A "Day in the Life"

Every day on a small homestead or Farmstead includes chores.  Ours is no different.  The chores may not be the same, but a regular week-day for me generally goes something like this:

Wake up between 10 and 11, get dressed and get something for Bubba to eat along with the cats and dogs.  After that I start on chores.  The animals' needs require daily attention.  I usually start with the rabbits.  I'll haul feed down to the barn when needed, turning on the water before heading down, which can sometimes be a real trick with a 50# bag of feed over your shoulder!

If I've brought down feed, the first stop is the barn.  I know when the pigeons are out of food, because they start to simulate Alfred Hitchcock's famous movie, "The Birds."  I put the new bag of feed into the appropriate bin, then head out and check over all the rabbits and feed them while dumping out water bowls at the same time.  Then I go back through and give fresh water, scrubbing out filthy bowls as needed.  The pullets and hens also get fresh water, while checking for eggs.  After making sure everyone has clean water, I dump, scrub, and refill the goose pot and buckets, which they usually immediately soil, but I've got to at least try!  Then it's hay for the rabbits and feed for the hens and pullets.  Feeding and watering the pigeons is always a trip, because it becomes a frenzy for birds to get into the feeder and the squabs beat their parents into feeding them.

After all the barn critters are fed and fluffed, I head back to the house for those chores, casting an appraising eye over the berry bushes and beehives as I go.  On the way up, I switch out the hose director so one section of the gardens will be watered.  Today it was the tomatoes.  The cavies get fresh food and water, the chicks and ducklings too.  In the same area the raised garden, flower bed, herb garden, and a few potted herbs need watering.  On the way to the front yard, the potted trees and herbs also need water.  In the front, the potted plants and flowers need water, as do some of the garden plants.  Then I proceeded to weed the front garden. 

Then it's into the house to cool off for a bit, get something to eat, clean a bit, and get ready for work.  Before heading out, it's back to turn off the garden water.  I head off to work late in the afternoon and work until the small hours of the morning.  When I'm finished, it's home and into bed around 3am, to start all over the next day.

And that's just a regular day.  On week-ends I add in breeding, pan cleaning, mulching and fertilizing gardens, more in-depth weeding, mowing, selling animals, festivals and shows and swaps, cleaning nests, laundry & house chores, and much much more!  Somewhere in all this I still manage to find time to crochet, knit, and spin to have product to sell.

Hard Cider Reviews: Redd's Apple Ale

So I've decided to start keeping track of the different alcoholic beverages and their tastes along with my overall evaluation.  For no reason than just my own personal uses.  Though feel free to read along!

The first thing I'll say is that I do not like beer, nor do I have much liking for the taste of alcohol in general.  However, I've learned in the past months that there are certain beverages I can tolerate fairly well, and others that actually appeal.  These are the hard ciders, for the most part, plus a few other "exotic" drinks.  Most of these can be found at just about any standard grocery store.  My store has this special, you can purchase a single regular-sized bottle of off-brand drinks for a much reduced price.  You can also mix-n-match these oddities to make up a "tester" 6-pack.  This is what I like to do, because it gives me the ability to try a bunch of different ones.  I simply ran into the problem that I can no longer remember which ones I'd already tried and liked, and those I didn't.

Dilemma solved!  Ya'll get to hear my reviews!

So this first one is not actually my first, though I hadn't noticed it on the shelf before.  There was only 1 bottle of it it the mixers, so I popped it into the pack to try.  The brand is Redd's and this is a 'crisp' apple ale.  Apparently they do make other styles, though I didn't see any other singles.  This one is a clear glass bottle with twist-off cap and red label.  The liquid inside is a light amber in color.  The fragrance is a light apple, not too overpowering.  First taste shows is to be quite light and refreshing, with a slight tingle and bite if held too long on the tongue.  Barely any aftertaste, with no bitterness.

This one definitely wins my seal of approval.  I could certainly see this one accompanying a meal... though probably in an actual glass.  I wouldn't class this as a favorite, but certainly one to enjoy.

Changing Direction: Rabbits

It's interesting to think that I've been in rabbits for almost 20 years.  And yet, in all that time I really can't say that I've genuinely excelled with any single breed.  I've encouraged the kids to have their own, gone to great lengths to help them get the best and watched them succeed.  Both elder girls have won both BIS & RIS trophies.  I myself even won an RIS once... long ago.  But that's no more than a memory.

I think of other people I've known over the years, some haven't been in as long as I have, winning high stakes with their ONE breed.  I think of others who've been raising the same, single breed for at least as long as I have.  And then I wonder, why can't I settle on a single breed?  I have never truly had a passion for just one, I love them all.  So I always have to try something new.  Even when I first started, I had 2 breeds: Mini-rex and Holland Lops. 

I've raised cavies for only about 10 years, with about a 3 year gap in between while having my youngest kids.  And even though I've tried out different ones of those as well, I've always gravitated back towards a single breed: American Satins.  I'm even down to just the 2 compatible colors: cream & white (necessary to breed creams, not because I'm particularly fond of them).  So why have I never been able to drive myself to the same level with the rabbits?

Over the years I've had:
Mini-rex
Rex
English Angora
French Angora
Lionhead
Polish
Dutch
Netherland Dwarf
Holland Lop
Mini-lop
French Lop
Flemish Giant
Californian
New Zealand
Lilac
Havana
Himalayan
Belgian Hare
Jersey Wooly
American Fuzzy Lop
Mini-Plush Lop
English Lop
Mini Satin
English Spot

That's 23 out of 47 breeds!

Now I'm getting ready to clear out all "non-essential" breeds from the rabbitry.  I plan on leaving only my Hares and the Dutch.  Everything else will go.  That will actually reduce me down to less than 10 rabbits if I can actually pull it off.  The problem here is that I can feel the restlessness coming on.  I don't have the ability to go full-out with the Hares.  I love them dearly, but most of my cages were not built to house Hares (who require special accommodations), so I'm very limited in the numbers I'm able to maintain.  The Dutch are the property of one of the girls and I have little interest in them honestly.  So now I'm at my wits' end.  I want to specialize, I really do.  I just cannot seem to find that ONE special breed that is meant for me.

"What Mom Says"

I'm coming to discover that when you have multiple teens in the house, everything you say can and will be distorted, sometimes in the extreme.  I can't really say that it's really a fault or blame type of situation.  Teenage brains are just equipped to operate differently than either children or adult brains.  It's scientific fact!!  Of course, at this age I wonder if really it doesn't have more to do with a slight disconnection of their ears to their brains!  I believe the common term for it is "selective hearing" and apparently, my voice and those of moms everywhere suddenly become the range that teens simply cannot hear.  For example:

What mom says: "Clean your room."
What teenager hears: "Wait until most of your belongings are scattered around and your room can no longer be entered without stepping all over everything."

What mom says: "You need to do your laundry."
What teenager hears: "Don't worry about cleaning your clothes! You can always just pick things up off the floor and sniff them to check to see if they smell too bad to wear just one more time!"

What mom says: "Please don't use this new special mug I bought."
What teenager hears: "Feel free to use it whenever there are no other clean mugs."

What mom says: "Be home at your curfew time."
What teenager hears: "Come home at least 10 minutes later or longer.  Heck who needs curfews!"

What mom says: "Keep an eye on your younger siblings."
What teenager hears: "Stare at the television, read a book, or listen to music all you want.  It doesn't matter what the little kids are doing."

What mom says: "I'm going out shopping.  Want to come along?"
What teenagers hear: "I'm going out shopping.  Want to come along?"

LOL