2011 Egg Count

This is not a complete egg count , because I lost count back in Fall. The hens also started molting about that time. There was only one that didn't molt and she was only laying an egg every other day. We need new hens , as all of our girls are getting older. There are 6 hens , three of those are almost 3 years old and 3 are 2 years old. We'll be getting new hens soon.

Egg Count ~ 879

Farm Blessings

JoyceAnn

Merry Christmas !

May Your Christmas be Happy , Peaceful and Filled with Many Blessings !

Merry Christmas !

JoyceAnn

All I Want for Christmas .........................

Is a healed toe !

We've had very warm weather this week , so Thursday Little Time decided he was going to make a mad dash to their neighbors house across the woods barefoot. He stepped on a broken brick along the way and cut his big toe , he had to have 4 stitches. His toe was sore yesterday , but hopefully he'll be up and running tomorrow.

Couldn't resist sharing these pics of Little Missy Who .........


and her cat " Jazzy " ...........


playing with string under their Christmas tree. She reminded me of Little Cindy Lou in " How the Grinch Stole Christmas " wearing that dress and her hair pulled up on her head. Hence " Little Missy Who ".

~Merry Christmas ~
JoyceAnn

T'was a Few Days Before Christmas ..................

Around the Farmette .......... but it wasn't very quiet ...... except for the mouse.

The roosters were crowing .........................

The hens were cackling and pacing .........


The rabbits snorted and hopped about ..... those crazy guineas were mighty skittish & loud.

They were all wondering why JoyceAnn ........was cleaning and decorating their house.


But she kept on raking , scooping and shoveling until it was clean.
Then she hung up some bows and beautiful greens.

She hung a small red bow on the rabbit hutch ........ but didn't add greens ...... was afraid they would nibble on them before Christmas Eve.



But they heard her exclaim as she was finishing up ......



It's almost Christmas and Santa will soon be here ........

so lay him some eggs .



Ho ! Ho ! Ho !




~ Be Blessed ~
JoyceAnn

Still Catching Up ........ Halloween Bunnies

A couple of days before Halloween I met a guy that had rabbits for sell , he offered me a deal I couldn't refuse. So I met him on Halloween morning and brought 3 bunnies home.


Meet Ms. Candy Corn ..... she's very sweet and meets me at the door each day.



This is " Little Bunny Boo Boo" aka Boo ...............

and " Pinky Dinky Doo " aka Pinky . The black and white bunnies are miniature rex rabbits , they're cute as can be. The Grands were surprised and really loved the " Halloween Bunnies ".

~ Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

Creative Gift Wrapping

Hope everyone is doing well , it's been busy around here as usual. The holidays are almost here , thought I would share this gift idea from last year just in case someone needs a last minute idea. I made Shagbark Hickory syrup for Christmas gifts last year , but thought I would like to add a little something for the kitchen along with the syrup , so I bought dish towels and potholders. When I got ready to wrap them , I decided the potholder would make a great gift bag , so I tucked the pint of syrup inside the potholder and tied everything together with twine. The syrup was a hit with everyone and who doesn't need new dish towels and potholders. You could tuck jams/jellies , other canned goodies or a small loaf of nut bread inside.

Hope to have time to visit some blogs soon.

~Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

Keets and Our Last Pepper Harvest .............

The guinea hen that was sitting on the nest , hatched 17 keets in Oct.. I thought she was sitting on 16 eggs , but she laid another egg the day I took a pic of the 16 eggs and started sitting that night. On Oct. 4 the eggs hatched and there were 17 keets. I caught 6 of the keets before she realized what I was doing , then she got really protective and wouldn't let me near them. I put boards around the bottom of the fence and decided to leave them with her. That worked well for two weeks , but one evening I was late going out to check on them and when I got there she was outside the fence and had the keets under her settled down for the night. They apparently found a hole or went over the boards and she flew out with them. Since it was getting dark there wasn't much I could do except hope for the best for her and the keets. But the next morning she was gone and all the keets except for 2 , guess that fox made another raid. I caught the other 2 keets and put them in the brooder box with the other 6. We've lost another guinea since then , so we're down to 4 adult guineas and the 8 keets which are now in a holding pen outside until we release them next Spring.

We did have a nice pepper harvest in Oct , after it rained a couple of times the vines were loaded. I was really thankful for the peppers , we had stuffed peppers a couple of times . I diced and froze several bell peppers for seasoning , froze some strips for stir-frying this winter .......

and pickled the banana peppers.

Hope everyone had a great weekend !!

~ Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

Better Late than Never ............................

Oct was another rough month , it started out with computer problems , then we lost our oldest dog to cancer and my Mom had dental surgery , so it was a busy month. Next thing I know it's the middle of Nov. , time for Thanksgiving and Birthdays around here. Little Missy turned 4 last Sunday and Little Froggy was 4 on Wed. So we've had 2 parties this week plus our Thanksgiving gathering and will have another gathering this Sunday. I started this post Oct. 3rd and never got back to it , but here's the pics I wanted to share from the Pow Wow in Sept. I hope to get back to posting regularly again. Hope everyone is well and Thank-you for your wonderful comments on my last post , they mean so much to me.

This festival/pow wow is held once a year at Town Creek Indian Mound.

I bought the grands a dance stick , Little Time was mighty proud of his. I love his warrior like pose.

Little Missy thought it would make a great weapon (LOL).

This pic was taken inside a reconstructed ceremonial hut.

It was a beautiful day , perfect for celebrating and dancing.

Little Time danced the last dance with our friend. Little Missy was tired and didn't want to dance , so we sat the last dance out.

We had ice cream on the way home , Little Time really enjoyed his. He had ice cream up his nose (LOL).



~ Be Blessed ~

JoyceAnn

What a Month ..............

September has been. We had 2 deaths in the family and 2 weddings , plus I had a terrible bout with allergies/hay fever. I just haven't felt like blogging , it's been a month of mixed emotions and expressions for sure.

The goats went to their new home a couple of weeks ago , I still miss them. Dh and I are going to show the new goat owners how to trim hooves next week , so I'll get to see them again. We delivered them and when we left they seem pretty content in their new surroundings. I'm so happy I found them a wonderful home and owners that will take up time with them. They are just a few miles away and the lady who bought them told me to drop by anytime I wanted to see them , she's a wonderful person and I know the goats will be happy there.

The guinea hen is still on her nest and the eggs should be hatching the first of next week. So I've been keeping a close watch on her , we will have to take the keets once they're hatched or they will not survive. I don't like doing that , but guinea hens don't have much success with raising their young.

I did manage to get away to a Pow Wow on the 18th for a few hours of fun. We stopped at a produce stand and bought a basket of peaches on the way home. I'll blog about the Pow Wow next week , have some pics to share.

We're suppose to have cooler weather this weekend , looking forward to the cooler weather after the long hot summer we had.

~ Many Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

One More Try .............................

The guineas have been busy all Spring and Summer trying to hatch some eggs. But each time they began sitting , something has raided the nest and eaten all the eggs , fortunately the guinea hen has gotten away each time.

I noticed last week they had been hanging around in the chicken run , half of the penned area has weeds waist high since the chickens don't stay in there and are free ranging each day. I thought at first they were under the weeds for shade , but one day last week I went out to check on the goats and I heard that call they make when laying an egg. So I decided to look around and see if I could find the nest . I found the nest and it's inside the chicken fence area , so they may hatch some keets after all. There were 10 eggs when I took this pic , but there are 16 now and she'll probably lay for another week before she begins sitting. I hope she hatches some keets since we're down to one guinea hen. That sly fox made off with 5 guineas this past Spring , so we need a few more hens.

~ Many Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

Hope .........................

Your Weekend was Wonderful !

~ Many Blessings ~

Making Tough Decisions around the Farmette ..................

I've made a tough decision and although I feel sad about selling the goats , I know I must. When we bought the goats about a year and a half ago , we built a shed and installed a large lot around the shed. We had plans to fence in a larger area around it so they could browse and graze during the day and would be housed in the smaller lot/shed at night to keep them safe from predators. But things didn't workout as planned , Dh had already taken a pay cut when we got the goats and shortly after that he was put on short time. He's been laid off every other week for over a year now and we're not sure what the future holds.

So we had to cut back and the fence was put on hold , I thought the job situation would get better , but it still looks bleak. I've been thinking about this for awhile and last week I made the tough decision to sell them. I ran an ad on Craigslist and a wonderful local couple called the next day , they came to see them and agreed to purchase them. They'll be here for another week , while they get prepared to house them.

I'm going to miss them dearly, but I know for now it's the right thing to do and I'm very thankful they'll be going to a good home. I hope to have goats again in my future when the economy gets better and we're able to get fencing up. It's been a wonderful experience and I'm thankful for all the wonderful blog friends whom have helped me gain the knowledge of taking care of them along the way.

~ Many Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

Homemade Ducky Fries ~ ~ ~ >

We always find those funny shaped potatoes when we harvest them. This year's winner is the " Ducky Potato " , hence " Ducky Fries ".


Last Friday , Little Missy and I made " Ducky Fries ". I sliced the potatoes into rounds , then added about a tbsp cooking oil to a bowl , put potatoes in oil and mixed them well to make sure they're coated with the oil. Little Missy helped lay them on the baking pan. Heat oven to 350 , bake until browned on the top side , take them out and turn them to the other side. You can add a little salt or sea salt before returning to oven to let the other side brown. They're delicious , sometimes I add garlic powder to the oil before cooking. The Grands love them and they're much healthier than deep fried.

~ Many Blessings ~
JoyceAnn

Tater Digging Time .......................

I was planning to share this post last week , but had a death in the family. My cousin passed away August 20th , so we spent time with family and friends the first few days of last week. We also had to prepare for Hurricane Irene , but thankfully she by-passed us.

We dug the potatoes week before last , the harvest wasn't as good as years past due to the drought. But we were Blessed with a good amount , hopefully enough to sustain us through the winter.

Little Missy and Little Time helped dig and pick-up the potatoes .......


they were so excited each time they found a potato.


When the work was done , it was time for a ride with Pa on the tractor.

Little Missy decided she wanted to drive the tractor.

They worked very hard , even helping their Dad pull the potatoes to house. They were so helpful and I'm proud of them.

~ Garden Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

I Wanna ..............................

be ..............................

just like ..............

my Pa !!

~ Many Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

Enjoy ......................

the wildness of today !!

~ ~ Be Blessed ~ ~

JoyceAnn

A Budding Herbalist .............

Last Thursday , Little Missy spent the night , she loves helping with the morning chores. We walked around the herb garden and I spotted this old coal bucket that I had herbs planted in last year. Upon closer inspection I found this beautiful Purslane plant growing , it grows wild here and somehow the seeds had sprouted in the bucket. I'll be adding some of the leaves to our salads this week , they're very nutritious and high in omega 3's , you can check it out here ..... http://www.culinarymusings.com/2008/06/purslane-not-a-weed-but-a-wonder/.


Ms. Rose was on the nest , so Little Missy had a chance to pet her and watch her get ready to lay an egg.




After feeding and watering the chickens , goats and guineas , we headed to the field to harvest some red clover. She really enjoyed picking the red blossoms. A friend ask on my last post about red clover , what I do with it , some of you probably know. I make red clover tea , red clover syrup and plan to tincture some soon , it can also be used in cooking.



A Budding Herbalist , Indeed !!





~ Happy Herbal Blessings ~
JoyceAnn