Pink Fox: its Raining...IN MY HOUSE! :/

[Marianne]

We had three tanks set up years ago. The worst cannibals I had were a female guppy and a big angelfish. I always thought that one day I'd set up a saltwater tank, but...right now I'm over run w/ cats and other critters that demand food, water and attention.

Growing up, my mom would make molasses spritz cookies at Christmas time. They were a soft gingerbread cookie that we frosted. By day four, they weren't so good.

 

[pinkfox]

angels are cichlids so the general rule of thumbis if itll fit in their mouths its dinner...
they tend to be better with small fish IF raised in such a wayfrom day 1....but as they get bigger, new additions tend to become snack food.
the guppies are actually in the tank for the sole purpose of making baby guppies FOR the angels to eat lol. if they get enough live protein from blood worms and guppy fry there less likely to decide the neons need to be eaten... (in the wild the natural prey for adult angelfish is the wild version of the neon tetra)



as a side note...you managed to get those cookies to last 4 days!? must have made hundereds...
theres a reson im not allowed to make anything with ginger or treacle in it...i LOVE it and would eat the entire pan lol.
soft gingerbread and soft/chewy treacle toffee (i guess it would be a molasses toffee here as treacle is simply a darker version of molasses) i LOVE treacle toffee! *drools* (but again its anothe rtreat that tends to cme in soft and hard...and i only like the soft version!)

treacle toffee is a fall treat though, typically around bonfire night...

gingerbread and christmas puding are christmas goodies...next year im making BOTH...:



and on a different note...
while figuring out my rabbit hutches ive come to a few comclusions.
1: im going solid floor...ill invest in some seriously cheap linolium to put down over the ply floor and back wall which will be solid to keep urine form becomming a problem..
but reading up on hock issues, especially how common they are in the rex...id rather have the extra step for clean out than bunnies with bad feet.
2: im going to put a green roof on it...
it doesnt take much im planning on putting a couplelayers of heavy plastic (contractor bags) over the roof peice, drainage holes on all 4 corners a 2" bed of gravel then a layer of weed cloth, mixed planting medium same as ill be using for my sqft beds and itll be treated the same as the other sqft beds too, im not yet sure ifll i want to try and do a perminent planting (ie strawberries) or if ill just do greens specifically for the rabbit (kale and clover). givne the dimensions of the plan itll end up being a 4x8 bed ontop of the hutch that will help keep it cool in the summer and warm in the winter. and the cool in the summer is never a bad thing for rabbits lol.
3: there will be space under the hutches...since i wont hav edroppings falling through with thesolid floors im pretty sure i can actualy USE the space under the hutches...that will also be a 4x8 area which im not yet sure if i should completly ply in as a small coop or do part enclosed part open.
either way its good space i can use for something that doesnt require much headroom...mabe a trio of runner ducks? that entire area will eventually be fenced in as a doe pen so the runners would then have controled acess to the rabbit pen too, and that area will also be attatched to the main fenced yard where the dogs and my starter veggie garden will be which means i could safely allow them acess to the raised veggie beds for slug control.

yup, i plan to use every square inch of space i can for these projects.

right now the livestock wish lists consists of:

rabbits: for meat 2 bucks and 4 does (eventually) ill start with 2 bucks and 2 does.
rabbits: for pets 2 buckes and 4 does (eventually) i want to try and get a rex coat on a holland lop for mini velveteen lops (i like the regulars but there big bunnies...i think a mini velveteen in the 3-4lb range would be awesome! thats a "much later" project though as working stock needs to come first.
Ducks: for eggs, 3-5 indian runners. plan is to keep these guys penned as they tend to be fast and a tad nervous...theyll hopefully live with the bunnies.
Ducks: meat and eggs: 3-5 muscovy, theyll pretty much be given free range since thier primary purpose would be meat and skeeter control rather than eggs
Geese: meat, eggs, weed patrol: right now im thinking a trio of americans, their primary function will be weed patrol and eggs...
Guinnefowl: meat and insect control: guinne are dumb but yummy. planning a flock of 6-12 who will hopefully be able to free range but coop trained for night time...
Chickens: meat: ill be doing freeky meats in tractors, about 50 a year, mostly for me and the dogs
chickens: eggs: im hopign fro 2 dozen eventually...hoping to free range
Goats: the plan right now is for 4 dairy does, theyll be bred to an outside buck ive no interest in keeping a buck...right now im planning on eiher all nubians or 2 nubians and 2 lamancha
sheep: a trio of shetlands, this is one of those "much later" projects as theyd be primarilly for wool...though they can be used as meat.
alpaca: another 'much later" just cause i like them project. im planing on a couple of geldings simply for the wool...if i could get my hands on a nice female male pair though i wouldnt be opposed since the ciras will pay for themselves.
Pig: 1 glostershire old spot sow...shed be bred to whatever big boy is avaialble locally each year for meaty piglets...
EVENRTULALY however i would like to expand and pick up a second sow and a boar, all pure bloods, GOS are a highly endangered breed

then theres the "mabes"
id LOVE a dextre cow
and id LOVE a couple of norwegian fjord horses...

but those would be on the "much later" and "only if theres room" list.
the horses would probably be very last because its the one animal on the list im NOT all too familiar with husbandry of and i like to be able to do alot of things myself...
im planning on going barefoot on the hourses to which means alot more on my part in terms of foot care, but i prefer natural whenever possible.

first up...starter meat rabbits
then goats and chickens

nawh i dont have enitrely insane plans tfor this place...nawh...not at all!

 

[hqueen13]

Oh... that looks a bit like my animal list.... LONG, LOL.

 

[pinkfox]

lol, as my dad refers to it "a bit of everything" lol

 

[hqueen13]

Ha, similar to the 'menagerie' that my other half refers to

 

[SSDreamin]

When I started this journey, all I wanted was some chickens. Then DH began talking non-stop about a cow. I caved, we got Ice Cream, and I have to say I adore her! Now, he's talking about a boyfriend for her, AND a couple pigs. I am actually excited about the idea of more animals. I think, if he had tried to dump all of them on me at once, I would've balked. Clever man that he is, he eased me into it!

 

[pinkfox]

well today has been rather uneventfull...
i earnt 120 swagbucks...(i blame you WBF! lol, i had to join then got sucked into the sily little games LOL!)
watched a zombie movie...
now watching murder by numbers...
and cooked up a mini batch of cocolate chip cookies (refridge dough) but they whent all crispy so now there only usefull for dunking in tea/milk...(have we noticed a theme about me and "crunchy" lol)

gonna skype the parentals in a little while to see what time were doing gift opening skypage in the morning (i need to make sure everyone is fed first...lol)

then ill be spending the day doing nothing at all, i might clean up a little since i neglected that today, but im planning mostly to watch tv, play mario on my wii, and yeah thats about it lol.
itll be a quiet day.
dinner is currently slated to be chicken, planning on doing a baked chicken thigh in a honey mustard glaze, mashed taters, gravy, mashed carrots and corn bread...desert will be this oreo desert i found...
the plan right now is actually to skype dinner too...but the family got invited to one of my sisters frineds families house so im going to encorage them to go to that...it would be silly for them not to!

 

[pinkfox]

gah, people drive me batty...
just had someone email me about the male pup then complain when i told her how much i want for him...
"well i can get a puppy off craigslist for $50, my husband is disabled and we cant afford that"

yeah sure ya can but youll know nothing about the dog gentically or otherwise.
least this little man will be fully vacinated, microchipped, dewormed, already started on training, and comes with about $100 worth of goodies in toys, blanket food ect.

so have fun with your $50 and the extra expenses your going to have to shell out when your puppy needs vaccines deworming, flea meds, microchip, toys, food ect...i mean realy people...a "FREE" puppy is NEVER free...
a well bred baby will sve you a small fotrune in the long run.

she tried to guilt trip me into giving him to her and she needed to pick him up tonight...
umm no, he doesnt leave my house untill Jan 9th at the very earliest...and im not giving him away...
price is clearly stated and you cant guilt trip me lol...

if you cant afford $350 for a well bred puppy with "all the fixins" what makes you think you can afford to have a puppy...what about food, training costs, vet care, emergencies?! yup, go pick out your $50 puppy of craigslist and have fun with it! *shakes head*

 

[pinkfox]

ok GAH!
it took me about 2 weeks to decide what i was getting dad, i had to pre-order it to make sure it got there ontime...
mum is the one that wrapped it for him...
found out tonight that while out today trying to figure out gifts for momma she picked out the exact movie for dad to buy her...
so now they get 2 copies of rise of the planet of the apes...*grumbles*

she only wrapped it about a week ago! now tomorrow morning there going to get a repeate gift and im going to feel silly ebcause its going to be an "oh..." moment *sigh*
i tried...i realy did!
oh well they can return one or the other and exchange it...
but still seriously momma, i sent them to YOU to wrap so youd know what id bought so we could avoid this, i also told you before i bought it...i wanted this to be special.
should have just sent him a gift card.

 

[pinkfox]

well im feeling a little more spirited this morning.
dad wasnt upset about the duplicate gift, mum already knows what shes replacing her copy with so thats good.
bizzy seemed to realy like her gift...
i didnt get much this year, the kitchenaid was the obvious "star" (soooo cant wait to break that in this week im buying ingerbread supplies lol)

but my favorite gift was 3 framed prints of mysisters pictures that are oging to go on the wall in my bedroom

dozer had a great time using the wrapping paper to make snow...and right now wveryone is out cold lol.

got my chicken marinating in a honey mustard glaze (good dijon mustard, a good dollop of honey, salt, pepper garlic)
and desert is in the frigde setting up ("low" sugar oreo cheesecake)
everythingelse is simple/easy and dinnedr is currently slated for about 4pm my time (were skype-ing dinner )

all in all a nicer morning than i woke up feeling like it was going to be.
this time of year always makes me a little wackier than usual, im just REALY glad everyone liked their gifts!