Pink Fox: its Raining...IN MY HOUSE! :/

Yup, 3 degrees here yesterday morning when I got up. This morning it was 15 by the time I got up, the low dipped to 10 overnight. We might see 31 today if the weather does what they say it will.... course the low tonight is 9 again, but it's cloudy, so I'm not sure if it will get that cold or not.
 
not fun, we actually got to 26 today and I ddint have to change out the bunny bottles half way through (they seem to not freeze up in the barn as long as outside is over 25 lol.
but im about ready to move to florida lol.
putting serious thought into how I can heat the barn...thinking about a wood stove...
I wish I had the tools as ive seen some pretty cool rocket stove space heaters I think might be perfect, but thts a whole lot more DIY than ive got the stuff for right now and im no metal worker...

good news is our 2 current bunny litters seem to be doing just fine despite the cold and after tomorrow were going to start warming up a little bit again, I can handle the 30's...I don't like em...but I can handle them!

been working on my toy chest/coffee table...its slow going, the paint takes forever to dry in a house at 60 degrees and smells a little, and its too cold to do it outside.
I may move out to the garage with it tomorrow to finnish the painting. least it wont be quite as stinky in my room
once the paint is done im going to do the green paper finnish ontop like ive got for the desk top. I may even line the inside with paper, its going to get used mostly for dvds and stuff I think...so not too much wear and tear inside.

im also supposed to be getting a closet this weekend, that's exciting...and im hoping to get at least 2 walls painted next week so I can work on the desk area next weekend...my goal is to get the room done before the end of January.
especially since Februaries project is the greenhouse, in which im thinking of making a rocketstove radiant mass heater, then sit the tilapia tubs ontop of that (hoping to use the RMH to maintain good tilapia temps during cooler weather so we can maintain a breeding group) AND use both the mass and the water mass of the tanks to maintain emps in the greenhouse.
wont need to use it in the mid spring thorugh id fall but it should help keep the greenhouse tilapia ready all winter.

then march starts the garden work...so see...if I don't get my room done soon I wont have TIME to do it lol.

other than being cold im doing ok...winter blahs are trying to get me down but im fighting.

was going to go to the farm show tomorrow, but its supposed to be super cold again and ill need to be around to change out bunny bottles so that's out...but theres a bunny show in early feb so im putting that on the calendar.
 
Pink, I'm wanting to make a RMH for my greenhouse as well.
 
if I get to mine before you get to yours ill do a step by step :D
I talked to dad about it today, hed never heard of them so I showed him vids of a basic rocket stove (hes said it loks like a fun project, find him a barrel and we'll make one, so that's what were going to do in the barn) and then I showed him another vid of the mass heater portion (cob bench) and told him id like to do something similar (though not as permanent as cob (mabe a sand box?) in the greenhouse with the tilapia beds ontop...
he said well make one for the barn first and if we like how it burns hed be up for trying a mass heater in the gree nhouse, I figure wed have to build a firebrick floor and box for the flue, but I think if we filled it with vermiculite and bennonite clay or sand and packed in then but a frame ontop for some tubs to sit on so theres som airflow between the mass and the bottom of the tubs)...its in my head...which means its there forever until its built lol.

but yeah so now im on the hunt for a steel barrel with a removable lid...gonna hit the scrap yard on Monday and se fi hes got any...I used o see them all the time but now my craigslist searches arnt coming back with much lol.)
dad says if everythings right a stove (even without thermal mas) SHOULD d what we need it to in the barn, especially if we add a fireplace fan ntop to move the air around the barn...plus when im up there I ca put a kettle ontop and have tea waiting when I need it LOL!.

the good news is though for at least the next week we shouldn't need it...focrasted temps in the low 30s, which means my bunny bottles wont freeze and I wont have to haul them up and down the hill every 3 hours!
lol.

not much else going on.
 
hope you're staying warm. will the paint dry ok outside? i know i couldn't stand the stink on fresh paint in my room tho. will be anxious to see it finished
 
didn't get round to it yesterday, still too cold to do it outside but the garage is heated so if I did it in there then cloed the door afterwards, no one to bother with the paint fumes and warm enough that it should cure properly.
will probably do it today since weve got a wet icy morning.

speaking of mornings...
its not been mine.
my rex weights are under standard so other than my red buck if I want to get back to where I was in quality I need to start pretty much over with new stock...
my tri-color doe lost 2 of her 4 babies this morning at about a week old...this is her smallest litter ever and to loose 2 is a big blow, dunno how but they got dragged out of the nest box and cold...blood pooled this moring so no chance of revival :/
theres 2 left, one is my fave, the tri-color who if he makes it I may keep back, the other a torted tri like peanut.
ive got someone holding on for a buck, I may see if they want peanut whos on the smaller side but would be a nice match for the 2 rex x lop girls they bought last fall
and ill then keep the tri-color boy...but im definatly on the fence about keeping back if hes going to be on the small side too.
and yes, all 4 kit were boys :/

then I was hoping to get 3 does ll harli carriers from a breeder across country, all nice big lines..., had everything figured and just arranging transport...someone gave me a good trnsporters name, someone trusted, but after talking to them I just cant swing $50 bunny right now, $50 a carrier I could have done (sisters so they could be transported together) but I cant swing $50 a head ontop of the price of the buns.

its not a BAD or unreasonable price for transport literally across country...
BUT..its more than I can afford right now.

theres a show in south jersey the weekend after next, and then one in PA the first weekend in feb....if I cant find what im looking for at either of those...THEN I might consider it.

we have freezing rain right now, supposed to change over to light rain in the next hour or so, hoping it washes the ice away as im supposed to be meeting chickories humans this afternoon...
my little yarris isn't exactly slippy condition friendly lol
if its still naty though we'll reschedual, but the sooner I can get him into a new home, the sooner I save a cup of feed a day.
got a meaty doe going home on weds too if all works out well, which one depends on if silver droppsa litter, I don't think she will shes on day 39 and no signs of nesting, I usually call it a miss on day 38, but give till day 40 in the winter (sometimes they need a little extra time in the oven when its cold)
if she missed this time she goes to a new home, if not haystack does, but haystack is bigger and they all technically have 1 more strike before freezer bound so id like to keep my biggest doe since im having a hard time with size on my rex and rehome the 2 smller does (either to human or freezer) though by smaller I mean 10lbs vs 13 lol.)

otherwise not much going on...planning on hatching plans for this spring, figuring out some stuff...ect.
 
Pink, where's the show in SJ, and what date is it?
 
its pawprints open in Sicklerville on jan 24th.
http://pawprint4h.webs.com/

not sure yet if ill go to hat one, its a little far.
But im definatly going to PA srba at the Lebanon expo center PA on Feb 7th though cause im picking up a jr.castor doe I placed a deposit on today. shes not what im looking for color wise (but her babies COULD be as they will carry the gene I want!) BUT shes everything im looking for body and size wise. her mother is 10.2 lbs and has taken multiple BOV's in the last 6 months alone.
gonna keep looking for at least 1 more rex doe, in the colors I REALY want, but at least i will have at least 1 big meaty doe in the barn and the price is right so, its a good start on a rebuild of the rex herd.

my split boy whent home today too, they LOVE him so that's great news,

weather was pretty gross and body was not interested in doing much especially after i cleared and salted our 1/4 mile driveway (i walked about 2 miles today to get that done lol) so its been pretty uch a lost day.
supposed to freeze up overnight but the next few days should be clear so, mabe ill get stuff done tomorrow. :)
 
If you do go to the one in SJ, LMK. That's not too far from me. Maybe we could meet up and go out for lunch or something.
 
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