My 'Christmas' cough is still keeping me up in the night - two months later. I had to have my first dental crown done, which wasn't the most pleasant experience (two weeks of throbbing and sensitivity from taking the mold to the fitting, and now the actual crown has been sensitive for five days); then I wrenched my back, and after several days on ( Read more... )

ThatGuy and I have mentioned several times to *my* side of the family that we might want to look for more land in the next five years or so. My negative nelly mother has even joked that she knows I will eventually get my dairy goats. Some days I want to move -right now- and others I can't bear the thought of starting over again. Then there are the ( Read more... )

Sweetie and Darla had their litters Saturday night and Sunday morning. We did a quick visual check to make sure everything seemed settled without overly disrupting the nests, and left things alone for the moms to have a bit of time to adjust. Darla was a bit growly, though Sweetie was only mildly nervous. Monday evening, we did a full head count - ( Read more... )

Eleven bunnies went to freezer camp this past weekend. We decided to keep back one friendly boy, now named 'Spot' by ThatGuy, who thinks it's an ironic moniker for an albino.... All went relatively well, and each bunny was dispatched as quickly as possible out of sight, smell and earshot of everyone else. Processing was repetitive and caused muscle ( Read more... )

We came home Tuesday night to a delivery of feed - atop our benches and picnic table in the carport; straw (chicken bedding), grass mix hay (rabbit food) and seven assorted bags of rabbit feed, grain and chicken crumble that we brought inside the house into the basement hallway (silly free-loading rodents). ThatGuy got a big smile on his face, “if ( Read more... )

'When you decide to pickle beets, and then decide to double the recipe because "you're making a big mess anyway," start early in the day - before lunch ideally. And definitely early enough that the outside temperature will not drop to *zero* and start frost forming on the porch floor membrane before you're done - besides leading to you being very ( Read more... )

After much waiting, searching, and cajoling, Patty started to lay on Saturday, and Nugget gave us an egg on Sunday - but nothing this morning as of 'breakfast' time. Strip isn't yet with the program. The eggs arrived just in time to bake Oatmeal Banana Muffins for our breakfast this week :)

We have twelve fuzzy, happy, bouncy, baby rabbits, and a couple of slightly-stressed moms. We gave the moms a day off on Saturday, as Darla was growling when the kits tried to feed, and by Sunday night I watched her carefully smell each of her four babies for identification and eventually let them all nurse. They seemed relaxed this morning, so we ( Read more... )

When we arrived home last night, and went out to check on the babies, we found that Darla's runt had not survived the day. The little body was still warm from the nest, but there was no doubt that the struggle was over ( Read more... )

Interestingly enough, Sweetie's babies (all eight) seem bigger and better-fed than Darla's five, one of which is a bit of a runt I'm keeping an eye on. Sweetie is noticeably eating more of her pellets, and drinking much more water - the greens, fruits and veggies I give the girls (and which they prefer) are eaten in equal amounts ( Read more... )