Paddy

Paddy on TOP of his hutch.

I went out to Briarpatch--our indulgent indoor/outdoor rabbit complex one morning last week and discovered my BIG beautiful male Angora with an eye problem.  Well, it was more than a problem.  His eyeball was just short of hanging out, the bottom lid turned inside out and looking hideous.

I was SHOCKED.  I did not see any blood evidence of a wound anywhere and just could not imagine what was wrong.  I took him in to see our good country vet--a rare breed.  She looked him over and said she would need to sew the eyelid closed and leave it for 2 weeks to try and save the eye.

She had a new assistant and during the examination I learned that she raised rabbits.  So, I commenced to tell her the no-baby-saga. 

ME:  "I've been trying five years and regardless of what I try, my rabbits will not breed."

ASSISTANT: "I let the male/female get acquainted through a wire partition before I put them together."

ME:  "Did that.  In fact, they seem to be great buddies AS LONG AS THE PARTITION IS THERE."

ASSISTANT:  "I leave them together for 2 days."

ME: "If I did that the fur would fly and someone would be dead.  They're together 15 minutes tops.    By the time I take out my female they are mortal enemies."

ASSISTANT:  "Hmmmm.  Maybe he just doesn't like your female."

ME:  "I have four females."

ASSISTANT:  "Hmmm."

So, I leave Paddy in the capable hands of my country vet and her successful rabbit breeder assistant.

The next morning I'm sympathizing with a groggy Paddy and his pirate-like eye.  The vet is giving me instructions as she hands him over and almost as an after thought says, "Oh, and by the way.  Paddy is a female."

Wait..... What?

We all had a good laugh.  At least that explained the no-baby-bunnies at Rocky Creek.

My husband said they were going to have to revoke my "Farmers License" over this.  In my defense, I NEVER CHECKED!!  I took the Angora Breeder at her word.  Live and learn.

I went to check on Paddy (Patty?) 2 hours after I brought him home and he was dead.  Oh, that broke my heart.  I called the vet and she said, "You know, I haven't been able to get Paddy off my mind.  I believe he had a brain tumor."

So, it's just as well he passed on to a better life.  I envision him not in a rabbit cage--as wonderful as Briarpatch is--but in an open grassy field with lots of dandelions (which he loved), sunshine, blue skies and all the other bunnies I've loved and lost to keep him company.

PS  I know he was a she, but I didn't have her long enough to make the transition to the she pronoun.  He will always be a he in my memories. :)

Briar Patch

Fridays are busy busy here at Rocky Creek. In addition to all the farm stuff that has to be done I have a farmers market in downtown KC. Yes, still. This is an INDOOR fabulous organic market that you will just love. CLICK HERE TO VISIT THEIR WEBSITE.

Tomorrow I have my second craft show of the season at the Montgomery in Excelsior Springs. Come on by--lots of great HERBAL PRODUCTS.

Briar Patch is my rabbit village built by my FarmBoy Gary. Here are the inhabitants:

The Patriarch "Paddy" (white-French Angora) and newest occupant "Pepper" (black-English Angora). They are getting acquainted in the bunny yard separated by fencing. You can see a ramp in the background where Paddy goes up to his hutch.

From left to right: Cherry Blossom(white-French Angora , Nutmeg (brown-French Angora and Thumbelina (white/brown-English Angora) chowing on comfrey.

This is S'mores our only non-Angora bunny. He's a doll.

This is Paddy ON TOP of his hutch in Briar Patch. He's a dare devil.

Thumbelina just hangin' out on her sun porch in front of her apartment. Isn't she a cutie patootie?

Nutmeg grooming Thumbelina. Both Nutmeg and Cherry Blossom baby Thumbelina--it's so stinkin' cute.

Cherry Blossom on her sun porch. She's giving Pepper the evil eye through the cage partition. For some reason she just hates poor little Pepper.

Pepper enjoying yard time without the others. We have to keep her separate for now.

They all love Briar Patch: it has separate apartments for each of them, sun porches and ramps down to the yard. I'll post better pics of the whole complex one day. Not today! Have an herbalicious week end.... :)

Rainy Day

Oh I'm so happy---Daylight Savings Time is OVER. Whewww. Made it through another summer. I'm a lark, you see. Larks love mornings. This lark loves doing chores in the daylight. This lark loves having more time in the a.m. to get things done. When daylight is delayed, chores are delayed, tasks are delayed. And, don't even get me started on evening snaffus because of the extended daylight. Enough on that subject.

So, it's been a while since I've been here. My little fingers have been busy with other farm related stuff; but I'm going to make a valiant effort to journal my journey. After all, I know a lot of you keep checking and checking to see what's new.

Milking is full swing. Customers just love my sweet sweet goat milk. I have four fresh but until this morning I was only milking three and letting my darling little Chloe (4 months old) have all she wanted. She is a twin and was super tiny so I didn't mind her drinking her fill every day. But, she's a fine little future milker now and has to grow up a little bit. I will still let her nurse all day, pen her mom, Polly, up at night, milk Polly in the mornings and let Chloe run with her mom all day. I learned this neat once a day milking procedure from Molly--a delightful lady who shares all she knows on her website.CLICK HERE TO CHECK HER OUT

Chloe-one hour old. Isn't she a beauty?

Yesterday I cleaned the chicken house, goat barn and rabbitry or as I like to call it Briar Patch. I have four gorgeous Angora rabbit does--Cherry Blossom, Nutmeg, Thumbalina and Pepper, one buck, Paddy, and one adorable little male of unkown origin--S'mores. Brair Patch is an ingenious creation of my farmboy husband, Gary. It has apartments, sunporches and ramps down to the yards. The rabbits love it.

So it's raining this morning so I am going to make my grand daughter a birthday dress, make a Master Tonic CLICK HERE FOR THE RECIPE and do up the rest of the pears a friend of mine gave me. The Master Tonic is similar to the Fire Cider I used to make. I'll let you know how much of this to do today list I actually get done!

Have an herbalicious day.

Comings and Goings...

The last two weeks have been a whirlwind of activity surpassing even our usual schedule.

We had our first Integrated Pest Management Workshop. We were thrilled by the great attendance. Our speakers from Lincoln university were knowledgeable and so very willing to help with anyone's "pest" problem. Read all about it HERE Click on SARE Research Study.

It involves beneficial insect plantings, sacrifice plants and chicken tractors. Now how could you not be interested in that!

My little sick hen went to the Great Chicken Yard In The Sky. She gave it her best but just couldn't pull through. I partially blame myself because she spent that night out in the cold rain after she was getting better.

I was asked a question about the apple cider vinegar. It was an ingredient in my health potion. No, it's purpose is not as a sort of smelling salt. The organic components of the ACV are health promoting and life giving. Watch for details at my other blog Nana Earth.

Farmers Market is booming. I just love being with like-minded folks. It's energizing. For those of you in the Kansas City area, drop by: Bad Seed Farmers Market 1909 McGee KC on Fridays 4 to 9 pm. It's a happening organic market..you're gonna love it. And, stop by my booth for World's Best Eggs. Their production is overseen by Mable, Queen of her Kingdom.

This is my little sweetheart, Mable. She loves attention. Read some Mable stories HERE.

Remember my camera saga? Well I have lots of new photos on it, but haven't had time to download the software on my computer. Soon....

Part of my extra activity has been to go to the Iowa Sheep-Fiber doings in Des Moines. My daughter gave me a male Angora bunny for Mother's Day (ADORABLE) He was born on St Patricks Day so I named him "Sean Patrick "Paddy" O'Hara. (Again, photos in my camera!)

I plan to spin the bunny fiber so we thought it would be a grand adventure to go to the fiber-festival. We took a class to learn all about Angora bunnies. It's quite different than raising regular rabbits and I look forward to getting a female.

FarmBoy Gary is going to add on to my bunny complex.

I'm sure I've mentioned loosing half my garden to the freaky hard-freeze in May. I did replant with what I had in my greenhouse, Sprout, but it didn't fill all the spaces. A friend of mine has thousands of extra plants so I made a trip to his place and brought home literally a Patti-car-load of plants.

This is PT Patti Petunia. She's a purple PT Cruiser and I can PACK her FULL. I mean FULL. This photo is at a farmers market.

So, now, my task is laid before me...plant, plant, plant.