A New Year and a New 'Do

I'll do a Christmas post later, but I wanted to do a New Year's post first. A little out of order I know, but what can I say?

Since this post is about the New Year, I wanted to show you my new hair cut. I tend to go for months without cutting my hair, and then wake up one day and decide my hair is awful and I need it cut now. I'd been at that point for a week or two, and decided that when we were in NC to visit my family it would be a great time to get it cut.

It had gotten very long and the ends were looking pretty unhealthy.


Long and straggly looking!


And here is the after! It's not a major change, because I always get it styled fairly the same way- layers. But I got several inches cut off and it made a big difference!





Now I'm ready to start the New Year! I don't usually make resolutions, since I don't really keep them. Plus, I tend to think of resolutions as changes I want to make. I don't really have any big changes I'd like to make, but I do have a few goals for me and our little farm yard.

2011 Goals
-Painting- I'd like to paint all of the rooms in our house. This will have to be done little by little because it's a big job. Our house was painted in the same light putty color (which I like) but it is flat paint. Have you ever tried to wash fingerprints off flat paint? The paint comes right off. My first priorities are the mud room and the kitchen, followed by the downstairs bathroom, the kids' rooms, and then the livingroom/diningroom and hallway area. Our bedroom and the basement are the last ones we'll do since they don't get as dirty.

-Fencing- I'd like to fence in our backyard for the dogs, since it's a pain to walk the pup on a leash every time we need to let the dogs out. We'll also have to install another set of stairs on our deck to be able to let them directly out to the backyard, and we'll have to make a gate for our current stairs so they can't go out into the driveway. The fence will also keep the chickens contained to the backyard and sheep pasture. David is tired of chicken poo on our deck steps!

-Gardening- I'd like to take the time to make a thoughtfully planned out garden this year. Every year I get impatient and just end up planting things wherever there's room. This never works and then my garden ends up a mess. I'd like to actually sit down with a pencil and paper and draw my garden, then make a list of what goes where and when to plant it. I would also like to try not to get bored with the garden in July and let it go to heck. I need to keep ahead of the weeds and not let them take over. I want to maximize our production and actually use all of the veggies, even if that means feeding them to animals or giving them away to friends and family. No more letting veggies rot because I don't feel like picking them!

-Rabbits- One goal for me this year is to finally get meat rabbits. I have been wanting them for a while now, and I just need to get around to building cages and getting stock. I would like to start out with at least 1 buck and 2 does. I feel like this is another easy meat source for our family, and you don't have to pluck rabbits! I've been telling David I want rabbits for my birthday (in April). I feel like that is a reasonable time frame for having everything ready.

-Sheep- I am going to be sending the ram to freezer camp soon (as soon as we pick up a second freezer). Purl is due to lamb in February, and I plan on keeping a ewe lamb from her (if it's a natural colored one). I also need to make plans to find a ram lamb for this fall's breeding. Darla is hopefully bred for May lambs, and hers will be kept for meat or sold. I also want to purchase some electro netting fence so I can maximize the grazing on our property. I plan on seeding some annual rye in the spring which will come up fast and be good for spring/summer grazing.

Goats- Nothing major will change with the goats. June is due in March and I am hoping for doe kids again (don't want to jinx it though!). I most likely won't be keeping any kids, but that may change. Theo is living at his new home and will come back to breed June in the fall. I hope to make use of June's milk with more cheeses and soap this year. I really would like to start selling goat milk soap!

-Chickens- I would like to expand the laying flock so I can get more eggs to sell. I figure I can probably pay for their feed if I sell at least 5 dozen eggs per week. I am considering buying (or hatching) some chicks in the very near future so I can have them laying early summer. I am still planning on raising more broilers this summer, only I will stick to 25 birds at a time to make it easier on the yard and the budget! We're debating buying a plucker to make processing easier. Really that's the biggest setback to our broiler production right now....plucking!

Pigs- I would love to raise a pig or two. Right now I feel like getting a pig is probably more of a dream than a reality at this point, but we'll see how the year goes. I would actually like to get a sow and breed her, but don't tell David. I think it would be easier to convince David we should raise a piglet or two for about 6 months than it would be to convince him we need a 300 lb sow and 12 piglets. But doesn't it sound like fun?!

Budget and Financial- I said this last year and never did it, but this year I will keep track of all of the expenditures for the animals so I know exactly how much we're spending on them. I'll also keep track of all of the sales of stuff from the animals or otherwise on the farm (crafts, veggies, eggs, meat, milk (Oops, can't sell that because it's illegal, hehe), animals, etc). I'd like to try my best to at least break even on the animals. We shouldn't have any major expenditures because just about everything major is already built (fencing, coops, pens, etc). Maybe we'll make a profit this year! I'd be happy with $1 profit. :-) We're mainly homesteading to provide for us, but I'd love to someday turn it into a small business.

Family-As always, I plan on spending quality time as a family. We have a nice family vacation planned later this summer. I'd like to make sure David and I have at least a small vacation for just the two of us. I'd also like to take advantage of some of the local events here. Things like festivals and fairs that don't cost much (or are free) but will really be fun outings for the family. There's so much around home and we tend to take it for granted.

Well, that's about all I can think of for now. I'll be interested to see how much we can get done by the end of the year. Happy New Year!

Playing Around

A few weeks ago I made a few Christmas greenery decorations. The wreath I made wasn't exactly worthy of hanging on a door, so I took it out to the animals to have a little fun. I wanted to try to get a few pictures of them on the animals.

The goats loved the wreath. They loved it a little too much and wanted to eat it.


June is reaching over her shoulder trying to eat it


Then I tried the sheep. They were a little more tolerant of the wreath. I just had to chase the goats away to take pictures.


Eventually the sheep tried sampling the wreath too.




But at least I got a few good shots. My favorite one is my banner picture.

The Gift of Warmth

Both my sister and I have heat pumps as our main source of heat in our houses. Heat pumps aren't exactly known for their ability to get a house really cozy and warm. Plus, both my sister and I are pretty frugal and leave our thermostats set a little low to save on energy use.

I figured I'd make each of the kids their own little microwaveable heating pad! I sewed simple rectangles and filled them with plain rice. It was fun looking for the perfect fabric for each kid. Kylee got the purple Tinker Bell fabric, Devin got Cars, Evan got the trucks, and Charlotte got The Little Mermaid.


I made each one with an inner pouch with rice, and sewed each pouch in half to divide the rice in half. I used double seams just in case they're a little rough with them.


And then I made a liner pouch to go on the outside. The liners velcro together at the top. This way the pouches can be pulled off before microwaving, or they can be pulled off to wash if they get dirty.


Stick these babies in the microwave for about a minute or a minute and a half and they provide nice heat to snuggle up with at night! They're great for cold toes or you can do what Devin does and use it as a pillow. :-)

These are also a really great gift for tight budgets. Total cost was $15 for all 4 ($9 for the fabric and $6 for the large bag of rice).

More Knitted Gifts

I love being able to knit gifts, so I was excited to make these as gifts for the kids.

These two rockets are for my nephew, Evan. The pattern was the Little Rocket pattern by Megan Kelly, found on Ravelry. It's a great project for small bits of leftover yarn.


I made Kylee and Charlotte (my neice) a crown each. The purple one is Kylee's and the pink one is for Charlotte. I also found the pattern on Ravelry. It's the Child's Play Crown pattern by Julie Hunter.


These were both easy projects I was able to knit with yarn I already had, and the patterns were totally free. Can't beat that!

Slippers for Lisa

Every year our family does a gift exchange instead of everyone buying each person a gift. We each draw names (or we are assigned names) and we buy (or make) gifts for that one person, and everyone gives to the kids.

This year I got Lisa's name in the exchange. I wanted to make her a pair of slippers I'd seen in a knitting calendar I have. I'd been wanting to make them, and I finally had an "excuse". The pattern is the Felted Slipper by Patons. I used Paton's Classic Wool in Bright Red for the main color, and the white for the cuff color. The slippers were pretty easy to knit up, especially the second one once I had the pattern memorized.

This is the finished product, after felting. They fit very nicely and are very warm!


But here's the before picture! Since you have to felt them, you actually knit them way larger than the foot size. These are sitting on my washing machine and they almost take up the whole door.


I really love these slippers and I'm getting ready to cast on for a pair of my own! The only think I might change is the sole. I think I'll try to find some thin suede to sew on as a sole. We have lots of pets and hard floors, so I think it will help keep the pet hair out (you can only sweep or vacuum so many times a day!) and make them more durable.

And the good news is Lisa liked them!

What's Worse?

Lots of snow and no wind, or not much snow and a ton of wind? I'll pick lots of snow and no wind, thank you.

We were forecasted to get 8-12" of snow yesterday, but luckily we only got a few inches. I can't tell for sure how much we actually got because the wind is blowing like crazy. I looked out the window this afternoon and saw this.




What was left of the hay shed...


I sent a picture to David on his cell phone and he said he thought he could bend it back. Yeah, I'm not sure. Another reason I'm sick of the snow and wind is because David's new job requires him to be in the shop while it's snowing and while trucks are out plowing. The plowing is being negated by the wind blowing the snow back across the road. Poor David has been at work since 5 AM yesterday morning. He said he'll be lucky to get home by midnight tonight.


And the darn shed snapped a post too.



Plus, one section of Ondura roofing on the chicken coop blew off. It looks like it ripped right in half. That stuff is pretty heavy duty and I'm surprised it didn't hold up. At least there is still particle board covering the roof.

Ok wind, you can stop now.

Lots of Veggies

A few days ago a tractor trailer carrying produce rolled sideways in the median strip of the highway near here. David's coworkers were on the scene to shut down the road. The produce that had spilled out of the trailer had to be disposed of, and much of it was loaded in dumpsters. Luckily for us, some of the guys loaded up some crates and took them back to work! David brought home a crate of green beans, lettuce, beets, and a box of papayas!!


The lettuce was fairly tough and bitter, so it went as treats for the sheep and June. They loved it. I've never had papayas before, but I dried one and used one for a smoothie (which was delicious!). I have quite a few more to do something with soon. I blanched and froze some beet greens yesterday. We also roasted some beets. I'm not crazy about beets....because they taste like dirt....but I may keep trying them different ways to see if I can use them all up.

I was so excited about the green beans since my beans in the garden didn't exactly produce a bumper crop this year. Yesterday (Christmas day) David and I worked together to blanch and freeze most of the beans. We got 9 good size bags in the freezer, plus we gave some away to friends and family.

But someone else loved the green beans too...
\

Buford figured out on his own that they were pretty darn tasty!



In fact, I finally had to shut the lid to the crate because he was eating so many!!