Been a while, my bad

Okay, so it's been a while as we have gotten busy with new kids being born, Kara's softball, Liam's baseball and Mom and Ray returning from Arizona.  Also, if you can believe it, the sun has actually been out for a couple of days in a row, so have been trying to get the lawn mowed and the garden weeded (yet again, I know, I know, a never ending project).

All the girls, Rachel, Monica and Phoebe, had their kids.  Rachel's are now one month old and bouncing around everywhere.  Monica's kids were born on April 13th, so they are a little over 1 week old and heading off on Saturday to get dehorned.  Phoebe had her kids on Monday, April 18th, and will be getting dehorned on Saturday also.

So these above and below are Phoebe's kids.  The kid above is all "red" and are rarer than the white and red mix of colors.  He was born first so is known as P1.  He is always hungry and Phoebe definitely likes her little girl, P2, below, better.  We haven't figured out why, but if we hold on to Phoebe while she is eating (kind of like wrestling a very large animal that does not want to stand still, my hamstrings are still screaming from last night) then he gets his little tummy full.

This is P2, the only girl in the bunch of boy kids.  She has mottled ears and head just like Phoebe and has a little curl to her hair.

The two in the back that are larger, are Rachel's kids, now one month old and the two in the front are Monica's kids, now just over a week old and all are boys.

They all get along very well and usually are in a pile in the goat house in the morning, all together.

Rob has been working on improving/tweaking the chicken and turkey tractors.  We are getting 6 eggs a day now regularly, and sometimes one of them is a double yolker (though we haven't figured out which hen is laying that one yet, but it is being monitored haha).

So Rob moved the laying boxes to outside the tractor for easier access to get the eggs without having to open the entire top of the tractor and he added some other roosting posts, so now the chickens only lay in the boxes and roost at night on the posts, which in turn keeps the boxes clean of poop and the eggs clean also.  We also changed to using pine shavings instead of straw as they smell good to begin with and the chickens don't seem to move them around as much.  If you look at the middle picture above, can you tell what the yellow strip is?  If you know Rob, you should.  This is truly a "fireman's chicken tractor."  The yellow strip is old fire hose that Rob had.  He put it there to keep the water from running into the boxes here the lid hinges.  Great idea huh!!!!  I believe we should paint the boxes red now, just to keep in the theme of the fireman thing, right?!  lol.  The turkey tractor also got a new set of boxes the same as above.  We have been getting two turkey eggs every other day.  Rob and I had some scrambled the other day.  Literally tasted just like chicken, they are just bigger eggs.  

I believe we are going to invest in a small incubator for both the chicken and turkey eggs so we can raise our own for now and not have to depend on the hens to get broody and want to sit on the eggs.  I think four turkeys at one time to raise is good, because I don't think we could fit any more than four turkeys in the freezer at one time.  haha.

I just realized it is 22 days today since I started the Cranberry Cordial from Martha Stewart Recipes.  It is ready to be tasted, so perhaps this evening, I will have to have a sample while I contemplate the meaning of life, while sitting on the front deck (unless of course the dreaded rain has returned, then I would have to contemplate the meaning of life on the couch, which could work also, I believe.)  I crack myself up sometimes.  hahahahahahaha :)

Just finished making a loaf of bread yesterday, 2 batches of cultured butter, which I used the remaining buttermilk to make the loaf of bread, and 2 batches of bagels.  Am going to try this recipe from Girls Guide to Butter blog to make no knead bread in my dutch oven today.  I did just purchase some Lodge cast iron pans, got 8, 10-1/2 and 12 inch fry pans and a dutch oven (the lid makes the 10-1/2 inch fry pan.  See, I'm trying to get the most for my money, haha).  I have made chili in the dutch oven, which turned out very yummy, (could have soaked the beans just a little longer, they weren't crunchy, but definitely had to be chewed and not just smooshed with your tongue) and used ground venison for the meat.  It turned out fabulous!!

Liam's team has won all games so far, three, and he has been pitching very well and hitting well, had a nice double the other day.  Kara's team is doing well, I think they have both won and lost some.  She had a great hit the other day and then twisted her ankle at second, so we are not sure if it is sprained or what. I will be taking her into the doctor today to see if they can tell.  She has been using her crutches and her walking boot left over from her toe surgery, along with icing and elevating it.

Anyway, time to head out to feed the animals and start another day.  Have a good one!