It's never easy to say goodbye...

Today we said goodbye to our beautiful sweet "Teddy". He has been in declining  health in his old age, suddenly collapsed and passed very quickly. We named him Teddy because he reminded us of Teddy Ruxpin. Those soul full eyes would just stare at you and kiss your soul. He always kept the peace in our flock. He was just the kindest soul. 

Teddy came to live with us in the Spring of '08. We purchased him with 3 others who were inseparable. 

Those eyes!

Sadly as he was passing Norman and Awan would not leave his side. Even after he passed they would not leave him. His passing is such a huge loss for us here. Every so often a beautiful soul touches your world, for us it was Teddy.

 

Trying something new!

For the life of me I just don't know how chickens do it, but they get their eggs so dirty! No matter how clean you keep that coop, change the straw, they still manage to get a mess going! I did some research on how to build something but Tim is just too busy to get it done these days. I found these inexpensive egg laying trays on line and gave them a try.

The eggs roll down into the trap and they are protected from not getting dirty or eaten by the chickens. We do have a couple of annoying "egg eaters" that I would love to strangle these days! They have to be kept in an angled position but do seem to be doing the trick.

 After a couple of hours I went to check and was pleased with the results. These will do just fine until we can get a door built on the coop and build some egg boxes and trays. They are saving time in cleaning the eggs or rejecting them all together. 

They are growing and growing and...

Ricardo Shilly Shally is growing and holding it's own! Since we still don't know if we have a Ricardo or a Ricarda, we are just so happy to see it thriving and growing. This was the only one that hatched for us, so it has taken a special place in our hearts. This poor baby had a touch and go beginning but still comes through every day stronger and more determined. Sadly it managed to break it's middle toe and I'm not sure how but it makes it easier to identify as they all grow. 

The tail feathers are coming in nicely. I can't wait to see how these Royal Palms grow and come into color. 

 These three may very well be hens or also known as jenny's when they are younger. The coloring is coming on them too. Just a stunning breed and can't wait for them to get bigger. They are beginning to settle down and get excited with all kind of vocalizations when I come into feed. 

Getting back to an Old Passion

Sometimes you have to go on a journey to come home! A long time ago, before we started the farm, we ran a small soap making companies. We did fairs and I taught it as well. Between raising two kids, working full time, running a household and all the other crazy things I seem to get caught up in, soap making was my passion. This passion went on for a long time until I found myself competing against my students which is mostly what happens all the time right?! My son and I were once at a fair and he was admiring some Strawberry soap (his favorite) and the woman was rude to us. We walked away completely dumbfounded and asked each other what we thought about that. As we went through the fair, he just couldn't stop thinking about that soap. We returned to her booth only for her to apologize and state that she was a former student of mine and was embarrassed that she had taken some of my ideas. We bought the soap and went on my way and I was still a bit surprised.

At the Holidays my husband bought me some new molds that were a complete game changer! He also bought me a new cutting box and blade. They sat in the box until I came across them one day and created a batch. Also I have been looking at some of the soap supply companies at the new and techniques that are out there. Sometime back I was experimenting with mica colorants too. Well lets say I am back to my old friend, soap making! Above are some of the scents and colors I have been using.  

This fun one was my favorite, Pumpkin Spice. As I am returning to Soap Making, I am bringing back my signature Soap Balls. In the late 1990's I was the only one doing this. I would do shows with graduated boxes. Customers could mix and match my soap balls to put in their soap dishes! 

Sage and Lemongrass! I wish this had a scratch and sniff! Such subtle scents of each combined to make a beautiful relaxing scent.

Dragon's Blood Soap with multiple mica colorants and it smells amazing! I walked into my house after I made this and couldn't believe how amazing it smelled !

Rose Petal Soap reminds me of my Grandma.

Lavender Fields forever!

 My most exciting new feature to my old design is using burlap around my soaps! I went into my stash room and found a 10 yard roll of it! I cut strips to wrap my soap to preserve the labels. Soap will sometimes sweat and this helps to save the labels! So as we push through summer here the house smells amazing! Many of what I have made is curing but will be ready for the upcoming fall season with some shows we are working on! 

Movin' on up!

With a stretch of cooler weather it was time for the turkeys to move up to the coops. Let's just say it did not go as smoothly as we would have liked. Did you know turkeys vomit when they are stressed out? I took 2 and Tim took 3! By the time we were at the coop they were going in, well lets just say a change of clothes was necessary.

There was also some pooping going on, lets just say it was a both ways transfer! Their bottoms got a bit dirty. They adjusted quickly though and seemed to like their new surroundings. We put a hardware cloth barrier between them so they can acclimate to the other chicks as they become familiar with their surroundings. 

 Little Ricardo Shilly Shally is growing like a weed and is just the cutest thing! By my next post of them they will all be double in size!

Using Colorants in Soaps

 

I've struggled with soap colorants for years. You would order them, the company would guarantee them, some would work and some would not, until I discovered Mica colorants! These are natural colorants, not chemical! Mica is a mineral that does not break down in the chemical change of soap in the process of saponification. It's a translucent mineral that in some cases, is dyed but holds that color in the harshest of soap making processes!

                                     

I did a layer method here that I was very pleased with. This is a Lavender Soap made with Lavender essential oil and a Lavender Mica. I am so pleased with the way this soap came out!

The cherry on the top of my changes to soap making also comes with this cutter! It's a game changer on how the process can be efficient and uniform in cutting my bars! Of course I would love to get one of those nice multi wire ones but for now this one is just fine! At the perfect setting it cuts a 4 oz bar perfectly!

We are Turkey obsessed!

To say I am obsessed is an understatement! These little ones have my heart! I have read and researched everything I can find on the Royal Palm turkey breed. Most importantly that they are a Heritage breed and of special concern. The breed is classified as being on the "watch" list with the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy. So, making sure we get this right is the greatest concern to us.  

The chick we hatched is the smallest one in the picture, or little "Ricardo Shilly Shally". Not sure what sex it is yet.

 Soon it will be time to head out to the coop as they begin to round their 6 week mark. They have been taken off the heat lamp and just have their "Chick Plate" to keep them warm as their feathers are coming in beautifully. So far at least 2 are acting like Toms, but we shall see! 

Moving on to new equipment...

Soap making after 25 plus years has really evolved and so has the equipment. I recently gave away all my old molds after I tried these new molds with silicone liners! No more lining my liners with parchment paper that would leave creases in my soaps, a pain to pull off and just not my idea of how I wanted my soaps to look. I was gifted these and wow! You literally turn them inside out and your soap comes out smooth and amazing! 

I did a test batch with this Oatmeal, Milk and Honey soap. My soap recipe makes 8 pounds. It filled two molds and about a third of the other which I will use for soap balls. 

Wax paper over it to keep the heat in as it saponifies, which is a fancy word for saying the fats and the lye water have to come together and make soap through a chemical change, but when they do, you get soap!

 I added an old towel to help hold in the heat and in a few days, we have soap! I wish this blog had a scratch and sniff option because it smells amazing!

So what was in that incubator?

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So our incubator experience turned out to be quite a disaster. In the first week our incubator failed causing me to call my friend and run to her house at 10:30 at night to borrow hers. All she had was a small mammal one available so I transferred the eggs into that and hoped for the best. I struggled to keep the humidity just right. The best was far from what happened here but we did have some success. These chicks are above are Black Copper Marans that hatched.

However, this is what we were going for, out of 6 eggs, we only had this single Royal Palm turkey hatch. This is Ricardo Shilly Shally! This little turkey poult is currently growing up with the chicks and is a bit of a special friend. I haven't been able to figure out why I constantly find it on it's side but everyday it's growing stronger, eating better and doing well. The falling over is less so fingers crossed!

So our dream to have Royal Palm turkeys came with the help of Daisy Knoll Farm who answered my million questions, was beyond patient and were very helpful too! So we now have 6 of these beautiful 3 week old turkey poults! With fingers crossed we are hoping they all do well, even Ricardo!

 

Rosewater and Lavender Cookies, oh my!

Spring is one of my favorite times of year, so many wild edibles around us. One of my favorite things this time of year is Rosewater and Lavender cookies! The taste of these cookies is so good! Also impresses when you have to bring something to that perfect day with the ladies or a garden party. Hey even the guys like these too!  

 I recently made these for work as one of our garden loving staff members was retiring. I'll include the recipe below, they are very easy to make too! Just make sure the pan is cool so they will rise well.

Lavender Rosewater Cookies

2 eggs

1/2 cup of butter or margarine

1 cup of sugar

1 teaspoon of lavender leaves

1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon of salt

Confectionery Sugar

Rosewater (I purchased some at a health food store)

Violet or Johnny Jump-up flower

Preheat your oven to 375*f. Put eggs mixed, butter softened (or margarine), sugar and lavender into a bowl. Mix very well. You can also use a mixer. Put flour, baking powder and salt into a separate bowl and sift. Add wet ingredients to flour mixture and mix well. Drop tablespoon size dough onto a cookie sheet that you have sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for about 9-11 minutes until the edges are brown. Let cool.

Place some confectionery sugar in a bowl, I add a few drops of rosewater and a few drops of water. You can adjust the taste to your liking, if you want it to taste stronger of rosewater, add more. Add less if you don't want it too strong. Ice the cookies and place a violet flower on top. I press down to make them secure on the cookie. Enjoy!

Oh yes she is!

 

Oh yes she is! It appears our new young queen has bred with the drones! I expected her to go out on her mating flight and it looks like she did! Her abdomen is full of eggs and she is ready to go! I'll check her in a couple of days to make sure she is laying eggs. I tried to see but I forgot my little flashlight that helps me see deep down in those cells.

This was our queen just 10 days ago, not bred yet. You can see the abdomen isn't full like the picture above. Now fingers crossed that she will begin to lay eggs and expand the hive quickly!

Little Chunker!

"Azure's" little chunker is 12 days old! Those little eyes opened! 

This baby angora bunny is the size of a 3 week old bunny! I guess being the only baby gave him a big selection of nipples! The jury is in on it's color as we don't know the sex yet, a blue tort! We have never had a blue tort so that's exciting! Lets see just how big this baby geets, it's sure getting off to a great start!

 

Hail the new Queen!

While inspecting this crazy nuc that I got some weeks back, it appeared they had more queen cells. I found a queen cell with an emerging queen and quickly put in a nuc box and closed it up. I gave them 2 days to get acclimated with what I thought was their new queen and went up today to let her out for her mating flight. I found this queen cell that was not the one I had put the frame in the box for, with what appears to be an emerged queen from it.

This was the queen cell I had originally seen in swarm position, where the other queen cell was in the superseder position. I found her deceased as if they just ignored her sadly.

Here is the virgin queen, they were nurturing her. You can tell because her abdomen is not full of eggs. They are fattening her up and getting her ready for her breeding flight. She will leave the hive just one time to breed with anywhere from 8 to 10 drones. These drones will sacrifice their life for the chance to breed just one time and then they will die.

 This image even defines her better and shows her attendants ready for her every need. I'm hoping this is the end of that nuc wanting to split! I'm running out of hives! 

Get them for Mother's Day!

 Get your farm fresh eggs for Mother's Day! Make mom a delicious breakfast from eggs laid just that day! Can't get fresher than that!

You can call us on the farm line @ 203-881-1986 or stop by @ 156 Punkup Rd, Oxford, CT

We will have them in a cooler out front for contactless pick up!

A little Spring surprise!

To say we were not expecting this is an understatement! But here it is! A single fat little baby English Angora rabbit! I went into Azure's cage the other day who we have thought for a few years now to be infertile along with Wally our one testicle rabbit. Well I guess not! These two have spent time together over the years and never a thing, until yesterday when I went in to feed Azure, and she kept wanting to show me something on her bed, and there it was!

This very healthy single baby which I believe is an Opal in color! Which was Azure's grandfather Fluffer! Spring surprises at every corner I guess!

 

What's that in the incubator?

Last week we took a trip to another farm to pick up a very special package! 

They are a bit bigger than a regular egg! 

They went right into the incubator which was on and regulated when we returned!

 Hatch time appears to be 28 days, so with any luck we will answer the question, what is that in the incubator?

Here we go!

 Here we go! The Connecticut Sheep and Wool Festival goes virtual today! We go live at noon with our wares! Our spot is from noon to 12:30. We are featuring just some of the items that we have available. We are so happy to be featured and that the CSWF for including us in this virtual version until next year when we can get back to an in person festival. Click on the link below to watch and support all the vendors.

 Official 2021 Virtual CT Sheep Wool Fiber Festival | Facebook