Summer of 2015 has held many challenges. The 4H fair is always a highlight of the summer. This year was no different, but in many ways it was very different. We move into fair the last week of July and I had to have ankle surgery the second week of July. So... all of those last minute fair projects had to be done without any of my help. I usually at least try to follow the girls through the kitchen and run clean up as they make the mess. Also I love to just jump in and help wherever needed.
I found myself on the couch directing and issuing orders of what to do next. Samantha doesn't need a lot of help since she is now 18 but we also take on a young lady that can't have rabbits at home. We managed to get salsa, bread and butter pickles, canned goat milk (with our new pressure canner), canned watermelon pickles, pickled carrots and a few others that I can't remember. Toss a little baking in there along with a shopping trip for clothes and yes it was a whirlwind. Samantha took Best in Show for Teen Leadership and honors for food preservation, andfood preperation.
The girls had to work the two weeks after 4H fair at a summer day camp. Then we had one week to get ready for the Chelsea Community Fair. We showed rabbits, hand-spun yarns, hand knit scarfs and mittens, our sheep fleeces as well as our canned items. We enjoy doing the two fairs but boy is it tiring. During Chelsea I was still on crutches or in a wheelchair.
So now that we are back home we are trying to solve the mysterious deaths of 5 of our lambs. We lost 2 just before the 4H fair, two within a week of coming home and one a week later. As suspicions grew we decided to take Boremire to MSU for a Necropsy if he didn't make it. I suspected our grain had something to do with it so I ordered a new shipment. The report came back with Copper Toxicity. The girls are devastated not knowing how much of the flock would be affected. The last death occored before we got the report.
With time all wounds heal (including my ankle), and we will rebuild the flock after this horrible set back.
I found myself on the couch directing and issuing orders of what to do next. Samantha doesn't need a lot of help since she is now 18 but we also take on a young lady that can't have rabbits at home. We managed to get salsa, bread and butter pickles, canned goat milk (with our new pressure canner), canned watermelon pickles, pickled carrots and a few others that I can't remember. Toss a little baking in there along with a shopping trip for clothes and yes it was a whirlwind. Samantha took Best in Show for Teen Leadership and honors for food preservation, andfood preperation.
The girls had to work the two weeks after 4H fair at a summer day camp. Then we had one week to get ready for the Chelsea Community Fair. We showed rabbits, hand-spun yarns, hand knit scarfs and mittens, our sheep fleeces as well as our canned items. We enjoy doing the two fairs but boy is it tiring. During Chelsea I was still on crutches or in a wheelchair.
So now that we are back home we are trying to solve the mysterious deaths of 5 of our lambs. We lost 2 just before the 4H fair, two within a week of coming home and one a week later. As suspicions grew we decided to take Boremire to MSU for a Necropsy if he didn't make it. I suspected our grain had something to do with it so I ordered a new shipment. The report came back with Copper Toxicity. The girls are devastated not knowing how much of the flock would be affected. The last death occored before we got the report.
With time all wounds heal (including my ankle), and we will rebuild the flock after this horrible set back.
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