new photos

My new header photo is from the day I spent at the KY Horse Park two weeks ago with Michelle and her family.  Aren't they a lovely family!?!   (Mr. Cool trying not to smile.....cracks me up) 

I told Michelle she needed to change the photo of herself on her blog, because she is MUCH prettier in person than her photo would lead you to believe!  

It was a great time and glorious weather to boot!   Michelle did such a good job telling of her time here in Central Kentucky, so I won't attempt to do that again except to say whenever you are ready to come back, we will 'make you very welcome!' 

My first 'livestock'

It's official.  My 'urban farm'now has 'livestock.'  Last weekend I went to Lancaster, Ohio to meet  Lisa, a breeder of beautiful French and Satin Angora rabbits, to pick up two black does I had bought from her.   My girls are gorgeous, and sweet most of the time.  We had a lovely time in Lancaster, at a rabbit show there.  I was shocked to see so many people.  I had no idea there were so many people interested in rabbits.  It was such a nice day (in late November!!), the Angora people had set up their grooming area outside, so we sat around and talked, got to know one another.  As usually happens when I meet other folks I have 'met' on  blogs, it was very easy to get aquainted.  We already had a lot in common, we all spin, knit, love animals .....   I also got some lessons in rabbit grooming and husbandry. Everyone did very well in the show which made the mood even more jovial.  Congratulations, guys!!

Now that I'm able to tell them apart, I'm working on names for the girls (to the shock of some friends who love the naming process, and can't believe they're still nameless).  The girls come from a litter that were all named after poisonous plants!!  Their brother "Somerhill Nightshade" did very well at the show!  I'm thinking of Holly and Ivy (both toxic plants) since it's fairly near Christmas, and I've always loved the name Ivy (sorry if I steal it, Dianne) or Jasmine and Violet.  Jasmine (Carolina Jasmine/Jessamine) is toxic, Violets are not, but one of the girls is a little more 'blue' in color, while the other is a little more silver.  Sometimes they are naughty bunnies, like flicking water at me to get my attention (yes I made sure they weren't peeing!) so 'Stinker and Brat' might be more appropriate!  ha - ha.  Opinions, anybody?

They get along fine with the cats.  There wasn't a hiss, not a growl from the felines when I brought the bunnies in - unlike the pandemonium that ensued when I brought each of the two newest cats home.  I have been putting them on a towel on the bed to groom them, and both bunnies have been nose to nose with 3 of my 4 cats, and no one has blinked an eye.

The girls were purchased specifically to provide me with lovely, soft, angora fiber (I looked it up and it can be 10 -12 microns).  I will probably blend it with wool most of the time.  They 'molt' periodically and can be 'plucked' or shorn with scissors.  I'm saving every scrap, though, and already have a small baggie full after a couple of grooming sessions.  Even 'waste' fiber can be felted. At the show, Annette told me I will be surprised at how much fiber will come off those 2 bunnies.   Bring it on!

Emergency Preparedness

I am definitely someone who believes in being prepared - as much as I am able - for emergencies. It started many years ago when I went through a blizzard. No power, no heat (gas furnace, but electric blower) no water (ditto - water well, but no way to pump it), no way to get back into town. BUT, there was some camping equipment - and that made all the difference.

Since then I have lived in places where the active and possible weather emergencies ranged from hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, ice storms, drought and even earthquake. Besides weather emergencies, there are always other possibiliites, such as economic crunches. During an extended period of unemployment a few years ago, my full pantry allowed me peace of mind when money was too tight to go to the grocery.

It's just prudent to be prepared.

I'm not one of those 'a cave, a year's worth of freeze dried food, and a shotgun' types, but having said that, I do store and use freeze dried food, and find it very convenient. Being single, milk from the store usually goes bad before I finish it. A #10 can of freeze-dried milk can be made in small quantities, and lasts me a long time - at much less cost than store-bought. A handful of freeze dried broccoli and/or mushrooms can go into the couscous to boost flavor and nutrition.

(still no icon to add photos, but I'm going to try a link) My favorite place to buy freeze dried food is here:

I store all kinds of food, have a well-stocked first aid kit, all the usual. I would be interested to know if any readers have similar interests, and what they do?

still no photos

This really sucks. I do have things to say, but without photos, it's just not the same. I would like to introduce you to my 'family' of 4 cats, but I really NEED to show you their cute faces for you to appreciate them. I sure wish blogger would fix this!

Oh well, next weekend it's off to the Open House at Equinox Farm. I will write about that, photos or no photos!

ah - HA!

It's not just me. The icon I need to insert photos does not appear. It did once, for the Header photo, then disappeared. Apparently, lots of other people are having the same problem. I went to Blogger Help>Help Forum, and there are many entries - from July up to this week - of others with the same problem, and not getting any assistance from Blogger to fix it. Frustrating, but at least it's not just my incompetence. Whew.

What I did on vacation

As a person of (ahem) 'modest means,' I don't take vacations. This one started out to be semi-business for me, and when that fell through, the friend who agreed to go with me and I decided to go anyway. Destination....Amish country in northern Ohio. I am from Ohio originally, but farther south than where we were headed. We both wanted to get away and think about something besides work for a while.

After stowing our stuff in a motel in the nearest town of any size, we took off. First stop - Lehmans in Kidron OH.

Lehmans is famous among homesteaders, folks off-the-grid, and those with an admiration for old-fashioned ways and things. I've purchased several items out of their catalog over the years and have always wanted to go there. I must admit, it was a little different than I expected. Since they have been in business for many years, catering to a largely Amish clientelle, I thought it would be kind of an old, dusty, giant hardware store. It is anything but. It is huge, but newish, and geared to the 'visitor.' It was FULL of tourists at 10 a.m. on a weekday morning. It may not have been exactly as expected, but we still managed to spend a couple of hours there, and still didn't see everything! I bought a burner and lamp chimney to convert a canning jar into an oil lamp, some wicks for the oil lamps I already have, and some wooden spoons.

By then we were starving, so we headed up the road to Mt. Hope, to 'Mrs. Yoder's Country Kitchen.' (of COURSE it would be Mrs. YODER) The weather was dark, gray, rainy and COLD the whole time we were there, but the fall color was gorgeous. We so enjoyed the drive through rolling hills with tidy, neat, beautiful farms. Not many cars, but lots of Amish folks in their buggies - some also going to Mrs. Yoders for lunch, as it turned out. When we got to the restaurant, it was packed. We had to wait 20 minutes or more for a table, with at least 50 other people. It was worth it though. The food was plain and simple (of course) but wonderful. I asked our server and found out no, the business is not Amish-owned, but they employ large numbers of Amish people - about half the staff. All the food is LOCAL - the chickens (some of the best chicken I've ever had!) and the fruits and vegetables come from a local co-op of farmers, in season - like now. Mt. Hope seemed to be just an intersection with a few houses and businesses. This feed store was right across the street, and seemed to speak to me of the real spirit of the area, we tourists notwithstanding.

Following suggestions from a fellow blogger who lives in the area, we went on from there to Berlin, only slightly larger than Mt. Hope, but with quite a few shops - and traffic jams! The traffic was backed up a long way in either direction of the (only?) street light. We had already figured out the pattern - wide open spaces with beautiful scenery, and then - boom! Literally HUNDREDS of people all trying to park and cram into whatever site or shop we were also there to see.

On the way to Berlin we stopped at Heini's Cheese and candy store (Heini's - I'm not kidding) and discovered .....bulk spices! We didn't get all that excited about the cheese or the candy, but when we discovered the spices.....! Large quantities of about anything you could think of, with prices lower than I could imagine. A cup-sized container of cinnamon - $1. A fist full of bay leaves - $1.20. Wow!

We stopped at the Country Primitive Store in Berlin, and also several other stores. Intimidating crowds (it WAS 'peak color' weekend) and a looming time crunch (everything in the area closes at 5!) sent us on down the road. We went to the last stop on our journey of recommendations - Walnut Creek Foods. Why drive 5 or 6 hours to go to a grocery store? Wonderful stuff and incredible prices! I bought half a cart full for $22 - including more spices: Cilantro, cinnamon sticks, cream of tartar (for home-made baking powder) sure-jell (for canning a recipe I found for apple pie filling), etc, Amish noodles in several sizes, locally grown potatoes...it was great.

Exhausted but satisfied with a wonderful day, we drove back to the hotel and crashed. The next say we headed back to a different world. It was a great time. With only a 3 days, including drive time, we only stopped at a few places, but saw a lot more we will put on the list for next time.

While I was away.....

I have been meaning to write, but.....

Since the last post I've had a (younger, more techno-savvy) co-worker show me how to hook my camera up to the computer to post photos. So, I will practice and see if I can come up with some soon.

I had my performance review at work today, and it was a good one!! What a relief! Those things nearly make me break out in hives!

Tomorrow - if the weather remains fine - I plan to go to Falmouth, KY to the Wool Fest. Maybe I can post some photos from there!?!