Watch Me Pull a Rabbit Out of My Hat

Last week, Charlie and I went to a nearby farmer to buy a couple large bags of corn.  My husband used to work at the local grain elevator (before I ever knew him) so he knows most of the farmers -- that can come in handy sometimes.  Anyway, the farmer was working on getting his harvest into his grain dryers when we showed up.  He said he would have the corn ready within a couple of hours and to stop back and pick it up.  We went off to see "The Rum Diary" (I LOVE both Johnny Depp and Hunter Thompson!  I've been waiting for this movie for years!!!) then returned to get the corn.  I grinned when I saw the bags he packed it into.  Simple things make me smile -- including rabbits on the front of a 100 lb. sack of Michigan navy beans.

Anyway, on Monday of this week, I got a phone call from a dear friend of mine who was trying to help another friend find a home for a pet rabbit.  I had been considering raising angora rabbits for their fur -- even got a book on the subject last year.  I hadn't been considering a pet though.  Well, the rabbit needed a good home and the gal was also giving away everything I would need to take care of it (cage, hutch, water bottle, a bag of food, etc.) so I decided to adopt the rabbit.  He is a cutie pie -- don't you agree?

So, I have another animal that I can spoil rotten.  Here he is helping me dispose of some lettuce -- he also gets carrots to gnaw on.  He is a mini-rex and as soft as can be.  Oh, and he is litter trained.  Bonus!

His name is "Kee kee" (the gal tells me she got it from a school teacher -- I'm wondering if the class room kids named him?).  I've started to call him "Kinker" since it sounds like his real name but it has more meaning to me.  You see, whenever we play cards with my friends, Charlie calls a pair of kings "a pair of kinkers".  

I'm looking for advice from those of you who have experience raising rabbits.  What should I feed him?  What should I avoid?  Any advice about any aspect of rabbit ownership is welcome.

To wrap things up, I just had to throw this video in-- since Bullwinkle always tried so hard to pull a rabbit out of his hat (but never succeeded).  You might enjoy this -- depending on your age.  : )  Have a great remainder of your week and an amazing weekend!

Michigan International Alpaca Fest

Alpacas!!!  Lots and lots of alpacas!!!  Last weekend my mother and I went to the Michigan International Alpaca Fest in Grand Rapids and had the chance to learn more about them.  I knew I loved the feel of their fur and... well... they are just so dang cute!  

Being able to get up close to the alpacas was a really neat experience.  Did you know they hum?  They don't kick and are pretty mellow, but not exactly tame.  The only one we saw that really craved his owner's attention had been bottle-fed after it's mother refused to take care of it.  They do need to be around other alpacas but they don't really cuddle.

We watched the alpacas compete for ribbons.  Well, their owners competed -- the alpacas just tolerated it.  The judge would check them all over and pull out tufts of their coats and lay them on his sleeve.  It was fun to watch.
The owners proudly displayed various ribbons from prior shows in their stalls -- along with information about breeding or buying their alpacas.

A gal I work with raises alpacas and was there with three of her own (shown above).  They won several ribbons the day after this photo was taken.  Way to go!

There were also numerous booths with socks, mittens, yarn, etc. for sale.  The only thing I really wanted was a drop spindle and some fiber to try making my own yarn.  I've been messing around with the one I ended up getting, but I can see this is going to take a little practice.  Once I get the hang of it, I'll have to post a bit of a how-to on this blog.
What a fun experience we had at the Alpaca Fest!  Can you believe it was a free event?  Oh, and I was invited to a farm open-house in December by one of the breeders at the show.  I'm not looking at owning alpacas at this point -- but I definitely enjoyed learning more about them and being able to start crafting yarn with their fluffy coats.

Broomcorn and Chickens

I saw broom corn in a seed catalogue last winter and decided to take a stab at growing it.  No - I don't intend to construct a broom -- but I could if I wanted to.  I knew that broom corn is decorative and I pictured a large cluster of broom corn, pumpkins and mums on my front step.  That hasn't come together yet, but the corn looks nice leaning against the house.  I read somewhere that chickens enjoy broom corn after you take down your Fall decorations.  That convinced me to try it!
The broom corn did much better than my sweet corn did.  It was quick to shoot up and grew quite tall.  Bugs seemed to leave it alone and it was basically carefree.  Just plant it and a few months later, harvest it.  Now that is my kind of gardening!
Oh, and the chickens LOVE it!  I will stick one of the stalks in to the coop and they'll have the corn picked off within a couple of hours -- leaving the broom bristles behind.  I give them one stalk every few days as part of a steady rotation of treats.
They get chicken feed and fresh water every day, but that must get boring.  They get fresh grass when we move the chicken tractor around to a new patch of grass -- but that doesn't happen often enough because of how much it weighs.  So, every afternoon I try to give them something special to switch things up.  Today they got 2 pieces of stale bread and some leftovers from a baby shower I attended today (an oriental style salad with baby corn, peppers, chow mein noodles, etc. and some fruit).  Oh, and they got a couple of cherry tomatoes too.  That little bit of variety makes them very happy.

Aren't the girls beautiful?  And they are quite large now too!  My little chicks have grown up it to lovely young hens.  Oh, and they finally started laying eggs to earn their keep.  I'm steadily getting one or two eggs a day between the seven of them.  I'm sure production will increase as they mature.  The eggs are small, but beautiful.  They are different shades of browns, and different sizes and shapes as well. 

This week we ended up purchasing a new coop.  This is the last one, darn it!  Charlie had bought me one for Christmas last year -- but it ended up being too small and I had some security concerns (it didn't look predator-proof).  Then, we built a nice summer home for them.  It worked out very well, but I'm concerned it is not going to keep the cold of winter out and that it is still too small for seven full grown birds.  So, we broke down and did it.  We bought an Amish coop.  It was not cheap.  I hate spending that kind of money on some chickens, but the coop will last for many years to come.  Let me tell you -- keeping chickens is an expensive hobby.  I know we could do it for a lot less money than we have so far, but I guess it is part of the learning curve.

Crop Tour and the Holiday Weekend

Charlie and I enjoy driving around the countryside checking out the various crops and taking in the scenery.  Corn, soybeans, wheat, sugar beets, pickling cucumbers, alfalfa -- the fields stretch on and on.  I enjoy looking at the pretty white farmhouses and the variety of barn styles and colors.  Every once in a while we come across something interesting.  The other day we found 5 or 6 flatbeds with hives of bees, busy with their work.  Charlie stopped the vehicle while I snapped off a few photos from the passenger seat.  Just as we began to leave, we saw the scene below...

I thought it was a lovely thing to do to some ugly pieces of concrete, don't you?  It also appeals to my inner-hippie.
Today I talked Charlie into coming with me to the Farmer's Market (he usually doesn't like getting up that early on a Saturday).  We bought cherries, some meat sticks for Charlie (elk and beef with pepper jack cheese) and a bar of soap - patchouli scented (that inner-hippie is on the loose again).  Oh, and don't forget the caramel toffee frappes from the coffee shop next to the market.  Yum!
After we got home, we moved the chicken coop to a fresh patch of grass and I finished my chicken chores.  By that time, it was getting very hot and humid outside.  I filled my galvanized bucket a few times to haul water around to the fruit trees/plants that I put in the ground last week.  By the time I was done, I was fairly wilted myself.  Since we don't have air conditioning, we ended up turning on the sprinkler and sitting in lawn chairs in the water.  It looked redneck, but it felt exquisite!
Tomorrow we take the long "crop tour" to Grand Rapids to spend an afternoon with my family.  We are going to eat all your typical 4th of July picnic food in the comfort of their air-conditioning.  Then we are going to try to make it back to catch some July 3rd fireworks in the evening with some friends and family from this neck of the woods.
I hope you have a safe and happy Independence Day.

Farm stand and a couple cuties

Mom and I went to a local farm and nursery during her visit.  I have plans to visit it earlier on in the year next year.  I was pretty impressed with what they had.  There were bins full to the brim with squash of every variety imaginable.  I stocked up on what I thought I'd be able to use this winter.  Next year, I intend to grow some of my own.  In fact, I bought an heirloom pie pumpkin for the seeds as much as for the flesh -- you can be sure I'll be saving some of them for my garden (and still have plenty to roast).  

I also bought some onions (mine didn't grow well this year - I had plenty of pearl onions though) and a huge cabbage.  

Of course, my mother and I cannot pass up adorable kittens without picking them up and letting them know how adorable they are.  There was a whole batch of kittens that lived in the green houses and farm stand.  Aren't they handsome?  For a quick minute, I thought Mom might smuggle one home.  

I spent all day so far just grocery shopping and cleaning up the kitchen.  Oh, and I baked a squash to have later for dinner.  Alas, I have to get the yard winterized -- I can tell that snow is not far off for us.  Time to get moving if I am going to get anything done today.

Farm tour and barn party

Saturday, we went to a dairy farm owned by one of Charlie's cousins and her husband.  Joan gave us a tour of their barns and showed us all the cows.  Later in the evening, they had a party for her husband's 50th birthday -- complete with a live Polka band and a large potluck (featuring cheese and chocolate milk).  Good times!  

got milk?

One of the younger cows

The bull -- and some of his ladies

Time to eat

Milking time

Cake by "Rose Knows Pastries"

The band -- "Polka Riot"

Let's polka!

Partying - late into the night

Vacation with Mom

My wonderful 2 week vacation is almost over.  It went so quickly!  Here are some photos I shot while my mother and I went out together on Monday and Tuesday.  On Monday, we went to the Lake Michigan shore and into Saugatuck, MI.  We also went to a large winery in Fennville.  

On Tuesday we went to Shipshewana in Indiana.  If you are not familiar with it, there is a large amish community there.  We drove through the countryside and also went to several stores.  Oh, and we even went to an amish garage sale.  

On Wednesday, Mom had set up a surprise for me in the AM for my birthday.  Then we spent some time with my grandma at the craft store and getting coffee.  We had my favorite pizza for dinner.  It was a nice birthday.  I spent an extra night so that I could go out for coffee with my dad the next day.
Thursday I spent the day in the garden planting all of the perennials that Mom had sent home with me from her own garden.  The sun coaxed some freckles out.  Friday I ran some errands and yesterday I spent most of the day making strawberry freezer jam.  So far, today, nothing is going on.  I'm going to persuade Charlie to take me to a movie and celebrate my birthday (belated) today.  Then back to work tomorrow.  This vacation has me dreaming more and more about how to become self-employed... any ideas for me?

There once was a happy chicken...

There once was a happy chicken.  The chicken was born at a hatchery and sent to a friendly farmer the very next day.  That farmer gave the chicken a warm cozy place to stay with other chicks, just like her.

They grew up together and eventually moved to a coop with plenty of room to wander.  She heard stories of relatives who went to factory farms and spent their entire lives without enjoying fresh bugs scratched from the dirt, or even the ability to walk around.  She loved her life on the farm -- running around, eating veggies and good feed, and laying eggs for the farmer.

The chicken lived a good life, and when her time was up, she was butchered and given to a vegetarian and her flesh eating husband.  The vegetarian gave thanks for the chicken's life and prepared it for her husband, knowing that a happy chicken would be better for her husband that the factory farm relatives.

Ok, well, I'm not really a story teller -- but you get the idea.  Uncle Dave and Aunt Mary gave us a chicken at Christmas time.  I told him I would like to get a pig from him this next year (after we get a chest freezer).  Well, half a pig.  Another vegetarian friend wants to split it with me.  Her son eats meat and she would prefer to avoid buying factory meat as well.  One reason I am a vegetarian is the horrible conditions that animals suffer from on those factory farms.  I would rather cook an animal that was raised respectfully or hunted from nature for my husband -- even though it may be more expensive.  It is better for the animals, my husband, and not to mention the local farmers and the environment.

This bird was seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic powder (was supposed to be onion powder, but I didn't have any).  Then put 3 Tbsp butter inside the cavity with one stalk of celery cut into pieces.  I added a few pieces of onion as well.  Smear a bit more butter on the exterior.  It should be cooked about 1 hour 15 minutes or until an internal temp. of 180 degrees is reached.  I've been keeping a close eye on her because she is skinnier that most store chickens (but while I'm checking the temp. I baste it in the juices also).  Once done, she needs to be covered loosely and left alone for about a half hour....

The weekend

This past weekend, Mom and my brother came over for a visit.  We had a nice time.  Mom and I spent time shopping together and having coffee.  We walked around the garden and the farmer's market and took a nice cruise in her convertible.
It is beginning to look like Autumn -- just in time for the Equinox.  Most of the trees are still green, but the weeds are turning yellows and oranges.  The pumpkin plants are dying back, revealing some big beautiful gourds this year.  The weather has been cooperating.  We even made a small bonfire and all sat around it -- listening for coyote and watching the barn cats' antics.
I also wanted to give an update on the house situation.  We are still working on it at this time.  We have had a few frustrating moments with making sure all the paperwork is in order.  I think we have everything we need now.  We are just still waiting for the appraisal and closing.  I am getting anxious and have started packing some of the things that we don't use often.

I have this week off of work and plan on enjoying myself the best I can while getting more things packed and also going to the dentist and taking Sassy in for a rabies update.  I will try to blog more this week.

Down on the Farm

This week I had a vacation from work.  It was a nice break but it flew by quickly!  On Tuesday I headed over to Grand Rapids to visit my family and friends.  I was able to spend time with my friend D. talking and watching a movie.  It was very good to see my family -- as always.  And I also spent some time at the Quiggle Farm.  It is a farm that my good friends are living on this summer.  It is an interesting place with two families (6 kids) and many visitors (some with even more kids).  Let me introduce you:

This is Rich...

and Jen...
Lily...

Rosie...and Daisy (in this photo she had been playing in a tub of water - helping to wash the dishes, but decided to wash herself also).

Here are Foxy and Sunday, the newest additions to the farm.

Here is Brian and Jenna's newest addition to their family.  Isn't she just the sweetest?

Also residing on the farm are chickens and turkeys...

And sheep.

Things can get a little crazy on the farm with some many people and critters (and mosquitos) around, but they are doing amazing things on the farm.  They are working on self sufficiency and living simply.  They are a community of like-minded people -- and I happen to share their beliefs as well.  I guess that kinda makes me a part of their community -- and that is a good feeling.  Thanks guys, I had fun!  I can't wait to come back and visit again!

Growth

The farm is green and vibrant lately.

Corn...

Hollyhocks...
Peas...
Eggplant...
Tomato...
Lettuce...
Onions and garlic...
Chickens that love my overgrown lettuce...
Ahhh, fast internet.  It sure does make blogging easier.