Max & Safari

Since Max is headed for California tomorrow (I'll miss ya, Max)  I bred him to Safari, my newest chocolate agouti doe this morning.  She has not been bred before, so keep your fingers crossed that they were successful, and she'll have a "bun in the oven". 

Yarn has arrived!

A BIG box was waiting on the front porch Thursday AM.  I finally got to open it Friday evening.  There are 49 skeins of creamy white BFL lambswool yarn.  SOFT, SOFT, SOFT!  
If this heatwave ever ends, I'll be madly dyeing skeins to prepare for A Wool Gathering.    In the mean time, I've washed a few skeins to take to the farmers market next Saturday. 

Purple Loosestrife?

Saw this in a roadside ditch at "The Wilds" yesterday.  Is this Purple Loosestrife?

Swedish Sour Cream Lamb Stew

2 T butter
1.5# lamb stew pieces
3 med onions, sliced
1 med green pepper, sliced
1.5 tsp salt
2 tsp paprika
1 c water
1 c sour cream

Melt butter in skillet, add lamb and cook until all sides browned.  Add onions, green peppers, salt and paprika.  Cover; cook over low heat 15 minutes.  Add water.  Cover and cook 1 hour until tender.  Add sour cream, heat to serving temperature over low heat.   Serve over noodles or rice.

Baby Bunnies

These are Nightshade and Voodoo's baby French Angoras.
2 white, 2 black, a fawn, and 2 blue torts. 

These are Maximo and Virichic's Satin Angora babies. 
3 chocolate, 1 tort, 2 red, 1 chocolate agouti, and 1 copper.

Conservation Camp

This is the real reason for the Conservation Camp.  Ours is being held today and tomorrow.  Hope the kids have as much fun learning as I do planning it.

My first feed bag tote

Summertime pasture

Chickory (blue) ,Red clover, Queen Annes Lace (wild carrot, white)
All very good for sheep

As promised - the new Satin Angoras

AE Safari - chocolate agouti SA doe

SWF Macgiver - chocolate SA buck.  Can you tell by his expression how happy he was to have his picture taken in 95 degree weather?  

Grilled Buttermilk Rabbit

•1 quart buttermilk
•1/2 cup chopped shallots
•2 T chopped garlic
•2 T kosher salt
•2 T sugar
•1T ground cumin
•1 tsp pepper
•1 rabbit, cut into 6 pieces
Preparation
1.In a large bowl, mix buttermilk, shallots, garlic, salt, sugar, cumin, and pepper.
2.Rinse rabbit pieces and pat dry. Submerge in buttermilk brine. Cover and chill for at least 4 hours, or up to 1 day (see notes).
3.Remove rabbit from brine and drain, discard brine.
4.Layrabbit pieces on a barbecue grill over medium coals or medium heat on a gas grill (you can hold your hand at grill level only 4 to 5 seconds); close lid on gas grill. Cook, turning frequently, until browned on both sides and no longer pink at the bone (cut to test), 20 to 30 minutes. Serve hot or cold.
5.Note: Brine the rabbit up to 1 day before grilling; grill up to 1 day before serving (chill airtight). Transport in brine when grilling on-site. Keep the meat well chilled in an ice chest until ready to serve or grill.

Clio & Kerryn

This is an older photo, but still one of my favorites.

Look what I did at work today.

Can you believe someone is paying me to do this?
These are some of the crafts the kids at Conservation Camp will be making on the second day after our field trip to The Wilds.  Our theme is Pollinator Partnerships, and if you cannot tell, these are:
 a hummingbird feeder made from a pop bottle and a small deli container, a honeybee from a paper cup, and a caterpillar made from bottle caps. 

Baby Phoebes

Last year, a Phoebe built a nest on our backporch.  Here is a picture of that hatch in the nest. 
This year, she built the nest on top of the porch roof, right up against the house under the eaves. 
(on the brand new metal roof with her mud and moss construction, I might add......)  These are 2 of this years youngsters - I know this because of the yellowish bellies, which indicates a juvenile Phoebe.

Sweet corn season has arrived!

Fagans brought in the first of the corn a couple weeks ago, but now several vendors have beautiful, fresh ears available.  I bought some bi-color this week, and even saw some white corn offered.  It is oh-so-sweet and delicious! 

Angora bunny news

Virichic (chocolate) and Maximo (red) welcome 9 new babies into the world on Friday.  Viri is doing very well with them, and I should have several Satin Angora babies ready for new homes later in September. 

Voodoo (cream) and Nightshade (black)  produced 7 French Angora kits this morning.  Looks like a couple blacks, some torts, and 2 REWs.   These should be fabulous bunnies - both parents are granded, and come from a long line of quality stock. 

I added 2 new SA to my herd, coming from Kathy Obratka's Angora Eden by way of her friend, Joyce.  SWF Macgiver is a chocolate buck who is really great - big, full shoulders, a high, strong arch, and nice meaty hindquarters - very smooth feeling.   The doe is a chocolate agouti with lots of density and beautiful rich color.  I've named her AE Safari. 

Grilled Thai Leg of Lamb

1 13-1/2-ounce can unsweetened coconut milk
1/2 cup snipped fresh basil
1/2 cup snipped fresh mint
1/2 cup sliced green onions (about 4)
1 tablespoon finely shredded lime peel
1/4 cup lime juice
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon red curry paste
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1-1/2 teaspoons coarse salt or 1 teaspoon salt
1 3- to 3-1/2-pound boneless lamb leg, rolled and tied

Directions
1.For sauce, in a bowl combine coconut milk, basil, mint, onions, lime peel and juice, fish sauce, brown sugar, curry paste, 1 teaspoon coarse salt, and 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper. Set aside. For rub, in a bowl combine ginger, garlic, salt, and 1 teaspoon ground black pepper. Untie and unroll lamb.Using flat side of meat mallet, pound lamb to an even thickness (1-1/2 to 2 inches thick). Rub ginger mixture over lamb. Place in large sealable plastic bag set in shallow dish. Add 1/2 cup of the sauce. Seal bag; turn to coat. Refrigerate overnight. Cover and refrigerate remaining sauce.

2.Remove meat from marinade. To keep meat from curling, insert 2 long metal skewers through meat forming an X. To grill, arrange medium coals around drip pan. Test for medium-low heat above pan. Place meat on rack over pan. Cover; grill 50 to 60 minutes or until instant-read thermometer registers 135 degree F for medium-rare. Let chilled sauce stand at room temperature 30 minutes. Remove meat. Cover with foil; let stand 15 minutes. (Temperature will rise 10 degrees.) Thinly slice meat against grain; serve with sauce. Makes 8 to 10 servings.

Somerhill Xact

X1 son out of Somerhill Wilkie (Titus daughter)

Somerhill Xalt

X1 son out of Somerhill Bess (CHR1 daughter out of a Loyalty daughter)
That's dinner on his nose.  :^)

Now its ducks

This duckie mama was nesting on someone's boat on Seneca Lake, and they wanted to go boating this weekend.   Guess they will have to wait.

Buffalo Rabbit Pasta Salad

1 16 oz pkg rotoli pasta, cooked according to directions, set aside to drain and cool
1/2 c mayonnaise
1 c chunky bleu cheese dressing
1/2 c buffalo wing sauce
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 # cooked rabbit meat pieces
1/2 c red bell pepper, diced
1/2 c green bell pepper, diced
1 c red onion, diced

Stir together first 5 ingredients, then add pasta, rabbit, and veggies and toss until coated.  Cover and chill for at least 1 hour before serving.

Happiness is............... Hay.

33 bales so far, and none rained on.  We've still got one small field to go - hope to have it done soon.  Then we'll be set for this winter.

Jerry's Booth at the Farmer's Market

Jerry makes furniture and decorator items from barnwood siding. I bought a birdhouse from him to use as the best in show award at a recent angora rabbit specialty.  I'd like to get a bench for the front porch, too.   He is a good "neighbor" and fun to talk to.

Another Ballad Twin by Llwygy X1

Somerhill Xtra

This guy will be for sale, too, either later this fall after I have a chance to evaluate him, or as a yearling - hopefully at the national show and sale in May. He will soon be codon tested, as will the rest of the X1 ram lambs.

Sigh.........ok, I give up. Bring me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.....

3 Llwygy X1 sired lambs

Xtra, Xcel, and Larue

Rae's little firecrackers

Born on the Fourth of July. 

Weaning day



In honor of Independence Day , we weaned the late lambs. 



Happy Independence Day

The military service memorial at Zane Landing Park in Zanesville.  A reminder that our freedom is not free.

What did I just say about bringing baby animals in here????

Baby Opposums.  They will be rehabilitated by a licenced person.

Smoked BBQ Lamb shoulder

One lamb shoulder roast, rubbed generously with your favorite meat rub.  Prepare smoker, and then place shoulder roast in it to smoke.
Sauce:
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup water
1 cup beer
1/4 cup Worcestshire Sauce
2 T your favorite meat rub
1 T brown sugar
1/2 T salt
1/2 T garlic powder
1 teaspoon cayenne

Mix all ingredients in a saucepan over low heat. Use sauce, once an hour on the lamb roast as it smokes. Heat extra sauceto a boil and then use as a 'dip' with finished meat.

After about 8 hours of smoking at 225°F over a cherrywood infused charcoal fire, the shoulder roast should read about 195°F internal on a digital thermometer. After resting for 20 minutes, the meat pulls and chops into tender, juicy pieces.