I TRIED to make today a good day. I really did! But as the poet said: “The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men/ Gang aft agley”. You see, I started feeling sick yesterday and haven’t been up to par. My hubby has been great, picking up my chores in addition to his graduate studies. But… Read More Days that don’t work well
It is NOT easy to find a housesitter when you have 29 animals to take care of. On the one hand, regular pet sitters are often overwhelmed by those numbers, and don’t wish to deal with the issues that livestock type animals can bring. On the other hand, farm sitters can charge too much, and… Read More Finding a housesitter
I am T.I.R.E.D.! I can’t seem to catch up on my sleep this week. One day I put four chickens into the freezer, and realized how out of practice I am! Took hours and got me to bed late. Another day I had to drop my hubby off at school, go to the bank, stop… Read More Tired!
I have been wondering about this a lot lately. Most of my self-sufficiency attempts are working well. I had no problem adding chickens to my lifestyle. Doing a compost heap worked almost textbook perfectly. The mealworm farm produced lots of bugs for the chickens to eat. Even after moving from Colorado to Oregon and not… Read More When to throw in the towel?
I took a pair of electric clippers to the rabbits today! Rabbits are NOT easy to raise, especially angoras. The grooming needs of seven long-haired rabbits got away from me in the last month, and it just isn’t right to let them get tangles or mats. So in spite of my goal to hand-pluck their… Read More Bare butted bunnies
Working on a backyard farm is very different from working in an office. Yes, I have ditched being surrounded by rectangles in favor of being surrounded by nature. But in an office the most injured I ever got was the occasional paper cut or sore toes from wearing fancy shoes. On the homestead, the possible… Read More 6 things I learned this week about how to live on a homestead
Rabbits are cool, but there are definately some things I wish I had understood better before getting mine. I intentionally breed my rabbits for wool and meat production, so some of what I have to say may not apply to everyone or to all reasons for having rabbits. But I hope this list helps someone!… Read More 5 things no one told me about rabbits
If there is one thing you have to deal with on a mini-farm, it’s poop. Dog poop needs to be picked up from the yard – if you don’t want to end up skating on your tush after stepping on it. Cat poop needs to be scooped from boxes before the cats throw it out… Read More Poop!
More Craigslist scores! Today I picked up 12 free chickens, all 3 years old so laying was slowing down. Nine hens and three roosters. The three roosters and three of the hens are in the fridge already – I love free food! The other 6 hens are on the schedule for Thursday, although I may… Read More More free stuff
Today’s rant about rectangles is in honor of my new rabbit. I have two brand new rabbits – so new they don’t have names yet. One is a Californian doe, about 2 years old. The other is probably an American Chinchilla Rabbit doe, also aged about 2 years. They are accustomed to being together, so… Read More She got her head stuck!
