Bees and Blooms

We stopped off at Hubby's Dad's house for a quick visit when I spotted their pear tree in bloom. I just had to take pictures! As I got closer and took some of these pictures,

I heard a loud buzzing sound. So I looked closer. The honey bees were out in full force! Hubby's Dad has two hives and it looked like the bees were hungry!

                                               I'm hoping to have some honey this year!


                                                             So until next time,

                                                    Small Farm Girl, bee watcher.

Pictures!!!!!!! Finally....

Guess what? I got a camera!!!!!! I'm soooo excited!!! So I went out and took all kinds of pictures of our little critters here on the farm.

 This is Ella. She was one of the first doelings born this year. She is 2 and a half months old. Isn't she a cutie? (Why is it that every time that I try to take goat pictures, there's always a goat butt in the picture? lol)

This is Cinder and Popcorn. Cinder is the black doeling on the right. She's Ella's twin sister. The big boy on the left is Popcorn. He is only 3 weeks old. He's already bigger than the babies born months before him. He just might be a keeper. (Goat butt!)

                                                He also likes to play "King of the Rock."

I also promised you pictures of the rabbits. This is one of my Champagne D'Argent  rabbits. They make great meat rabbits. One interesting note about them, they are born jet black and fade to this lovely silver as they get older.

This is my full blooded New Zealand rabbit. She should be giving birth any time now. Here she's taking a nap to get ready for the youngins.

This is one of our California rabbits. They make great meat rabbits also. I just love her markings!

And now for the chickens. This is just a small batch of them. We are now up to 21 hens and 4 roosters. Yep, time to do some thinning of the flock.

This is what is known as a Lemon Coo Coo Orphinton. They are just like the Buffs, but just a rare color. I have two roosters this color, plus one Buff, and one Black Orphintons. I just love that breed.

There you go, the pictures that I promised you! Now that I have a camera, hopefully I'll be taking more for you to see.

 So until next time,

 Small Farm Girl

Untitled

I am getting a camera this weekend if it's the last thing I do!!!!
That is all......

SFG

Fire

Last night we got to do something that we haven't done in a looooong time. We sat outside! It was wonderful! Well, all but the smell of smoke. It's that time of year around here. Fire season. Twice a year the Forestry Dept puts out burn warnings.  The leaves in the forests are so dry that they catch fire with the smallest spark. And with the wind like it is, the fire spreads fast!  We were smelling smoke last night because there was a 200 acre fire just a few miles from the house. Don't get too excited. The fires rarely burn down houses or buildings. Once the fire gets to grass, which is whats usually around houses and buildings, it just goes out. Every once in a while tho,  the fire will be hot and slow burning and it will kill some trees and maybe an abandoned shed. But, most of the time, it just stays on the ground and burns the leaves. Since we live on top of a hill, we can usually see and smell the smoke. Sometimes me and Hubby will even take a little trip and go see where it's burning. Not last night, we just stayed around the house and enjoyed the sounds of frogs and the smell of smoke. lol

Another thing we did yesterday that we haven't done in a while, was cook on the grill. I LOOOOOVE cooking on the grill. There's nothing like that taste. I'd love to cook on it all year but the way the wind blows up here on the hill in the winter, the grill wouldn't stay hot. A summer (winter) kitchen is on the long lists of wants. Maybe someday.  But as of now, I'm going to enjoy the warmer weather so we can cook outside. One thing that I'm going to try more of this year, is cooking over a camp fire. Hubby got a really nice cooking tripod, that you put over a campfire, for a present last Christmas. I'm going to try it out this year! hehehe.  Since I collect cast iron cookware, I have plenty pots and pans to use on it. I can't wait to make biscuits and fried apples over a campfire. Yummmmmmm!!!!!! You are all invited. lol  Bring a tent.

I just got a phone call from Glamour Girl (Hubby's daughter) just now. She asked to, (get ready for it....) clean out our chicken house. What!? She said that it was dirty the last time she was here and wanted to clean it out. Well let me think about..... SURE!!!!!! Never, never turn down free labor. LOL! So she's on her way here so that she and Hubby can clean out the old chicken house. Next I'm going to put a bug in her ear about the new chicken coop. hehehehe.  I'm sneaky.

Well gotta go. We are having Italian Chicken tonight on the grill. One of Glamour Girls favorites. There IS power in food!  

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, Free labor receiver!  Yipeeeeeee!!!

P.s. My Italian Chicken is just chicken breast marinated in Italian dressing. Try it! You'll love it!

Warm Morning Chores

As the days are getting longer, I notice myself getting up earlier. I swear I am solar powered!!! LOL!  Since the weather was so nice I took my time doing the chores today. I spent time in the goat pen. I sat down on a rock and just enjoyed watching the babies. You get to know them so much just by observing them. The 2 week old buckling is already taller then the two doelings that were born a 2 1/2 months ago. He's going to be a big boy! We might end up keeping him for breeding stock.

After I was done with the goats, I fed the rabbits and made sure they had fresh water. One of my New Zealand does should be having her litter soon so I put her in a nesting box. I sure hope she has a good, large litter. This will be the beginning of my meat rabbit business. The first ones to sell. Woooo Hoooo!  When I was getting straw for the nesting box, I noticed that some of the chickens have been laying eggs in the straw.  I don't mind this as long as I know they are laying there. I'll just gather the eggs from the straw. Works for them, works for me.

We are up to 25 chickens now. We have WAY too many roosters. We have 4. Soon, that will be down to 2. Right now, the feathers and blood are flying.  They are trying to see who is the boss. They'll soon find out that I'm the boss. LOL. Chicken and dumplings anyone?

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, warm weather lover. (Remind me that I said this when I start complaining on how hot it is.)

Short Break

We had a beautiful day today! Cold, but there was sun! You know, SUN! That bright, yellow thing up in the sky. At least that's what google said it was when I looked it up. Haven't seen it for so long I wasn't sure. lol

I'm in the middle of cleaning out one of our freezers. Yuck! I hate that job. We bought a hog off of a friend  and sent it to the butcher to be processed. I have to get the freezer cleaned out and a place found so that we could put it somewhere. I have a big job a head of me. So of course, I get on the internet. :) It's a good feeling though, knowing that your freezer is full.  Beef, chicken and now pig. Yuuuuuummmmmmm!!!!! And soon to be, rabbit. Oh I think I'm going into protein overload! lol

This weekend is suppose to be up in the 70's. 70"S!!!!! I'm soooo excited!!! I'm gonna see if I can put a bug in hubby's ear to see if he can get the chicken coop close to being done.  It's been in the "works" for forever. But of course, I have to admit, we have been busy and the weather has been cold and rainy. I'll let him off the hook. (for now.)

Well, I'm gonna have to go and finish the freezer.
So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, freezer cleaner outer.  

Confusion

We were very busy this weekend. If you ask me what we did, I probably couldn't tell you. My mind has been in a whirlwind lately. Once again, if you asked me what about, I couldn't tell you. hehehe.  I feel like we have been doing a million things, but haven't gotten anything done.  I'm sure you all have been there.

 I get like this around this time of year, every year. I wonder if I'm doing the right thing. If I'm going down the right path when it comes to our farm.  Should I buy an expensive buck for our goats? Should I show the goats? Should I keep doing what I'm doing with them? Are they just a waste of money? What about the rabbits? Are they a waste of money too? Should we build our cattle herd again? Are they more work than what they are worth? What is our goal for our farm? It's like this EVERY. YEAR.

So I look at the constants in my life hoping that by doing this, it will get me back into focus. I know I want chickens. I have no problem with them. Yea!!! Although, I wonder if I should keep them free range or put them in a coop. (If it ever gets done. lol)  I'll probably pick both. I'll let them out just a bit every so often.  See, chickens are easy.

I'll probably keep my rabbits. Even if I don't make money with them, I can butcher them for our own meat. If someone wants to buy one every now and then, that's fine too. They aren't much trouble and you can have as many or as few as you want to have.  Rabbits are simple.

I know I would like to write more. I always have and I always will. Now, if I could only MAKE time to do it. My mind, right now, doesn't want to come up with any good topics. Plus, I still have to get a good camera.  They cost a lot of money and that isn't something that we have a lot of right now.  I guess if we keep the goats and cows, at least that would give me something to write about. LOL.

So you see, I flip flop more than a Olympic gymnast.  Maybe I should run for congress. lol. I'll keep you all posted on what's going on. In fact, I'm think I'll write about things that just pop into my head. You would be amazed at some of the stuff. :)

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, flip flopper.