8 Days A Week

Zan and Stella getting comfortable. The newest additions to the funny farm.

Stella showing off her new "Do"! She loves the Zoom Groom. 

Crimson has figured out how to escape and lets herself out during the hot part of the day. She comes back to hang out with Clover in the morning and evening. Silly rabbit, tricks are for kids.

Huckleberry Garden got a face lift and now The Wizard lives there.

Shane and Willow modeling on the cat walk! I'm to sexy for your camera!

Banjo napping in the Banjo Box while I rub his belly and tell him how much I missed him while I was gone.

Shortly after... Lucy joins him because there are no flies... they can't navigate in the Banjo Box.

Shiitake mushrooms are back on the menu!!

Zan the ram, he's our man,

If he can't do it no one can!

Summer, Gardens, Goats and Bunny 101

It's time for garlic harvesting! This year a foot pond makes the heat bearable. 

The cabbage is doing amazing, the Bok Choy has gone to seed and the flowers are bright and pretty. Planted some mid-summer veggies next to the small garlic bed and will finish more mid-summer plantings after harvesting all the garlic.

Can't have a blog post without goats, besides I spent a good deal of time cleaning their barn.

Sheep city is still getting some finishing touches. The main painting is done and now for some color on the trim... then get some sheep.

The buns like thier digs and I'm just amazed at how well the vent thing works. Since it used to be chicken house the old pop doors got framed with wire and are now vents... they actually work!

I wasn't going to post this pic because its boring but, I plan to put in fun shelves and features so I thought it be a great before image. It also shows the rest of the vents and bunny pop door... and potty that they don't use.

Crimson and Clover keeping cool in their dirt patch. I had planned to replant this dirt patch after construction but, they really like it so I'll just let nature take its course. Since I know it will grow in I may have to create a dirt patch for them to lounge in.

Being new to raising bunnies we've been having fun offering them taste tests. Here, the choices were kale, bok choy, cilantro and borage. This time the first choice was kale but, it changes each time we play the taste test game so I'm not sure its a very scientific test. 

Also, since they are colony/simi free range bunnies they browse at will. This had some effect on their feeding choices and amount. When we first got them I filled their feeder with the pellet food they came with and they ate it at the rate the bag of feed we had indicated they would. After about 3 days the rate they ate their pellet feed slowed significantly. Now, they take about 3-4 days to eat through a one day serving of pellet. The amount of water they drink has also slowed significantly because there is water in the grass and weeds they eat. 

Watching their behavior in a colony setting is as entertaining as watching the chickens and goats.... okay, maybe I just like watching animal behavior. They do have some fun characteristics like, racing, dancing and Binky'ing. They also like to nose bump you, Arlen likes to bump them back!

Have you had your bump today?

Have to end with a goat... because I'm crazy goat lady. Shane has the softest fur ever!! He has always had the nicest, fluffiest, cuddliest fur and now that its summer its as silky and shiny as can be. 

Rabbiton/Sheep City Today

The bigs and the littles... The bigs are more concerned about the littles than the littles are about the bigs.

So, the littles had access to the outside all day today and they didn't try to escape. They ran, jumped, lounged, nibbled, went back to their house, ran, jumped some more, explored and BINKIED! It's a thing rabbits do.

Happy bunnies.

I fixed up a feed station but already I see some adaptations. It's mostly effective though. I'm borrowing a water bottle for now but we ordered an interesting gravity pressured water system that I'll incorporate... or not... when it arrives.

Got the painting started on Sheep City - Bunny Land but it looks so bare... must fix!

Rabbiton-Sheep City cont.

Photo overload of Bunny Land and Sheep City.

Trusty helper!

Hello, Bunnies!

Checking out the world outside.

80's Pop Psychology and Bunnies!

You're gonna need a bowl, hope you like it!

I post picture blogs, thats just how I roll. This is a photo my dad took in Germany in the 70's.

What the hell (I say "hell" instead of "heck" because today, I'm being me) does this have to do with 80's pop psychology and bunnies? Everything, since that's me on the right. What it means is, I survived an era of "pop" psychology... besides it's an epic black and white photo that leads me back to the beginning. Oh the words... watch out here they come, I'll try not to bore you! (or me, hehe)

So, I will lead you down a road in the early days that explains why I now have bunnies and why I document every step of the process.

"I graduated a year ahead of my class!" Doesn't that sound nerdy!? 

I also ran away from home my junior year of high school. That explains a lot.

The bottom line is, I ran away from home in my junior year of high school to a state that was below the standards of the state I left from... huh, graduate early. 

The geeky human in me was pretty traumatized and had nightmares of never remembering my locker combination and failing ever test. 

The human in me raised my kids with science and later to operate a hobby farm. Whoa!

I dreamed of a BIO degree and have more chemistry classes than I need. 

Fast forward to now... I do my own fecals, build my own fences and study my animal's behavior because it fascinates me. I also, document everything!!

Welcome, Crimson and Clover! That's right... part of growing up with hippie parents. Crimson and Clover just moved from Seattle to Deming, Washington... and yet they chill... while I photograph them. 

They also frolic. How do they know when to chill and when to frolic? 

This morning (this is the part where I'm documenting everything) I started with a cloak and coffee. Pssh, analyze that, 80's psychologists!! Haha

Okay, I'm also a photography geek and I'm attempting to make a statement of my... er, ME! A picture, Peeps, a thousand words.

The scientist and animal behaviorist is wondering how many bunnies it will take to wipe out the vegetation in this paddock? And, how many bunnies is optimal at supporting the system?

This is a picture of a cute barn finished and a not so cute barn... unfinished. Really, sometimes its just about art, People!

So, when the sun changes that changes the mood, right? I failed at capturing the shadows of the middle stump (which one is the freaking middle stump? geez). Sometimes, the realism in me retards the artist. And sometimes the obsessive compulsive person in me... well, obsesses over the unfinished shack instead of the pleasing view. Try, try again.

Why I'm fascinated by a burned out stump is for the 80's quack.

The fact that there are three old stumps in this photo is interesting. The first two stumps were burned by the previous owners in attempt to rid their house hold garbage as well as a cut tree.

The farthest stump was logged with a cross cut during the turn of the century for profit.

Ya, think about that.

I usually frame a photo without my shadow in it... it's just tacky. Today, I left me in it.

I was aiming at the old chicken pop doors. I was confounded by whether to leave them or camouflage them. Huh ya, that's an obvious one, Dr. Know! Moving on... 

It occurred to me that if I framed the pop doors with wire on the inside I could control the amount of airflow on a hot day and warmth on a cold day, you know, the normal thoughts of the average person. Science/Psychology.

Yesterday, being a very hot day in the northwest, was the eye opener. No brainer.

Once, the pop doors were used to let the chickens out and now they let the air and the views to the world in. Crimson and Clover look out them most of the day.