sick

I was sick through the week of halloween.  We had to cancel our halloween party.  The bunnies have moved on from their nest under the house.  My voice is nearly gone.  Will write more when feeling better.

Ms. Bunn

Ms. Bunn, the name Rob has given the female rabbit I had bought to breed and got only one litter from before our goat let her loose on the world, had another litter of kits.  She has been living under the front porch for more than a month so I am not sure if she bred with a wild rabbit or in the last hoorahs of his life, Big Poppa got her pregnant during on of his freedom flings (thanks again to Camo).

There are five babies that we have been able to see. They are just small puffballs, taking their first explorations out side of the porch nest.  There are two cinnamon colored, like their mom, two white and black ones (which makes me think of Big Pappa), but there is also a darker colored one, a solid brown.  So maybe she did breed with a wild rabbit and the white and black is just the other colors in her gene pool.  I am not sure.

But I will say I am proud of Ms. Bunn.  She is a scrapper and she is making a life for herself under our front porch.  I wouldn't mind getting a few of her babies a little tamer, but they are quick and know to hide.  Which I am glad they are like that right now; it will keep them safer.

Maybe I should go read Watership down again.

A Bookcase

I was asked by a friend's daughter to come to her school for Grandparent/Special friend day.  M (what I will call the daughter), is in second grade and her grandparents live several states away.  It would be the third time I would go to M's school for the Special friend day.

I was now old hat at the whole affair.  Go to the cafeteria, do a work page with M, have some milk and cookies, and go to the book fair.  At which I buy her a book.  This time was only slightly different in that M's mom was with me in case some other child needed a special friend.  So she got more than one book.

M took us back to her classroom after the book fair and proceeded showing me around the 200 square foot room (guessing the size here).  Her desk, the chore assignments, the lockers, the chalkboard, and the bookcase.

The bookcase that M and her class would hide behind as her "safe place".

I was nearly physically ill.

A bookcase.

In case of an intruder.  A violent intruder that we see on the news too many times.  M, her classmates, and her teacher were going to hide behind the bookcase in front of the lockers.

I kept it together though, because the last thing you want to do is come apart in a second grade classroom on Special friend day.

And there is nothing I can do about it.

So I buy her a book, for her bookcase.

Welcome Fall

The weather has turned.  The recent storms brought in a cold wind that has drawn a blanket of leaves across the ground.  The golden fade of the leaves still on the trees speaks to the cold and the deadly advance of winter.  As deadly as the predators that took the last two hens from the original flock.  I found the barred hen near the driveway, and the black hen was taken into the woods.  I will keep a closer eye on the rest of my chickens from now on.  Predators never go away, they just change coats.  Even the cold of winter may claim some livestock.  The persimmon seed I opened showed a spoon, heavy snows in the future.

It is crunch time for winter.  I had the chain for the electric chainsaw sharpened as that is my only reliable cutter at the moment.  I rebuilt the goats' movable shelter in time to keep them dry from the rains.  My next project is their winter quarters behind the garage.

I also need to get the nest boxes on the egg wagon.  I hope the hens will start laying soon.

In good news, a turkey is laying eggs.  I was very tickled to see those giant speckled eggs in the ivy garden.

Free doors

Also managed to catch the last rabbit that had gotten away.  His freezer camp appointment will be Tuesday, because Wednesday is trash day.  I could compost the offal in the woods but I don't want to attract predators, especially after losing my first flock of chickens.

Rob has started selling apple bread to the people at his work.  It is surprising how much business he is getting every week.  I think it started three weeks ago, and this week he needs to deliver 35 loaves.  I have been cutting up a lot of apples.

Out of the rabbit buisiness

The baby rabbits had their cage broken into Sunday and we didn't discover it until we got home.  We only found two out of the three.  Today was their last day and the dogs had cornered the last bunny that had gotten loose under the deck but before I could get into position he took off.  So we were still down to two younger ones.  Miss Bun is still living under the front deck, basically wild now.  I can't seem to find a way to catch her, and I have pretty much given up on the thought.

So today was freezer camp day for the last two young bunnies and Mr. Bun.

You never appreciate how exhausting it is to do that sort of work until you do it.  It isn't pleasant, and it is a little sad, but at the same time it is something I needed to do, much like other distasteful chores.

The rabbit business never really took off, no one was really looking for the meat and I didn't try very hard.  They're easy to raise and not hard to clean, in comparison with defeathering birds, but without an easy market it isn't worth the time.

It will make it a little easier in the winter since I won't have the rabbits to worry about.  I am now down to laying hens, the turkeys and the two goats.  The turkeys will go to freezer camp in November.  If Miss and Camo don't produce kids then they will be sold.  If Miss gets pregnant and produces then Camo will be sold and we will go from there.

I need to start concentrating on clearing more land but even with the work my dad put into the chainsaws that don't run that great.  But you do what you can with what you have.

The Summer is over.  Winter is coming.

So I've been bad.

I kept meaning to post more here and I just kept putting it off.  Really not much to report.  Miss Bun is out living in the yard because Camo knocked her feeder off her cage to get at the rabbit food and released her.  I can't remember how many times that had happened, but this time she isn't going to let herself be caught.  Any time we get near her she takes off.  So its been about two weeks and she isn't suffering.  I would like to catch her, but I am not putting much effort into it.  I think I will end the bunny experiment.

The baby chickens are about a month away from laying (I hope) while the older two birds seemed to have slacked off in their egg production.  Also Old Dog has been caught eating eggs, so that isn't helping.

I am ready for the turkeys to go to freezer camp.  They were cute and fun, then they grew up and are sloppy.  I will probably raise some again next year but may get them later in the year.  I am curious to see how much these monsters weigh.

I need to get on the ball and chop up some wood for the winter.  I hope it won't be as bad as last year but a lot of folks and the farmer's almanac is calling for a hard winter.  Dad brought up another chainsaw he fixed so hopefully between the two I can get rolling on the wood.