Kits and Pups!

If it weren't for all the leaves on the ground and the stark blue sky, I would think that it was spring here!  It does seem that the animals have chosen fall this year to multiply and give us quite a surprise.  A couple weeks ago, as Jon was removing the panel that separates the back of the insulated outdoor hutch for cleaning, he saw two new little fuzzy faces looking at him.  This was a complete shock, as we were sure that the mother was a male!  She had recently molted so we didn't notice when her belly fiber went missing and was made into a little nest way back in the darkest corner of the hutch box.

I won't know what gender they are for a while, but now that I am certain that Firari is a female and Tavie has proved to be the male that I knew he was, I now have a breeding pair, both with really nice fiber.  So, oops!  I'm breeding angoras once again!  Now to be strong and not keep them all!

As for the guinea pigs, they couldn't help themselves, either.

Gary Busey the guinea pig had been living with other male guinea pigs.  The pet store had sworn that it was male, and we had them check before we left to be sure.  Wrong again!  Busey, as she is now called, gave birth to just one pup, but it is healthy and cute and I'm going to have a really hard time not giving this one away.  Look at the face!

To complicate the situation, we took another look at one of the newer angoras that we got over the summer, and are pretty sure that this one is female, not male like we thought.  It is VERY difficult to tell when they're young.  Two other people had agreed that Pika was a boy.  Now there is every possibility that she has been bred as well.  No wonder Tavie was so happy with his living situation!  So far there is no sign of pregnancy, but she is going to be isolated for a month just to be sure.  It also wouldn't be tragic for another little to appear, a bit more expected and planned for, with another few little balls of fluff to play with.

I'm a bit overwhelmed at this point with trying to figure out the new living situation.  I am still grateful for each of these new little creatures.  They all have their own personalities and quirks!

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We have started to have frosts here at night, and there is even a chance of snow this weekend.  The garden is almost done.  There are only a few root vegetables and onions left out there, and they will be fine through even harsher weather.  I harvested corn last week and hung the cobs up to dry in the basement.  The kernels will be ground into meal later this winter (once I figure out how to do that...).  The stalks decorate our front door.

The canning jar shelf is nearly full.  I still haven't done any applesauce yet, either.  The freezer is full of local pork.  The mini fridge is full of pickles.  Extremely sour mustard pickles, to be specific.

Time to go having another cup of coffee and rake some leaves!

Harvest

Waking up with a migraine, I've allowed myself to be cozy on the couch with a cup of my new favorite tea- The Tea Guy's Coconut Truffle Black Tea.

This has been a busy summer.  Once again, I quit my job (unsafe work environment!), so I have had a bit more time to keep up with the garden and fiber arts.  Somehow, all of this 'free time' does seem free at all!  I've been busy canning tomato sauce and pickles, harvesting dried beans, playing with baby rabbits...

I've named the grey one Sterling and the blue and cream one Pika, both males from the same litter.  We also got another grey male, Firari (runaway in Turkish after he nearly escaped!), who is six months old now.

Firari has bonded with the two kits, and I think they will do well together.  Tavie, our two and half year old male, is kept separate due to his age and inability to bond well with other males.

Why do we have so many males?  Our large outdoor hutch originally had three separate pens, but when we moved, we took those out so that everyone could have a large run and keep each other warm.  We couldn't keep any does with our male without the inevitable happening!  It turned out that our original male was too old or his personality didn't allow him to bond well with our new ones, but these new rabbits seem to be happy and carefree, so I now get to have four angora rabbits =)  I do plan on breeding them in the future.

The garden has been producing well, especially since we had only amended the newly overturned soil with loam.  I've never seen so many cucumbers!

I have probably 20+ pints of pickle slices and three gallons of sour mustard whole pickles in the basement fridge.  Tomatoes had late blight and didn't produce well at all, but I was able to buy 60 lbs of canning tomatoes from Sapowsky Farms and I put up 8 pints of ketchup and 7 pints of sauce from that.  Canning a couple pints of sauce at a time from my own heirlooms, I think we will have enough to last at least into the next year.  Next summer, I hope to have 30-40 tomato plants instead of 15, and I will find a drier spot to ward off rot and blight.  I have also put up 40 lbs of peaches (sliced and jam) from Breezeland Orchards.  If I can get another couple bushels of apple drops from Mt. Pleasant Orchard, I think we will eat well this winter!

One last summer market on the 23rd, and then I might been a vendor at Northampton's winter market!

I think the rest of today should be spent avoiding shelling more turtle beans, finishing the hat that I've been knitting, and watching classic Doctor Who.  Also eating cupcakes because it was someone's birthday and I made sure there would be leftovers.

Next post will be about buying half a freezer pig from Mockingbird Farm!

Update on projects.

Summer is going by far too quickly!  I've been running back and forth quite a bit for appointments, seeing friends before they move away (JenJen!), and finishing things like the rabbit hutch and thank you notes from the wedding.

Yeah, JenJen and I are pretty much awesome.

The hutch is done, except for shingles, which we will make.  These pictures were taken before the roof was put on.

 It is a beautiful, luxury home!  Jon did such an amazing job, and I was glad to help him when I could.  The rabbits love it, too.

And here the first cucumber of the season, next to a bowl of the most amazing lettuce, all from the garden.  I've been getting a ton of greens and not much else, so the cucumber was a big treat.  The lemon cucumbers are coming along nicely, I've planted some more greens, the new beans have sprouted, there are little green cherry tomatoes, and the zucchini and summer squash have large blossoms.  Jon made me some tomato stakes, and I learned that I am terrible at tying tomatoes.  I never got assigned that job at the farm I worked on, beyond clipping tomatoes in greenhouses.  I will post pictures later how funny it looks.  Did I mention that I used orange yarn?

I finished the baby sling and one onesie.  Pictures should follow in the next post.  The sling is great!  I might want to add some padding for the shoulder, though.  The onsie is adorable in the blueberry fabric!  I finished two more skeins of yarn and made a little change purse from 12 yards of scrap silk yarn leftover from the yarn I used to make a glasses case for Jon.

First day of new job

It went pretty well.  I mostly just had to watch and start learning the routine.  I'll gradually take over responsibilities as he gets used to me.

I'm really not used to getting up that early, but give me a couple of weeks and I'll be fine.  Today I spent the extra time between jobs in a mall parking lot playing Angry Birds.  My coffee was really gross this morning.  I think I was half asleep when I made it so it must have had way too much water.  I wanted to buy another one very badly, but I have to remind myself that I'm saving up for very important things.  That's why I didn't actually go into the mall.  I want new spring clothes.  I might just end up making a new skirt and knitting a sweater.  That will, of course, just means that I need more fiber!

I really want to try a bolero next, but this shawl is going to keep me busy for a long time.  I spun up another bobbin yesterday and plied one.  I'll ply up the rest today and hopefully that will make 1000 yards, with only 500 to go!

Yesterday was Easter, and Jon and I went to a different Baptist church in town.  I loved it!  The service was pretty much just like the ones I grew up with, the pastor prepared a good and thoughtful sermon, and the only problems were the laughter and talk of a couple of teenage boys behind us.  We will definitely go again!

Jon's Gramma came over and we all had ham, potatoes, carrots, salad, and bread.  Dessert was a lemon curd cake, which was amazingly good.  Jon and I took a walk though the newly green fields.  We even had an Easter basket full of chocolate waiting outside the bedroom door!  We didn't work on the rabbit hutch because of the off and on rain.  I'm not sure when we will be able to start.  He's hopefully finishing up a job today and starting another that will last at least the rest of this week.

This weekend I have my second shower!  I'm looking forward to catching up with my side of the family and some good friends.  I really don't need gifts, but I am excited to get nice kitchen things.  I love baking and cooking.  Here are some rather funny photos of me and my face opening gifts at the first shower, and a Whole Foods raspberry chocolate ganache cake!:

Rainy Tuesday

After what seemed like endless errands last night, I didn't have time to work on any projects.  I did get the wire mesh for the rabbit hutch, but completely forgot to get staples.  That will be today's errand.  I also need blank thank you notes to write for my first bridal shower, and some spares for the second one coming up at the end of the month.  I got so many nice things, like silicone bake ware, a 3 tier cooling rack, a set of 12 cobalt goblets, and a cobalt stock pot.  I can't wait to have my own kitchen again!  For now, I'm living with my fiancé Jon's parents...which means I use what's there unless they don't have it, and pretty much have no space of my own.  It does, however, mean a warm house, wireless internet and cable (when I get the tv to myself...), and very low rent.  We are saving up for building a house and having babies.  Our wedding is at the end of May, and its been taking most to all of my spare money.  It will be beautiful.

I'm going to work on a knitting project while the kids are sleeping.
http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter07/PATTicequeen.html
Its going to look like this:

(from Knitty's website)

In the middle of working on it, while out visiting one of Jon's job sites, my circular needle broke and I had to scramble not to loose any stitches.  Of course, it broke while working on a lace row.  I transferred it to dpn's, but one size lower was the closest that I had.  I also didn't follow the beading on the chart as closely as I should have, but it should at least turn out to be something I can wear!

And Chipotle Cheddar Chex Mix is amazing.  Spicy alliteration.  

Last night, I was able to fill up the second bobbin!  So tonight I can start plying and figure out how many yards I have.  I still have plenty of fiber, but I'm hoping that I've gotten at least half the amount that I need for the shawl.

Jon and I picked up some wood this weekend to build a rabbit hutch.  I couldn't find any plans online that made any sense, so I made one up.  It will have room for my three rabbits, and each section is again separated into a front area and a nesting/cozy box.  We are even going to insulate it.  The wood came from a bargain scrap pile at a local lumber mill, and a few boards that Jon's father had around.  I just need to pick up some galvanized wire mesh from the hardware store on the way home from work today.  We won't have time to work on this until the weekend, but I'm very excited!  I'm also hoping to get enough mesh to construct a run somewhere in the yard for supervised play time.  Pictures of this project are to follow!

Ruby, Max, and Yardley will be delighted.

Ruby

Max

Yardley