Catch up

Catch up
You know how life gets away from you.
The children are out of school. My youngest is home during the week this summer and returns to my sister's house in Maricopa on the weekend. My oldest is the exact opposite. He stays at my sister's house in Maricopa during the week and returns home on the weekend. Perhaps someday we can have them both home without major fighting. My youngest works for the neighbor during the week. He does farm work. Cleaning out stalls, feeding and watering animals, working on fences and pens. When this work began someone told him he should be making minimum wage. He was sad to receive his first pay. I told him this is just farm work. He is after all only 15. He Is happy to see his earnings add up. His goal is to buy an IPOD. I am not sure which one. My oldest has yet to find a job. He is helping my sister in Maricopa. He helps cook and take care of her daughter.
I have been requisitioned to create several blankets. These are for my co-worker, Simona. I have made her many things in the past. This keeps me busy. Finding just the right color can be tricky. Did you know that Joann's will let you use competitor coupons and that they will let you use as many coupons as you can get. For instance if you have 5 items and 5 coupons you can use each and every one. This saves me some. Prices have gone up. People do not want to pay more money for craft items. If I sold a blanket 5 years ago for say $50 they want to buy it for $50 today. Anyway. This particular co-worker has given me a lot of business. She sends friends my way all the time. Which usually is like the snowball effect. Those friends tell their friends and so on. I usually give her the Simona discount.
It has been so hot here. I have been working hard at keeping all the animals hydrated and in the shade. We check the water buckets several times a day. My husband is surprised how much water they drink. The Mammas were drinking so much I put another bucket in their pen for fear they would run out. I keep all the feed and dog food bags for this purpose. I sew them together to create a tarp like fabric. This doesn't take me very long. While I am sewing the dogs are at my feet sniffing, sniffing, sniffing. Very funny. When it is all together we take it outside and tyewire right through the bags to the pens and coops. The chickens seem so relieved to have shade. They scratch and roll with new life. We built another chicken coop for the young chickens. Just a note. This time I bought stucco wire instead of chicken wire. It was much cheaper and serves the same purpose. To keep the rabbits cool I freeze soda bottles and put them in the hutches. They lay against the bottles to keep cool. I have also misted their ears. They do not like it very much. But they look so miserable. I wouldn't like to be in the Arizona heat with a fur coat on. Their pen was created with complete shade in mind.
It will soon be time to breed the rabbits. I hope this will be successful. The original rabbit Molly Magic broke free from her hutch and broke her neck. She is next to June. She was breed several times and never kidded. Not for the lack of trying from the buck. We even borrowed the buck from our neighbor. He sired many kits. I was lingering about putting her down. Molly Magic's story is quite funny. After getting our original 4 rabbits. I came home one night and checked on them. There were 3 black rabbits and 1 white rabbit. Strange I had all black. I asked my husband about it. He said he traded the neighbor who also just got rabbits. I asked him if he was sure this white rabbit was a healthy female. He said he wasn't sure and that I could check. Not happy that I was surprised. So upon investigation She had male parts. I showed my husband and then we took this male rabbit back. I did not need three males. He chose this one because it looked the healthiest. So the neighbor said we could trade another rabbit for this male. They were not the best looking bunch. One had a torn ear. One had a sore foot. One had a weepy eye. That is why my husband chose this one. Well they all had female parts all except the one my husband brought home. If I hadn't checked he would not have had a chance to breed his rabbits. Silly men. So I choose the one with the weepy eye. She looked the best. We treated her eye with neosporyn and it healed up in a couple of days. She could get out of any hutch I built. It didn't matter what kind of wire or lock it had. That is why she was called Molly Magic. Her original name was Molly. All the black rabbits passed away and Molly Magic still survived. So when My Husband found her one day lifeless I was saddened and relieved at the same time. I did not want to harvest her. My heart just wasn't in it. But she was not producing.
The chickens have moved to their new coop. They do not roost. I think they were in the tractor to long. We thinned out the other coop. Adding all the white leghorns to the new coop. Now you know how beautiful young chickens are. New full feathers. There were two white chickens who were pickers and egg eaters. Did you hear me. I found the egg eater. Or my husband did. One day I came home and one little red chicken was in with the ducks. Hum, Why I asked? He said they ate all her feathers off her butt. And wouldn't stop. The poor little chicken was a bloody mess. I said should we put her down. He said no she will heal. We were not sure which chicken was the culprit. So the next day. Another chicken in the duck house and two white chickens in Sprinkles and Chocolate's pen. He said it was them. So no more pecked eggs. The little red chickens are heeling. They like the duck house. Or so it seems. The ducks don't bother them. They eat what the ducks don't. The white chickens fly. They kept going out of the pen and pecking the dogs. Dogs do not like to be pecked. Dogs have sharp teeth. They had enough, eventually and the dogs won. These chickens were going on 4 years old. I have my eye out for anymore egg peckers.
My youngest brought a puppy home from work one day. The neighbor's heeler had 10 puppies. My husband had his eye on a little white female. My husband never brought her home and the neighbor sold her. My husband was thinking we don't need more dogs. Here comes my youngest with Taco. He is all brown. I told my son he must stay outside. He lives with Bandit our goat dog. They greet me every night when I come home to get a cookie (dog biscuit). My husband and I keep them in our vehicles. It is a small thing to do to keep them happy. I went to the town feed store to get a 5 in 1 puppy vaccine. The service at this store is terrible. They are snotty and it was like I was inconveniencing them. I left with nothing and went to the Pet Club. I know I should support the locals but they have been increasingly rude each time I go. Pet Club is very friendly. They usually have everything I need. I can ask questions to the moon and they ack like they enjoy our conversation. Not like I am a stupid farm girl. I will continue to shop at Pet Club.
Little Uno the duck is out of the chicken tractor and in the duck pen. Uno spends most of the day behind the house. The older ducks don't really spend time with Uno. Uno will survive. We had another duck hatch and called it Dos. Dos got stuck in the corner of the aquarium and died. We tried to put Dos in with Uno, but Uno pecked him until Dos's little wing was bloody and sore. So I needed to go to the store and was gone for not more than an hour. Poor little Dos. The Ducks are setting on a clutch again. Two this time. My husband also has three eggs in the incubator. Who knows?
DQ had kids. She was apparently pregnant when she came to us. The neighbors sire was gorgeous. These goats will be beautiful. DQ had 4 kids. 2 males 2 females. 1 male was still born. 1 male died the next day. So we have Oreo and Barbie. Sadly. Oreo is blind. I saw DQ kick dirt in her eye. We treated it with penicillin for 4 days and neosporyn for 4 days. She can not see but it is clean. She eats and sleeps. Oreo does not run and play like Barbie. Every one says to put her down. I don't think that is the answer. She will adapt. Barbie is a bouncing baby. She is the friendliest goat I have ever seen. She is all ready eating and drinking alfalfa.
We had a lead on a herd of potbelly pigs. 1 cut male, 1 intact male, 3 pregnant females (due in 1 month) Must take them all. This person from craigslist wanted to get rid of them due to divorce. Anyway, we made plans to meet them on Sunday. The reason for this delay was they were in a city 2 hrs away, Tonopah. This person said that would be fine. This was on Monday at 4 pm. I checked craigslist on Wednesday and the add changed. 2 males 1 female. I emailed them and they said they sold the 3 pregnant females. Where did the other female come from. What happened to must take all. Then the craigslist add changed again. 2 cut males. Weird right. This person wanted to know if I was still coming. I said no that they changed their story to many times. And 2 hours was to far to drive for nothing. Bad people SUCK. I created a pen for this new herd. I worked all day Tuesday. Oh well Our female Meat pig will need it when she is breed.
I am busy in the house just keeping up. I make yogurt and chevre once a week It lasts all week. My youngest likes this yogurt he mixes honey in his. I poor it over cereal. The chevre is used for bagels, kind of like cream cheese. The pigs are getting 1/2 gallon of milk almost every day. They also are eating about 6 eggs every day. They make a scheeemmm scheeemmm scheeemmm noise when they are snarfing this up. I have had a concern with making raisin breed. When to add the raisins. If you add them first they are all mushy. If you add them through out the mix they are all chopped up almost missing. If you add them last they are only on the top of the bread. I use a bread machine. I have followed the directions and am not happy with the end result. How do you use your bread machine to make raisin bread?
I bought produce this week. I do not feel bad. Yes I do. I can not grow anything. So my husband said it was okay. I bought grapes( red and green), apples(red and green), oranges, pears, bananas, tomatoes, lettuce(ice burg, and Romain), spinach, cucumbers, celery, green onions, carrots, green peppers, lemons, cantaloupe, honey dew, and strawberries. I try every year to grow my own produce. I have spent hundreds of hours and dollars. I give up. I love love love to eat veggies and fruit. Please don't think I am bad. I know many people buy produce. I am supposed to be a homesteader. I just can not grow produce. It is to hot. To dry. I have a brown thumb. So I am done. I also bought squishy sandwich bread and store buns. I will hide my head in the sand now.
I bought a whole chicken. This also upsets me. I will be buying meat chickens soon to harvest for our freezer. We tried this last year but lost almost half. The neighbor also did this at the same time he had losses to. We think it was a bad batch. Anyway I bought a whole chicken. It was on sale. I baked it for 1 dinner. Made chicken salad for lunch the next day. And the next day we had chicken noodle soup. It was well worth it.
I boil a dozen eggs every week. We use them all week long. Most days we have eggs for breakfast. We also have bacon or sausage. I can not wait until our little pig gets bigger to put in the freezer. We will have our own sausage and bacon. Raising a few pigs has not been that difficult. We have 3, nowhere near the number the neighbor has. They are very simple to feed. We are still on our first truck load of corn. The other animals have helped eat it to. It has lasted a long time.
I guess that is it today. I will try to add pictures later.
　
　
　
　

　
　
　
　

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful to be able to watch the new beginnings of life at my home.  It is such a great joy to hear the peeping of our little duckling.  He/She is still alone.  Today he spent many hours in my pocket.  If we are quiet we can hear the peeping from inside the eggs.  I have told them to hurry up because Uno is waiting to snuggle with them.  He/She is waiting.

Up until Wednesday

On Sunday I made clabbered milk

I placed ½ gallon milk out with only a paper towel over it.  I secured the paper towel with a rubber band.  On Monday I had clabbered milk.  I froze the mixture in ice cube trays for mesophilic starter. 1 cube equals 1 oz. of starter. I can’t wait to try it out on hard cheeses.

I went to see my Sister in Law from Chandler.  We had lunch/dinner.  Then we went through her craft room.  She is not crocheting as much as I do.  She also watches the hoarders and has decided to get rid of things she no longer uses.  I came home with 3 boxes of yarn.  I am so excited.  This will save me tons of money.  Thank you, Thank you.

I also brought the dog kennel back when I went home.

On Monday I made yogurt

Place 1 gallon milk in crockpot turn on low for 2 ½ hrs. (mine took 3) until temp is 180

Unplug crockpot for 2 hrs. until temp is 110

Add 1 cup yogurt with live cultures

Wrap whole crockpot, base and all with a large beach towel

Put in oven with only light on, leave in for 8 hrs.

I froze mine in ice cube trays and put remainder in easy serving cups

I ended up with enough yogurts for 4 Thermophilic starters (I plan on using frozen cubes for next time)7 cubes equals 1 cup yogurt.

And 12 cups to eat later

Of course this is after I ate some.  I couldn’t resist.

On Tuesday I made mozzarella

Place 1 gallon milk in stainless steel pot, add ½ cup lemon juice, heat slowly to 90

Remove pot from burner and slowly stir in 1/4 tab rennet diluted in 1/4 cup coold water 

 Cover and leave for 5min

Cut curd in 1 inch squares

Put pot back onto heat and heat slowly until 110 stirring slowly

Take off burner and continue to stir slowly for 2-5 min

Transfer curd to glass bowl with slotted spoon

Press whey out with hand until curd gets cold

Place into microwave for 1 min press and fold cheese draining whey out until cold

Place into microwave for 30min press and fold cheese draining whey out until cold

Press into a ball place cheese into cold salted (non-iodized) ice water

I served mine to my oldest with wheat thins.

Tuesday night an egg hatched from the homemade incubator.  I named him/ her Uno.

Isn’t the duckling darling.

On Wednesday I made laundry soap

Long ago my sister from the north taught me how to make this laundry soap.

Fill a pot with 1 gallon water heat on stove while shredding zote soap with cheese grater.  Stir to dissolve.

Fill a 5 gallon bucket with 4 gallons water.  Add 2 cups borax and 2 cups washing soda

After water soap becomes liquid add that to 5 gallon bucket.  Stir and cover until the next day

Soap will become a gel.  Pour into user friendly containers.  I use gallon sized vinegar bottles.

You can use as much or as little as you like.  I use ½ cup in my new washer.  I was worried because it wasn’t High Efficiency soap.  It works great. 

This Week

This week very busy and not busy at the same time

On Saturday and Sunday
We sold our goat kids. Craigslist went great. They went in pairs to two separate families.  One family brought their dog kennel.  I can not tell you how useful a wire kennel is for the homesteader.  We have used ours to move every animal on our homestead.  From chickens and ducks to pigs and goats.  And of coarse dogs too.  My husband's sister borrowed ours in November and we have not gotten it back yet.  Busy.  The other family brought nothing.  They took the goats in the front of their 2 seater truck.  Funny.  We brought Abby home in the cab of our truck too.
 We had to purchase a new washer and dryer.  Our washer was breaking.  My husband had to jimmie rig it to make it go.  Last Friday my oldest dried a pen and it ruined the dryer.  Besides the store was having a sale that we couldn't pass up. I figured our old set would give out any day now and the sale would be over.

On Monday
I filed in for a coworker who could not work. The Manager / Lead on call called me on Sunday night to ask if I could start at 7am. I said sure. He apologized for calling me after 10:30pm. I only assume that is when my coworker called him. Which was good, because they have a 2 hr policy. Meaning you must call 2 hrs before your shift to call off. She could have waited until 5am. I would not have answered my phone. Sleeping. We have 2 people in our department who repeatedly call off, or leave early. I am surprised that they still have a job. This just makes in less fun for those of us that do show up on a regular basis and work the whole shift through.  We got a delivery of new Polo shirts.  Our company was honnored as Best of Heart for our city.  Big thing. 

On Tuesday
I started to MILK THE GOATS again. Well only the Mammas. We sold all the babies this past weekend. I am only milking once a day because of my schedule. Together they are giving around 10 cups each day. I have made basic chevre and am attempting to clabber the milk. Homemade buttermilk, kind of. I am trying to make my own
I also went to my oldest's parent teacher conference. He is not doing so well. I am unable to help him at this age. Other than nagging and making sure he is up to get there. He has a mind set that he is in control. Which by his marks he is struggling. My oldest goes to an alternative, computer based, night school. Work at your own pace. Apparently he is going at a snails rate. In the past he chose to not participate. Sometimes even not showing up. He is very far behind. He will be 18 in September and has approximately 2 more years to go as far as credits are concerned. This is because of all his, should we say, extra curricular activities. When someone says that you think church, sports, clubs. Oh no I refer to this as girlfriends and buddies. When you go to the park to hang out and smoke you miss a lot. Oh no mom I'm not smoking. Yeah right. I am almost sure he will not get a diploma.

On Wednesday
I began to work on my mother's project. She needed some head bands made out of towels. Her head sweats and these absorb them. To make a towel head band. You take a hand towel and cut it in half. Sew those halves together to make a tube. Add elastic and wala a towel head band. But when my husband delivered them they were to small. I must have a much smaller head.  Because I did try it on as I created it and I had growing room. Does your head grow when you are an adult? I will take the elastic out and replace with a bigger piece next week.

On Thursday
My husbands manager came to the house to deliver a barrel of chemicals. They go through a lot of this particular product. If you buy it in bulk it is cheaper. Up until now the company hasn't had anywhere to store it for our district. Why not on our homestead? I just hope we get to keep the barrel when it is empty. You can never have enough watering troughs for the animals. But my luck says it will need to be returned for a core charge. Anyway I made sure to have a display of cookies and muffins to go with teas and coffees. They didn't even come inside. Oh well.

On Friday
Pay day Friday. Run here, Run there, Run everywhere. I did stop at the Humane Society thrift store.  It is an old house that they display items people have donated to sell. A great find.  I found 2 gallon jars with lids for only 50 cents each.  Yes with lids.  I have a problem keeping lids.  It is like the sock monster.  You know the one, who every once and a while eats just one sock. 

On Saturday
My youngest has a school project due on Monday.  We wont go into how long he has known about this project.  He needed to create a catapult. Not just any catapult but and exact model of the print out. My husband took him to the store for all the supplies. Now what would we do if we had no money? Would he fail this assignment? I am sure someone had trouble with the money aspect. Anyway he constructed it and then they played. He is very proud. He even said I could post it on my blog.
We began constructing our second chicken coop. The hens are getting too big for the chicken tractor. It should have gotten done a long time ago. Busy again. We got 2 poles in the ground and then my husband told us we needed to go get cleaned up. We needed to be somewhere by 7.

He took us to see the Avengers. I had a very nice time. No one kicking the seat. No screaming or talking children. Just enough popcorn and soda. The movie was very good. Remember to wait for the ending or the beginning of the next movie. I think everyone forgets that. mesophilic starter in hopes of making cheddar cheese. Each recipe calls for 4Tbsp. This is so fun. Next week we will try to make the cheese. Unfortunately you have to wait for Cheddar to age. But you know what they say about those that wait. 　
　
　
　　

Saturday Update

This week I was very lazy. 

I went through the motions, you know.  Laundry, Dishes, Animals. LALALA. 

I had previously posted our little doelings on CL.  I have been corresponding with about five people.  You know you should read an add and do any research before you respond.  Otherwise you sound foolish.  In my add I listed all the pertinent information.  I still received emails asking questions when the information was clearly listed. Where we live, how much, how many, how old, what kind.  With one party we went back and forth for many emails.  Then the final response they asked where we were located (clearly listed).  When I said Casa Grande they said that was too far.  Why waste all that time.  With another party after sending many pictures and responses back they said they wanted pygmies and not dwarfs.  Why respond to an add if it isn’t something you want. I listed   Unless you want to see the cute little goaties.  People even wanted a discount.  Not just a little, a buy on get on free.  R U Kidding Me!  Do you know what goes into taking care of these little girls?  I am thinking these bargain hunters cannot afford to keep them. Hay is $16 to $18 a bail.    If they don’t sell I will just keep them and get a new buck to breed.  We don’t want any interbreeding.   I got a lecture about dehorning goats.  I chose not to disbud my goats.  This is my choice.  If you want a disbudded goat go buy one.  I see no good in this practice.  The goats I do have that were disbudded when I purchased them have had problems.  They grow back.  So now we have to monitor them so they don’t grow into their skull.  The scurs, as the horns that grow back are called, are much weaker than real horns.  They break off very easy and bleed and bleed.  OMG .  Seriously I didn’t realize this.  The two that we purchased with horns are just fine.  They do not harm others with them.  I can sometimes use them as handles, sort of.  It is my choice.  You do not have to purchase my goats. 

We received a large box of apples and a 50 lb. bag of onions.  What do you think I did with them?  Of course the goaties got some. They pushed and said "that's mine I want more."   Oh yes the pigs too.  They are still young and wait by the feeding barrel for their treats.  This is fine because I have heard horror stories of pigs biting off fingers. Well everyone got some.  Dent likes apples.  You would think he was dancing when he received his portion.  Merrel took her portion with no thanks.  Ducks and Chickens gobbled them up.  Even stealing from each other through the fence.  Like there will never be any more.  The dogs are easier to handle with only 3 inside.  I mean that with the most respect for the dogs who have left us.  They sit nicely while getting their portion.  Bandit the outside dog has a hard time sitting still.  She is still just a baby. Stretch let his float for a while then snuck up on his slice.  Perhaps he is pretending to be a shark.  He he he he.  My animals eat better than the humans do. 

Onions

I cut and chopped and bagged.  ONIONS, ONIONS, ONIONS.   I don’t think I will need to buy onions for a while.  Thank goodness.  I hated to buy them.  But I use them in everything.   Did you know that it is the gas enzymes that are released when you cut them that make you cry?  You have some options there.  Wear goggles, put them in water when cutting, or burn a candle.  I did not know this last one.  But my oldest came into the kitchen and lit a candle.  This stopped my crying.  I just thought I was getting used to the gasses.  Until I goggled it.  I love Google.  You can find almost anything. 

Apples

I made spiced apples, apple turnovers, apple muffins, and froze apple pie filling forever.  I made two jars of spiced apples for the neighbor and the neighbor’s brother, who we got this gift from.  My husband could only deliver one jar to the brother.  The other jar went into the fridge for when we next see the neighbor.  My oldest ate ours and the neighbors to. I have some more apples so I will be making more.  Maybe today.

Incubator

We have turned eggs diligently every 12 hrs.  I have added water to the little dish when it is low.  The temp has been steady.  When collecting eggs this week I collected the eggs the mama duck pushed out of the nest.  I was curious so I cracked it open.  How sad there was a little duck embryo.  You could see and eye, beak, body, feet.  It looked whole but not right at the same time.  I guess mama knows best.  This poor little duck probably would not have survived.

Romance

My husband and I have been married for 18 years this past Monday the 23^rd.  We had a nice quiet dinner at home. 

My oldest and his girlfriend have broken up.  This happens in young love.  I’m sure she will not be his last girlfriend.

incubating eggs

Today I started to incubate eggs. The duck is still sitting, but she has pushed almost all of the eggs out of the nest. So I gathered eggs. Candled them using a toilet paper roll and a flashlight. The eggs with floaties in them I kept. I marked an x and an o on opposite sides of the eggs with a pencil. I placed a towel, little dish with water in an aquarium. I put a heating lamp above the eggs and placed a glass lid over it. Underneath the aquarium I have a large heated rice bag. Which I have to microwave for warmth. Perhaps I will invest in an electric heating pad. I want one anyway.

From my internet search on how to do this. The temperature needs to be from 99 to 103. Chicken eggs take 21 days to incubate. Duck eggs take 28 days to incubate. Turn the eggs every 12 hrs until the 17^th day when you should not turn them. You need to check the eggs on the 4^th day after starting this process. On the 19^th day the chicks start to pip the shell. All chicks, which are going to hatch, should be out of their shells by the 21^st day. When the eggs are hatched, lower the temperature to 95, this is the drying off period. Open the lid of the aquarium. As soon as the chicks have dried and fluffed up completely, remove them from the incubator and give them fresh water and mash.

We went to the store to price heating pads. $$$$. It will have to wait.

The Neighbor went to a farm that was downsizing and got 7 mini horses. They are sooooo cute. I can’t see how they will be productive on the homestead here. Only eating machines. But they are the darlingist little things. Is that a word?  I didn't get any pictures.  I will have to, then post them.

Wanting

The doelings are being so pushy. I am wondering if I should separate them from their mamas. That sounds mean.  Perhaps this is the kind thing to do. There are four little doelings. I think they will be fine together, but away from their mamas. They will be able to hear and see each other. So do I risk putting Ned and Sprinkles together and use the other pen for the little ones? Or do I build yet another goat pen? Ned is a bit aggressive. But since I moved Sprinkles by himself he isn't eating well. He kind of just stands around. He isn't a cryer. What to do, What to do? I will keep you posted on my decision.  I do want to start milking the does.I want the milk for cheese, yogurt, soap, and of coarse milk.
　

The power is up and working correctly. They power company has been doing work on it off and on since Wednesday. I took a long long long shower. It is funny because I am sure I have skipped showers in my lifetime. But I have never felt so dirty. I am also sure I have been dirtier. Now don't think I am a dirty person. I took quick sponge baths. But a shower is wonderful when it has been taken away from you.
　
　

Today I went to the Salvation Army. I needed to pick up some T-shirts. It seems the majority of mine have a stain here and there. I went through all the racks and only purchased the ones with the right tag for the sale today. Green tags were $1. I figure I can splurge on a dollar. I spent $5 putting two shirts back. They had a big pine kitchen table with five perfect chairs. The asking price was $295. I have a kitchen table. It was given to us when my brother in law separated from his girlfriend. It is also wood with glass inserts. The chairs have wicker backing. Unfortunately one of the glass inserts was broken long ago. I cut a piece of cardboard from a large box to fit in the glass place. I have to cover the table with table cloths to cover this flaw. The backs to the chairs have also been torn, or cut. Who's to say? Nobody. The chairs also have plastic on the bottom. Now we all now how well plastic holds up. In fact I have two chairs put against the wall that we can not sit in because the plastic part is broken. Anyway I waaaannnntttt that table.. Perhaps I will wait until they have their half price furniture sale.