Still Around

I noticed that Chili posted a comment about wanting to check in (what a sweetie). I checked in because it may be time to begin blogging again.

You know, some folks give a warning that they are taking a haitus, I just seem to waunder off...... must be a personality thing. (INFP for your Meyers-Briggs types).

No pictures today but here is some of what I've been doing: for one thing paying closer attention to my work and really ramping up the creativiy there. I am the keeper of tradition but the folks who pay my salery really like creativity as well.

Chibi and I have taken our rabbits on the road. We have started showing our rabbits and have purchased some more. Chibi's French Lop won Best in Show, and I have picked up another couple of Flemish for show. Beatrice is doing very well and is a constant companion in the house.

I didn't really intend to get into Holland lops but I went with a friend to get some bunnies for her from an old guy who was going out of rabbits. I saw that the little guys only have ice to suck on and the guy who owned them had run out of feed and was only feeding hay, and so I picked up some myself - he said others were interested. After thinking about it over the weekend he was out of town I went back and bought the rest and realized they hadn't been fed since the last time I'd visited. I now have quite a few Holland Lops.

The chickens are doing well and producing beautifully. I did a spring cleaning on the chicken coop this weekend and now have more brown compost materials than I can deal with so it's piled up in the corner of the property to age.

Nee has been accepted to all the nice private schools she's applied for. She has been awarded half tuition.... which leaves $24,000 a year. Mmmmm hope there are scholarships out there or its a no-go.

The wood stove has cut our gas bill to a fraction this winter. We've been buying wood from a guy who goes out to the bone yard at the factory he works for and cuts up shipping pallets to the proper length and takes out all the nails. I figure its a win-win scenario. He obviously needs the suplimental income.

The snow is all but gone except for the north side of the house. Mr Greenjeans is itching to go fishing as the ice breaks up. Related to this is that with my composters being full, and animals producing manure, I've started in on the worm farming end of things. I'll post more on that as it gets going. I think I started with too few worms for the job.

I'll be checking in with you all - even if I'm not blogging every day.

....And we're back

Phew, I think I've been run over by the Christmas truck. No, not necessarily by the consumerism because Christmas was a bit smaller this year, but more by church and obligations. I've had a full two services a week from Advent through Christmas - one more pageant play to direct and I believe we can put that season behind. Lots more work to come but work is perennial, thank goodness.

We got the wood stove all installed just after Thanksgiving. I'm glad to have it as the nights are below 0 and the days don't get above freezing. I've got beans cooking on the cook top right now as I type.

The chickens are starting to lay eggs - yea!!!. We get a few more each day. It started out as one egg every other day and this morning I'm up to 6 from 4 the previous couple of mornings. This is good as Nee is home from school and as a vegetarian, eats a lot of eggs.

We lost one hen to a visiting dog. The dog was part of a rescue we were holding for a few days. She got put out back to potty before bed, five minutes later she had ignored the entire nice yard and gone through the hole in the fence into the coop and snagged a sleeping hen off the roost. Thankfully the dog then brought it into the yard to eat and didn't rip the whole coop full apart. The loss stung, but I feel lucky to have averted disaster.

I'll be visiting around the blogs to see how everyone is doing.