New baby bunnies and misc. farm updates

Bella, my blue Silver Fox, just kindled a few days ago. 5 or 6 (not sure yet) She was bred to Checker, our new red/white NZ buck. These are his first babies ever, and the first time we've ever bred her to a buck other than Snickerdoodle, our black NZ mix buck. She normally has 7-9 babies so I was a little surprised to only count 5 or 6 this time around. Still excited to see how they turn out though.

We also bought 13 baby chicks a several weeks ago. 8 Cornish X, 4 Americauna's and 1 Red Sex Link. They were all doing great until one day 2 of the Cornish X's and 2 of the Americauna's got out of their pens and my dogs thought they would be fun toys :( so now we're down to 9. The remaining ones are doing great though and getting big. The Cornish X's are big enough to begin butchering.  We have all the chickens (including the grown ones) in 3 chicken tractors down in the field. They're fairly simple, but at least they can get fresh grass on a regular basis.

Chickens, rabbits and composting

STILL at my parents house (sigh).

Got a rooster for $5.00 last week. A 1 year old Americauna

So far he's really sweet and not aggressive at all. I will be getting 2 of my hens back from Dilly....we'll see how docile he is when he has "girlfriends" to "protect" lol

Have our first litter of bunnies (Snickerdoodle x Bella) She had 8, but one was teeny tiny and it died. The other 7 are doing great and have just started coming out of the nest box

Built a double composting unit

(it has the top barrel on it now)

Just bought a batch of new chicks: 8 Cornish Rock, 4 Americauna, 1 Red Sex Link

Also got a new puppy. She's a Black and Tan silver dapple mini dachshund. Her name is Lelo.

We also bought a little building from the thrift store for $35.00 to use as a chicken house. The top and front open (although we won't be opening the top). We cut a hole in the side for them and added a ramp. Added a roost inside and will be adding a nestbox to the other side that can be opened from the top to gather eggs. It isn't finished yet, but here are some pics:

Seed Giveaway

http://venisonfordinner.com/2012/02/29/a-giveaway/#comment-349

Who is Salt Spring Seeds?
In short, the best source for non-GMO, heritage, heirloom, untreated, open-pollinated, proven variety seeds ever.

The Last Pilgrims

http://www.lastpilgrims.com/

http://journal.michaelbunker.com/

Spring fever already?

I know Winter just officially started a few days ago, but I just got my 3rd seed catalog in the mail and I think I can feel Spring Fever already!  The worst part is that I'm not sure where we're going to be living come Spring time so I can't really plan :(  I'm still excited though!!!  Can't wait to find our new place :)

Some good pantry storage videos

Blah! it's been raining for 2 days now and I'm about to go stir crazy! I'm already ready for spring....sigh....So since I've had some time on my hands, I've been watching some videos (Hello....my name is Eva... and I'm a YouTube-aholic) Anyway, found some cool pantry storage videos and thought I'd share some with you.

Just for kicks, I threw this one in. I would never have a pantry like the one below. It's really neat, but I bet it's  E-X-P-E-N-S-I-V-E!!!!! Wow.

Happy Food Storage!

...and everything keeps changing...

I bought my postage stamp sized property with dreams and high hopes of planting some roots for a while. I wanted to turn that ugly little property into something beautiful; something to be proud of. Of course I would have rather been able to get something a little more to my liking and better suited to our needs, but it was cheap ($150 a month) and it was a roof over our heads and it was OURS. We are still purchasing that place, but we no longer live there. My kids kept getting sicker than normal. They've always had health problems (Especially Destiny, my 14 year old) so I didn't think too much about it at first. I finally realized the problem was the house and was debating what to do with the place. I didn't want to give the place up after paying on it for 2 years, but I didn't want to continue living there. During this, I lost my job sooooo......now my ex-Father in Law is living in our old place (paying the $150 mortgage) and we are staying with my parents (along with my youngest brother and his wife and baby) ....sigh...We buy most of the food and the girls and I cook and clean the house. Zac does all the fixing and "grunt" work around here for my dad, while I take my mom wherever she needs to go (if and when she ever feels up to getting up and about).  Before we started staying here, I got rid of my chickens because without a job I couldn't afford to feed them and I couldn't let them free range. We also downsized the rabbits to 3. If I would've known we would end up here with my parents, I would have kept them since there is almost 4 1/2 acres here...ah well.

We will be looking for another place towards the end of next month. The guy I'm buying my other place from has fixer-uppers all over the county (and surrounding counties). He works with you on down payments, and monthly payments and does everything legally. People question why I want to buy fixer-uppers. My cousin says it's too much money and I'd be better off buying new (or newer lol) Well, first of all I don't make enough to qualify for a bank loan. 2nd. The guy I'm buying from is SUPER nice and lets me slide on payments when needed and never harasses me. 3rd. I don't want to be stuck in a super expensive mortgage for the next 30 (or more) years of my life. I would much rather buy something cheaper, pay it off, and be done with it. Paying as I go when fixing and remodeling is WAY less stressful for me than worrying about a big bank note every month. Yeah, remodeling can be a pain in the ass, but it's the perfect chance to learn to do things yourself.

Dad talked to me about us taking over payments on this place (HUGE 4 bedroom, 3 bath, 2 living rooms, office, laundry room, 4 1/2 acres, creek, woods, pasture, storm shelter (that needs new roof), patio, and big storage building) in 2 years. I wouldn't mind having this place except the payments are almost $700 a month (not counting insurance), taxes are insane, and they still owe almost $100,000 on it! That may not seem like much to some people, but it's completely outrageous to me. I just can't commit to that. I would feel too much weight....it's too scary...I wouldn't feel....free. So, we are biding our time, trying to make the best of the situation till we can find a place better suited to us and then it's back to starting over....AGAIN.

I'm still determined to have my homestead, and I'm still determined to name it About Thyme Farm, cause it's about dang time I had a farm!!! lol