New chickens means new eggs!

The blue-green ones are from a couple of the new chickens. The little brown one is from one of the original buffs.


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New additions to Enke Acre

This week we acquired meat rabbits and some additional chickens from some friends who are having to move off of their farm. We're in the process of learning how to raise and slaughter the rabbits; rabbits weren't a part of our original farm plans, so we haven't done much reading about them. (Before we agreed to take them, we did just enough reading to determine that it's a reasonably inexpensive way to produce meat--unlike, say, lamb, which is VERY expensive even when you're doing it all yourself.) We also got the hutch that the rabbits came in, but it will need to be replaced since it's falling apart. I'm looking in to what sort of housing options we want to go for: hanging cages vs. screen-bottom run on the ground vs. more naturalistic paddock (with screen a few feet down to prevent escape).

Several of the new chickens look a bit henpecked; hopefully they'll get used to their new home and start to thrive more. We also got three roosters with the deal. There's a small possibility we might keep one rooster, but the current plan is to slaughter and freeze/eat them. I must say, though, that I'm pleased that I wasn't awoken by the rooster crowing. There are a ton of roosters in our area that one can hear in the morning, but I was concerned that having one so close by would be harder to sleep through. That will leave us with five new hens in addition to the 12 we already have. Currently, we're keeping the new ones locked up in the coop for a bit so that the two flocks can get used to each other without being able to hurt each other, and so that the new flock can start to get the idea that this is home now. The new chickens picked up on how to use the nipple waterer right away, which I'm very pleased at.

Soon we will be slaughtering animals for the first time. That will take some getting used to.

Suspect pollenization problem



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One of our first eggs!

Above, our buff orp pullet egg. Below, grade AA caged egg from the store.


Notice the difference in colour. The egg on the right is from our pullet.



Tada! Small but nutritious!

Location:Good hope oasis

Coop is almost done

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EC tip

Like most folk, babies have to pee right when they wake up--it's a pretty reliable time to get a catch. But I've found that it's also wise to take Dmitri AGAIN about 10-20 minutes after his first morning pee. Seems he often doesn't get it all out in one go.

Currently in the works is getting Dmitri more comfortable with going and sitting on the potty himself rather than needing us to take him. He's still more likely to go if we take him, but he's been getting better about pooping in the little potty himself (assuming, of course, that he's waist-down naked, since he doesn't have the skills to undress himself yet).

It's mud day!

The holes in the yard were dug for fennel plants, them used by the chickens as dust wallows, and now as mud pits for the kids.



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Testing mobile posting with blogpress

We're working on a new wing for the chicken coop.


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Location:Cowie Ave,Perris,United States

Laundry

Elena is learning to do her own laundry today. She has had her own laundry basket for a while now, but today after she said, "Mama needs to wash my laundry," my mother suggested she learn to wash it herself. She took to this with enthusiasm and managed to get her load washing in the machine very minimally assisted by me. The reason I was motivated to write a not about this wasn't so much that her accomplishment was so amazing; it's what I noticed in myself. Walking her through how to do laundry without jumping in to help requires more patience than I often have. It's painfully slow. It was very tempting to jump in and do some of it for her (though she wasn't asking me to help). I did better, though, when I thought of it as a school activity. And, of course, reminding myself that even though it takes more of my time now to help her learn this task, it will mean less time for me in the future when she masters it.

And being able to put it into her school log really helps my mind, which tends to like to check things off of lists (I can write it under the "developmental activities" section of her Sonlight book).

They're growing up so fast!

Cosleeping:

I knew that this day would happen, but I thought it was several years in the future: Elena now requests to sleep in her own bed. I know that different kids reach this point at different times, but I really didn't expect that Elena would get to this point for a good while. We haven't encouraged this at all because Erich actually prefers to sleep in the bunk beds when she's not there. I wonder whether part of it is getting disturbed by Dmitri in the middle of the night. Last night, for example, she chose to sleep in the big bed, but moved out to the couch in the middle of the night.

Bathing:

Elena washed (and conditioned!) her hair herself today. She said Papa taught her how. I observed just to make sure and found that her technique was effective. But I didn't really expect her to start being independent in this realm so soon. Especially not with long hair.

Solid food:

Dmitri is now taking in some solid foods. Little bits of bread, banana, and nectarine so far. He enjoys it. I'm reminded that the major downside to solids is the drastic change in poop smell. Sigh. At least much of his poop just goes straight in the toilet.

Toileting/EC:

Dmitri now often makes it through the night without wetting his diaper. He wakes to pee two or three times a night, but since I have a chamber pot next to the bed and spare diapers (the kind I can literally do with my eyes closed), I don't have to get out of bed or turn on a light to help him out. If he wakes because he needs to pee, he refuses to nurse, so I can't mollify him into peeing in his diaper (though he will eventually if I just ignore his fusses).

Swim Lessons:

Elena is now in her fourth month of the most basic swim lessons. In her third month, she got a new teacher who was significantly less nurturing. During that month, she actually regressed as far as her fear of water was concerned. She became VERY resistant to participating in lessons at all and screamed and cried in fear through them. She's now back with her old teacher and is doing much better. She tells me that she's no longer scared and she enjoys swimming again. Phew. Can't wait until she builds enough skill to actually SWIM.

That's all for now! Maybe later I'll make a note about Elena's progress in reading.