Daydreaming while waiting impatiently!

[tortoise]

Our second hatch of chicks has started. 3 hatched, 2 pipped, 25 to go!

The 4th chicken presumed dead has turned up again! I'm so happy! Her name is "Sweetie Pie". We only have 2 chickens with names!

DS8's school curricula is arriving. We're so excited! He is asking to start school several times every day! I'm delaying him and offering 4H project materials which also just arrived.

The county fair starts tomorrow. I'm excited to enter vegetables. My onions look amazing! They're HUGE! 2013 we had Grand Champion cabbage, 2014 1st and 3rd place for lettuces. ... High hopes for this year!

 

[Denim Deb]

Good luck!

What kind of 4-H projects is he doing?

 

[wyoDreamer]

great ideas for the kale - I really like the dehydrating idea. It should work on spinach, right?

 

[Britesea]

I imagine it will work with any greens.

 

[tortoise]

Lots of stuff happening around here:

• I bought a ram lamb while DH was gone on a fishing trip. haha! I love his fishing trips! When the cat is gone , the mice will play!
• We still have Jeremiah (the ram who rammed me). DH wants to breed him this fall. Fine with me as long as I NEVER have to go in the pen with me. It's been 2 weeks since he got me and it STILL hurts when I walk.
• I also got a rabbit from my brother while DH was gone.
• DS8 somehow tipped over the incubator during "lock down" and destroyed most of a hatch of 30 eggs. 4 chicks had hatch before his incident. Only 1 chick hatched after. I gave the surviving chicks to my brother.
• Our 2nd hatch is doing well, out of the brooder. The meaties are growing ridiculously fast! It's unbelievable!
• The hens and first hatch (10 - 11 weeks old) are locked in the coop and a very small fenced area outside it. We haven't had any predator losses in the last week. DH still has traps set for raccoons, but hasn't caught any more.
  Our baby rabbits (first litter) are out of the nest. So cute! It will be hard to cull. They're all bucks, so only one stays here.
• Garden is OVERWHELMING.

 

[Denim Deb]

Sorry you lost your chicks. What are you going to do w/the lamb you bought?

 

[tortoise]

We're keeping Jeremiah's daughter(s). The ram lamb is to breed them in the future.

We canned green beans last night! Our first time canning and I'm so nervous! We just did a batch of 12 pint jars. First thing on my to-do list: BUY MORE CANNING JARS! like a hundred or so.

 

[goatgurl]

 

[tortoise]

I've been having major meltdowns in the last couple days. I'm maxxed out on sleep deprivation, caffeine isn't even putting a dent in it. DS8 has been particularly bad this week, I'm so out of patience with him!

Baby has been having spells of not breathing while sleeping. I check with our nurse practitioner this morning and apparently it's a big deal. We're driving halfway across the state tomorrow morning for a cardiac workup.

DH trapped another raccoon.

Our meatie chicks are already starting to have leg problems. They're like 3 - 4 weeks old and we have been food restricting. :/

We've stopped picking green beans. I'm estimating there are 15 gallons out there to be picked. We canned 28 pints and have 2 gallons washed and not yet cut. But now the raspberries are getting away from us. Whose idea was this big garden thing?? oh yeah.... mine.

ud

 

[tortoise]

I like that idea Tressa! I've been caught by the business end of a leash and it sure does sting! It's much less obtrusive than a big stick. Plus I should be having a lead on me at all times to start conditioning the others for lead training.

After long day, Baby is OK. He has a minor heart murmur with no sign of heart disease. His breathing is a more dramatic version of normal "periodic breathing".

I discovered a book in DS8's bed, which explains a string of bad behavior and oddly late waking for the last week or so.
Blueberries are ripening! I picked 3/4 gallon from 5 bushes. (only 375 bushes to go! )

DH had some really nice hay delivered. So he buys a tractor and still doesn't make hay! LOL I think he's waiting to find some decent implements at auction.

I need to cut this update short and get some canning going. Long cut green beans and carrot sticks - both for Baby's first finger foods. I despise spoon feeding puree, so we do baby-led solids when baby is able to self-feed (typically, that's about 6 months old). It calls for soft stick-shaped foods.