Farewell Sweet Winchester

This week we sadly lost one of the sweetest souls that has ever blessed this earth, our sweet Winchester. He was just the best. Always patient with the others, waited his turn as the others would push and shove to get to the feed first. He had a kind heart and soul. You could look into his eyes and just see his pure, gentle heart.

He wasn't much for the camera as he suffered from a case of severe shyness.

He spent his final months with his best bud Teddy. He and Teddy have had some struggles in old age. Our herd is now between 13 and 15 years of age. Winchester was 15.

Always patient with others, he always let everyone eat first.

Poor Teddy is lost without his buddy and he will be missed by all of us here. When we discovered he passed, Teddy was sitting next to him as if he just couldn't leave his friend. What a blessing it was to know such a sweet soul. Rest peacefully our sweet boy, we love you.

 

Gotcha Day for Tawny

 Today marks 7 years since I got up in the morning, was a bit annoyed that my family didn't take the thousands of hints that I wanted an English Angora bunny, and drove across the State of CT to bring back my precious Tawny Ann. She was so tiny, sweet  and cuddly too! I was head over heals in love with her from the moment I held her! She made me fall in love with the English Angora rabbit breed and is now the 1st generation or 4 that we now have. 

She grew up to be tenacious and a bit of a Diva. 

I am meant by this beautiful sweet face everyday. Currently she is housing with her Granddaughter CoCo who she just adores. She always has a kiss for the babies when they are all out together. She has been such a wonderful part of our farm and the last 7 years with her have been amazing!

Item of the Week: Handspun/Hand Dyed Hair Ties/Wristlets

 

This weeks item along with all the other items are still available so send us an email, call us @ 203-881-1986 or message us on Facebook. This week we have handspun, hand crocheted, and hand dyed hair ties for small $5 and large for $7.00. These will make great stocking stuffers too!

We have them in a variety of colors, fibers and sizes.

Even some made from our rabbits too!

Item of the Week: Santa Ornament or Santa Kit

This week we are offering 2 items just in time for the Holiday! A Santa ornament hand needle felted with merino wool and alpaca. These ornaments are made right here on our farm!

The kits would make a great gift for a secret Santa crafter or a unique stocking stuffer!

The kit is just $15.00 and includes everything you will need to make this cute ornament plus instructions. The Santa ornament is just $22.00 and is made completely from hand dyed wool and alpaca.

 The Santa kit and everything included to make this adorable Star shaped Santa.

Item of the Week: Needle Felting Kits

This weeks Item of the Week is Needle Felting Kits. It's a complete kit with 8 assorted mini Merino Wool batts. A foam felting board, 2 felting needles and an Instruction Sheet with tips and how to's. Each kit is $22.00.

If interested, message us, email us @ CoonHollowFarm@aol.com or call us on our farm line @ 203-881-1986. We have local pick up and can ship.

The kit as seen open with a holder for your needles.

  The batts are hand dyed and are pure merino wool.

 Also available is a package of 12 hand dyed batts for $18.00. 

Item of the Week: Gnome Felting Kits

This weeks Item of the Week is our adorable Gnome Kits! Each kit is $12! We also have other felting kits upon request. 

We also offer different colors of wool for the hats. We can switch out a special color upon request.

                      We have 2 types to choose from, a gray beard or a white bearded gnome. 

 Each kit imcludes: All the wool to make your gnome, complete instructions and 2 needle felting needles! 

Extract Obsessed!

One of my favorite things to do is make my own extracts. Unlocking the secrets, realizing what junk we are buying at the stores and just knowing they are mine is the best way. I recently bought these jars from a man selling them on MarketPlace. I collect these whenever I can and store all my herbs in them. I knew what I had planned for these and went to work filling them. I had already made the extracts over time, but wanted to expand and get them into bigger jars. I have always made my own vanilla extracts as well as others but I decided to expand as holiday baking is coming up, also some will go on as gifts. 

Also as I looked through my cupboards at the ingredients of some of my store bought extracts and there were things added especially water! What kind of extract is that?! 

The sources on line are unending and so many resources as well as Facebook pages to join. I have also found that some extract people are intense and sometimes rude! Nothing like a know it all extractor!

Almond extract gets a bit tricky. While the almonds can have a cyanide precursor, 

using raw skinless almonds is best, however using cherry pits crushed along with apricot pits gives it a real nice flavor too!

One of my absolute, totally, unbelievably favorite extracts is Anise Extract! Just adding vodka and Star Anise pods, soaking for 2 months was amazing! I tasted a bit on my tongue and tasted like anise all day! 

After soaking for two months, I strained the anise, placed all new pods in the jar and poured the already extracted liquid onto the pods. I will let this sit another few weeks and bottle it just in time for holiday gifting!

               I'm in love with this little funnel, I use it for everything. It's just small enough to put a

 small piece of cheesecloth to strain out anything that I don't want in the bottles. 

    I also made Lemon Extract...

                                       and Orange Extract which will be amazing in whipped cream!

Peppermint Extract, a mixture of peppermint, spearmint, chocolate mint, apple mint and even some mojito mint for good measure! This I also did a couple of strainings and re-adding fresh mint.

And of course, Cinnamon extract! Just cinnamon sticks and vodka soaked for a couple of months. I just love everything about cinnamon! There are so many things you can do with cinnamon extract, put in coffee, add to hot chocolate and my favorite, add it to french toast batter before you dip the bread in! It makes your french toast taste incredible! My shelves are full of extracts as this has been this years obsession! What's a year of a Pandemic without obsessing about something?!

 

It's as if they planned it

I was walking through the backyard and happened on this scene. Out of our 50 chickens, these 3 Buff Orphingtons were lined up as if they had planned it! It was as if they said, "shhhh her she comes, let's get her to stop and look."  

 And then of course this Welsummer chicken had to photobomb as these girls just hung out in unison. My life is so full with these crazy little dinosaurs, they always give me a smile or a moment to not believe what I'm seeing, like a chicken chasing a squirrel the other day or a rooster who believes in ladies first. It's just what brings a smile to my face in these hard times!

Item of the Week: Baking Vanilla Making Kit

                               I was so excited to roll this kit out! What a fun kit this was to design and make. It will make a great gift for the foodie in your life who loves to make everything from scratch. Also a very sustainable gift or a great gift for a co worker too!

 This kit includes: 1-4 oz Boston Round bottle, a complete instruction card and 2 Grade B Vanilla Beans for just $10.00! We are offering curbside pickup. Email us @ CoonHollowFarm@aol.com or call the farm line @ 203-881-1986 as well as through our Facebook page!

Rabbit! It's December!

This week all of our English Angoras got haircuts and shave downs. Our rabbits are kept indoors in a heated area so they get very warm in the winter. Today was shaving "Tawny" day. Our girl is 7 now and she is still as awnry as ever. This girl gives me the hardest time through her grooming and never gives me a break! 

If looks could kill, I would be in serious trouble. The grunting and carrying on is almost comical though. Stay tuned to our Etsy shop, we will be offering full rabbit fleeces with very little to no vegetable matter and super clean too! 

 

Item of the Week: Drop Spindle Kits

This week we are offering these Drop Spindle Kits at just $25! If you want to learn or have someone who has wanted to learn the art of spinning this is an excellent gift! I will throw in a free lesson as well! The kit includes the following:

A quality Drop Spindle complete with a leader line from handspun alpaca. The spindle has a wrap notch cut into it for easy stopping and wrapping your handspun.

A ball of 2 1/2 ounces of alpaca is included from our animals here on the farm. It is cleaned, put into roving and ready for spinning. You don't need to do anything to prepare it!

A complete instruction sheet on how to get it going and how to spin (of course we are only a call away).

 All of our information is on the bag too!

Happy Thanksgiving from Coon Hollow Farm

 Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Coon Hollow Farm! As we ride out this pandemic and stay home, give Thanks that we can!

Item of the Week: Punis/Rolags

This weeks item is Punis/Rolags. These are ready to be spun, made with different fibers and wools, like angora rabbit, alpaca, merino wool, Gotland and Lincoln. Some are natural colors while others are hand dyed. Each Puni/ Rolag is hand carded and hand made. They are $7.00 and ounce. Pick up or shipping is available. Email @ CoonHollowFarm@aol.com or message us here for info.

 These are my favorites! Autumn colors that remind me of spices!

The Geriatric Ward

 

One of the hardest things is when or animals get old. We have come to that sadly here. This week we made the decision to separate "Teddy"  back of picture) and "Winchester" ( front of  picture) from the herd and isolate them to the lower barn. It has become difficult for them to go up and down the hill and due to their aging conditions they are low men on the herd pecking order so I have been watching and noticing that they are being picked on. "Winchester" is 15 now who is suffering from arthritis,  while "Teddy" has some esophagus issues and has to eat with his food bowl elevated and has to eat often throughout the day.

They are so sad and sulking a bit about being separated from their herd brothers. It's so sad but before long the others will be joining them as this herd is aging and growing old sadly.

"Winchester" happily with his herd. I love this boy so much, he is the sweetest most kindest animal. Always patient with the others, and always patiently waits his turn. There is no other like this sweet kind boy.

And then there is "Helen", our blind chicken. She holds her own with the others but it's time to bring her in for the winter and allow her to live out her days. One again just the sweetest bird. I talk to her all the time and she has so much to say! Not many would think this of a chicken but they haven't met "Helen". She is the most personable bird and just talks and talks. Sadly I saw a rooster picking on her so that is how I have come to this decision. It's so sad to get to the end of the road with all these animals. Even old "Tawny" our Sr English Angora just turned 7, while "Autumn" our farm dog just turned 11! We grow them old here, that's for sure and have spent a lot of time with all these animals and their funny personalities. It's breaking my heart in so many ways but keeping them comfortable and allowing them to live out their final days with love.

It's the little things

 It's the little things these days that are getting us through these hard times. While the pandemic seems to be worsening we really need to embrace those little things that can distract us from everything and give us a bit of hope at this seemingly endless tunnel of despair, for me it is this, our first ever Black Copper Maran egg! This brought me so much joy! I have been working my flock towards this breed which I love and the color of their eggs are amazing. Lets all try to find that one thing every day that can bring us joy as we ride these times out. 

Honeybee's on the weather

The weather here in Connecticut has been truly spectacular! And I must say the honeybees approve! I made them some 3:1 sugar water (3 parts sugar to 1part water), and fed them. It was so thick that it took some time getting out of the container! This time of year you need every opportunity to feed them and prepare them for the cold winter ahead.  

The bees were quite interested and came right up to feed. 

This little girl is full proboscis out and was sucking up this droplet. Next month we will install candy boards and make sure they are fed throughout the winter.