April Fools' Day!

One of my all-time favorite non-celebrated holidays in existence! When else is it considered acceptable to play naughty jokes on people and have a darn good time doing it! A few years ago, we played one on my boss, telling her the star associate "couldn't take it anymore and he was going to quit" and that I didn't know what to do. Ha ha! We were the only ones to get her that day. For tomorrow, I've set one up on my children, going in after they were asleep and turning their alarm clock forward one hour. My plan is to get them up at their usual 6 am and tell them they are running late! Since their clock will show it as 7 am. I will update tomorrow as to how it proceeds.

Good Planning or Going Overboard?

I'm all for good planning, I'm all for being prepared for anything, and I'm all for sustainability. However, I wonder if it's possible to be too paranoid. Just how far is too far to expect one to be able to maintain sustainability in the city and why should it suddenly be my personal responsibility to arrange survival means for our family in the event of a social collapse?

I actually can do quite a lot right now. However, a breakdown in society may render any preparations pointless, as was pointed out to me by my dear other half, so what's the point in the first place? Personally, after looking carefully backward, my first suggestion was to establish close ties with neighbors in the community. A group of people working together stands a much stronger chance for survival than a single family. Look at the Amish, they've maintained sustainability for centuries.

For our family it would mean finding a source for water, the one commodity that would become very quickly in short supply. We have small animals that could be used for meat and eggs. We have fruit trees and can plant a garden. Milk and flour would be difficult to replace, though flour is cheap at the moment and dried milk could be gotten.

So there is a lot I could do in the event that supplies became difficult to locate. Not everything would be so easy however, we use electricity for both heat and cooking and artificial light sources would be difficult as wax sources are rare.

Quit Rolling your Eyes at me!

LOL

No, I am not a hippie, I am a modern-day green-ist.

So I will recommend supplements and herbal remedies for minor ailments rather than seeking a doctor for every sniffle. Give the body a chance to fight things off without assistance, medication in today's society does more harm than good. I refuse to be one of those people that cannot be treated without a hospital visit because the organisms have developed resistance.

I will breastfeed my children until they are toddlers or beyond. I will use cloth diapers and cloth shopping bags so I leave as little behind me when I'm gone as possible. I will insist on obedience from my children and my animals. I enjoy having the choice to have my children be born at home. I enjoy making many of my children's gifts and gifts for their friends. I genuinely enjoy impressing people with my skill and talent.

I love my animals and like knowing where my food is coming from. So if I choose to keep hens for eggs, rabbits for meat, grow my own vegetables and harvest fruit from trees, don't look at me askance. Not everyone has the opportunity I have to do this.

I enjoy being me, I am comfortable in my skin. So there is no need to roll your eyes when you see me doing something that might seem a little... odd to you.

Upcycling

Do you upcycle anything?

Upcycling is kind of like recycling, only it's making more of something, or of making something of value out of a thing that previously might not have had value.

In my case, I recycle or upcycle anything I am able to do. Most often I use cloth bags while shopping, however from time to time, if I am in need, I will request paper bags. I use paper bags for a variety of things including:

sewing patterns
stand-alone trash bags
cooking (ham/turkey)
book-cover
wrapping paper

among other things. Brown paper bags have a plethora of alternative uses. The best part about these versatile bags is their ability to return to the earth quickly when their full potential has been reached.

Celebrating Easter

We aren't huge on Easter here. Being non-denominational, non-religious I don't feel that it is that big a holiday and never have really. My concession is Christmas. I have never taken my children to see any 'Easter Bunny' and have never pretended that it was a real figure. I always thought my children were smart enough to figure out that I was the one filing their baskets. They all have very nice ones and rather than buy and throw-away new ones each year, I have them set them out like stockings and they are filled for them.

This year my eldest children will be receiving hand-made shawls. My youngest daughter will be getting a hand-made market bag and perhaps some play food (if I can find the time to make some). My son will be receiving either a hand-made monkey or an astronaut.

Mother's Day Tradition

In the last handful of years, my children and I have begun a tradition centered around Mother's Day. Rather than sending a trite card, or making a special phone call (because I call often anyhow), and because we live too far away to visit, we do something a little different. It is becoming a tradition for the children and myself to present my mother with one or more handmade gifts in offering for the gift of life she gave to me so many years ago. The first year we did this I helped the children paint her a t-shirt. The next year the children made her pot-holders and I made her a knitted dishcloth. The year after she requested another t-shirt as her first was wearing out from use. The year after that we gave her a variety of small items.

This year I am planning on a crochet shawl for her and the girls will likely make her some organic cotton coasters for her living room.

Dualistic Life

I lead a dualistic life, what mom out there doesn't?! When I'm at work, I am the confident and assertive woman, capable and efficient. When I'm at home, I'm mama: loving and true, able to kiss away the hurt and growing pains, chief cook and bottle-washer, milk provider, and cuddle recipient. In both roles I am teacher and student. Sometimes at work I wish I were home, sometimes at home I wish I were at work.

Day Off

So what do I do on my day off from work? Because my off days are rarely consecutive, I clean!! I kind of remember this from working before, never actually getting any real time to relax because there's always something to do. Perhaps that is why I tend to be a little twitchy about relaxing. Perhaps that is why I find it difficult sometimes to just sit down and watch anything on the television. Today is my day off, the house was a wreck from a mere 3 days of my being at work. Thus far I have washed laundry, washed dishes, picked up the living room and our bedroom, vacuumed the kitchen and living room, and put clothes away. I have already turned the eggs and fed the chicks/ducklings. I still need to clean rabbit pans and feed/water the rabbits. I need to decide on additional yarn for a couple projects and try to finish them. I want to clean the front porch (it's looking a little trashy for various reasons), have the girls clean their room, and spot clean the bathroom. I will probably clean out rodent cages today too.

So what do I do on my day off? Work. LOL

Eggs in the Incubator

So far we have around a dozen goose eggs in the incubator. They are on day 3 now out of 28. Fingers crossed for a good hatch, this is the first time I've ever incubated eggs.

Poultry-wise, I picked up 3 Pekin ducklings and 5 Rhode Island Red chicks earlier this week. Red hens will be kept for egg-laying, the ducks will be raised and processed. I plan on trying to pick up a few more ducks and hopefully some Cornish Rock chicks early next week, if they have them by then.

I still want some quail and a few heritage turkey hens, and I will need to make a decision on whether I want a rooster or not. I'm in no rush for those however. I'm hoping to attend a poultry swap in May, and will see about locating some of these at that time. I may see about some Silkie hens as well, they are excellent setters.

Handling Others in Youth

There are rules in place for the youth. I may not agree with them, but I expect that if they are going to be put into place, they ought to be upheld. By ARBA rules, a child between the ages of 5 and 18 only may enter rabbits they own in youth. They must carry the rabbit to the table on their own and put it into the coop and remove it from the coop after judging. Children and young adults outside of this range can and should be encouraged to enter in the open classes. One of the reasons I'm sure it to ensure that the children exhibiting rabbits are the actual primary caretakers of those animals. I am a big supporter of self evaluation of individual children to determine their maturity and ability to care for and show a rabbit.

However, when it becomes plainly clear and obvious to the other youth that a child is too young, then it becomes the parent's responsibility. Perhaps in this case, the parent didn't know, didn't realize, but if so, why didn't anyone enlighten her? My child had to learn an important lesson: that it is not worth the energy expenditure it takes to be upset over someone else breaking the rules. A 4 year old girl who was not even interested in any way in the goings-on of the show won BOB. The girls did not groom her rabbit, was not required to listen or even observe the judging, and didn't seem to care either way that her rabbit won such a great honor. The rabbit was nice, and sadly it would only make my child appear to be petty if she said anything about what happened. As such I instructed her to simply, "let it go." With luck, sometime between now and the next show, someone, perhaps a person that has no personal stake, will inform that other mother of the rules and expectations of the fellow youth competitors.

I personally welcome the mother and the daughter with open arms, in the open class until the little girl becomes old enough to show in youth per ARBA regulations. If they are going to create a rule, it ought to be enforced.

The Streaker

"Yes, that's my daughter..." *sigh* Anyone that has ever potty-trained a toddler knows that when they are on the cusp, if they say they have to go, that means better find a toilet NOW. Apparently my youngest daughter, Aydi, is no different. Today at the show, the first time I took her to the toilet, she paid careful attention to it's location in the very large show-room. Thereafter she took it upon herself to get to the potty when she needed to go without alerting me. There seems to be one slight problem however, her habit is to push down her pants and then run to the toilet room. Therefore, it almost became a common occurrence to witness her streaking (slowly mind you, she'd leave her pants around her ankles) across the rear of the showroom in a direct line towards the bathroom! I can think of at least half a dozen times today. It was certainly embarrassing for me to have my child constantly streaking through the room! On the other hand, any parents that were there I'm sure could sympathize, and I know several snickers and a few out-right laughs were emitted every time she ran to the potty today!

Advancing

A lot has happened in the last couple of weeks. I finally found employment as a retail store assistant manager. The geese continued laying eggs in a different nest, I had been collecting them, but decided last week to see if they could do it themselves. I have half a dozen in the house awaiting an incubator, the geese have an additional 5 in their nest. They are not setting as of yet. I brought in half a dozen laying hens, of which only one is laying consistently (a green egger), though a second laid one egg a couple days ago (then stopped). And the rabbits finally started kindling, we are up to 5 litters: 3 Holland, 1 Jersey Wooly, and 1 AFL.

New hens & poultry

Today I added half a dozen laying hens back to our 'homestead'. They are simple mix-breed girls, supposedly 6-8 months of age, but most of them appear to be younger. They are pretty girls, 3 are black, 2 are mostly white with some gray speckling, and one is a beautiful white and black speckled hen with a muff. She happens to be the only one of them currently laying and a great surprise, she's a green egger! I had those before, so I'm grateful to have another here.

I don't have a rooster, and am not worried about breeding these ladies. They are here to fulfill a purpose and that is to produce eggs for our family. I'm very grateful to have them here and to have made a new friend in the person that took the time to meet with me and talk to me about her hens.

Next I'll be looking for Coturnix quail for eggs, heritage turkeys for eggs and a couple meat turkeys for meat, Pekin ducks for eggs and meat, and also some chicks. I'm not sure on egg layer breeds yet, but I'll be aiming to get at least half a dozen Cornish Rock chicks to raise out for meat.

Disappointment and Redemption

The goose eggs are gone. There were 3 in the nest, but yesterday I noticed the goose was out with the others of the flock, therefore not on the nest. When I went to check and collect the eggs, the nest was empty. I will be setting another live trap in the barn today.

I'm also waiting to hear about a job, not the best job I could have, but one that better suits my background I think. I'm still waiting though, if I've not heard by tomorrow, I'll be calling them to see what has happened to delay.

On a brighter side though, I have finally managed to locate some actively laying hens, or at least they are according to the person with whom I spoke earlier this morning. I want the hens for eggs for our family. Again, I have to make the barn safe as I wish to keep the hens safe and collect their eggs for family use.

I am also waiting on 3 does to kindle this week. Two are AFLs, Pie and Mambo, and one is a nice little broken sable point HL.

Clearing up some Misconceptions

I'd like to take a moment to clear up a few rabbit genetic misconceptions.

First, breeding chocolate into reds or torts will NOT clean up the color on those animals! It will NOT remove smut issues. It may hide it better, but that is only because chocolate against red tends to be harder to see. The problem will STILL be present! So to all those breeders out there constantly telling new red/tort breeders to cross in some chocolate to clean up the color, STOP IT! You are not helping them in any way! You are merely perpetuating a problem that already has enough issues clouding it and making it more difficult for those people to succeed. If you want good cleanly colored reds and torts, cross to clean colored reds and torts! Want more rufus factor? Cross to a brighter colored animal! Even if it's not a lot brighter, it will get you moving into the right direction. Want to be able to see your progress in the line? Then keep to a genetically black based variety!

Second, it does NOT help anyone in the fancy to keep rabbits that produce white spots or white nails and just "cross those to brokens to 'fix' the problem." The problem is keeping them in the first place. Cull those babies OUT!! Because it is inevitable that sooner or later, someone is going to use those animals, get promising youngsters after crossing and then have their hearts broken because the animal has a DQ white spot or nail! And please STOP telling youth to pluck out white spots before showing, it is ILLEGAL to do so, and telling the youth to do it taints our future generation breeders and perpetuates the issue. Not to mention they could get in serious trouble for it. Adults are supposed to set examples for our youth, so DO IT.

Finally, once and for all, linebreeding IS inbreeding. I get so sick of people telling me they linebreed, but they would NEVER inbreed, because inbreeding is just terrible! Sometimes I want to laugh, other times I want to shake the person, most of the time I just shake my head. It's very difficult educating people when they've been given so much misinformation while they were newbies. The definition of inbreeding is the selective mating wherein both individuals are related in some way, no matter how minor. Crossing a pair of cousins that are separated by 6 generations is still inbreeding, though very minor. Crossing a parent to an offspring is the main definition for linebreeding, however breeding full-siblings or half siblings is no better or worse. Learn and understand what inbreeding can do for your herd. Understand the potential consequences and be ready to handle those if they come up. Otherwise, take the time to recognize when this quite powerful and useful breeding tool can and should be used in creating a herd that consistently produces top quality animals in all traits. It has been done and can be done by anyone that cares to learn.

That is all... for now. ;)