The Value of a Dollar

I believe it is not until you are standing in a grocery store with only $10 or maybe $20 in your pocket and nothing in your bank that you finally feel the real value of a dollar bill. You are forced to budget and choose carefully. You finally realize that while that quart of ice cream maybe be only $2.95, that is about 1/3 or 1/6 of the money in your pocket, so is it something that is really necessary to have. Is that quart of ice cream worth sacrificing the purchasing of staple goods that will provide nourishment longer. Bread, milk, eggs, sugar, flour, cereal, pasta, etc.

It is the same when trying to keep the animals fed on a budget. Trying to balance between economy and nutrition. Do I really need a broom for the rabbitry floor or would it be better to wait and use that money for feed instead. Then also, trying to decide whether it would be more economical to try and find baled hay to purchase instead of feeding hay cubes and straw bales. Things like these decisions can make all the difference.

I know for myself, I have really come to appreciate the value of the dollar through these trying times.

Sebastapol Geese

The Sebastapol geese began nesting late last week. Today I found their nest in the barn with 3 beautiful eggs inside! I had an idea that one of my 'babies' a hen I call Shirley was on a nest somewhere since I noticed her missing when I came out the door and then Grant, the gander, ran up and nipped me from behind as I walked down to the barn. That's always a big clue there are eggs about as my ganders tend to be sweet and friendly at all times except during nesting season. These babies will be purebreds, therefore I will have to make a decision whether to let the flock raise any babies or to take and hand-raise them and return them later in the season when they're bigger, older, and better able to keep away from danger.

Rabbit Show Building Cave-in in Sweden

http://www.thelocal.se/25112/20100220/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-AgEhDdZgU

I can't even imagine how those breeders felt/are feeling about their beloved rabbits, or maybe I don't want to. So for all those rabbits who made it out alive, for all those still trapped, and for all the ones who were lost, my condolences to the breeders/owners/exhibitors that have suffered.

Maple Syrup

I'm not sure why this never occurred to me before. We have 2 rather large Maple trees on our property, the equipment for tapping is minimal and the season is right. This year, I want to try tapping our trees, collecting sap, and making Maple syrup! Wish me luck, as best I can tell it takes a LOT of sap to make a small amount of syrup. I may ask around and see if anyone will allow us to try tapping their trees as well.

Feeding a Large Family on a Non-existent Budget

Who out there isn't trying to save money these days?! I know there are other large families out there, trying to make ends meet, trying to keep their kids fed and clothed and a roof over everyone's head. A lot of them are even trying to do it without any kind of income. Our family currently is trying to survive on a single member's income. That means that foods have to be home-made as often as possible and plenty of it to keep growing kids happy and healthy.

Meat and fresh foods are the biggest concern. To that end a large family such as ours often looks to alternative sources for protein including beans, peanut butter, and home-grown meat sources. I shop bargains and am grateful to have a large deep freezer in which I can store meats long-term. This allows me to stock pile when times are better. I'm becoming more adept at stretching small amounts of meats farther so that just a little will feed the whole family.

We eat a lot of soups, stews, chili's, and pasta's. Meals that feed everyone and still have leftovers. My large 12 qt stock pot has seen more action recently than it had in months! We make bread regularly, a 5 lb bag of flour can be had for just $1.60 here. A jar of yeast lasts for literally weeks. I'll be adding more laying hens this spring, and plan on bringing in some meat chickens and perhaps some ducks and turkeys to provide a little variety. I will buy a couple/few bags of chick starter grain, but then the birds will be free-range, minimizing expenditure for growing them out.

I'll be doubling the planted produce for our garden this year. Last year's crops gave me an idea which vegetables to plant again, which did well in certain places or could do better if they were moved. I had problems growing beans last year and will be using small terrariums to protect them, hopefully long enough for them to gain some size.

Alternative Feeding Regimens

Our show string and animals are now separate from our 'family use' animals. For the show herd, nothing will change, but I feel that I can perhaps branch out a little more with the family use herd and try to find some alternative that will help make them more economically feasible. Remembering that the one herd may be able to support itself through sales of animals and the other will have to be supported by myself. Therefore one particular feeding regimen that appears to yield good results involves the feeding of loose hay and fresh foods with a grain supplement.

Naturally, much research will need to be done before any switch is made. It's also recommended to try switching from pellet feed to a grain/green diet be done in the spring, when there is a greater availability of fresh foods.

A Milestone

Korben reached his first genuine milestone today. He sat up unassisted. He did it a little differently however. All the girls sat up by shifting their leg under them from a crawling position, but not my little man! Oh no!! He'd begun pulling himself to his knees on laundry baskets and this morning on his crib and then later on his sister's toy boat (a sitting toy). This evening he pulled to his knees on the side of his bouncy seat and was able to shift his legs to the front to finally sit up on his bum. However, I don't think he could figure out how to get back down because he sat there for a very long time before he finally just began to cry. LOL

"I'm free, I'm free!" "Dang it!"

Cherokee came out to greet me this afternoon at feeding time. Apparently she's been pushing the door of her cage open and taking a stroll, or at least she had done yesterday and today. I fixed it well today though, a simple twist tie will hold her cage securely until I can make more permanent repairs. At least she was in the basement, where not much ill could befall her.

I love the Mountains!

I was reminded today while driving just how much I really do love the mountains. Especially now when they are covered with snow and bare trees. It's the most beautiful sight in the world to me.

The End

I can honestly tell people now that our family is complete. There will be no more children born. After months of convincing and discussion and prodding, David finally went to have permanent sterilization performed on himself. The procedure seems to have gone without difficulty and he is in good spirits. I am happy as well in a way, though it feels rather final, and it should. I really don't wish to have anymore children. Still, the end of an age, it feels a little sad and jubilant all at the same time.

An Alternate Source for Dairy?

I'm going to try and make an effort to find a dairy cow producer that will sell me raw milk on a semi-regular basis. Or perhaps I will be able to find someone that would be willing to sell me a part share in a dairy cow (Jersey would be good). I want the milk, but I also want butter and maybe cheese. Butter is the biggest part, I can't make butter from what is sold at the local grocer's, it's been homogenized to keep the cream from rising to the top. Good for drinking, bad for making butter. Right now, butter is the single most expensive item that our family uses regularly. While I'd love to have a couple of goats again, I run into the same problem I did 10 years ago. I have nowhere to keep them close-by so they could be milked twice daily. Though I really do enjoy goat milk. It's just not as easy to make butter with goat milk as with cow.

Asking for Help

This is probably one of the most difficult things for many of my family to do. However, once you get to a certain point, and considering your immediate family, pride should no longer matter.

Today, I asked for help.

Happy Valentine's Day

This is a holiday we don't really celebrate traditionally. However, perhaps I'll make a special cake for the children, or something along those lines.

Happy Valentine's day!

An Interesting Turn of Events

I am generally a reasonable person. I try to reason and use logic in an argument. However, sometimes I think it's better to hold one's tongue, or fingers, and not contribute at all as it may cast oneself in the light with all others that did not contribute with good intentions. Unfortunately, in this an all other situations involving any kind of communication between human beings, once it is out there and someone sees, reads, or hears a thought that has left the confines of one's brain, it is impossible to 'take it back'. In other words, one cannot unread a written comment once it has been read.

I am a member of a forum in which there was an occurrence among some of the younger members involving a very serious accusation on the part of one person. The person came to their own defense and a dramatic scene ensued. The ultimate consequence for the whole mess has been the temporary removal of forum access from all members. I have been a member of many forums over the years, and I have seen these types of events happen before. In the past, those other forums never recovered and were eventually removed. One of them had a similar dramatic event, the forum was temporarily closed and the member simply decided that type of 'group punishment' wasn't worth their time. They went to a different forum and the first forum died a slow death.

While I do understand that the original event was traumatic and potentially libelous, it is the responsibility of the administrators and moderators to deal with it privately. If there is inadequate moderation, nearly any forum will fall apart. Because while it is a sad truth, it is reality that most human beings, while on the internet, can and will occasionally more closely resemble a ravaging pack of wolves.

The Way it is

Sometimes I just don't understand how life really works, and maybe that's just it. We aren't supposed to understand.

Two rabbits became sick at the same time with similar symptoms. No cause, no reason, they just stopped eating and drinking. One of them was a 'spare' and so I went to no special lengths. I normally have a no intervention rule with them, they live or they die according to nature's intent. The other rabbit, however, was the favorite son of a lost sire. A nice looking prodigy with promise in his every look. I broke my rule and went to some lengths to save him. He passed away a few minutes ago, and I am reminded of why I created the 'no intervention' rule in the first place. Because then the guilt sets in, "did I do enough, try enough, try often enough, did I do too much." Those kinds of thoughts can eat away at you, so much so that small voices begin a debate in your head: "maybe I'm not cut out for this, maybe it was my fault, maybe I should sell out of that breed entirely." And of course the ever-present, "is it really worth it in the end?"

I went down to feed the other rabbits, because they had nothing to do with his loss, and I checked on the other sick rabbit. He appears to be more active and may perhaps be recovering. So why did they get sick? Why did one recover and one was lost? Why was it the 'spare' that made it and the 'favorite' did not? Why? Why?? Why???

The truth that every breeder and human being must eventually come to face and either accept or reject, and to reject is to go mad, is that there truly is never any rhyme or reason for death. Even medical science cannot explain the inexplicable, why one person (or rabbit) will improve and another will not given the exact same treatment measures. However as breeders, we are often closer to death than most average people. Any new breeder than cannot accept that should not continue to raise animals and likely will either begin to accept the consequences or leave the hobby.

As for me, I'll simply say, "goodbye beautiful Copper. Your life had barely begun, your future so bright. I will miss you and what you might have brought to my herd."

And now I will start again.

The Conundrum

It's common to hear when a newbie comes into the hobby. They look around at the 45 accepted breeds, they might go to a convention or two. They see all the new breeds and varieties being worked on by others. And a lot of them will think to themselves, "I'd really like to give it a try, I have an idea for a new breed..." or perhaps they'll have been working on a particular breed for a short while and they think to themselves, "I wonder why X color isn't recognized, it's beautiful! I think I'll work towards getting that variety recognized."

Then if they make it a few years in the hobby, most come to realize just how difficult, time consuming, and money consuming attaining that ever-reaching goal of getting a new breed/variety through the ARBA. It literally takes time and effort that very few have in them and even fewer new folk ever really try, much less succeed.

The 'conundrum' that is the heart of it is this: in order for a breed/variety to pass the first showing at an ARBA convention, the animals must be a close representation of the proposed standard. In the succeeding years, the juniors from that original pair must demonstrate improvement over the previous year's animals. How can this be achieved by a person that barely understands the process of breeding and methods for improving an animal through genetics, selective mating, and evaluation techniques?! It's a rhetorical question, because in 99% of all cases, they simply can't. It often takes decades to achieve that kind of skill and ability. Best of luck to all the newbies with a dream. I hate to squash it, but I too once had an idea that flopped. ;) Now I content myself with simply trying to make the very best animals of my breed that I can. Fun projects are strictly that.

Rabbit Breedings

Even though some of the rabbits are now residing in the basement, it doesn't seem to be improving their libido or desire to breed... at least, not in the Hollands. The English Spots are bred, some of the Fuzzies are bred (Mambo and Pie), and even the Woolies are bred. But the Hollands? Oh no! The does simply want nothing to do with the bucks. Have to keep trying though, because the only way to have rabbits from which to choose the next generation is to get them bred.

Po' Man Grocery List

Items essential to feed a large family in these difficult economical times. The following are grocery or food type items only:

All purpose flour (multiple uses... including bread, cakes, dumplings, etc)
Salt
Sugar
Milk
Eggs (unless you own chickens, these are a necessity)
Butter (not margarine, don't confuse the two!)
Yeast (for breads)
Chicken (either leg quarters or whole breasts)
Pork sausage (often cheaper than beef hamburger, and tastes better in sauces anyway!)
Pasta and rice (cheap and filling)
Chicken broth
Vegetable oil
Whole tomatoes and tomato paste (used for spaghetti and chili, hearty meals for large families)

Unfortunately, there is no nutritional substitute for fresh fruits and veggies, but the following are good when caught on sale:
Baby carrots
Broccoli
Romaine lettuce
Apples
Bananas
Butternut squash
Sweet potatoes/Yams (these can be bought in bulk when on sale, blanched, and frozen for long-term storage)

A garden goes a long way to helping ease the economical burden of purchasing fresh foods. Fruit trees also can help with this, but take several years to produce enough to make them worth the effort.

Po' Man Recipes - Chicken Dumplings

Honestly, I never thought as a child that any of the food that we ate was in any particular way special. Now, realizing why we ate in more than we ate out and learning some economical recipes has brought me to realize that a family can be fed on less than $50 per week. It really can be done, but only with a little help. One of the most often enjoyed dishes for us is this recipe for chicken dumplings, which is so simple and easy and so inexpensive. One pot can feed my family of 6 with leftovers for at least the following day.

Need:
Half a chicken breast or a leg quarter
1 can chicken broth
All-purpose flour
Salt
Seasonings (celery seed, salt, pepper)

Boil the chicken in a large stock pot with at least a couple quarts of water (I fill the pot half-way), boil until the chicken is tender and comes away from the bone easily. Remove chicken and set aside to cool. Add can of chicken broth and bring back to a boil. In the meanwhile, mix 2-3 cups of flour with about a teaspoon of salt, then mix in enough cold water to form a thick dough, it doesn't take much, about a cup of water, but add it slowly as you mix (I use my clean hand to mix and knead) so you don't overdo. The dough should be firm and not sticky. Adjust with flour or water until the consistency is right. Now you'll need a clean surface and a rolling pin. I clean a counter for this, sprinkle the counter with flour and set the dough down, then sprinkle more flour on the dough and rub flour on the rolling pin. Roll out the dough to desired thickness, I like between 1/8" and 1/4" for my dumplings. When thickness is achieved, cut long strips, about an inch or so wide and cut the strips into sections about 2-3" long. Add the strips one at a time to the boiling broth. Cook dumplings about 20 minutes (or so) while you remove the chicken meat from the bones and either cut into chunks or shred. Add meat back to the dumpling/broth mixture and simmer another 15 or so minutes. Season with celery seed, salt, and pepper to taste.

There you have it, a very simple, very economical meal for a large, robust family... such as ours. ;)

Crawling

Korben is crawling! Currently it's mostly an on-the-belly army crawl, but he has been teetering on hands and knees. I predict it won't be long for him to be fully mobile! So much for the pleasant bygone days of being able to put him in the middle of the floor and be able to find him in the same spot 15 minutes after.

Winter Storms

So it would seem that we are following a wee-end winter storm pattern this season. Our first major storm hit December 18, a Friday before the holiday. That storm dropped 18 inches of snow on our poor unsuspecting heads. Then followed some warm days that finally melted all that away and left it only a memory. However, last week-end, Friday, we had another major storm that dropped 12 inches of snow on us. We weren't quite as unsuspecting this time. Yesterday we had a low-accumulation storm that brought in another inch or two on top of last week's snow. Then this coming week-end that are once again predicting high levels of snow accumulation. Even the potential for another record-breaker! Predictions right now are calling for 8 inches, however weather models claim between 20 inches and 3 feet. Only time will tell which will be more accurate. Regardless, several rabbits will be moved inside sturdier shelter tomorrow in advance of the expected storm.