A Year Raising Rabbits

    When we started raising meat rabbits, I had never even eaten them before. Not even wild ones. But I heard that they were good, and take up less space and are easier to house, feed, and care for then other meat animals.  So, after reading a lot about the subject, the girls and I picked out two lovely Rexes, a buck and a doe, to start out.
    I should have read more.
    Not that the rabbits were a bad choice, it's just that they were mini Rexes. Not the best choice for meat rabbits. Fortunately, a neighbor was kind enough to give us a New Zealand (i.e. bigger) rabbit. HE was supposed to be a girl. When we found out his true sex, in a REALLY OBVIOUS way, we had to get another doe. Shucks, I have to get another bunny!😁

Sweet Pea

   Sweet Pea was the last rabbit we bought. She was the mother of one of my best breeders. All the other breeders I have were born and bred here.  Except Pepper. She just wandered into the yard one day, was easily caught, and has stayed here ever since and produced most of my breeders.
    Things can change a lot in a year with rabbits, especially ones who live in a colony. Every 30ish days, more babies are born to at least one mother. Babies grow up, get processed or sold, and some have had babies themselves. I started with a wood-framed wire box, which became the foundation for a colony. Then I bought a small hutch, then a bigger hutch, and then another smaller one, all of which are in use.

Current colony

    It isn't easy processing these formerly cute fuzzballs who I played with and held from birth, because it shouldn't be. Ending a life isn't something to be taken lightly. I just have to remember why I am doing this. I am providing food for my family that was well taken care of and not mistreated as can happen on commercial farms.
    Unfortunately, sometimes you also have to deal with unexpected deaths. I have had a pregnant doe die for no reason, and several kits.  The doe was buried, and the kits were sold to give nourishment for snakes.
    People ask how many rabbits I have. I usually answer that I don't count. That way if my husband asks how many there are, I can honestly say I don't know!
    I did count. I currently have 50: breeders, babies, and grow outs.
    Wait, I had 13 born last week...

Ho. Lee. Cow.

    Wow, yeah. It's been over a year since I last posted. I'd like to have a good excuse, such as "I was in jail/ hospital/ asylum/ deserted island." None of these apply (yay?). I guess I just haven't had the energy to talk.
    Now I do.
    I'll post some catch-up posts soon, but until then, here's some pictures.

Making Yogurt

 

In my reading about the best things to eat to help your intestinal flora, I found that yogurt was something that I would actually eat.  But I wanted to make it myself, so I could make sure of what is in it.  I bought some starter culture from a website that sells a lot of that kind of thing.  It had two packets, and I tried to make yogurt with them two separate times. It was supposed to be okay to make without a yogurt maker or heat, but it didn't work for me. I just ended up with sour milk.
   I didn't want to give up, though, so I looked it up on the internet. I went to this site and this site and cobbled together a technique that worked for me! It uses a crock pot as a source of heat.
 Ingredients:
  1/2 gallon of milk (whatever kind you want)
  2 TBSP yogurt

    Heat milk in crock pot on low for two and a half hours. This kills all bacteria and cultures so the ones you put in it will be the only ones. Unplug and allow to cool in pot for three hours.  Take a cup of the heated milk out and whisk in the yogurt. Stir the starter-yogurt mix into the rest of the milk.           Replace cover, wrap pot in wool blanket or towels and place in an UNHEATED AND OFF oven with the oven light on. This will keep the milk at the right temperature to turn it into yogurt. Let sit ten to twelve hours or overnight. Do not open the door! You'll disturb the yogurt-fairy and ruin a half gallon of milk.

    The next day, line a colander with a thin tea towel (I used an old calendar towel), and place over a large bowl or baking dish. Pour yogurt into towel to strain, two hours for regular yogurt and three to four for Greek style.  The whey, which is mostly clear, will drain off.  The pig loved drinking it.
    Store yogurt in the fridge in a covered container. I used a quart canning jar.

The whey.

    You can leave it out at room temperature for a more tart taste.  Save two tablespoons for the next batch!
     I have put honey, fruit, and my homemade granola in it. Put the granola on right before you eat it, though, or it will get soggy.

We Said the Chickens Would Be First...

    The first farm-type animal we were planning on getting were chickens.  Then I went to the chicken swap at the local feed store.
    I came home with a five-month-old pot-belly pig boar. No, we aren't going to eat him, I just really love pigs. Also, I'm still hoping to convince the Wonderful Husband to let us breed them so we can eat the babies.  I just have to convince him that grass isn't that important in the backyard, since it bothers him that just one pig is digging it up!

He's not really orange, he's just been rooting in red clay.

    Then, I went to another chicken swap. I need to not take the girls with me to these things, since I came home this time with two rabbits; an eight-week-old Broken Castor (color) Rex (breed) doe, and a Red Eyed White Rex buck of six weeks. They are currently residing in the chicken coop until I can build a colony for them. I want to raise them for meat, but I would have to use them as breeders since Eldest Daughter and Baby Girl are waaaaaaayyy too attached to them.

    My Wonderful Husband says I am not allowed to go to the chicken swap anymore.  And someday, we will get chickens. I've got to build a bunny corral first.

September Garden Update

  I tore out all but one of the tomato plants. They were not doing anything, and I am needing that space for the fall garden.  I also took the cucumber plants out of the ground since they were dying from something eating the leaves.  Some of the marigolds, as you can see, have done very well, and my peppers and okra are still going strong. Next week the fall garden goes in the ground.
  Last time, I mentioned that my seedlings tend to die.  I went to WalMart, got a $10 Grow light, and jury-rigged a set up for my babies.

 That is a stack of books and a little cabinet of small drawers keeping the light over my plants. They love it!  Except for the onions, which seem not to like me (the seemingly plant-free tin of dirt on the left).  It's not an elegant set up but at least it works and it didn't cost much. 

  This being my wedding anniversary, I told my husband I wanted to get garden stuff for my present.  I got a dwarf banana tree, a red navel orange, a satsuma tree (for my husband), a mulberry bush, a citronelle plant with a pot so we can take it wherever we are sitting, a treatment for the stinking ants that are eating my okra, a snake plant to clean the air in our bedroom, baby onion plants, and five bags of manure.  Yes, I bought bags of poop for my anniversary!  No, that is not a commentary on my marriage.
  The manure will be spread on the garden next week and tilled in for the broccoli, cabbage, and beets.  As you can see from the first picture, I have a lot of work ahead of me.

August Garden Update

 

Kiwi plant

I've been getting a plant here and there. I have so many things I want to grow!
   I planted a kiwi plant in mid-June, which is crawling along our south fence. A basil, bee balm, and sage will be part of my medicine/herb garden. I also put an echinacea and a lavender plant on the north end of the garden at the the end of July.
  My peppers like it out there, I have already picked two small orange ones and a large red (they were yummy).  Also liking where they are planted are the cucumbers (I've picked two and have several more growing) and some of the marigolds I planted to keep the tomatoes safe from bugs.  The tomatoes, on the other hand...  They aren't doing anything but growing very slowly and NOT putting out flowers and tomatoes!  Maybe next time I'll listen to my mother and bury some water bottles with holes in them to help deep-water the tomatoes. Yes, Mom, I should have listened to you. Don't expect me to say that again.
  The okra has finally started producing some beautiful flowers and okra!  Can you tell that they are related to hibiscus?

   Also, the snap beans never got more than a foot tall and where putting out beans less than an inch long and not worth eating.  I tilled them back into the dirt.  I'm preparing the soil for the fall garden!
   I have direct-composted an area where I will probably plant my root crops; carrots, beets, and sweet onions.  I will also be planting broccoli (Baby Girl LOOOVES broccoli),  and cabbage.
  I have already started the onions, cabbage, and broccoli seeds inside and have had the same amount of success with them as I usually have.
  That is to say, very little.
  They sprout, they grow a couple of tiny leaves, and they fall over and die.
   I need some growing lights.
   I think a trip to the ReStore to look for fluorescent light fixtures and cheap metal shelves is on the agenda for tomorrow.

One of the cukes

Changing the Ratchets and Pawls on the Kromski Harp

  When I got my Kromski Harp rigid heddle loom, the ratchets and pawls, which keep the warp from moving when you don't want it to, were plastic. On the first use, I realized that they weren't sturdy enough when they let my entire warp fall and become unwound!  Then, while I was looking for weaving-related presents for myself for Christmas, I saw a kit being sold to replace those plastic parts with metal, so I got it.  I had a new project to weave, so I decided it was time to do the job.
   I have always been very proud of how I can figure out how to do something by reading.  That is how I learned to weave, knit, spin, and put my looms, spinning wheel, and various pieces of furniture together.  Changing the ratchets and pawls wasn't any different.

   First, I had to make a copy of the template in the instructions. If I had just cut it out, I would have cut out the instructions on the other side.  The template shows where to put a screw in where there isn't one already. The screw is to hold a magnet, the magnet holds the ratchet, the ratchet is to hold the pawl.  

   But I'm getting ahead of myself.
   The right side of the loom is the side you have to work on so that was the side to take off.  I used the template to place the screw for the magnet, took off the old ratchets and  pawls, and attached the new ones. An extra washer to make everything fit a little more snug at each end, and then it is put back together.
  It works much better now that the teeth on the pawl don't bend.

 I have started a new project involving this loom. I don't want to say too much about it right now.  Gotta keep an air of mystery or something, donchaknow.

Baby Girl Loves Worms

  I got home early today and had enough time to put some plants in the ground. It kept trying to rain on me but, thankfully, God held off long enough for me to get the tomatoes and marigolds in the ground.

The ground was wet enough already to make it easier to dig up. My Baby Girl helped me by starting the holes with the hand tiller. She was exclaiming over the worms she was finding and naming them! Goofy kid! I suppose I shouldn't be so surprised, though. This is the same kid I came home to find playing with maggots on the doorstep that she had found under the outdoor trash can.
  Now all I have to get in the ground is the snap peas.
  On the weaving/spinning side, I finished spinning the Merino wool top and am going to start spinning the BFL/silk top in the Sweet Pea colorway next.

My First Garden

  I actually have never grown a vegetable/ food garden before, something my mom pointed out to me last week. I have had a flower garden, which did well if only because God helped me water it.
  When my husband asked what I wanted for Mother's Day, I told him I wanted plants. So we went to Whataburger for dinner (I'm a cheap date!), and then to Lowe's.  I got twelve Homestead tomato plants, twelve Crimson Spineless okra, an Orange Lunchbox sweet pepper, a red sweet pepper, two burpless cucumbers, and twelve Sugar Snap peas.  I also got some marigolds to help keep bad bugs away from my vegetables, a Thai basil, German thyme, and Greek oregano plants.

  Then comes the next problem. I don't have a tiller, and I have really healthy grass where I want to put my garden. I started digging up the grass with a shovel, and quickly decided that was for the birds! I got a one foot by thirteen foot section dug up in two hours. Then I thought, "Hey, my parents have a tiller, don't they?" Unfortunately, my parent's tiller didn't work when they brought it down.
  Hmmmph.
  So I got a hand tiller. Still a lot of work, but not quite as much. I finally put half of my plants in the ground on Memorial Day with about four hours of work. Then God watered them REALLY well.
  Now my hands hurt.
  And I have a flower on one of my cucumber plants.

My tools

Not Dead, Part 2

  It only took them about six and a half hours to position the trailer, tie it down, and set up the stairs.  Our paper castle was officially here! This part was very easy for us.  The hard part was yet to come.  My husband and his uncle ran wire from the pole to the trailer and hooked it in to the fuse panel on Tuesday, March 17th, hooked up the septic tank and water lines on Wednesday, and we were ready to move everything in on Friday. We were going up and down a flight of stairs for eleven hours with all our stuff.  My Wonderful Husband and I slept on the floor because we were too tired to set up our bed.

This is the living room, looking better than it first did.

   If I never move again, it will be too soon!
   On that Saturday, we took the girls to the apartment to help us clean and bring three loads of small stuff to our new house. We got everything out of the apartment and into the trailer, and started getting everything situated.
   Then we noticed that the electric was flickering, going in and out when it wanted.
   After $500 and a weekend with very limited power, we replaced the main fuse in the box on the pole that had been damaged by water.
   So, now we are living on our land. Now I can start thinking about a garden, chickens, taking care  of and using our property to provide for us. I can start working on my spinning and weaving products.

NOW this place feels like home!

Not Dead

   My computer, she is fixed!  The fan didn't want to work, had someone take it apart, and now it does!  Yayyyy!!!
   Now I have A LOT to catch up on.  We have been very busy the past two and a half months.
   My Wonderful Husband and I picked out a brand-new trailer, had it built, and signed the papers for it the beginning of March.  By March 16th, they delivered and set it up.
   It would have been delivered the week before, but it rained all that week and they don't set up trailers in the rain.  That Monday was also kind of iffy because of the weight of the dump truck and how saturated and squishy the ground was, but we went forward with it and prayed for the best. We got to our land that morning at eight and waited for the guy with the first dump truck load of clay dirt. Government regulations now require you to put down a pad of clay dirt under new trailers.  That called for three dump truck loads, and a three-figure dollar amount.  The man who prepared the clay pad also was the one with the team that set up the trailer.  He was really whizzing around on that little Bobcat!
   While we were waiting for the second load of clay, the guy with the Bobcat asked if there was anything else I wanted uprooted or knocked down. Why, yes!  There was a large rhododendron growing in the backyard I was going to eventually get rid of since they are poisonous to goats. It took him a few seconds flat to push that ten-foot tall tree over.  Those Bobcats are really strong, as shown with the third load of dirt when the dump truck got stuck up to it's back-most axle!

Ruh-roh!

   The mobile home got to our road at 1130, and had to BACK IN from the main road!  Granted, we are maybe 1/5 mile from the main road, but I couldn't do that with a regular car, let alone and 80 foot trailer.  Watching them maneuver that huge thing in and onto where we wanted it made me very nervous.
This post is way too long, I am tired, and I will leave more for another day.

Starting something ELSE new!

  I have been having some issues with Etsy lately, which has resulted in my shop being suspended.  I can't make money if my shop can't be viewed!  So I am trying something new.  Inselly is a marketplace that is linked to my Instagram account, which I look at every day.  I just have one thing on there right now, so we will see how it goes as I get more items on there.
  With regards to the homestead, we have decided that we are going to get this trailer to live in. It has what I call a "lantry room", a combination pantry and laundry room. I am trying really hard to be positive about the Mobile home since I REALLY don't like them.  I find them to not have enough windows, un-unique (is that a word?) in their shape, and not the safest thing for down here where hurricanes blow.  BUT, this is what we can afford.  I want to put a screened in porch on the front and nice flower beds to help with the outer looks.

Flower beds like these, but probably bigger.

  Who knows?  Maybe in a few years when we have no more children living with us, we can get rid of the trailer and get one of the cabins I like.  You never know.

Goals, Not Resolutions

   I don't make New Year's resolutions.  I feel bad when I don't do them (and I won't), so I just don't make them.  I do, however, like lists of things to get done, because I feel like I accomplished something when I can mark stuff off.

GOALS FOR 2015:

• Put at least one whole-foods meals on the table per week.
• Move. (Ugh)
• Get something to move into. (This is not numbered for a reason!)
• Start a small fall garden. 
• Start an herbal garden.
• Chickens!  Just a few young ones at first, to start off slow, and therefore less overwhelming.
• Learn herbal medicine. Not all of it, obviously, that would take me decades, just more than I currently know.
• Play more. Because of this guy.
• Verbalize more how much I love and appreciate my husband.  Because he's awesome and I don't say or show it enough, in my mind.

  I think that's a good start, don't you?
  What are your goals for 2015?

Wow, less than a week later!

  Christmas season is officially over.  The Christmas tree and other decorations got put away yesterday.  I can put my big loom back up!  I just need to get a kid out here to help...
  Christmas season can't be completely over yet, because I haven't told you about my presents! 

   On the left back is eight ounces of naturally-colored cotton to be spun.  I have never spun cotton before so it should be an adventure!  The three cones of yarn are 3/2 mercerized cotton, and the middle one isn't actually that yellow, more of a chamois. I'm not sure yet what I'm going to make with them.  On the right in the back is an ounce of BFL(wool)/silk blend in the colorway called Sweet Pea which I can't wait to spin.
  On the front left is a ratchet and pawl upgrade for my Kromski Harp Rigid Heddle loom.  The ratchets it comes with are plastic and bend easily, as in the first time I used it! The upgrade is made of metal and should last much longer.  I will post pictures when I put this on.
  Then...
  THEN!
  Guys, GUYS!  This little Zoom Loom by Schacht is awesome!  I've made over a dozen little squares, I've even made some at WORK!  And these  are just some of the things you can do with them!
  Okay, calming down now.
  I don't know if you have noticed a theme with these presents, other than they are all weaving/spinning related (what else would I get?).
  These are all things that don't involve my big floor loom.  Much as my husband would love to see it go, NO, I'm not getting rid of it.
  I'm thinking of the future.  Are we getting a cabin(small) or a Mobile home(bigger)?  When, exactly will we be moving? If we get a cabin, where will I put the big loom?  On the screened-in porch?  Could it survive out there in the humidity?
  Too many questions!  When I finish with the towels that are currently on it, I will let the floor loom sit idle while I work on my spinning skills and use my smaller looms.
  At least, that is the current plan.

Catching Up

   Hi, how are you? Yeah, haven't seen you in a while! I haven't been around much, ya know, so...
  

I finished the cotton/linen towels, but I made several mistakes on them, so I tied a new warp onto the old one to make more.  I changed the colors a bit, wove a couple of inches, and then had to put the loom up so we could make room for the Christmas tree.  I will probably use the towels myself. I can't sell something so flawed.  Jo Buyer probably wouldn't be able to tell that it didn't look like it should, but I would know.

   We had our local Christmas parade, and all three of my girls were in it.  That shorty holding the Alabama state flag?  That's Middle Daughter.  Yeah, I couldn't get a shot of her face, and no, she couldn't see.  That's why they are so close together, so they people holding the flags don't go haring off.

   The girl in front with the Santa hat is Eldest Daughter, leading the seniors of her NJROTC flight.  Both oldest daughters are in JROTC at their school, and have been since they were freshman.  The have leadership positions and I love what they are learning from it.

   Baby girl is NOT the one with the cheesy grin, but the one behind her.  They were on the Search and Rescue boat.

   On the homestead front, we got new gates since the other ones were bent.  They were my husband's Christmas present.  We are still working on getting something to live on on our land. We have three choices that we are considering: building a cabin (third choice), a mobile home (which I greatly dislike), or getting a cabin that is manufactured somewhere North of here in our state.  We are looking at this one, especially. Or this one.
   I should probably get going, I have to do some cleaning up. It was nice seeing you! I am going to try coming back here more often. 

Changes

  I know, it looks different, yeah? My life is changing so the blog is, too. 
  Why is my life changing?  Because I am not satisfied with how it is right now.
  Don't get me wrong, my relationship with my family is great, but I am not where I want to be right now in almost everything else. 
  I hate to go to work every day.  I want to stay home and take care of my family, have food ready for them, and do more weaving.  I used to find my job very satisfying. Working at a doctor's office, I felt like I am doing something worthwhile and helping people, but not so much responsibility that if I screw up I would kill someone.  I am trusting doctors less now the more I have them throw pills at me instead of trying to fix the problems I am having.
  I have a 1300 square foot apartment on the second floor that is very nice, in a good neighborhood. I also have a frustratingly small space to grow anything, I have to hand-water what I do grow, I can't have any animals, and I hear ambulances and fire trucks at least once a day.  I am not satisfied with this. 
  So we are changing our lives, my family and I.
  We have bought a slightly more than an acre lot about 15 minutes away in a more country area, that already has a septic tank, water service, and a power pole.  It also has a chain-link fence around most of it, mature trees (cedar, pine, fig, sycamore, crepe myrtle, magnolia), and a little shed.
  Our plans are to buy a Mobile home to move into after the school year ends (Eldest and Middle Daughters are in their senior year of high school and we don't want to screw that up), get a few chickens and start planting.  In a few years, since we will be paying a heckuva lot less for shelter than our current rent, I will quit my current job and either stay home and take care of our little homestead or get a part-time job.  One of my goals is to produce as much of our own food as possible.  We will be gradually getting more animals. I want a couple of goats for milk, sheep for wool and meat, and maybe even a pig.  We'll see how it goes.
  I have pictures!

  This is where we start. This is where we will end, and pass it on to our children.

This Is My Dream

  This is my dream: five or more acres on which are planted vegetables, fruits, hay, and herbs to feed my family; chickens, rabbits, pigs, and a dairy goat; a below-ground house with every wall raised and every pipe laid by myself, my husband, dad, and kids; days spent out in the sunshine, tending to God’s creation instead of inside answering phones and sitting at a computer; afternoons and evenings spent at my looms and spinning wheels, creating more unique pieces to sell and provide for my loved ones.  
  Right now I live in a second floor apartment and a southern-facing balcony that is mostly taken up by a smoker-grill and two kayaks.

This picture is pre-kayaks.

  I don't have anywhere to put any animals, or really grow much of anything. So I do what I can now.  I'm researching like crazy about homesteading and animal care, getting books and bookmarking homesteading blogs on my computer.
  My husband thinks I'm crazy, but in his defense the history he knows and has seen of me and plants is of the houseplants I neglect and kill.  I know he will support me, within reason.
 

Another Article on The History Bog about Textiles

  This time the article is about Peruvian textiles. I love history!
http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/30833
   Make sure you click on the pictures, you can see them a lot more clearly.

A Bit of Textile History

  I find the history of weaving fascinating, for obvious reasons.  I also just like history, and The History Blog.com is an excellent source for interesting history articles.  This one is excellent: http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/30728.
   Just thought you might be interested.

Behind in My Reporting

   So, the taquete rugs was a couple of projects ago.  Let me catch you up.
   I finished the rugs on March 3. As I previously said, they didn't come out the way they were meant to, so I probably shouldn't continue to call them taquete. Blogging isn't the only thing I am behind on, as I haven't gotten these in my etsy shop yet either.  Soon.

   Eventually.
   Next!
   I have been doing more baking lately, especially bread, and I don't really have an apron.  I was washing dishes, and hunting for a kitchen towel to dry my hands, and I thought "I should combine a towel and an apron!" The kids, as usual, had made off with the towel.  I don't know what they do with these things.
   I already had a band at work on the inkle loom with no pre-set purpose, just making a pretty pattern in red and yellow linen.  I warped the rigid heddle loom as wide as it gets with some red, natural, black, and yellow linen in wide stripes for the main part of the apron. It only took 21 days for me to finish the band, the apron panel, hem and sew them together. Eldest Daughter liked it so well she now wants me to make one for her, but in colors she can see (she is red-yellow colorblind).

   Eldest Daughter's apron will also be linen, in teal, black, natural and lime-y green. I wove the band in nine hours, the simple pattern making it easy to get done quickly. Her apron panel will be wider and denser, which means it needs to be on the floor loom. I have the short warp measured, I'm just waiting on a couple of straight hours for me to put it on the loom.
  Those are my weaving plans, currently. I have other plans, non-weave-y, which I will share soon.