Busy Farming, Hatching Eggs & Fried Rice for Breakfast!

 I just did a couple of things and POOF! weeks have gone by and I haven't blogged!  It always seems to get away from me.  Oh, well, it's my blog and most definitely reflects ME, so there you have it.  Sniff.

This is a litter of Velveteen Lops.  The rabbit house is (wait for it...) hopping right now, with litters expected all Spring!  These little guys are born almost hairless with eyes closed and very helpless.

 They grow pretty fast and in 3 days you'll see their coat colors clearly as their fur grows, in 10 days their eyes will open, and in 3 weeks they'll be hopping out of the nest to explore mama's cage, food & water.  By 6 or 7 weeks they'll be totally weaned.

This song is posted over my sewing machine.  It's one of my favorite hymns and helps me focus on the Lord during the times I feel overwhelmed by the darker days of life.

 In case you haven't noticed, I'm going to ramble all over the place in this blog, so hold on to your horses while we zip through the last few weeks!

One of the desks in my sewing room - where I stamp & craft.  I have another with my computer on it (and more junk) and, of course, sewing machine tables, too.  And notes.  And lists.  Lists of ideas.  Lists of things to remember.  Lists are my favorite.  Paper and pen, so much more down to earth than electronics.

 I bought these little claw cactus starts on Ebay.  They're growing nicely and each one is a different variety.  I used to have several large ones, but a packrat got into my greenhouse (outdoors) and ATE THEM.  Beast.

 Sniff your screen now.  Do you smell this fresh bread?  OH MAN.  Nothing smells quite as wonderful, warm & homey as fresh baked bread.  You can have the crust and I"m going to have the first big soft slice....with plenty of butter.  Real butter, of course.  Why would you use anything else?

 In April, my daughters and I will have a vendor space at a big craft extravaganza (Country Chicks Sping Fair) at our fairgrounds.  We're all working like crazy and one of the things I'll be selling are these little woolly owls.

I'll be taking lots of my handmade primitives, but we'll also sell other vintage items and probably a few sewing machines.

 Here's another item that will be heading to the Fair with us - a pair of primitive pillows that I just finished!

I love crows & ravens, homespun fabrics and squishy pillows!  You can hug one of them, but don't get it dirty!  (You did wash your hands after eating that buttery bread, right?)

 Today we tromped down our hillside, below the goat pasture and into the woods to see a spring on the hillside.  You'd think that with all the precipitation we get (almost 60" a year, on average) that watering our garden in the summer wouldn't be an issue, but unfortunately it is.  So, today we walked the hillside to imagine developing an irrigation well at the site we believe to be the original hand dug well back in the early days of our place, early 1900s.  The water was flowing nicely out of the hillside and the skunk cabbages were blooming - a sure sign of water.  Now, all we have to do is rob a bank and we'll be all set!

 Here they are again (the bunny kids)  a few days later.  Now you can see their pretty coat colors!  See those two tri-colors and that harlequin?  Nice! 

 The trees are still pretty dormant, though the wild plum blossoms are just starting to open, to the delight of the honeybees,  and the daffodils are blooming.  Soon the camelia will burst forth in color and leaves will start to appear on the deciduous and fruit trees.  Of course, it's always somewhat green here in Western Washington, even in the winter.  All those fir trees, doncha know!

 A bright spot on the porch.

 This lone machine had been left out in the rabbit house/greenhouse because I figured it was only good for parts.  Well, once I got it in the house, I didn't have the heart to part it out and now it's all cleaned & oiled and I scavenged up all the pieces for it, put it in a spare base I had, added a hand crank and she sews like a champ.  Made to last, those old Singers.  Nothing like a little tri-flow and elbow grease!

 Dave wants to gradually increase his bee 'herd' until he's got up to 25 hives.  Right now he's got 5 or 6 and really enjoys all the work that goes into keeping them and selling his (their?) honey.  He's got his compressor going on the porch with the hose coming in the open window of his 'office' and he's been building frames for his boxes.  In the office.  Yes, he has a shop, but I guess he figures it's warmer and more enjoyable to work up here at the house ;-)
I added these votive candle molds to the last bee supply order for a little crafting fun.  Sshh.  Don't tell Dave!

 Here's a few of the machines that my older daughter and I took to the Quilt Show in Centralia over the weekend.  They have a huge show and asked if we would loan 10 or 12 machines, covering 100 years of sewing for their extravaganza.  They also wanted us to be available to chat about them/answer questions.  It was a lot of work to haul them, unload them, talk about them for 2 days and then haul them all home again but we had a lot of fun and many people loved seeing all the sewing history.


Is your warming oven filled with sticks?  Mine is and they are not for kindling.  They are for crafting.  I found out that if I don't dry them before crafting with them.....they sprout!  They came from a big ole pussy willow tree in my yard.  Younger daughter and I wanted the pussy willows for our craft show and decided that we could also use the sticks.

 Since I don't have enough other work to do (waiting for laughter to die down...) I decided to hatch chickies, too!  The incubator on the left has about 40 eggs in it - mostly Buff Orpingtons with just a few Americaunas.  The one on the right is now heating up and I'm going to put eggs in it tomorrow.  I'm hoping for a good hatch rate, but I must say that trying to remember to turn them twice a day is surprisingly difficult! 

 The green eggs are the Americaunas.  Yes, we sometimes have Green Eggs and Ham, doesn't everyone?

By the way - this is the spare bathroom.  We still have a tub we can use for the next 21 days while we wait for chickies to arrive....Aren't we blessed to live in such a wonderful place??

Ok, now you see just a smidge of what's keeping me busy and I can heave a sigh of relief that I'm caught up, at least on my blogging ;-)

 For my big finale, I'm going to show you how to make delicious FRIED RICE out of leftover rice.

First, throw a few chopped peppers and onions into a little oil in your pan.  Beat a few eggs in a separate bowl and then scramble them into your peppers & onions.

 This is leftover Basmati rice, but you can use whatever kind you've got.

 This is actually just lunch meat ham.  You can toss in leftover chopped chicken, pork chop, steak, whatever you've got.

 Toss it all in, stir while it's heating up nicely.

 This picture is sideways or your head isn't on straight.

Add soy sauce to taste (I use Dr. Braggs Liquid Aminos, as you can see....)

Stir and EAT IT UP.  I promise, it is succulent and tasty.  Makes a marvelous breakfast.

That's it from me for this post.  God is good, all the time.  I have healed from my bout of diverticulitis and am learning new lessons daily in my life on this earth.  My prayer for you is that you grow ever closer to the Savior until your work on this earth is done.

See you next time!