Bunny Business

Let's talk rabbits for a moment. Ok, maybe, a few moments.

Since we are just starting out with our little rabbit herd we only have 2 does and 1 buck for our breeding stock. Our does are crosses between NZ, Californian, whatever else....they are mutts. Our buck is a Standard Rex. When we first started out I had no idea how much "personality" these little jumpers would have. They definitely all have their own and it makes for an interesting mix.

This is Susie Q. She is 10lbs. of pure love. She is a good momma and currently has 6 kits only 5 days old. She's been easy to breed and has a great personality. Of course....only with me. She knows when my husband comes anywhere near her hutch and takes great offense at this. It is truly funny how she can be such a sweetheart with me and such a feisty bunny with him. Guess she's a male hater.....of course that does not include her mate.

This is Thumper.  He's beautiful boy with a personality to match. He knows his job and does it well. He's also a neat freak. No kidding! This guy keeps a neat and clean hutch and when you add hay he will straighten it all out before eating. It is really interesting to watch. Of course, not every bunny is neat.

Meet Miss Millie. This, so far, is the best picture I have been able to get of her. I believe she feels that she is above the pics taken with the cheap camera that we have and would prefer a professional photographer. She is a diva to the max. She keeps us cleaning continuously as she feels she deserves a maid. She has only kindled once for us and she had only one stillborn. So, why keep her you ask? I believe in the 3 tries rule. She is bred again now and is due to kindle in a few weeks. Hopefully we will have pics of kits at that time. If not she's got one more try before the stew pot. And speaking of stew pot....

These are the remaining kits from Susie Q's last litter. They are almost 10 weeks now and are growing by leaps and bounds. These 5 are up for sale and, if sold, will be gone in time for the new litter to take over the "nursery". If they don't sell they are on their way to freezer camp. This will be my first experience at processing, butchering and eating a rabbit. I'm sure there will be some very amusing moments but I am eager to try. Internet junky that I am, I have read everything I could get my eyes on about the process. I intend to keep the laptop close by when I try this.

While I am eager to progress forward with our rabbit interests we are sort of at a crossroads. We have been asked for "whites" quite a bit and we had no idea that there was a preference for these. So, off we go to the yahoo groups and such to find some New Zealand white breeding stock. I don't think I can bring myself to just give up Susie Q and Thumper since they are doing so well so, we might keep them just for our use for now. Time will tell. And if I end up hating the taste of rabbit? Well, then all this will just be another learning experience for the homestead. To be continued for now......

Homeschooling....no fooling!

I have a very high opinion of homesteaders, as a whole. I consider them brave, creative and intelligent people who have a drive for what they believe in like no others. My husband and I took to this like flies to honey. We dove in, while apprehensive, with gusto and were confident in our abilities. But, I must confess, my introduction into homeschooling was not the same. While I had definite ideas of WHY I wanted to homeschool, I had no definite ideas of HOW I was going to homeschool. Things have changed and I have found my stride but I thought it would be good to show the process I went through. If anyone else is thinking about homeschooling but is not sure about this whole idea, join the group. I was there, did that, bought the T-shirt. But I made it work for me and you can too.

First, I must confess....I was absolutely terrified of my two little guys! No kidding. The thought of trying to teach them and handle all the behavior issues that come with autism gave me nightmares. Don't let those two cute little faces fool you. They needed much more than just a curriculum based teacher and I had no idea if I was up to the task. It took me several weeks to even think about how to approach it.

Next, the big question.......what homeschooling philosophy would I follow?  Would I choose Unit Studies or a Standard Curriculum Base? Would I be a rigid scheduler or be more of an un-schooler? What would be my approach? I finally figured something out! That I was confused. :)  And for all my determination I almost tossed the whole idea right there. It took me so long to realize that you don't need to follow one philosophy, you can use ideas from them all. If I am forced to give my style a name it would be "eclectic". I use a basic curriculum as a foundation but add all sorts of other reading and projects. And, yes, I do discard anything that I do not feel is necessary for them.

And finally, the ultimate challenge. Staying the course. What to do when they do not want to do any work and you truly could use a day off too? Do you give in or push forward? Understandably, dealing with their unique disabilities often answers this question for me. However, I do push just not always in the same direction. If we are working on something that just isn't up to their standards of fun, well, I move on to something else. I worry less now about how MUCH we learn in one day and understand that, no matter what, they learn SOMETHING everyday.

So, to summarize, I love homeschooling them. Yup, that's it. And that's what will do it for you too. If you truly desire to homeschool then you will do it. You will learn not to get caught up in all the technicalities and know that what you are doing is the best thing for them. You will learn to accept the "Are you sure about this?" from well meaning people with a smile and grace. You will learn what works and what doesn't and know steer clear of it. You will also learn.....the "LOOK". Yup, all the homeschoolers out there are now shaking their heads. The look....when the idea that you were trying to teach them actually gets through and hits home. When they understand a concept that you have been trying to get them to understand. And let me tell you, there is no greater joy. And it will reinforce exactly why you started this crazy roller coaster ride of homeschooling.

Living, learning and laundry detergent

Since we started this whole idea of homesteading one of my passions has been learning how to make all sorts of things myself. I already make my own bread and have done some basic cheese making, mostly farmers cheeses, but I have been eager to branch out.

So, off I go to the internet to find the "best ever homemade laundry detergent recipe". I found many, many....and many! All the very same basic ingredients just with different measurements. After a quick email from the wealth of information I'll call Mona, I was on my way to create my masterpiece!

I started with all the right stuff, and amazingly I was able to find it all at Walmart. I set out the Borax, the Washing Soda and the Fels-Naptha. I got out my huge pot for melting down the soap and proceeded to "cook".  I decided on this recipe:    
                                                                                   1 pint of boiling water
                                                                                   2 bars of Fels Naptha
                                                                                   2 cups of Borax
                                                                                   2 cups of Washing Soda
                                                                                   2 Gallons of Water
Ok, so you shave the bars of soap into your pot and add the boiling water. This is what it looked like while it was melting.  

It took about 30-45 minutes for it to melt completely and I kept the pot on the stove on low to help it along. Then I removed the pot from the heat and added the Borax and the Washing Soda. I stirred til they were well incorporated. Then I added the 2 gallons of water. I stirred to mix it all up and as it was cooling this happened:

It thickened up just like soft custard! lol  I knew it was supposed to gel so I wasn't worried. I let it cool down enough and then decided to make a mess refilling some old detergent containers with my new concoction. Here's the process(mental note: buy more funnels)

And after the glorious mess, here's what I ended up with:

In total I ended up with approx. 2.5 gal of laundry detergent. After pricing out what it costs to make it and about how many loads I can get out of this amount, we priced it at about $.02 per load. Well, that certainly answered my question as to if it is worth it or not. But would it clean as well as my normal brand? As you can see, things like Tide with Bleach are never on my list. I'm a true bargain shopper and I've always been content with the products I buy.

Off to the next step....a load of laundry. I used between a 1/4 and 1/2 a cup of the detergent. The laundry looked and smelled clean. As a matter of fact, I loved the smell compared to my normal detergent. I was happy with the results. Needless to say....I'm hooked. I will definitely do this again.
My next project: getting everyone in the house to actually put the laundry IN the laundry basket! Wish me luck. :)

Being here....getting there....

Yup, this is my first ever blog post. No kidding. I'm 40sumthin' and I've never done this before. I am sure I'm going to love it though as the gift of gab is no stranger to me. Feel free to keep me in check, comment, advise, etc.

As to why start the blog....hmm....a few reasons.

My husband and I are originally from New England. We packed up, bought raw land in Arkansas, moved our two youngest children with us and are now working on building our homestead. Crazy some might say...adventurous others might chime in, but a little of both is my opinion. I thought it might be interesting for our family left back up north to follow us on our journey. I do believe our 3 older sons will find this incredibly amusing and a laugh or two at our antics may keep us closer.

No doubt, this has been an adventure with a serious learning curve. We were city folk...and I do mean city. We had no prior knowledge of keeping farm animals or growing enough food for the whole winter. We are certainly not even close to accomplishing everything we would like to but we are making little steps in a positive direction. I thought that it would be informative to chronicle our progress, mistakes and everything in between for anyone who would like to read about it. If we can help just one person with their homesteading journey it is worth the effort.

So let's start with a little about us. My name is Kathie and I am a stay at home mom. My husband, who everyone calls G, is my best friend and partner in crime. He puts up with me and that's no easy task. We have 5 boys...yup, I said 5 and all male! Our three oldest are in their 20's and are off on their own. We miss them and they are in our thoughts everyday. My most secret desire is to try to find a way to get them all closer to us.(hint, hint) Our two youngest are with us being only 9 and 7. They are both autistic and can be, I guess what you'd call "high maintenance". I home-school them both which is an adventure all it's own and, you bet, I'll blog about that too. We live in Cherokee Village, AR and have a 3 acre piece of raw land in Hardy. We are clearing it up at this time to get our farm up and running. Pictures to follow. At this time we have rabbits that we breed for meat and our new chicks are on their way. Hmm....might be a good time to put the brooder together. Oh well, it will get done. And I will take pictures and let you know how it goes.

As to our dreams....because this did start as a dream. We want to eventually get to the point where we can support ourselves without the worry of what happening with the economy. My husband still works a full-time job so, no...we did not go off the deep end. But, our dream is to be able to have enough forms of income from things like sales of animals and resale businesses, to be more self sufficient. I want to have my garden and no worry about whats been on or in my vegetables. I want to know where my food comes from and what went into it. I want to raise my own animals, know how to process them and have no worries about being low on food. I believe that we can do this and I hope you'll enjoy the journey along the way.

I intend to be brutally honest about our experiences. What works...what doesn't...what might but is not worth the time, that type of thing. Keep in mind what works for us, may not work for you. If I have one piece of advice for anyone it's...do not ever be afraid to try something. You never know what you can accomplish.

Til later