New Fun Fall Decorations! The Great Pumpkin is here!

Fun additions to any garden!

The greatest door decoration!

Mini pumpkin for your mum planters!

Carding wool at the Connecticut Country Store!

I decided to combine alpaca wool with my rabbits' angora for my next project - very warm!

First I carded the 2 kinds of wool together.  This alpaca was already processed in to roving which made things much easier for me!

I didn't want to card too much because I want the striped yarn with variations of brown and white.

After I filled this bucket I started to spin.

This is how the yarn is looking.  This is 1 ply.  I will make 2 spools of 1 ply and let them stretch, then I will ply them together to make a nice warm yarn.  I am hoping I can then talk one of my talented sisters into making me mittens with it!

Pictures from the storm!

Well, we all survived the storm!  It was very windy for a very long time and the river did get wider, but never crossed the tracks.  John boxed all the birds in with trailors and we filled the inside of the cages with hay to keep them dry.  I've learned since that the guineas should not get wet and should still be on a heatlamp, but we can't bring them inside and we lost electricity for almost a week.  They survived anyway so we were lucky!  They are getting big and losing the feathers on their necks now, they are starting to get the guinea look I love!  Here are some pics of the storm and the bird set up and us trying to coax the goats outside when it was safe.  Be well!

The turkey flight cage and the guinea tractor were wedged together between a few trailors and the party boat.  The plan worked well and all were safe.  I stood in the flight cage during the worst parts of the storm and barely felt any wind.  Luckily the guineas were not scared of the turkeys and actually tried to stay near them cage to cage.  We are seperating them slowly every 2 days now so they don't get too upset.

You can't see the river yet, only the puddles forming around the gardens.  The river got very wide but not enough to be threatening.

Turkeys will stand right in the rain.  Here they are hoping I brought them cucumber slices - which I did.

The guineas on their inside pirch during the hieght of the storm.  Interestingly, most of them were outside laying in the hay watching the rain and wind tear through the yard!

Buttercup and Cupcake watching Cricket run around outside and getting first dibs on all the leaves that fell.

Buttercup wasn't really interested in coming outside, but eventually she did.

I cannot get this picture to go upright, but I love it, so here it is anyway - tilt your head to the left :)

August 2011, the storm is headed our way!

Well, the good news is we live in the safest place in the united states from natural disasters.  The bad news is we happen to live on a river in the safest place which makes it a little less safe with a big ol storm coming our way!  John and I talked and planned and talked some more and then somehow got our BFFs/nieghbors/cousins to come over tonight to relax (help - haha).  I will have to post pics of our management plan once we get it into motion.  We've decided that the birds must stay outside.  The goats' house is pretty well protected and on higher ground (our yard has gone 6 feet under before).  The bees are on thier own and we will say a prayer for them.  They are on higher ground but that ground was under in the last big flood.

John's parents have a generator so we did not go out and buy tons of water nor food.  I figure if the electricity goes out we'll have too much to eat anyway.  Kathy said she is at her 3rd gas station so we might just deal with what we have.  The store is walking distance (though it might be under water) and I don't work outside the farm again until Tuesday so I think that'll be fine.  Honestly, this morning I wasn't really worried at all and then I turned on the radio.....yikes!

Well, that's all until I have pictures.  Stay safe and be well!

Early mornings

On off farm work days I get up at 5am.  I turned on the lights and my dog looked at me like, "Already?!  five more minutes....."

Raspberries

The raspberries are in from my everbearing bushes (get some if you love raspberries, they are wonderful) and I ate as I picked and once again ended up with an empty basket!  When my nieces move in next door I will have to be more reserved and save some....  Beautiful day, lots of work outside, turkeys went bananas for cukes but it was too dark to take a good video.  I whipped up pasta with chicken in pesto sauce in 5 minutes for dinner tonight.  Our own chicken, handmade pasta, and a pesto I made last year from basil and garlic and walnuts - delish!  Farmers cow ice cream for dessert!  I hope you all had a moment or two to enjoy this beautiful day.  Be well!

August already?!

This morning I started my day with a chai latte (my new favorite drink - thank you Emma!) and a fried duck egg sandwich. I also had a fried duck egg sandwich last night for dinner. These are from 'chicka-zee-farm - check them out on facebook. The egg sandwich was FANTASTIC! I use duck eggs for baking, especially breads because it makes them so moist (the exchange is 2 hen eggs for one duck but in banana breads I use a whole duck egg). Last night I wanted a fried egg sandwich but when I went for the hen eggs there were none in the house (they sell very fast at the store because they are delicious). So, since I was in the mood, I decided I'd try a duck egg. I will always do duck egg sandwiches from NOW ON! As a matter of fact, I'm thinking of adopting a few pekings just for eggs (and a little weeding). I will let you know how that goes.


This has been a very busy and strenuous summer for us and it has gone by like lightening!  The turkeys are plumping up, the guinea hens are getting big (3.5 wks old now), the goats are getting a little on the heavy side - they are on a diet, and the bees are very very busy making honey for our lip balms and lotion bars.  As a matter of fact, this summer has been so busy that I decided to leave my FT job and am now working a PT job as an analyst for a state school and PT for the farm and PT for the store :).  I am thrilled to be able to do this and am looking very forward to being more involved in the store again and with the farm producing more of what we need at home and raising strong healthy happy animals!

Today is my day off from analyst work and a beautiful day for enjoying the outdoors.  All the windows are open, the clothes are hanging in the sun, the rabbits are enjoying themselves in thier outdoor space and I am getting ready to get some weed wacking done!  It has been a very busy day 'off' with caring for the house and the animals.  The turkeys are so big they need feeding and watering twice a day and are even happier if I throw in some cucumbers and squash!  I will have to video tape them tonight when John brings home some cukes - hysterical!  I've brought water to the goats a few times and rewarded them for good behavior with horse treats - carrot and apple flavor!  The rabbits get to go outside to dig wholes if its nice so they've been having a blast getting filthy all morning.  Luckily they are good at cleaning up!

More great news - my sister and nieces are moving next door to us this month!  They are city girls and have decided to move out here with us!  We are thrilled!  I am hoping to encourage the girls to write you a few stories about thier adventures and impressions once they arrive.  I'm also hoping to encourage them to help me with the animals!  We will see.....

I'm so glad to be back on line with all of you and hope to resume blogging!  Be well!