Piggies that will go to the market

I had a bit of a surprise a few days ago.  Our sow was due to farrow in a few weeks, but sometime during the night she decided to pop them out.  They were tiny, but all were healthy.

 The sow, who has a moniker of Macon Bacon, had them in a pile of horse hay.  My mare was quite taken with them.  She stood they sniffing them and carefully following them for hours.  The pony was less amused.

Um, excuse me, waiter?  There is a pig in my hay.

We eventually got Macon and her babies rounded up and moved to a pen by themselves.  In a few weeks they can rejoin the general population.

Baby Bunnies

Not too terribly long ago, my other half decided to give meat rabbits a go.  I was fine with that, except for one thing.  Rabbits are cute.  I had no problem, uh-hem, getting rid of them, but what about the kids.  My hubby argued they had no problem with the chickens or pigs.

True.  Of course, the broiler chickens were more like mini velociraptors than actual chickens.  They were vicious things with no personality.  The pig - well to be honest no one liked the pig.  We just wanted bacon.  But rabbits are cute and cuddly.  If you aren't careful, you will be up to your ears in no time. I know - I've been there before. Long story short, we got some rabbits.

I was right about the cuddly part, but wrong about my kids.  Although they do enjoy the baby bunnies, they did not get attached.  They were perfectly fine knowing that after eight weeks, the fluff bums were permanently going away.  They helped with almost everything, and have enjoyed many rabbit meals.  For the next batch, my daughter is going to keep track of feed cost to see how much the meat costs per pound.  It is going to be her 4-H project.  Sometimes it is nice to be wrong.

Homemade Fruit Press

We had a bumper crop of pears this year.  

The trees bloomed in the spring,  and we got pears in the summer.

But then they bloomed again in September, and we got even more.

I did not want to make jelly or butter with them.  I decided instead 

to make perry.  What is perry, you ask?

Perry, quite simply is cider made from pears.

First thing I needed was a fruit press.  A fruit press is an expensive thing,

and did not have an enormous amount of fruit.  I spdid not even know if I would like

the perry well enough to make it again, so investing in a press

did not make sense.  With a little research, my husband and I was able

to rig up a press.

All it took was a clean five gallon bucket, some scrap wood, a hi-lift

jack, some power tools and a little time.

First, we had to make a brace.  We were lucky in that our porch was 

able to be used.  We just reinforced the handrail with another piece of wood

so it did not pop off.  We screwed another scrap underneath to hold our jar.

Second, we cut scraps of wood to fit inside the bucket, and then screwed

them together.  We ended up making solid and pretty thick.

Third, we drilled a hole in the side of the bucket near the bottom. We had one

hole originally with a tube running out, but kept clogging.  Instead of using a

tube, we drilled several holes and that worked better.

Voila, a fruit press.

To use it, place the bucket on the floor, with the holey part hanging over the jar.

Dump some fruit in, put the wood press in, and the jack on top of the wood.

Go ahead and pull the jack up to the railing, and then all you do is tighten it.

We went about our chores, and whenever one of was one the porch, we would tighten the jack up a little more.  When you have decided you have extracted all the juice you can release the pressure off of the jack, dump out the pomace, and start over with more fruit.  The pomace went to the animals, and the juice was filtered as there were a few pear chunks in it.  But all in all, it worked out well.

Its a mold, its a fungus .... no wait!

It is a Woolly Bear!  This is the third one I have seen this week and solid black like his brethren.  If traditional southern folklore is to believed, we will have a hard winter.  I enjoy traditional southern folklore, and have a tendency to believe in some things, much to my pragmatic husband's dismay.  Other indications that say we should be stocking up on the firewood include an early heavy crop of acorns and the super thick fur coats all of the critters are sporting.  I think the pony may have jumped the gun - his coat is over three inches long and it is still hot most days.  

Woolly Bear

Late Independence Day Pictures

Independence Day is a  day of celebration.  We spend time with our family and friends, grilling hot dogs and watching fireworks.  It is also my daddy's birthday - one of the few birthdays I will never forget.

 

Family

 

Friend

Friend

Friend and Family

Family and Friend

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Anniston Museum of Natural History

Recently, my family went on a field trip.  This was not only for the

kids, but for the husband, too.  He had to go for his science class for

college credit.  Our first stop was the Anniston Museum of Natural History,

in Anniston, Alabama.  Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, so

I had to make do with my phone.  I only got a few decent shots:

Rooster and Happy in front of a dinsoaur.

Happy in front of the African exhibit. 

The museum had an Alabama exhibit, a dinosaur

exhibit, an Egyptian exhibit with mummies, the African exhibit 

with a ton of animals - literally.  There was an African

elephant.  Also included was the Birds of America exhibit, with hundreds of

birds. They were stuffed between 1860 and the early 1900s.

  There was one more exhibit they were putting up that we

did not get to see, called Attack and Defense.  The museum

 also has gardens and walking trails, but it was raining so we did not

get to see that. If you are in Anniston and have some time,

stop by and check it out

Wild West

His name is Wild West.  You can imagine a beautiful

white stallion running across the desert (or across the plains, really it doesn't 

matter).  He is every little horse girl's dream come true.  They have a magic

bond which no one can understand.  Usually there is no magical
white stallion.  But there are special ponies and horses out there
that are every little (and not so little) horse girl's dream.

To give an illustration, I go to Happy and her pony Wild West.
I literally think that he thinks that little girl saved him.  You will
see why if you finish this story.  She can grab him by the mane and lead
him anywhere.  He will pick up all four hooves for her, but stand
firmly rooted for me. She rides him and though she's a beginner,
he is perfect for her.

Unfortunately, she is starting to outgrow him.  She is adamant, however

that we are not going to let him go to another little girl.

Instead she wants a harness and cart so she can keep him 

forever.  Personally I'm on her side.  Even though he won't have anything

to do with me, I like the fat turkey. He's come a long way

since we got him.  Not bad for $75.00 plus a little gas

(Thanks Summer!)

On a side note, beware of "rescues".  If all of your dogs and horses

are skinny, patchy from lice and mange, limping, and being bred because

he/she is so "pretty" you are not dealing with a rescue.

I would have left him there, because I didn't think he would make the

trip home.  But my non-horsey husband insisted we get him. We

had his feet done, gave him groceries, got a good worming,

 and scrubbed him twice a week until the lice was gone.

Meanwhile Happy was down at the "seclusion pen", sneaking him carrots and apples.

I'm glad we got him.