Queen's Edge Farm: Bantam Chickens

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Bantam Chickens

I was able to pick up 7 bantam chickens from the young man I purchased my original Cuckoo Marans. I now have one Japanese Oriental Bantam rooster with two hens, and 3 Turken hens and one turken rooster. They are so cute and friendly. The Turkens are very strange looking. One laid an egg right beside the coop. It's is tiny! The other chickens have been laying eggs everywhere except the nesting boxes. Very frustrating to say the least. Lauren and I have found them laying in the hay in the barn, by the wagon, under the leanto in the coop, under the coop and just out in the open. They appear to be laying more now that they are free ranging and not cooped up in a small pen.

I also lucked into a free Pyr pup. He will be delivered on Saturday when the owner gets back from out of town. He was out with his cattle, and he couldn't catch him. He is 5 months old. I'll need to get him fixed soon, as I don't really want any half Rottie/Pyr pups.

I am on the hunt for more goats.

Still working on my project. I've applied for a job online, and this is my paid test project. It is re-vamping a Businss Plan and is due on Sunday evening. I am starting to get a little stressed. I have been reading and researching on how to do a business plan, sorting through the notes, and I had Lauren (yes Lauren) work up a diagram using the paint function. I was faxed a handwritten diagram, and Lauren is much more proficient in paint than I am. I cannot draw a straight line in it.

I also received a call from one of the local school districts regarding the bus driver position I applied for. I am to go get my finger prints done.. Not happy about it, but I figure since the government already has them, it's too late to be incognito. I don't really want this job, but I am considering all options and applying for a variety of things.

I've applied for several other jobs on ODesk, these are all short term projects, so I'll consistently apply to make sure I can get something on a regular basis. At this moment I am allowed to apply for 5 a week.

We received some rain this evening, just a light sprinkling. When I was taking Taylor back home I was caught in a downpour at his grandparents. It was wonderful! I rushed back to get everything picked up and put away before it hit here. We just made it. I parked the car in the barn too, just in case we received any hail. We didn't, but it was better to be safe.

Re-arranged the house a little today. I put the trunk outside the bathroom door, moved the dresser to the bedroom, and set up a folding table to work from. It has enough room to work on the computer from, plus set up my sewing area. I am getting things together to sew some flannel baby blankets, diapers, bibs, and baby dresses. There is a craft show in November that I "plan" to attend. With the wireless in the cabin now, I can sit in the back bedroom, which is the coolest room during the day. In the hottest part of the day, I can sit in the blanketed area with the AC and work from my laptop. Praise God for my nephew and his gift of the wireless router! He doesn't know how much he has helped.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Grandma's Yummy Cinnamon Rolls

2 pkgs active dry yeast or 5 tsps if using bulk yeast
1/2 cup warm water (not too hot)
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup shortening, butter, margarine
2 tsps salt
2 cups milk, scalded
1 1/2 cups cold water
10 to 12 cups flour (white or whole wheat)

Yield: 4 loaves

Soften yeast in warm water, springkle in a tsp of the sugar
In LARGE mixing bowl blend sugar, shortening, salt and milk until shortening is melted. Add cold water, cool to luke-warm. Stir in yeast. Gradually add flour to form a stiff dough. Knead on floured surface until smooth and satiny, 5 to 10 minutes. Place in greased bowl, turning dough to grease all sides. Cover with foil or damp towel. Let rise in warm place (85 to 90 deg) until light and doubled in volume about two hours. Punch dough down by plunging fist in center. Knead dough for about 5 minutes.

Roll out one fourth of dough to a 16 X 12 inch rectangle. Brush with 2 TBSP of melted butter. Combine 1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar, 1/3 cup sugar and 1 1/2 tsp of cinnamon (or more to taste). Sprinkle mixture over dough. Starting with 16 inch side, roll jellyroll fashion. Either cut into 16 1 inch slices or leave as a whole loaf. Place on a greased pan, cover and let rise in warm place until light, about 30 to 45 minutes. Bake at 375 degrees about 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Mix one box 10X sugar with 2 tbsps water. If too stiff, add more water until icing consistency, add a drop of vanilla too. Spread on baked bread while bread is still warm.

2010 Homestead Stats

Laundry Soap

Homemade Laundry Soap:
1/3 bar Fels Naptha or other type of soap, as listed above
½ cup washing soda
½ cup borax powder
~You will also need a small washpan or bowl that holds about 2 gallons.

Grate the soap and put it in a sauce pan. Add 6 cups water and heat it until the soap melts. Add the washing soda and the borax and stir until it is dissolved. Remove from heat. Pour 4 cups hot water into the washpan. Now add your soap mixture and stir. Now add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir. Transfer soap (using a funnel if necessary) into empty plastic laundry holders, milk containers (I use my empty glass milk bottles and old Fab containers) Let the soap sit for about 24 hours and it will gel. You use ½ cup per load.

Wild Mustang Grape Jelly

Wild Mustang Grape Jelly

5 cups grape juice (about 3 1/2 pounds of ripe grapes)1 (1 3/4 ounce) box of sure-jel pectin7 cups sugarBefore getting started it is best to clean the entire kitchen, making sure the sink is empty. Bleach the sink and all utensils used in making jelly (I do this as I sell my grape jelly as part of my homesteading business.)

Wash the canning jars in warm soapy water, and rinse well. Set off to side.

Place a large pan of water on the stove to heat. Once it starts steaming, place lids and rings in the bottom, and 2-3 jars (depending on if you use actual jelly jars or pints) to sterilize.

Next make the grape juice using clean washed grapes (make sure you use rubber gloves when picking or washing wild grapes)To 3 1/2 pounds of clean grapes (6 cups of grapes) add 1 1/2 cups water.Bring to a boil and simmer covered for 10 minutes.Strain and squeeze out all of the juice with cheese cloth (see paragraph below)
I didn't have cheese cloth, so I poured the grape mixture into a large spaghetti strainer with a large pan underneath. I had to stir it around some as the skins and seeds would sink to the bottom, and clog the colander up. Stirring allowed the liquid to drain out. I then used a large metal spoon and squished it some to get more of the juice out.

In a very big pan, put 5 cups of the juice (it’s okay to add no more than ½ cup water to even out amount)Add the fruit pectin to the juice.Mix well.On high heat, bring to a full rolling boil, and boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly.Stir in sugar all at once, and bring back to a full rolling boil, again boil hard for 1 minute stirring constantly.
Remove jelly from heat, skim off foam
Use a large spoon inserted inside the jar to lift CAREFULLY out of the water. DO NOT TOUCH THE INSIDE OF THE JAR OR THE RIM WITH YOUR HANDS.
Ladle jelly into hot jars, place a lid and ring onto jar (do not tighten yet).
Set jars to the side. After a while you should start hearing “pings” as the jar seals.
When jars are completely cool, tighten rings and store on pantry shelf.**SIDE NOTE: Wild Mustang Grapes are normally ready the end of June, so be prepared. Keep an eye open for vines on the side of the road, or any that friends and family may have growing in their yard. Many people just let them grow and don’t do anything with them, so it shouldn’t be hard to find a good supply. Also, the more you pick off the vine, the more the vine produces new grapes, so you probably won’t EVER run out of grapes to use until the vine dies or you get sick of making jelly. Good luck and feel free to contact me at queensedgefarm@yahoo.com for questions.