The reason..........

why I froze my butt off this Winter while covering these plants. They actually made it! Standing in the snow covering them up I felt like a crazy lady but tonight I will eat the fruits of my labor :)
Enjoy the weekend ya'll!!!

I did it!!!

First an update on the dog drama. Monday morning me and the little one were running late for school and at the corner of our street we met our neighbor coming back home. He waved and I honestly didn't see it. I was concentrating on getting the tardy wee one to school but I asked my daughter did he wave (we do that around here) and she said yes. I was glad I missed it and didn't return the wave. I wanted him to know I'm not happy. Five o'clock comes and we are finally getting back from Wal-Mart (hate that place) and he pulls in the drive. He was very apologetic and sorry. I explained to him that we had a postitive id that it was his dog and that all of this really stressed and bummed me out. He asked if he could replace my birds, I said no. I'm just going to keep them penned up. He asked if we would like a free jump rental sometime and I said okay that works. So although I'm sad we lost our birds, one day in the future my kids are going to have a fun day on a big inflatable something for free :) I'm also relieved and shocked that my other neighbor who had lost chickens to the dog (the one that didn't give me the heads up) never even told him and he talks to her almost every day. I had only assumed he knew his demon dog was doing that and hadn't done anything about it. Glad I was wrong. He also told me we have mountain lions around here. I said I know I saw one, he said no like cougars, I said I know I saw one. I still don't think he believed me, lol!

So the chickens have been penned up since Friday afternoon. I have mentioned before I have way too many roosters and being all penned up the girls don't have a chance. So last night I gathered up three big ugly boys and put them in a cage and this morning.........drumroll please..................I butchered them from start to finish all by myself!!!!! I was nervous as hell, I cried a little, and I shook a lot but I got through the first one fine, the second one fine, and then the third one. He must have known what was up because he bit me right away. The first two deaths were humane, quick, and drama free. The third one would have to be in it's own category of CRAZY!!! But it's done they are in the fridge and I'm super proud of myself :) I still need to butcher about three more but I will wait until next week.

I planted some veggies yesterday and got my seed potatoes. It felt good to be in the dirt again. I will take pictures as soon as I get that area cleaned up. My chickens have scratched all the straw, dirt, leaves, and rocks everywhere. It's a disaster....

It's a beautiful day, 85* I'm headed back outside :)))))

180

The stress Thursday and Friday of the chicken eating dog, the loss of my chickens, and the cold rainy weather really got me down. I should have known Saturday when I sat for hours watching Alaska The Last Frontier on Netflix, didn't cook dinner, and jumped on everyone about letting me be lazy for once that something was up. Last night I waited until the last of the daylight to do my chores and when I looked in on the bunnies and baby chicks it was the first time I smiled in days. Love those baby critters ♥

Today is better. I didn't have murderous nightmares so I woke up happy. I've kept my chickens penned up the last two days and they are all still alive and my anxiety is gone. Got all my girls to school, a little late, daylight savings had them dragging their feet this morning but all were happy and not grouchy for once. Have taken down all the wind breaks in the chicken/bunny yard to air out coops and hutches. I'm wearing a t-shirt and shorts while working today. My spirit needed this weather, my skin needed to feel the warmth of the sun, and my body needed this extra physical activity :)

I hope you all have a wonderful day and the ones that are lucky enough to have nice weather, ENJOY IT!!!!! 

Feathers everywhere!!!!!

Two days ago I watched a dog walk 10 feet from my back porch with one of my hens in it's mouth. I got outside and penned up as many chickens as I could before I had to leave and pick up my daughter. We came back and 45 minutes later got the rest of the pea brains penned up. While we were in the process of doing that a lady came down the hill with her black dog and stopped exactly where my chicken had been. I had a chat with her about how I think her dog is killing my chickens, she didn't think so, and I wasn't 100% sure but I was bitchy towards her and was certain it was her dog until we left again to go to the store. There was another black dog near the road. Next day I'm ready for the dog. I'm outside all ding dong day until 1:30 I go inside with a bad feeling take a shower and by 2:00 I hear my hen scream look out the window and see the feathers :( The damn dog got her while I was showering!!!! I throw on some clothes walk around my yard saying numerous choice words and trying to pen up the pea brains AGAIN! They won't go in and I need to pick my little one up. What can happen in the 10 minutes I'm gone? I know more park at the school and my MIL calls freaking out. She pulled into the drive saw the dog with my bird in it's mouth. She peeled out and started honking the dog dropped the bird and it ran off. I hurry back home to find one chicken under the porch and feathers EVERYWHERE!!!! I find another rooster off in the neighbors yard, it was the one the dog dropped. Me, my little one, and MIL eventually get all the chickens put up. We see the dog up the hill and I asked my MIL if that was the dog, she said nope. What?!? I just chewed out it's owner yesterday, oops. The hubs stops by on the way to the shop. He finds the dog at the corner grabs it by it's throat asks his mom if that was the dog. Yep! He asks the people on the corner if it's their dog. They say no it's the people behind them. The hubs goes over there, the parents weren't home but he explained the situation to the oldest child and told her they were welcome to come look at our yard since it's covered in feathers. I texted my other neighbor to see if she had lost any chickens lately. She said yes and it's so and so's dog. WHAT! A little heads up would have been nice Geesh!!!! The owners of the dog (pastors at a church) haven't called, came down, said sorry, nothing. I'm seriously upset with their lack of giving a crap! I had a really hard time sleeping last night. It sounds stupid but I woke up several times from nightmares of dogs killing chickens. I also woke up mad as hell. I'm so sick of people not taking responsibility. So I'm going to deal with their dog. It likes to kill my chickens around 2 everyday. I don't know if it will be by today since they are penned up and it's raining but I'm going to be waiting for it. It's not going to kill another thing on this street!

I spoke too soon........

Winter is still here :/ 

The little one's visit to the ortho was not good. She needs EIGHT baby teeth pulled six of them are on the top. Three on each side of the front teeth. How will she eat? She's gonna look funny and crap it's gonna hurt! I don't know how much this will all cost but with the hubs accident and Christmas still not payed off, it's starting to feel like we are on a sinking ship :/ And to top it all off I stupidly signed her up for softball!!!! So far we have spent 250 bucks and haven't practiced once!!!! After her appointment we went to get her helmet and cleats. I don't know if it's just me but the general public is RUDE! The people that worked at the stores weren't anywhere to be seen to help us out. So after two stores, no cleats, no helmet, several dirty looks and bad attitudes from strangers we said screw it and went to Coney Islander. Not very productive but tasty :) The hubs took her to Wal-Mart and got her bat, glove, balls, and bag. This weekend she is staying with her grandparents and they are taking her shopping for the cleats and helmet. Yeah me, I somehow got out of all this. Which is great since I know nothing about baseball :)

I have 0 kids for the entire weekend. Now this is my kind of vacation!

Homestead News

The wind is blowing like 100 miles and hour today! It's a leave your trashcan tipped over kinda day for sure! The temperature was 64* at 7 this morning!!!! Spring showed up this week and I'm tickled!

The five little bunnies that were born three weeks ago are growing like weeds! This little black one is so cute :) My last pregnant doe had six kits this morning. Baby bun total 13. Now I hope when the time comes we can put them in the freezer :/

The guinea pig babies have one more week before I try to sell them. Two of them have red eyes and are on the ugly side. All three are boys. I hope they sell. After they leave I will put Veeta back with Cheese and in two months we will have babies from a known daddy :)

My brussel sprouts made it (barely) through this Winter. Only 1/3 of the harvest was edible so I fed it to the piggies. I'm hoping the remaining sprouts will be enough to feed my family a time or two. I also got my entire compost bin emptied into this garden. It should improve the soil and hopefully my veggies will grow better.

I'm incubating eggs. They are all due by March 2nd. The light brown ones are the ones my hens started. I took them from them and gave them some Maran eggs instead. Sneaky I know but I'm only keeping the Maran and Olive eggers and those little mutts in the brown eggs will be sold for $1/chick. I already have someone waiting so hopefully this is a good hatch :)

The little one has an ortho appointment today. We have known for awhile she was going to need braces. Her mouth is like a traffic jam and now she has shark teeth!

And for the best news.........THE HUBS IS BACK TO WORK!!!!!

Hope ya'll have a great day!!!!!

2 Years!!!!

I've been blogging for two years today! I admit I haven't done a good job lately. I blame old man Winter. He's keeping me busier than normal caring for the critters. I remember the day I got my blog. The hubs came home from work and I was so proud of myself I couldn't quit talking about it. It's amazing that back then I had five raised beds and as many chickens. Now I have several gardens and a whole lot of chickens, goats, rabbits, and guinea pigs. Speaking of guinea pigs. I have three new additions :) My girl had three babies Sunday

The hubs thinks I'm obsessed with them. I might be, just a little ;) Today is also the halfway mark for Ms. Lady's (my goat) pregnancy. 75 more days :) :) :) My rabbit that was expecting had five babies about 10 days ago. They are all five doing great. It's amazing how warm they are in the nest even with -5* windchills outside. I have one more doe to kindle in less than two weeks and then I will have a break from rabbit birthin'. I'm getting two dozen hatching eggs tomorrow, as if I need anymore chickens!!!!! I'm excited to get different breeds in the yard :) We butchered two roosters last Friday and had both of them for Sunday dinner. It had been awhile since we processed a whole bird, we normally skin them and leave the innards in tact so I was a little rusty on the first one. The second one went beautifully. I still have a couple roosters to process and I'm actually looking forward to it which is WEIRD! I love knowing how to process my own food! I have a broody Cochin sitting on who knows how many eggs. I will probably sell those for a dollar each when they hatch. I'm wanting to thin the banty herd down. They reproduce like rabbits and have taken over!!! I still have brusell sprouts in the garden. They may not have survived this last bit of cold. I felt like an idiot covering them up with snow on the ground. My Fall garden this year was a total bust. What the chickens didn't eat the weather killed :/ Next year I'm going to put it in a little earlier. Well that's what's going on around here. Enjoy the weekend ya'll!!!!