Animals, Animals

It has been so long...I almost forgot how to do this "blog" thing.  I was just reading through my sister Kara's blog.  She is always so on top of things.  And organized.  A true inspiration.  I thought I'd try to update all that's happened in the long months since I've blogged last.  And by "long months" I mean short months that have flown by in the blink of an eye.  Anyone else's life breezing by way too fast???

Above is the pig that we had for about 2 years...she saw 2 winters.  She is now in neat little packages in my freezer.  We are really enjoying eating our own meat.  It's the only pork I've ever been able to eat without getting sick afterwards.  This time we had the butcher make us some cuts of bacon and ham, but of course we didn't get it cured the normal way (with nitrates, food coloring, smoking, etc.)  Just good ol' side pork and fresh ham steaks.  So good.

 This spring I had a moment of weakness at the feed store and bought a bunch of little chicks and 4 ducklings.  They were so cute, but boy are they messy.  Ducks are walking squirty poop machines.  Only 2 of the 4 survived to maturity, but they are a breeding pair.  We ended up getting 3 more full size ducks a little later, and I am thinking they are all drakes.  This poor little hen duck of ours sure gets her share of matings.  We'll have to clip her wings so she stays with us this fall, and probably butcher all but one of our drakes.

We also started raising our own rabbits this year.  Here is our first doeling at about 4 weeks old.  She is now at the age I can breed her.  She is a mini-rex, not quite a meat breed, but it was what we could find at the time.  I have since aquired a few more rabbits.  Some New Zealand white, Florida Whites, and most recently an unknown breed, she looks to be a Rex with black and white markings.  She is due to have her kits on August 26th!  Our first litter due in just 8 days!  I need to build her a nesting box pronto.  Our long term plan is to raise rabbits for meat.  Rabbit meat has the most protein dense meat of any animal, and they dress(butcher) much easier than a chicken.  The problem is that rabbits are so darn cute and soft and snuggly.  I like the idea of having our own meat source in case of emergency, but perhaps we will just keep them for their amazing manure fertilizer for now.

This year also marks the start of our journey with dairy goats.  These are our first two goats.  Honey is the little girl, and the whether is unnamed because he will eventually have to turn into meat.  Right now he is just a companion for the little girl.  The reality is that it costs a lot to feed an animal, especially through the winter, so we have to get rid of any animal that is not productive in some way.

This is the first goat I started milking.  Her name is Pie.  Aila says that Pie is her goat.   Pie is a Nigerian Dwarf, so about 1/3 the size of a full sized goat.  I really like her temperament.  She gives about 1 quart of rich milk per day.  And she never makes any noise.  After milking I scratch right behind her ears and she rolls her eyes back in pleasure.

 This is me trying to make a go at my own business.  This is my self-serve stand set up next to the road.  No one bought trees this year.  I know it's been a hard year with drought, late freezes, etc... Maybe next year???

And this is Snowball.  This was Terra's birthday present this year.  She had been admiring this breed of chicken before, so I bought her a breeding trio of these bantam chickens.  They are about 1/2 the size of a regular chicken and have feathered feet.  They are really sweet.  This has been the only rooster I have never been scared of, cuz he is just so cute.  Snowball hatched out 4 chicks for us this summer and is a great mother hen.

This One's For Ryan

My cousin recently asked a few questions about how we built our house. So I thought I'd do a post about it, mostly so I can remember what we did. First off, you need to make sure you have the right attitude to get the job done...yep.



Then you need to draw up plans, and choose your materials. We wanted to do ICF (Insulated Concrete Form) because Joseph's brother had built a house with them, and they were highly recommended. We chose Logix brand ICF blocks...there are several different brands, but there was a distributor nearby, so we chose these.



The construction itself was very do-it-yourself friendly...the blocks are kind of like giant Legos. The tricky part is fitting in the window and door openings. And of course making everything straight and level.



We kept it simple and made the plans for our house just one big two-story rectangle.




Just keep stacking the blocks until you get to the desired height... then pour the concrete in between the foam blocks...



We then put in the upstairs floor. Next we covered it all up with a big tarp and took a much needed break until the next spring when we put the second floor walls up and did the second and last concrete pour. (It is possible to do this all in a much shorter amount of time, just not for us).

After that last pouring of concrete, we put on the roof and installed windows, doors, etc.


Hmmm...this all makes it sound so easy...and quick. I guess it should be, but it's NOT. This "project" has consumed our lives for almost 3 years. The house is far from being finished, but it is comfortable and functional. If I could do it all over again, I am not sure we would try to build our own home. Actually, I am sure that we would NOT try to build our own home. But, since we can't do it all over again, I am very satisfied and quite happy with the results. I really do love our house...and if you have decided to build your own home, I would highly recommend using ICF.

Excitement!

I just signed up for a pottery class! Yay! I think this will be so fun. First time I will have been able to work with clay since I graduated from college. I am giddy with excitement!

Snow, snow, GO AWAY!!!

This is our minivan. I haven't driven it all winter. I really don't like driving in the snow. That may or may not have to do with the fact that I almost drove me and my sisters off a seemingly large cliff when the roads were covered in snow up at Woods Lake. I still have nightmares.



This is the view from the girl's bedroom upstairs. This is looking down right where my garden will be. This week we had one good day where the snow started melting. And then it snowed again. And the wind blew really hard. And it's cold. That's all.

A Miracle of Modern Dentistry

We had a little trauma happen here on Monday night. Emery "accidentally" pushed Garrison down a few stairs and he landed on his face. There was a lot of screaming, no blood, but a very freaked out Mom. After making a lot of calls and consulting the internet, we were able to take him to a dentist early the next morning and his teeth are now as good as new.



Look at the "after" picture below- You can't even tell that they were chipped. Even close-up, it's hard to tell. He's a very lucky boy.

It's Coming Along!

You may wonder why Garrison is wearing a foil hat...
go ahead and just keep wondering.



This is a baby carrier that I made for Kara yesterday. I had to test it out...and Aila loved it. Not quite sure what Terra is thinking about it. I loved that it was comfortable to put her on my back as well as on the front.


This the flooring in Garrison's room. I put down Aspen tongue and groove boards and then put a clear finish on top. I love how it turned out and I think we'll eventually get around to putting this in as our floor in the entire upstairs part of the house.
And this is what I am most proud of lately. I think the siding looks so great...so finished. I still need to put the trim around the windows. The greenhouse is almost completely done, just in time to start some early plants for the garden this year.

Happy Anniversary!

Before The month is over...

It's been a wonderful nine years. Life is so good, and I am so happy. I hope to have many more wonderful years full of adventure, craziness and joy with my best friend by my side.