We had a good weekend. Church was nice, though we had a few missing. They need prayer. One person who was there is moving in down the street from us.
After service we went to the livestock exchange they were holding at the little park here. I was surprised to see a good 30 people! The woman leading it gave a talk about the different kinds of small livestock (chickens, rabbits, goats) and fodder, though I missed the fodder part:-( Then I bought three new rabbits from our butcher's Aunt! small world:-)
I will try to get pictures up tomorrow. The buck's name is Squirrel because that is what color he is. He is very gentle.
The does are both white, one with gray ears. The pure white one is named Angel. I am voting for Misty for the other one, but I'll let Joy have the final say. They are New Zealand/California crosses; the two biggest production breeds. So we should actually get a lot of good meat from these.
I would like to try them in the run, a much more natural life.
I am also experimenting with fodder. This is a system where you sprout seeds and feed the little plants to the animals before the plants need dirt. They are using it on a large scale in Texas because of the drought. Evidently a lot of my neighbors are using it too on a smaller scale for their rabbits and chickens.
I am hearing different ways of doing this fodder thing. The lady yesterday soaks the seeds for six hours, covers them so they think they are in the dirt, and then feeds them to the animals a week later (uncovering them as soon as they sprout.) Others soak them for 24 hours and water them once or twice a day (depending on which website you read). Either way, I need some sort of container that has sufficient drain holes. For my experiments I can use some old, non-disposable coffee filters I have on hand (what I use to strain milk when we have a cow), but I will need something bigger. The lady yesterday punched holes in a Dollar Tree dishpan. I happened to pick up a couple of extras of those this last week, so that's a thought!
This weeks outside plans are to start building the new, outside nestbox for the chickens, let the chicks out to graze a few times, work on the irrigation in the garden, glue the panels into the greenhouse, move the "compost" (rabbit manure) to the garden, and generally clean up. Since I only have half an hour or so a day outside, it's a good thing I have such a big work crew:-)
Inside, we MUST get some school done, need to work more on my fodder experiment, and generally get caught up on the cleaning. At least I don't have to do laundry. Our septic has been acting up and Hubby asked me to take it all to town this week to give the tank a chance to rest. So to the laundromat we will go!
Hubby got his first-ever standard checkup blood tests back. High LDL (no surprise there). The surprise was borderline diabetic. He is already making some changes. He has told me to not buy anymore cool-aid. When our stock is used up, it's gone. He has already reduced his deserts and is drinking more diet coke (instead of sugared). We are looking for other ways to improve. Frankly, I have always had sensitive blood sugar (my family is full of hypoglycemics and diabetics) and with a recent weight gain I have been suspecting mine is all messed up too.I have reason to believe a couple of the kids are having hypoglycemic trouble too, so this will be good for all of us.
As far as the LDL, I firmly believe fat has nothing to do with it. I think there is much more evidence that it's sugar intake and lack of exercise that causes the problem, so the changes we are making for the blood sugar should help that too.
I have finished two very good books lately. The first is Micheal Pearl's "In Search of a Help Meet." This is a book to help a young man prepare to be a husband and to find a good wife. VERY good.
The second is Israel Wayne's "Full Time Parenting." This book goes up with Pearl's "To Train Up a Child" and "Growing Godly Tomatoes" I highly recommend EVERY parent (and grandparent) read it.
After service we went to the livestock exchange they were holding at the little park here. I was surprised to see a good 30 people! The woman leading it gave a talk about the different kinds of small livestock (chickens, rabbits, goats) and fodder, though I missed the fodder part:-( Then I bought three new rabbits from our butcher's Aunt! small world:-)
I will try to get pictures up tomorrow. The buck's name is Squirrel because that is what color he is. He is very gentle.
The does are both white, one with gray ears. The pure white one is named Angel. I am voting for Misty for the other one, but I'll let Joy have the final say. They are New Zealand/California crosses; the two biggest production breeds. So we should actually get a lot of good meat from these.
I would like to try them in the run, a much more natural life.
I am also experimenting with fodder. This is a system where you sprout seeds and feed the little plants to the animals before the plants need dirt. They are using it on a large scale in Texas because of the drought. Evidently a lot of my neighbors are using it too on a smaller scale for their rabbits and chickens.
I am hearing different ways of doing this fodder thing. The lady yesterday soaks the seeds for six hours, covers them so they think they are in the dirt, and then feeds them to the animals a week later (uncovering them as soon as they sprout.) Others soak them for 24 hours and water them once or twice a day (depending on which website you read). Either way, I need some sort of container that has sufficient drain holes. For my experiments I can use some old, non-disposable coffee filters I have on hand (what I use to strain milk when we have a cow), but I will need something bigger. The lady yesterday punched holes in a Dollar Tree dishpan. I happened to pick up a couple of extras of those this last week, so that's a thought!
This weeks outside plans are to start building the new, outside nestbox for the chickens, let the chicks out to graze a few times, work on the irrigation in the garden, glue the panels into the greenhouse, move the "compost" (rabbit manure) to the garden, and generally clean up. Since I only have half an hour or so a day outside, it's a good thing I have such a big work crew:-)
Inside, we MUST get some school done, need to work more on my fodder experiment, and generally get caught up on the cleaning. At least I don't have to do laundry. Our septic has been acting up and Hubby asked me to take it all to town this week to give the tank a chance to rest. So to the laundromat we will go!
Hubby got his first-ever standard checkup blood tests back. High LDL (no surprise there). The surprise was borderline diabetic. He is already making some changes. He has told me to not buy anymore cool-aid. When our stock is used up, it's gone. He has already reduced his deserts and is drinking more diet coke (instead of sugared). We are looking for other ways to improve. Frankly, I have always had sensitive blood sugar (my family is full of hypoglycemics and diabetics) and with a recent weight gain I have been suspecting mine is all messed up too.I have reason to believe a couple of the kids are having hypoglycemic trouble too, so this will be good for all of us.
As far as the LDL, I firmly believe fat has nothing to do with it. I think there is much more evidence that it's sugar intake and lack of exercise that causes the problem, so the changes we are making for the blood sugar should help that too.
I have finished two very good books lately. The first is Micheal Pearl's "In Search of a Help Meet." This is a book to help a young man prepare to be a husband and to find a good wife. VERY good.
The second is Israel Wayne's "Full Time Parenting." This book goes up with Pearl's "To Train Up a Child" and "Growing Godly Tomatoes" I highly recommend EVERY parent (and grandparent) read it.
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