On Gardening

I find that when people find out that I out in a sizable garden each year and have beehives, I get one of a few responses:

1. "Do you sell vegetables/honey?"

- No, I don't.  I have a large family that loves fresh vegetables and everything I grow goes into their bellies in one form or another.

2. Or worse: "Do you have tomatoes/cucumbers/etc?  I just love them fresh from the garden!  Could I get any of your extras?"

- Same response at  above, with internal eye roll.  My garden and hives cost me money, time, and effort.  Why would I ever give any of it away?!

3. The worst: "Would you mind bringing your tiller over and turning just a small garden for me?"

- Yes, I would.  My tiller is not for hire.  It still takes up my time and gas and most that ask don't even know how to prep the piece they want to turn.  They expect my little tiller to cut through virgin ground and they will instantly grow award winning vegetables with no effort.

So my advice to those that hear that a coworker or friend is putting in a garden is to respond politely and with interest, but don't make demands.

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

Ducklings - A Story

Take a good close look at this little guy.  Does it look as though he's struggling to survive?

Here's another angle of him.  Seems perfectly healthy to me.  But that was not what the store that had this duckling told 2 young men who were there to appreciate the spring birds.  The story I was told by the young men was the store had said this duckling was slower than his counterparts and they did not expect him to make it.  So they were going to just "throw him out."  Yes, that was verbatim for what the guys told me that afternoon after they knocked on my front door and handed me a small cardboard box containing this little guy.  Apparently their grandfather lived down the road and knew I kept ducks, so instructed the young men to bring the little one to me.  At this point I had to tell them that I didn't have ducks, I had geese, but that I'd had ducks in the past.

Mentally my shoulders dropped, I didn't really want ducks, not my favorite avian species for personal reasons, but I was not about to turn this little guy away.  So I took him from the young men, put him on a heating pad with some crushed chicken feed and a tiny bowl of water while I fired up the brooder.  His story has since been told all around and he is thriving.

I lucked out though, after having placed an ad on CL several days ago asking anyone for another young duck to act as companion to Neitzche (name of the duckling, yes I named him.  LOL), I just happened across an ad today with an offer of free ducklings to anyone that was interested from a photographer whose lined-up-home for the babies had fallen through.  They were a week old.  Perfect!!  So I went and picked them up this evening.

But only one of these lucky babies will get to stay with Neitzche, the rest will be offered to other homes.  After all, I don't really like ducks!!

Gardening

I'm hoping to actually get all my gardens in the ground this year on time.  I never seemed to manage it in the past.  But this year, I have a head start.  With the help  (mostly) of my oldest girl, I managed to not only turn, but to actually plant the house-side garden today.  Here's what went into that garden:

Top to bottom:
- 3 Brussel sprout plants
- 4 rows of Kholrabi
- 3 Buttercrisp lettuce plants and 6 rows of seeds for the same
- 2 rows of mustard
- 2 rows of spinach
- 5 1/2 rows of collards
- 6 broccoli plants and 2 rows of seeds for the same

I also turned the soil around the back and half the sides of my shed and put in the started onions I'd gotten.  I also put a few pieces of garlic there as well, to finish out the row.

Then I turned a row of soil along the yard retaining wall and planted another 35 sections of garlic there as well.

I had gotten 2 horseradish roots and put them in a small depression in the yard where a tree had once been (but whose stump had long since rotted away).  I also brought out my comfrey plant and put it in a similar depression about 10 feet away from the horseradish.

The asparagus bed was looking sad, so I had my eldest rake out the leaves, weed it well, and plant the 11 new roots I had picked up.

Next week-end, if the weather cooperates, I plan on turning the secondary garden and putting in the potatoes.  At some point I also want to add some more blueberry plants, blackberry canes, strawberries (as soon as I figure out a better placement for them), a couple more rhubarb plants, and another pawpaw (they do better in multiples).  I had my eldest transplant the raspberry cane that popped up in the asparagus bed over to the berry patch, then had my youngest girl create a special barrier for the young cane so it's not accidentally damaged by unsuspecting people.

Sometime this week or next I'll setup several seed pots to start peppers, tomatoes, squash, and cucumbers indoors to be transplanted sometime next month.

And that's it for now!!  Busy, busy to prep for spring.

Spinning!

Is so much fun!! 

You start with something like this:

Then you spend hours working it like this:

Until you have it all spun into 2 or 3 (or more) singles:

Then finally you ply the singles together to make your yarn:

Cavies!

Baby cavies born today.  I thought I was photographing 2, but #3 was peeking out from under mama.

See him in the back?  Maybe a closeup is in order...

There he is!!  Peekaboo!

The Circle

Around and around we go!  Ever really paid attention to the turn of time?  Probably not, I doubt anyone, except perhaps dead philosophers, doctorates, and myself, really give it more than just a passing thought every now or again.  But I seem to be frequently, although not constantly, confronted by the passage of time, and not merely across the face that confronts me in the mirror each day.  I was glancing back through past posts on this blog and can barely believe that I have been writing here for so long, though not frequently.  And yes, I'm aware that it's not a popular blog, but that honestly doesn't bother me.  In truth, I would be unlikely to care if never a single person perused the words written herein.  I don't write for others' amusement here, but for myself.

I find the more time passes, the more quickly it tends to pass, as is customary.  However, I suppose I was not fully prepared for the occasional confusion that goes along with the rapid movement of time through our lives.  I find myself thinking about things I have done or received and try to pinpoint how long I had been doing or had that particular event or item.  Therein lies the confusion, for I mark the passage of time by the seasons.  Then I find myself realizing that not one, but two or more of that particular season may have passed since I had performed that task or received that item.  It makes things rather difficult for me.

So, for instance, my rabbits are older than I had believed.  My garden has been submitted to more furrowing than previously thought. 

Then I stop, not so much to marvel, but to wonder: is this all there is for me?  And am I satisfied with the answer.

Honesty

Do you know the difference between an honest person and a dishonest one?

A dishonest person sees dishonesty everywhere.  They are cynical and mistrusting of everything around them.

An honest person sees truth and trust wherever they look.

Don't be the dishonest person.

Amigurumi Fun!

I am an amigurumist.

That is, I crochet small animal replicas.  My favorites are always the realistic ones.  I am actually a rarity in the crochet world.  Most that make 'toys' actually prefer to focus on food items as they tend to be simpler, requiring less stitching on the whole.  And other crocheters seem to prefer apparel and/or home goods to amigurami.  I will admit, there are times when I wish I preferred something else myself... particularly when I'm faced with the stitching neatly of more than a dozen smaller parts!  It's usually worth it in the end, of course.  And my little niche gives me a unique advantage locally since I have never met another person that does what I do.

The real difference for me is that I hide nothing.  In truth, I would encourage others to emulate me!  I know the items I make are of a nice quality and I price accordingly.  If someone else wishes to 'take a shot' at making the items I make they would still have a long ways to go, even with the same pattern, because I have been doing this for many years and I am a perfectionist.  A trait that I've found goes very well with this type of art.  Still, I'm happy to share my basic methods and sources for eyes and thread with others.  I might even tell them from where I got patterns (if applicable), but I never sell patterns.

I am confident in my ability.

This Year's Preserve Count

To date I've put up chili sauce and spaghetti sauce, applesauce, and honey.  I've stored potatoes and sweet potatoes and frozen peppers.  The count so far is thus:

14 qts chili sauce, plus 1/2 pt
17 qts spaghetti sauce, plus 1 pt
6 pts grape jelly
15 qts applesauce (still have a bushel to be preserved)
~5 lbs each Kennebec and Yukon Gold potatoes stored
~3 lbs sweet potatoes stored
2 qt bags diced/sliced peppers frozen

Camping: Part III

I just realized that I never put up a post about our final camping trip of the season, which took place the last week-end of September.  First, and most obvious, it was chilly!!  We were expecting this, so we took a down comforter with us and plenty of wood for the fire.  A1 decided in advance she had no desire to accompany the rest of us on this trip, so she and B stayed home.  K was brought out again to join us for the last trip she would have, so the members of this encounter were myself, J< A2, and K.  With there being only 4 of us, I decided to take and put up our original, smaller tent instead of the big one.  It was a short stay this time, we left Saturday morning and came home the next day.

We got to the camp site and set everything up, we started a fire and prepared a lunch.  Then we got everyone ready and marched off hiking.  The big girls led us to a trail that went around the lake to a small waterfall on the back side.  We saw a mess of bees raiding the last of the wildflowers, we found a discarded snake skin, and we found a large black newt underneath a damp log on the side of the main trail.  It was a lot of fun!

Later that afternoon we were all around the fire when a low roaring could be discerned coming towards us through the woods.  It took several seconds for us to realize that it was rain moving our way!  We had just enough time to grab all the chairs and pull them under the canopy when the drops began to fall.  J was in the process of cooking bacon for our supper over the fire, but had to run out and grab the pan from off the fire and switch over to the camp stove to finish it.

Fortunately for us the rain was fairly short-lived.  Everything was perfectly normal a mere hour or two later.  We had some neighbors this trip, an interesting group with a couple of young boys who were about A2's age.  So she and they were often running all around the woods and down to the creek.  A2 went through all the socks she'd brought with her on this trip!  And we'd brought extra for her!!  Our neighbors had a very impressive blaze going with their fire that night, though when we visited them to see how they'd managed, I found they had put in a very large trunk, about 5 feet long and decided I wasn't so envious as to emulate their efforts!  I'd likely be the one to set fire to the woods trying something like that!

We all slept in our bags on 1 air mattress with the down comforter covering us all.  A2 and K were on the ends with myself and J in the middle.  The next morning was COLD and J had managed to steal most of the comforter that night.  So getting a fire going that morning was very important.  J & K went out and hunted up several nice sized logs and we managed a very nice fire that morning.  Though it wasn't long after I had prepared our breakfast that we had to get everything packed into the van to head home.

I'm not crazy about the short camping trips.  It always feels like we just didn't have enough time.  However, since it looks as though we won't be able to manage anymore trips this year, before the campground closes at the end of this month, I am very glad we were able to make that one last trip.  I'm hoping that next year we can start our camping forays earlier and manage at least one trip per month throughout the summer.

It's Fall at Falls-Acre!

Today was the perfect fall day, a breezy and cool 65+ degree day.  The perfect time to start prepping for winter.  I actually started this last week-end by cutting and raking the weeds from the secondary garden.  Today I took the Littles out with me and we dug up the potatoes and sweet potatoes from the garden.  I pulled off any remaining peppers from the plants, and then turned the turkeys and geese out into the gardens.  Their job now is to clean up the yard from any remaining vegetable matter and to fatten themselves up for the coming cold months.  I also cut down and raked out the tall weeds from the top of the primary garden.  I won't touch the bottom of that garden until sometime next month, when I'll winterize both gardens.

Today we also cracked open the bee hive to check on the girls and harvest any excess honey.  To my brief disappointment, the honey super on top was completely untouched by the bees, so I removed it.  However, the top portion of the second brood box was packed full of capped honey.  From this I extracted a single full frame and replaced it with an empty frame.  They survived last winter with only half a single brood box, so I think they'll be alright giving up one frame.  I managed to scrape off the honey from the wax foundation of the frame into a pan, which I then drained through a wire mesh.  The first side of that frame yielded a whole pint of home-grown honey!  We'll scrape the other side of the frame tomorrow, then give it back to the bees to clean up.

The funny part of this particular endeavor occurred toward the end of our escapade when I was trying to take the full frame of honey away from the hive.  I started by brushing the bees onto the hive, then took the frame across the yard to another area.  I finished up my part with the bees and handed over my gear to A1 so she could also look and then close up the hive.  When we were finished and went to get the frame of honey, several bees had been drawn to it and were checking it out!  I had A1 go get the smoker to encourage the bees to leave, but she had trouble since there were bees on the smoker too!!  When I finally got all the bees off, I had to practically run it to the house to keep them away.  The smell was apparently too enticing for them.

In addition to our little homestead fun, J also had an engagement involving a major school dance.  I was so proud to learn several weeks ago that she had been voted to be part of the homecoming court.  Unexpected, but so proud!  So she lounged around for awhile, then scooted off to her friends' house to have her hair fixed up, then back home for her dress, then off to the dance!  She went with friends, no particular male involved.  It lasted until midnight when D went to retrieve our Cinderella.  It took mere minutes for her to return herself to her regular pumpkin-like state.  When asked about the dance, she replied: "it was kinda boring, the DJ was old and kept playing music from the 70's and 80's!"

Incidentally, 'tis the season... knitting, crocheting, spinning, fiber!!!  There will be 15 POUNDS of mohair arriving early this next week.  Couldn't beat the price at which it was being offered, so I tried to buy enough to last the remainder of my life.  Also put in an order to replace my size 17 needles that B drummed on the floor and broke.  Finally I picked up a skein of 1/2 llama, 1/2 wool single-ply yarn to try it out.  This first skein will likely be a hat.  Depending on how it comes out, I may pick up more of that yarn.

Fire and Coals

While camping, we all saw an interesting phenomenon, so I took the time to attempt to photograph it.  Keeping in mind it was full dark in the National Forest.  Meaning almost no ambient light on that moonless night.  Here is what we caught with the flash on the camera:

Then I tried various different settings on my camera to see what it could do.  Here's the same shot with a different setting (can't remember the actual settings though)

This, I think, was simply without a flash.  I have no idea why it came out purple like that, since what we saw were the brilliant red-hot coals in the night!

Again, a different setting, took away the 'aura' that seemed to show up in the previous photo.

 Then I tried another setting, which came out black-n-white.  A neat effect.

Yet another setting, this shot finally showed a little of what we were seeing with the red of the coals, only in the dark that was ALL we could see!  None of the rest of the fire.  It was a fun experiment with night shooting!

Destiny or Fate

I am not a religious person.  I don't believe in a higher being.  I do, however, believe somewhat in fate or destiny.  Not in so much as a sentient creature controlling my future, but more in that there is a certain order to the universe and if one chooses to pay attention, it can lead him/her down a path of self-contentment.  Today I experienced this very phenomenon.

I had several choices available as to my week-end excursion.  There were 2 poultry swaps and 2 rabbit shows.  Each having a major and a minor.  The major swap and minor show were about a 3 hour drive away, the minor swap 20 minutes (but I go every month), and the major show 2 hours away.  I chose the major show.  This was the first step on the path.

I went to the show with the thought of looking around to see if there would be any Hares present.  Being a rare breed it's not often you see them at nearby shows.  Especially with certain breeders no longer raising them.  I poked around at the show and much to my delight, there was 1 exhibitor with Hares there and he had a nice big buck for sale!  He was a little scruffy, but the body type was very nice.  The price, however was a little steep.  Too steep for me today, perhaps this isn't the path after all.  I made a counter-offer (more of a suggestion) on the price, he declined.  I figured he would.  So with some regret, I put him back in the carrier and accepted the breeder's information so that I could contact him at a later time to purchase stock.

Fast forward a little to the raffle pull.  I had put in tickets on 4 rabbits, 3 Mini-rex and a Thrianta.  I'm not sure what I was really thinking at the time with regards to the Thrianta.  Anyway, I won the nicest of the Mini-rex, a young blue buck with some potential.  I figured now I needed a doe for him, so I went looking around the showroom for a decent broken to go with the little guy.  I immediately went to a well-known breeder, but the one I wanted to choose was a little high on the price scale for what I was wanting (not that she wasn't worth every penny being asked!).  So I kept looking around and finally thought I'd found what I needed.  A broken lilac doe with nice color and an awesome looking coat for a great price!  I found the breeder and asked to have a look.  I flipped her to do a cursory DQ check and when I went to check the front nails, I was stopped dead.  One of her feet had matted fur on the inside of the ankle, further checking revealed some mucous from the nostrils, but the one eye on the same side as the paw was also matted around and below.  I held her up to my ear and detected a wheezing when she breathed.  I was utterly devastated.  The breeder standing beside me was equally surprised.  While it could just as easily have been caused by dust and stress, I couldn't afford to take the chance.  So I handed her back to him, borrowed his sanitizer, and thanked him for letting me look (he did pull her from his sales list, just in case).  I didn't see any other available animals of real interest in the room.

Just as I had resigned myself to going ahead with the first ones I'd looked at, the breeder of the Hares came over to me.  He apparently decided an empty cage was worth more to him than the difference between the price he'd set and the one I'd offered.  I bought the Hare in that very instant (before he could change his mind).

So this is how this particular string of events occurred, and could occur in no other way: 1) we chose to attend that show instead of any of the other events. 2) There was an actual Hare breeder at the show who just happened to have an available animal.  3) Even though I won a MR, I couldn't locate a suitable female at the time.  4) The one MR I found that I liked turned out to have some kind of respiratory issue, eliminating it from my consideration.  5) The Hare breeder decided to sell his available rabbit to me at my lower asking price, making it affordable for me.  If any of these things had changed, I wouldn't have the Hare!  That rabbit is essential to my continued herd improvement.

See... fate.

Rabbit Show

Today A2 & I attended a rabbit show together.  These days, costs being what they have become and age creeping up on me, I don't get to as many shows as I usually do.  I do, however, make a strong effort to get to the ones that are the closest and biggest.  This was just one such show.  I'm very glad we went too.  I had multiple objectives: find A2 a decent doe for her Dutch buck, move out the hairy abomination that's been parasitically living in the rabbitry for too long, find loving homes for the kittens, and look for Hares.  This was A2's first official rabbit show.

We arrived in good spirits, unloaded the car and cheerfully walked the long distance back to the showroom and set everything up.  I helped A2 clean up her boy (Boo Blue) and trim his nails.  She then spent the better part of the show morning walking around with him cradled upside-down in her arms introducing him to everyone!  Turns out he really is the PERFECT buck for her!!  After maybe 15 or 20 minutes a group of youngsters came over and mentioned they had some Dutch rabbits available.  A young man brought over a nice, semi-young (about a year) black doe who just happened to have been bred by the same person from whom A2 picked up the buck at the previous show of this venue.  The price was right, the doe was a good match, and the original breeder agreed to forward the pedigree to A2 next week.  So the exchange was conducted and "Angel" was added to the carrier. 

Things went fairly smoothly for most of the morning, registering rabbits, tagging young Sugar (the jr cavy I was showing) and getting everything setup.  I helped A2 make sure she got her rabbit onto the table... but so did about 3 or 4 other people too!  It's always nicer when others help out.  I learned a great deal about judging Dutch watching the 3 shows today.  I hope A2 learned some as well.  A2 walked away with 2 BOSV wins and 1 BOSB!  A very good result for her first show.  Interestingly a different rabbit won BOB in each show.  I find that to be a very bad indicator because it means each judge felt that different aspects of the rabbits was more important.  It makes it harder to learn what exactly to look for in the show animals when the judges wish-wash like that.

By the end of the show day, we had won 3 items from the raffle (a Comfrey plant for me and a blue Mini-rex jr buck, a pair of dream catchers for A2), found the doe for A2, each won in our show classes (I won BJOB in both cavy shows), I sold one of my hats, re-homed 2 of the kittens, put the fluffy abomination in the raffle, and found someone in the showroom with Hares!  A good day in all... tiring, but fun.

Kindergarten

Yup!  It's that time!  A2 will officially start kindergarten on Tuesday.  We went to meet her teacher yesterday afternoon and took most of her things in to her class so they'll be ready for her.  She met and talked with her bus driver as well.  I admit, it has been so long since I've had a kindergartner that I had forgotten what a regular PITA it is being a parent of one!  Oh not her, she's fine and excited, but the amount of things they put on the parent is staggering!  What, exactly, am I sending her to school for if every day she's going to come home and require more schooling from me?!  Since when did kindergarten become an 8-10 hour-a-day intensive educational course?  I do understand, kids today have a lot to learn in a short amount of time.  Honestly, there's so much for them to learn that there really ought to be another required level of schooling: pre-K, which unfortunately, in this area, is only offered to "special needs" children.  The rest of the normal kids are on their own to learn their letters, colors, numbers, shapes, and alphabet BEFORE they start kindergarten.

The teacher explained that the kids would be learning to read, rhyme (word groups), and write sentences.  She explained that a mere 2 WEEKS would be spent learning colors.  I don't even want to think about how they approach math.  Should I be expecting her to come home one day with addition and subtraction worksheets?!?!?!  Which I will then have to teach her how to complete?  When I was in kindergarten (yes I can remember that far back. LOL) we spent quite a bit of time learning our letters.  A2 has always had trouble with writing.  Recognition: yes, writing: no.  We were also informed the kids will have homework every day as well.  Previously this didn't happen until around 2nd grade.  I suppose the 'honeymoon' is over for kids at age 5!  They start them right off these days!

To top it all off, they were supposed to test her before she started.  I only just found that out yesterday as well.  Another parent mentioned it in the room and I said something along the lines of, "oh, not all the kids are tested," which the teacher refuted, claiming that all the kids are tested.  When I told her my daughter wasn't and that I never received a call for them to do so, she tried to argue with me.  A short trip to the school office confirmed that I was in the right.  I was never called.  No one seemed to know why exactly.  So now A2 will have to undergo a short test after the start of school.  Just to check and make sure she's "ready" to start kindergarten. (insert another extreme eye roll here)

I'm really very glad I spent a good part of our time together last year studying pre-school subjects so she will hopefully be able to keep up with the advanced pace of the class.  The teacher came across as nice, but seriously no-nonsense, which I'm hoping will be good for A2.  She could use a good firm consistent hand.  Being around other kids her age will help matters as well I think.  Perhaps she'll finally realize the world doesn't actually revolve around her.  With her gone in the mornings I'll also have the time to start Bubba on his pre-schooling.  He really needs language development.  It's been difficult for him, not being able to get a word in around A2!

Chickens!!

Well, it's official.  I am completely legal and licensed to own chickens. (insert extreme eye-rolling visage here) According to the new ordinance, I am not allowed to keep males, profit from my birds, keep more than half a dozen, allow them to free-range, or butcher them on my property.  I must maintain them in a coop no larger than 10' x 12' and must have an enclosed space within the coop that is no less than 1.5 sq ft per bird.  I am VERY glad that I took the time to build such an enclosure this year for the turkeys (mind you, the ordinance specifically refers to chickens... no mention of other fowl at all in it!).  I will admit that I do NOT like the restrictions, especially the space limitations and the no-male aspect.  I believe they are overly harsh, especially in light of my having owned chickens for nearly 2 decades in this exact locale.  My neighbors are perfectly accustomed to my birds.  However, I have taken the opportunity to collect some awesome birds.  Marans and Welsummer and Araucanas.