Roxarsone ... you better believe it!

(Actually picking up more today, plus bulk oats, bulk cracked corn, and bulk black oil sunflower seeds... almost all of our livestock will eat, plus even good for us!).

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We've had a lot of storms here lately. On July 4 we had a tornado nearby and the terrible storm and hail that went with it. Tuesday night we had another horrible storm that gushed rain all over. Thinking about how to improve our critter pens so they don't get as much water, although for the most part, they stayed pretty dry. Lost a couple of raspberries, blueberries, some pumpkins, a tomato, summer squash and who knows what else. Oh, and some more of our roofing came off. Wonderful house we just bought.

Too late to replant most of what I wanted to grow. Not gonna have much to harvest this year. Next year WILL be different.... chickens scratching and pooping, goat-stall to muck and spread around... and drainage ditches dug in strategic places ... maybe even a greenhouse or two ... soooo much better next year.

Temp on Wednesday was supposed to top 67 degrees. Yup. That's all. (Sorry USA East Coast). Actually slept last night but my poor corn and tomato plants are NOT happy. And just before it started raining again (3:30 p.m.), I got some indoor tomatoes (3 amish paste and 2 purple russian) transplanted outside. Also threw some millet seed on a small area and lightly covered it with potting soil. AND placed some potting soil against a couple of patches of fence and placed some missouri wonder bean seeds then covered with about an inch more of potting soil. (We have mostly sandy loam, remember?).

Today I plan to do more beans (blue lake vining bean) along another patch of fence, using the same method I did yesterday. I'll also neatly place some potting soil on a place that is pretty bare, near the chicken coop, sow some different kinds of squash (patty pan, zucchini and yellow straightneck) that will be ready to harvest in about 60 days (please no early frosts!) and cover with more potting soil. AND by the very slow growing corn patch, plant some sonoran gold bush tepary bean seeds and in the slow-growing popcorn bed plant some black valentine bush bean seeds. THEN I'll hope for more rain... supposed to have some this afternoon! If not, I'll water heavily.

Working on the Kid's 9th grade curriculum, which he starts the 2nd week in August. Ordered some books from Amazon.com and 2 of them came yesterday. Hope he's ready to be a freshman because this year will be his hardest yet. Should be fun tho. I'm incorporating the local exhibit of King Tut (Denver) into his geography lessons. I know, it's a stretch but how often in one's life does that exhibit come within 100 miles of you?!?! Already planned the date to go, asked my mom-in-law to go, and are getting tickets. Giving the Kid the day off from school so we can spend the entire day there (Hubby's taking the day off too). Worth it.

Do legumes cross-pollinate?

Do legumes cross-pollinate? For instance, next year, I plan to grow a vining white cornfield type bean, a black bush bean, a soybean (bush), a green lentil, and a blue-podded pea (for dried/split). I want to save enough for winter-eating but also enough to plant true for the next year and years after that. So... will they cross each other? If so, how far away do I plant them?

The white beans will be in the 390 square foot "cornfield" in the fenced-in backyard. The rest of the legumes will go where-ever I feel the soil has been amended by the chickens and where there is support (for peas and lentils) or where there is room enough. AND where the goats can't get to them!

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We had a terrible storm last night. A town nearby made the news with so much hail that it looked like it snowed. Our goat pen flooded (thankfully the goat house was a little higher and was tight and dry). We have some work to do before the next storm. Lost some raspberry plants to the storm, and some beans.

Thunder, lightening and lots of rain most of the night. We even had a tornado warning so we (including mom-in-law) went down to the basement. That's ok.. the bunny wanted company!

Made my first goat milk ricotta cheese on Sunday and it was amazing! So easy! Can't believe I had never made it before, from any milk. Want to make cheese from the whey so I'll experiment with that when I have time. Chickens ate their portion like they were starving!

Found some storage bins made specifically for keeping "pet food" so we bought 3 (goat food, chicken food, bunny food). Need 3 more (oats, cracked corn, sunflower seeds) but have to wait until the store gets restocked.

Made some blueberry bread for my neighbor, and while I was delivering it, she gave me another gallon of goat milk. Gonna make more ricotta cheese and/or yogurt today. Also told me they had just planted some prozo, which I later found out was millet. Said she planted as late as August last year and harvested and fed their chickens on it most of the winter. So... I had some millet seeds in the freezer, because we eat it and I give it to the quail. Soaking some tonight in water, and will toss in a special patch tomorrow or the next day ... experiment to see if we can grow millet. If we can, wow! Perfect!

We're giving that neighbor our two quail, Pecka and Fella. She has only laid one egg in the last several months, and they've been so good to us, so ... well, two little quail won't be dinner, but maybe it'll be an appetizer for the family.

Wet Wet Wet

It's Raining
It's Pouring

So... stop it!

Enough rain already. We're drenched. Even our mostly-sand-soil is saturated, which, you can guess, is a little much.

Amidst the raindrops yesterday, we participated in a festival in a nearby town. Browsed the booths, and the Kid rode the ferris wheel and a few other rides. It was really a lot of fun even tho we were quite soaked and frozen (in the low 40's) by the time we got back to the car. Worth it. Watch ... next year it will be scorching hot!

Just picked up our milking doe today. Will post more about that in a few days, with video! Hopefully the three won't kill each other.

Planting Again

Because the microburst (tiny tornado) took away my pumpkins and other things that I'd planted and put out... we tried again.

Yesterday, the Kid and I planted more (ha!) bantam yellow corn and a few more spaghetti squash seeds in the dedicated section in the backyard. When they get about a foot tall, I'll add some pole beans to finish up the Three Sisters plot.

Also in the backyard, I did a different kind of Three Sisters ... I call it the Three Cousins for the lack of a better name: mammoth sunflowers, vining cucumbers, and melons. Same principle ... the sunflowers provide a stalk for the cucumbers to climb, and the melons provide ground cover and moisture barrier.

Then I realized that I had found a 1-pound bag of old (2007) blue hopi corn seeds that I should either broadcast or throw away. Guess which we did! There's a corner of our backyard filled with thigh-high weeds that the Kid and I just broadcast those corn seeds into. I'm hoping Hubby will use the string-trimmer to cut down the weeds before the corn shows up (if it does at all). Corn loses germination as it gets older.

Hubby brought home some (free) icing buckets from Sam's bakery. This weekend we'll poke some drainage holes on the sides at the bottom and along with my other pots/containers, plant with tomatoes, peppers, okra, and eggplant. Decided the southside of the workshop is the safest place for the garden until the windbreak is at least 10 feet tall! Good sun, wind protection, and not far from water source.

Checked on the popcorn/sunflower field and it's really growing. Sowed some amaranth there too but can't really tell if it's come up or not. Not sure what to look for. Will play by ear.

This is supposed to be a difficult weekend. Very cold temperatures and lots of rain. Possibly snow. Yes, you read right. Snow. Well, at least my plants will get a good drink.

Right?

We slept in today, then we'll go to the workshop to work on planting tomatoes (and their companions ... basil, parsley and marigold) in pots to get ready to put outside next week. Might also build a chicken tractor, build another "dog run" goathouse inside the workshop, pick up our milking doe on Sunday, and might even clean! Or we might do the bare minimum, and take naps.

Fun fun.

Wind Storm Tore Apart Our Stuff

We expected a high of 96 yesterday, with a possible storm in the afternoon. Out here, never got above 77.

After Hubby called at 4:15 to tell me he was on the way home, I went out to the workshop to get out the pots for the tomatoes we planned to pot-up last night. The south-side of the workshop seemed the perfect place for them, nicely sheltered from the north winds and lots of southern exposure sun. Counted 27 (just enough), and 3 with asparagus that were NOT dead, and 2 blueberries where only 1 was dead. Tidied the workshop while I was at it, and kept the big garage-style-door up to give the goaties and chicken a little fresh air.

Hubby came home shortly after I finished. Talked about driving through hail and it's coming this way. Grabbed his stuff and placed inside, used the facilities, and by the time we got outside (I really wanted to show him the plants that had survived being in the workshop with no water for months), the weather had changed. The fluffy white clouds turned a menacing dark gray.

We opened the gate from our backyard, stepped beyond the protection of our house, and were hit square in the face with a bluster beyond belief. Our garden containers started flying around, even a couple of things heavily weighted down. Hubby chased down what he could and I rescued the few things I could.

No clue what those gusts ran at but if it was strong enough to nearly knock me down and move some heavy furniture and other items, it had to have been well over 50/60 mph.

The goat house is beyond repair, and we need to start over again. Third time's the charm.

After we rescued what we could, while trying to stand upright, we retreated into the house. Hustled the Kid down to the basement with food, drink, flashlight, computer and my purse. Hubby and I secured the upstairs while we waited for the hail that never came.

The cockerels (about 200) from the people behind us lost a lot of them. Bales of hay at the house across the street look like at least half are missing. My pumpkin seedlings snapped, most probably long gone. Hay with goat manure that I'd scattered on the cornfield just yesterday morning is completely 100% gone. Trashed piled up in a corner where wind blew it and kept it down.

Hubby just told me the radio is reporting that our area got hit with microbursts. Guess that's what it was. A mini-tornado. Completely believable.

From Wikipedia: A microburst is a very localized column of sinking air, producing damaging divergent and straight-line winds at the surface that are similar to but distinguishable from tornadoes which generally have convergent damage. There are two types of microbursts: wet microbursts and dry microbursts. They go through three stages in their life cycle: the downburst, outburst, and cushion stages. The scale and suddenness of a microburst makes it a great danger to aircraft due to the low-level wind shear caused by its gust front, with several fatal crashes having been attributed to the phenomenon over the past several decades. // A microburst often has high winds that can knock over fully grown trees. They usually last for a couple of seconds. // Microbursts are recognized as capable of generating wind speeds higher than 75 m/s (168 mph). Yup. I believe it.

This weekend weather? We're expecting highs in the 50's and lows close to freezing. I think I'll pot up the tomatoes but NOT put them out until Monday or Tuesday. Meanwhile, in between the expected raindrops, we'll yet again rebuild the goat house, and make repairs. Ah man... I haven't even looked at the roof yet!

The chicken coop is still standing.

Once thing's for sure.

Life here in the eastern plains of Colorado sure isn't dull.

Burnt again

You'd think I'd learn, and I thought I had. We had sunscreen (SPF 50) slathered all over. Hats tied on our heads. Mid-length-down-arms t-shirts on.

And still.... the Kid and I got burnt.

The backs of our legs are so burnt we can barely move them. And my ears... I know. Weird. It was very windy (nearby tornados) which kept pushing my hat off my head. Thank goodness it was attached but still... !!

It was hot. It was windy. Goat house fell on Hubby. The Kid and I got burnt. The Kid got bullied from our new neighbor next door, and their dog got a little too close to our goats (which are actually smaller than their dog!). The bunny got too hot in the workshop so she's now in the house. The quail got moved downstairs because Fella (the boy) thinks he's a rooster ... at 2:30 a.m. every day! Tempers flared as the temperature soared. But yeah, we got some done ... until Hubby cut his hand and couldn't do any more. We don't think he'll need stitches but still ... glad I was prepared with medical supplies.

On a positive note, some of my popcorn and sunflowers sprouted!

Expect high of 96 today.

I think I'm gonna rest today.

Lazy Day

We didn't finish the chicken coop, or do nearly anything on the list. We planted some more squash (acorn, butternut, spaghetti, etc.) and watered everything that had been planted (including all of our fruit and fir trees). Spread hay on the potatoes and the "pool" on the deck with the cabbage and broccoli.

The month-old chicks (can't call them babies any more) are doing well. Even little Libby is starting to grow, and even flew a little bit today.

Our quail still hasn't laid an egg lately. Been over a week. Hubby caught her today (which she did NOT like) and together we felt to see if she was egg-bound. Wasn't. Might be age (we have no clue how old she is) or might be fear or being moved too much or even the heat. Will continue to be quiet near them and just wait it out.

Found someone local who has a broody silkie hen. Just need to finish the chicken coop so we can bring her home and get Henny Penny out of the temporary coop.

Our milking doe should be ready to come home soon. Sent an e-mail this evening asking when. We still need to re-do the outdoor goat pen's house. Just isn't sturdy, and with the huge wind gusts we get, it's scary for even us humans to get in there. Nope, just isn't satisfactory. We plan to tear it down and start again. Shorter this time, for less profile for the wind to attack.

My sunburn is blistering, although I keep adding goo to it and splashing cold water on it. Hope I feel better soon. Took a cool bath and by the time I got out, the water was hot from my skin. Not good.

Really need some rain here. Somebody? Anybody?

Have a great day! Please plant a nut or fruit tree.

Wind. Again.

Yes, it's me again, talking about the wind. Yesterday was really bad, not just here but all around the Denver, Colorado area. Downed trees. Hail damage to cars, homes, and even lawn chairs. Newly planted veggie gardens destroyed. Non-flying critters flying. Even part of our roof has flown the coop, so to speak.

Hubby and I had a nice long talk last night, and we decided that we can't possibly do all we wanted to do on our property ... not with this wind. Neighbors say it's the worse they've seen. Don't expect it to get better. Etc.

So ... we're rearranging where things will be planted (more in the fenced backyard, and not much elsewhere, except for trees and bushes (perennials). Maybe if we redouble our efforts for income, we'll be able to afford two greenhouses by October or so. That will help us grow what we need for consumption while leaving the open space for more nut and fruit trees and bushes.

Hubby's off until next Tuesday. I hope that will be enough time to:
-plant corn, sunflowers, amaranth, squash
-set up trellises we already have and plant our luffa seedlings by them
-get the potatoes in boxes outside
-finish the first chicken coop and get HP out there
-start/finish the second chicken coop and get a silkie there
-plant the holly bushes and various trees where I planned

See? Lots to do in 5 days. Especially since there's more wind expected. It's very hard to do anything in the gusts we experience up here.

At least we're flexible. Able to change our plan to fit the circumstance.

Hoping we can at least get the corn, holly and trees planted today.

Wind

Somebody turn this wind off! I can't think!

Busy Sunday and weather

Met the like-minded family yesterday, walked the property, met the chickens and pigs, petted a horse, saw the wind turbine set-up, and brought the hen home. Talked about farmer's markets and seedlings. Love those kinds of conversations!

Picked up a chicken feeder and waterer on the way home, then, after Hubby finished attaching the door to the chicken coop, he reached in and pulled her out, and placed her in the coop. It's situated in the workshop/barn because we don't have the exterior one done yet. Hope she settles in. Doesn't seem to like us.

By the time we finished with that, it was time to change our clothes and get into town to take Hubby's mom to Linner (lunch-dinner). Pleasant conversation! Hit Home Depot on the way home because the coops and pens are supposed to be constructed today (wait for it... !) but the one we stopped out with the trailer didn't have the gates or plywood we needed ... neighborhood too upper-scale! Got what we could, and popped into a book store on our way back home but the book store didn't have what we wanted either.

Get home, unhook the trailer, do evening chores (everybody gets food and water!), played with the chicks for a while, and passed out from exhaustion.

Well, not quite. Heard a little thing on the 10 p.m. news that disturbs me. We expect snow Tuesday evening/Wednesday. SNOW! 1-2 feet! Yep, you read right. So much for getting some plants in the ground. Or building the coops and pens.

So the coops and pens that are "supposed to be" constructed today may not be. The temp is dipping and rain is on it's way. Followed by the snow tomorrow and Wed. Geez.

Quail Eggs are Tasty

As promised, here are pictures of our quail-egg dinner the other night.

The first pic shows the 4 eggs frying while I hold an unbroken egg to show you size. I should have taken a pic of the inside of the shell ... they were all a lite lite blue! Very cool. And no one quail egg looks like another ... all are speckled and mottled. Easy to break open. Some shells were harder than others ... wonder if that has to do with the lighting or what we feed her? Also notice the color of the yolks ... the one closest to the egg (top left) is a little lighter, but didn't taste any different. A couple of the eggs didn't have much white part.

The second picture is my dinner plate.... the eggs in the first pic went to Hubby then he came back for 7 more. The Kid took 4 scrambled then came back for another 4. I barely got any! Here is my four quail eggs and a few pieces of bacon. I took the picture before I remembered add the grapes and carrots and greens. But you get the gist, right?

It takes about 3 quail eggs to equal 1 regular chicken egg. If you compared 1 cup of scrambled chicken eggs to 1 cup of scrambled quail eggs.... the cholesterol and protein are the same.

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I keep watching the news about this oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Well, it's actually expanding out of there, isn't it? At a rate of how much oil per day (supposedly 200,000 gallons a day!)? Hour? Have you given thought as to how it's affecting marine life, i.e. the seafood that you enjoy on a regular basis? Or how it spreading and traveling .... and how it could affect not only the eastern seaboard of the USA but also traveling into western European waters? What will happen when the soil is spread out so thickly that the water underneath can't evaporate? Will it raise or lower the temps (because some reaction will happen)! What the next link in the chain of reaction after the temp change?

The area where the Exxon Valdez spilled is still suffering ... 21 years later. The salmon kinda came back, but the herring never did. And the oil can still be waded through along the coastline, on the beaches.

This spill is worse.

And how will this affect us regular people? I mean, besides the reduction or elimination of edible seafood? What about gas prices? Someone has to pay for the clean-up, and you can bet it's gonna be us! Argh!

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Very windy for the past several days. I wish it would calm down. I keep having to chase after stuff, and the poor quail are so agitated. I think it's supposed to get a little colder today. Hope the wind leaves as the cold comes in.

I did too much yesterday. Ran errands for about 4 hours and by the time I got back, could barely move. But still.... animals must be taken care of! So I helped the Kid unload the car, went in and fed the critters, tried to calm down the quail (no eggs for 6 days now?!? ... the wind), put things away, and checked out my seedlings. By the time I had finished that, Hubby was home, we had dinner, and I collapsed.

Today is gonna be busy too. Sigh.

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Please plant a nut or fruit tree today.

Preparedness versus Self-Reliance

If you read my info on this blog, you know I used to be in "survival preparedness" big-time. Earth changes. Social unrest. Political chaos. Blizzards. Tornadoes. Etc etc etc. My other blogs, including http://survival-cooking.com/ still gets lots of activity because it discussed working with stored foods.

Oh, I still cook with stored foods, only now I do it with self-reliance more in my mind, than preparing/prepping for hard times. Yes, we have dried tomatoes and dried herbs, but only because I grew them and dehydrated them. (I don't freeze a lot, and "can" even less.) I can fix a meal in the dark, and convert a pizza box into a solar oven. I know my Kid won't eat fresh blackberries or raspberries but if I dehydrate and powder them, I can hide them in a smoothie with a little dried spinach powder and frozen bananas ... good enough for him to ask for seconds.

But when I need buckets to store the corn I grew, I surf on over to http://www.usplastics.com/. When I need a big water tank or hand-cranked grain grinder, I go to Emergency Essentials at http://www.beprepared.com/.

Just saying ... I'm not a survivalist, but am quite practical and like knowing I have enough food and drink and "medicinal" herbs put away for my family in case of emergency. Don't you?

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We ate quail eggs last night! I took pictures but you'll have to wait until tomorrow to see them. Hubby ate 11, the Kid had 8, and I had 4. Come on, quail ... give us some more! Yum!

On a little more yucky note... our baby chicks didn't have much pasty butt yesterday. Only one got a bath! We might be turning the corner but will keep a close eye on it.

Massive winds yesterday. Up to 100 miles per hour in places. Blew pollen all around. Sounded like being in the middle of a tornado most of yesterday. Close to 80 mph here where we are. The Kid and I had to chase down a few things that decided to fly (inanimate!).

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Please plant a nut or fruit tree today.

Seedlings and Chicks

These pictures were taken last week but I didn't get a chance to post them until now. That's the day of the snow storm ... we got a couple of inches of snow outside.

Picture 1: that's part of our fenced-in dog run that we're turning into a goat pen, chicken pen, relaxing area, and raised-bed intensive garden area. Can you tell that I planted peas in the bottom right... between that horizontal wooden post and the fence. Hope they don't die. Haven't sprouted as of yesterday.

Picture 2: I love this picture. This is the upstairs bedroom that faces east and south. The window in this pic faces east. I love setting here at dawn to watch the sunrise. Absolutely beautiful. Out the window you can see the snow that fell for another couple of hours after I snapped this pic. On the window ledge is a planter with lettuce that we've been eating on for a couple of weeks. You can also see where I've repotted some of my seedlings (grown from seed) and placed in baggies. I really need to get the cabbage and broccoli in the ground! In the foreground to the left are the apple rose finn fingerling potatoes that I set out to get sprouts in the eyes. Those really need to be planted soon too!

Picture 3: Here are seedlings I started. The foreground has tomatoes, peppers, marigolds, etc. In the little baggie to the left is an experiment I did with lentils ... and yes, 2 out of three sprouted so yes, I'm planting some in the ground this year. Towards the back of the pic is a flat I did with different greens.... I was testing some old seed and as you can see, they sprouted! Um... anyone need some flats of lettuce?

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The baby chicks did well over the night. Interesting that we never realized that chickens... even babies ... sleep at night.

We ended up separating the chicks again ... each kind in its own box. The black australorps are ever so nice to each other, but the easter eggers... geez! There are two in that group of five that will peck at another. Not good.

As for the night... the blacks cuddled together ... not away from the heat and not near it. Kinda in the middle. Must have the temp right. Hubby thinks they put off more heat than the ee's. Could be.

Last night the ee's spread out in their box but closer to the heat. Every time I checked on them, one or two were off by themselves, wings totally spread out and sleeping away. One even slept in the feeder!

Of course, they are all up and eating breakfast now. They did well in their makeshift boxes but Hubby's gone to pick up a metal trough and a second heat lamp setup. Turns out I'm allergic to chickens (nose, eyes, argh!) so we need to move them to the garage. Hence, the requirement for a better set up.

We do have that chicken coop we got a few weeks ago. Still have to re-hang the door but we're thinking .... a local community is having an "animal swap" where people can either trade, sell or buy all kinds of animals, including dogs, chickens, sheep, goats, etc. We think we'll go (next weekend) and see about getting a dog or 3, and perhaps a couple of laying hens... something different than what we have. Just for the experience (oh, and the eggs!).

Our "handyman" is coming over this morning to quote on building our outdoor goat and chicken pens. Plus our "subdivision" is having a huge garage sale so I want to go to that. AND I need to get the potatoes planted in the box setup I talked about a couple of days ago. AND Hubby and I need to build the raised beds and fill so I can get the cabbage, broccoli and greens planted. My little seedlings (as you saw above!) are getting quite large!

We also have a friend coming by ... the one that gave us all of the pallets and some wood. Busy day. Gotta scoot!

Our Baby Goaties are Home!

The above is a picture of our drive this morning. It had snowed and blasted an arctic wind all night. As we drove, we struggled to keep the car on the road. Had to take this pic, tho, of our beautiful Colorado Rocky Mountains. Rock and mud slides, and all.

The above is a picture of CM2, the doe we're going to be bringing home after her kids are weaned. Doesn't it look like a white chicken on her side? She doesn't like attention. Hope that changes!

The above are 3 of CM2's 4 kids. You can't tell it in this picture, but they are so small that I picked one up with just one hand! Very cute and obviously head-butting each other, and climbing on the hay, like above. Thrilled that CM2 turned out to be such a great mom. Hope she's as good next year when we breed her.

Here above are our two goats, in the dog kennel, just before we took off from the Crowley place to come home. They were a bit confused and bleated the first 30 minutes of the trip. By the time we got home (about 1.5 hours later), they had pushed the hay to one side, and were laying down on the cool crate. Didn't even want to come out at first! Glad we put collars on them. The white and brown one with the pink collar is Honey and the black one with brown pants (!!) is the wether, Hawk.

Here is Hawk and Honey about an hour after being in their new home. They had explored the kennel, eaten some goat food, taken delicate sips of the water (bucket in foreground) and here they have fallen asleep on their feet! Didn't realize that when a goat is tired, it just stops in its tracks and sleeps.

Doesn't Hawk kinda look like a donkey?

Soon after I took that last pic, Hubby and I left the workshop/barn and went inside to tidy up from our trip and do a few things. When I went back out around 6:30 (a few hours later) to get them ready for the night (just checked food, hay and water, etc.), they were waiting for me at the kennel door. They had moved lots of hay aside to unbury the rocks underneath, and had eaten quite a bit of the hay and food too. They were much more friendly now, and didn't bleat nearly as much.

Hawk started a trend, tho. He raised up on his hind legs and pawed my thigh with his upper legs, basically begging for attention. Like I hadn't just scratched his back and butt! Soon after, Honey figured she'd jump up on me too. So... what do we do? Do we let them jump up and just pet them (thereby reinforcing it?) or do we gently push them down and pet them after they're down?

It was sad to leave them for the night. They cried out, and even after we shut up the workshop/barn, we could hear them bleating. I'm sure they're okay. Patricia (the former owner) said that their mommy cried out for them for a while. I hope the hugs and attention we give the goaties make up for the loss of a mommy, and I'm sure Lili the mommy will be fine too.

Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings! (Well, actually, my clothes washer broke yesterday so hopefully Hubby will get it fixed tomorrow.)

Can I feed unpopped popcorn to the chickens?

Our baby chicks come in next week ... 5 auracanas and 5 black australorp. We have chicken starter and chicken grit, but as you know, we're hoping to at some point get off the pre-prepared foods and feed what we grow.

Meanwhile, from my "Grow to Feed Chickens" at http://vikkisverandah.blogspot.com/2010/03/grow-to-feed-chickens.html , you know we plan to feed cracked corn.

I looked at Sam's and they don't have regular dried corn. I can get some at Big R supply store but it's a tad expensive. So I'm wondering ... can I buy the bulk popcorn at Sam's and crack that for the chickens? Will they explode?!?!

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Thanks for the suggestions about growing potatoes, and bagged potting soil/compost. We'll see what we can do.

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Yesterday the Kid and I went into town. Needed various items so we can get more done this weekend, and were out of carrots and pears. Walking out of the store, a black sky greeted us. It had been raining off and on for 2 days (good cuz we need it) but when we left our little homestead, we had blue sky with white fluffy clouds. The black sky took us by surprise.

Now, in case I haven't mentioned it, the Kid had a great fear of tornados. When he was about 6 years old, we were driving cross country in my Dodge Dakota with topper above, and Christmas presents underneath. Somewhere in Kansas, in the dark of night, a humongous gust of wind (possibly a pre-tornado) picked us up and quickly slammed us back down, ripping off the topper and taking almost everything from the truck. A wonderful couple of truckers stopped to help me gather the few things I could, but I never did find the topper. And the Kid has had a huge fear of high winds and tornadoes ever since.

As we hurredly started the drive back home yesterday, the rain started. Very light, with the clouds beginning to swirl. The Kid's eyes widened, and kept me updated every minute with the status of the clouds. I drove as fast as possible, considering the winding country roads and constant presence of police. About 10 minutes from our house, Hubby called. A tornado had just hit where we just were. I didn't let the Kid know and just calmly told Hubby I'd call back when we got home. Home, unloaded car, took some footage of the sky with my camera (which I'll post when I can), and called Hubby back... just to let him know that we were home safe and the hail had started pounding here.

What an exciting day. Took several hours before the Kid stopped jittering. Hail hit for about an hour, followed by rain. Hope our roof held up! Haven't inspected it yet.

And now it's snowing.

Ah, I love this place!

Grow to Feed Rabbits, and another Blizzard

As you know, we have one Ruby-Eyed White French Angora rabbit, who we plan to mate and breed for more rabbits. Wonderful fiber to spin, and also makes decent-enough wicks for candles (more on how to do that probably next Fall). Here's our plan for growing enough in our garden (being self-reliant/self-sufficient) to feed our rabbits:

For now... we keep the pellet dispenser full of ManaPro Grow, and keep a good suppy of fresh hay in the back of her cage. When we get a hay-rack, that will be kept full.

Morning:
3 baby carrots
Hay

Evening:
Hay
1 or 2 of the “treats” below (3 months old and above)

Treats (Alternate – 1 serving of seeds per week):
-dandelion leaves
-parsley
-turnip greens
-clover
-grass
-carrot tops
-blackberry leaves
-broccoli
-lettuce
-spinach (1-2x/wk)
-green bell pepper
-carrots
-1 tsp flax seeds
-1 Tbl wheat berries
-1 Tbl sunflower seeds
-apple
-banana, banana peel
-2 Tbl rolled oats

WATER: Clean and refresh with clean water daily.

Our bunny, Blanca, loves her pellets, but quickly ignores them for a chance at "real" food. We keep her pellet dispenser full, as she's good as self-regulating. If we get a bunny that eats and eats without self-regulation, or paying attention to hay, then we'll feed pellets only once a day.

When we eliminate pellets, replace with 2-4 cups of “treats” per day, with all the hay they can eat, starting at 12 weeks of age.

We plan to still feed them 2 papaya tablets 2-3 times a week to help prevent wool-block. Keeping the rabbit cage clean, keeping the rabbit clean, and giving plenty of healthy hay will also keep down the wool-block.

= = = =

Another blizzard hit us yesterday. Expected for several days, this started with humongous wind gusts followed by rain that was quickly followed by freezing sleet. After an hour or two it became snow. Within 15 minutes the ground was covered.

When we got up this morning (early so Hubby could make the hour drive in about 2 hours), we had snow drifts of 2-3 feet but for the most part, snow measures about 6 inches here. Expecting another couple of inches today but for the most part, snow stopped.

The Kid and I and the critters (quail and rabbit) are safe and snug in our home. If the electricity goes out (this is a heavy wet snow), then we'll light candles, open all the blinds, and figure out how to light a fire. We have plenty of food and drink, toilet paper, and things to do. My goal for today is to unpack more for the bedroom, bathrooms and kitchen. Oh, and work more on planning our 2 acres with permaculture and hopefully the county extension office will call me back today.

Just hope Hubby makes it to work safely. He usually calls when he gets there. Hope he remembers today.

Dinner tonight: crockpot with extra-wet rice, lentils, chopped mushrooms, diced onions, garlic, and chili powder. Maybe tomato sauce too. Kinda like a non-meat taco meat. Will serve with tortillas. I'll add cheese and sour cream to mine. Spinach and zucchini on the side.

Have a great day, all. Stay warm.

Stones vs Snow

I had barely left the hospital yesterday (where I had my CT scan) when I got a call from the doc. Already had the results! Yes, I had some kidney stones, one fairly big and one just a little smaller. One was trying to escape, which I believe it did ... yesterday afternoon.

The doc started me on medication that will break them up, as well as an antibiotic since my kidney had become inflamed. I also took it upon myself to increase my intake of supplements: dandelion, apple cider vinegar, cranberry and corn silk.

If this doesn't work, the "pulse" laser thingy is next. That's what they did the last time, and it worked well in breaking them apart. I'm thinking I drink too much cow milk and that's already stopped.

I already feel less pain, so I'm figuring that it will be just another day or two before I've got the worst of them gone.

Meanwhile....

The weather services have been predicting a major snow storm for today. Denver, Colorado area. Supposed to get 6-12 inches or 8-24, depending on location. Supposed to start around midnight. Here it is 4:31 a.m. and we don't have even rain out here in the boonies yet. Weather.com says not until 8 a.m. out here, but that it's already raining and sleeting where Hubby works.

I did errands on the way home from hospital.... last minute groceries, especially stocking up on goat yogurt for the Kid. We have plenty of propane for heat (gotta get this fireplace checked out and firewood stocked) and have a pretty good idea where the candles and lighter are just in case the electricity goes out.

Our first blizzard out here. Yippee!

Warm Day Turned Blustery

We had great intentions for today: unpacking, hooking up the Kid's computer, organizing the schoolroom, finding kitchen basics like dishes and silverware, visiting the local farm supply store, and more. But... we got up late, dressed for 50's weather (that's what the TV and radio said!), and started the long drive to the nearest town.

The day before, we'd gotten a flyer in the mail for a farm supply store. Our goal for this trip was to check them out to see if they could provide all that we need. They can. Just about. From chicken waterers and feeders to brooders to rabbit and quail food to, well, just about anything a farmer or rancher needs. We bought a big trash can (we needed one), a hobby farm magazine, a package of soy bean seeds and a package of quail food.

By the time we got out, it had started to snow. Not good. We were NOT prepared. Off we went to Wal-Mart, which was next on our list anyway. Even tho not on our list, we grabbed some hats, gloves and scarves that were half-off anyway, and added to that a few other necessities. We could barely see on the way home. Near-blizzard conditions for a few moments, then to sleet, and it's been sleet/drizzle off and on all the rest of the afternoon.

What a lazy day. We gave the quail their new food, which was gone in a matter of minutes. The bunny got a new batch of manapro grow and a hunk of hay. Found the potatoes and some of the onions in the workshop so brought them in the house along with some lamps and a few other items. Then turned on the boob tube, opened the blinds to enjoy the view of the cloud-encrusted mountains, and talked about fencing, chicken coops, and goaties.

I love this life.

Busy Before Storm

Up early, doing a load of dishes and a load of laundry to hang on the shower rods. Made some calls to find a hospital to donate some toys to. Gathered Kid's school reference books to get his curriculum ready starting in January.

We're expecting a snowstorm tonight, bringing frigid temperatures and 6-8 (+) inches of snow. So... the Kid and I went off to do errands so my very old car can sit and be covered with snow for the days to come.

I still can't find my box of winter clothes, so I popped into Goodwill (Thrift Store) and picked up several pairs of sweat pants and sweaters while the Kid browsed the book section. No, he didn't get any because Christmas is only a few days away!

Next we went to the dollar store, right next door. I got lots of little things, like coloring books, toys, baby socks and puzzles, and those will go along with what we're collecting from others. We're delivering all of these to the local Children's Hospital next week, after Christmas, for kids when they complete a treatment, have their birthday in the hospital, or just need something to keep them busy while confined to a hospital bed. (Maybe next year I can make things to donate.)

Then we went to the grocery because the always-hungry Kid was out of cheese. He likes to put 4-5 pieces of gluten-free bread on a plate, cover with grated cheese, sprinkle on flax seeds and parmesan cheese, and nuke until the grated cheese melts. This is what he likes every day for lunch. Weird, huh. But, healthy and filling. He also talked me into buying some pumpkin eggnog (marked half off), which he has decided he loves. And I bought some beef stew meat, marked down with an orange sticker for 50% off.

Home, unloaded the car, ate lunch, then did another load of laundry (underwear and socks are the only clothes I wash in hot water and get put in the dryer; everything else gets cold water and hang to dry). After I finish typing this, I'll get back to working on the Kid's curriculum. Have to plan what pages he'll do in what workbook and on what days.

Hubby and I have a special anniversary tonight, so we're going to the Outback tonight. We'll bring home their delicious gluten-free dessert (Chocolate Thunder Down Under) for all of us to enjoy together.

No word on the house yet. Expect we won't till after Christmas. I did, however, get some bad news from back home, in Kentucky. My sister's bum of a husband asked her for a divorce the Sunday after Thanksgiving, just days before her birthday. He never has spent any time with his 2 kids, and has treated the eldest (my sis' from her first marriage) like a horrid stepchild. He refuses to move out, drinks in front of the kids, doesn't hide his porn, and expects my sis to treat him like his best friend. And she feels like she has to go along with him (except she hides the porn and liquor), or he could wipe out the bank account and empty the house one day while she's doing an activity with the kids. She stopped working years ago, per his request, is disabled and has no money and huge medical bills. She doesn't know what she's going to do. And I can't do anything for her. I offered to take the two younger kids for a week in the Summer (the oldest is in the military but the youngest 2 are very close to my Kid's age). So... we'll see.

Guess that's it for now.

Have a wonderful Tuesday, everyone. Stay warm, happy and healthy.

Vikki