What I'm Thankful For

When I posted Saturday I was angry. Someone came up on to our back porch and stole my partner's bicycle. It's not just about the bicycle. My partner had been injured in a car accident many years ago which made it painful to sit on a bike. She's healed a lot since then and decided just a couple of weeks ago to buy a new bike and start riding again. It brought her so much joy to ride again and it was all taken away from her.
But this post is about all the things I'm thankful for. I find it helpful to think of things that are going well when something else is going poorly.
I have my family. Everyone is healthy. My youngest just got her hearing aids on Friday so now she can hear the normal human range of sound. I took a picture of her sleeping with my partner on our hammock.
Speaking of the hammock, nothing else was stolen. All that was taken was the bike.
We had a litter of rabbits born Saturday. Only one survived out of a litter of eight. That's still better than our first litter. Our first litter was born last October and they all died. The one that lived is doing well. It's hard to tell genders at this age. If it is a boy I'm naming it Harey Pot- Pie. A reference to "The boy that lived" and a dish he may be served in a couple of months.
Daddy rabbit should be thankful. I didn't know the Rosemary was pregnant. I thought he may have been sterile, since he hadn't had any litters yet. I was about to get a replacement stud and serve him for dinner.
My peas are growing well. I don't see any carrots coming up yet. I think we planted them too deep. The herbs, onions, and Swiss chard came back on their own. I also moved some red raspberry bushes to thin them out. Nothing else had been planted yet, but my brother has several plants he started indoors that will be moving out shortly and some will be planted in my garden.
I got enough financial aid to cover tuition and books for my last semester of nursing school. It's almost over. Just one more test and this semester is over. I have the summer off. It's going to be nice to have a break from school before the last push to finish my degree.
There are many more things I'm thankful for. Supportive family and friends. Cool stuff listed for free on craigslist like a proper hutch for the male rabbit. Decent grades. I could go on, but the bus is dropping me off at school and I have to get to class.

Happy Ostara

It was Ostara yesterday here in the Northern Hemisphere. It marks the beginning of Spring. The weather is warming and the snow is finally melting. I know I am excited by the prospect of winter ending.
Soon we will be planting the spring crop, mostly leafy green vegetables. I will put a fresh layer of compost in the garden to feed this year's plants. I also have a few new raised beds that will need to be filled prior to planting.
Also new this year are the rabbits. They are mature now and both does have been bred. We will expect their litters in a few weeks in early April. We are excited and hope that this time we can keep the kits alive. Our first litter was delivered late October and they got too cold and didn't make it.
I am also still in school and starting the maternity segment of nursing school. It's only eight weeks long and is going to be a lot of work in a short amount of time.
Of course I also have my wonderful partner and our daughters. The two year old has so much energy and wants to help. The two month old just wants to be held all the time. They make any task more complicated, but I wouldn't trade them for the world.
This spring we have so much going on and so much to be thankful for. We gladly welcome in the Spring and all the blessings it will bring!

Sometimes Plans Change

Sometimes plans change. And that's ok. My plan had been to build a shed last Friday. But when I took another look at my resources I decided that a less ambitious project was more appropriate. So instead of a shed I built a rabbit hutch.
It was something I needed anyway and I had most of the materials on hand. Plus it was something that, unlike the shed, could be completed in the time available with the help that I had. So I did a little shopping, my brother and his stepson came over and the the of us built this:

Sure it could be better, but I'm not complaining. As an added bonus, this hutch cost me less than ten dollars to build. Most of the materials were recycled wood.
It's about to get very cold and windy here so I will be putting the finishing touches on to make it more homey and moving the rabbit in before the temperature starts dropping again.

What's New

It's been a really long time since I last posted. My daughter is waking up so here is a quick list of what's new.

I finally have rabbits, but, thanks to a mistake, I have two females instead of a male and a female.

I have mini hoop houses on my raised beds.

One of my dogs died.

I have another daughter on the way.

I just got a scholarship for school.

I think that covers the big things. I will make a more detailed post later.

Garden Bounty

Because I was busy with school and Dr. Feather was pregnant with our second child, we never got a proper garden put in this year. However, life goes on and we were blessed with some unexpected garden bounty. A bunch of squash type plants started growing out of our compost pile. I began to refer to them as our "mystery squash". Now some of our plants are producing fruit and they are not so mysterious anymore.

 

This is a pumpkin that is growing on one of our plants. We also have some acorn squash. This year we get to reap where we did not sow, which is great because we didn't do much sowing. We also have some tomato and swiss chard growing out of compost. 

I did get some things done in the garden. I planted some rosemary, a couple of tomato plants, and a bunch of lettuce. Which brings me to another things I did this year. Rabbits!

This is my new female New Zealand rabbit. I just got her and her mate a couple of days ago. In a few months they will be ready to breed and a few months after that the children will be big enough to eat. I know a lot of people won't be comfortable with that, but I'm taking responsibility for the meat I eat by producing some of it myself. If you aren't squeamish about killing your food, meat rabbits are a good investment. They eat weeds, their poop makes great fertilizer, and they say a female can produce up to 90 lbs of meat a year. Also, their skins can be tanned and either sold or handcrafted.

All in all, it is turning out to be a decent year. I'm sure next year will be even better.

Summer plans

I have become woefully behind in my blog. I have no excuses. But I do have some plans for my summer. I have decided to get rabbits. I want to get them by August so we can have rabbit fur by Yule. So I've got to hustle on my home improvements. I promise pictures when I by build the hutch.