Oleander

This is my French Angora doe, Somerhill Oleander.  She has 2 legs, and I am hoping to pick up her third needed for a championship at either the Lancaster or Zanesville shows later this month.  She is looking spectacular right now!   She has raised a couple litters for me, and I'd like to breed her to Nightshade later this year for some juniors to show at the spring shows.  It would be nice to have a GrChamp doe to go along with my champion buck.  :^)
My other doe, Somerhill Ti Kita, has her 3 legs, but needs to get registered so she can get her championship certificate.  My friend, Tina, showed her and won those 3 legs with her.

FS- Somerhill Lava

Somerhill Lava - chocolate tort Satin Angora doe born 9-1-11
Available NOW for $65.  Show/breeding quality

Mongolian Lamb

2/3 lb. lamb leg steak, sliced across the grain
3 T corn starch
3 tsp canola oil, divided
1/2 tsp grated ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 c low-sodium soy sauce
1/3 c water
1/4 c brown sugar
1/4 tsp (heaping) red pepper flakes
2-3 large green onions, sliced

Pat the steak pieces with a paper towel to get rid of any moisture. Toss the steak and cornstarch together; shake off excess cornstarch.
 Mix together the soy sauce, water, brown sugar and red pepper flakes in a small bowl or large measuring cup.
Heat half the oil in a wok or large fry-pan at medium-high heat and add the ginger and garlic. Cook for 30 seconds, or until fragrant, then add the soy sauce mixture. Cook for about 2 minutes and transfer back to the bowl or measuring cup.
Turn the heat up on the wok and add the remaining oil. Add the lamb and cook, stirring until just browned.
Pour the sauce back in and let it cook with the meat. Simmer for around 5 minutes or until thickened. Place lamb mixture on top of a bed of rice and garnish with green onions.
Serve with a side of steamed veggies.  You may choose to toss in some broccoli during the last 5 minutes of simmering.

A follow up article on the exotic animal situation in Zanesville, Ohio

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2011/10/26/for-hanna-pain-was-too-personal.html

A peek behind the curtain to understand the person who keeps lions in their backyard. 

Gene Check results

Got the codon testing back on the 6 X1 sired ram lambs tonight.   Would you believe, all 4 of the rams we plan to use in a couple weeks are QR, and the twins, who I plan to sell, are both RR.  Both types are resistant to scrapie - but the RR are more so, since they carry 2 resistant genes. 

We used the ear tags that double as collectors for testing.  They are cool - the small plug of ear tissue  that is removed in the tagging process is captured in a plastic receptical that has the same ear tag number printed on it.  We just popped those in the mail, and in a week, got our test results by email.  The 6 page instruction manual was intimidating, but in reality, it was quite simple.  I'll be using this system again for sure.

As night fell, an eery mist flowed into the valley

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QUICK AND EASY RABBIT FOO YUNG

1 T sunflower oil or peanut oil
8-oz. boned rabbit meat, cut into strips
2 tsp. salt (divided)
1 medium onion, sliced
7 oz. frozen peas,carrots
8 oz. beansprouts
5 whole eggs, beaten
3 oz. shiitake mushrooms, sliced

Heat the oil in a wok over medium to medium-high heat.
Stir fry the rabbit meat until lightly browned. Add one teaspoon of salt, the onion slices, and the peas, and stir fry for another 2 minutes. Add the beansprouts and stir fry for a minute more. Add the eggs, beaten with the other teaspoon salt, and the mushrooms to the ingredients in the wok; reduce the heat to a low setting. Stir occasionally while the eggs set so that the mixture does not burn on the bottom of the hot wok.
When the mixture has set and is brown in places, the dish is ready to be served. Goes great with a brown gravy and steamed white rice. 

Saw this out my window this morning..........

Just kidding.  Did ya hear about all the wild exotic animals that are loose in SE Ohio this morning?   I'm hoping to catch one of the giraffes, I've always wanted one!

Larue & Lucerne

Larue

Lucerne

Even though these girls share the same sire (Llwygy X1) and their dams are twins that look VERY similar, they show a lot of diversity in their look and conformation.  Larue shows the influence of the Laird side of her mother's pedigree, while Lucerne has the Loyalty look about her.  Both have beautiful fleeces!

Lucerne(left) & Larue - that's dirt on her legs, and not spots.

Sometimes it pays to work late

This is what greeted me when I left work about 6PM on Friday nite. 
It eventually became a double rainbow, then the middle disappeared, leaving the ends glowing like torches against the black stormy sky

More fall produce at the market

3 kinds of kale and raw honey

Lamb Stassa

1 small boneless leg (about 2# - you may need to slice one in half)

2 T lemon juice
1 T Olive oil
1 tsp Cinnamon
2 T sugar
2 T chopped mint
salt, pepper

Mix together dry ingredients. Let leg set out on counter for an hour to rest. Then rub with olive oil, and rub dry mixture into surface, patting to make sure all remains on the lamb. Place lamb on rack in roasting pan, drizzle lemon juice over, and roast very slowly at 250 for 3 hours. Slice thinly and serve with your favorite yogurt sauce and pita. Garnish with chopped tomatoes, slivered onions, more mint.

Somerhill Larue

Here is her baby picture.  She is an AI daughter of Llwygy X1, out of Royce (Loyalty/Laird) 
Royce and Rowan are twins.

Somerhill Lucerne

Here is her baby picture.  She is an AI daughter of Llwygy X1 out of Rowan (Loyalty/Laird)

New yarns

Burnt orange, olive, and aztec gold

russet, magenta, vermillion

6 baby girls

These are Maximo and Safari's girls - 2 red, 2 chocolate tort, one chocolate agouti (wideband) and a black.  They are 5 weeks old, and ever so cute!

Rabbit Mexicali

 1 Rabbit, cut into 6 pieces 
2 c Corn
1 tsp Parsley
10 oz can diced tomatoes
1 tsp Rosemary
1 c minced black olives
1 tsp Thyme
2 tsp Chili powder
1 Bay leaf
Salt and pepper to taste
2 peppercorns
2 c yellow cornmeal
1 Garlic clove, minced
1 Egg yolk
1/2 c Minced shallots


Place the rabbit, parsley, rosemary, thyme, bay leaf, and peppercorns in a large saucepan and add enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes or until rabbit is tender. Drain rabbit and reserve 1 cup liquid. Remove rabbit from bones. Sauté the garlic and shallots in small amount of fat in a skillet until tender, then add the rabbit, corn, tomatoes, olives, chili powder, salt, and pepper. Simmer for 20 minutes. Combine the cornmeal and egg yolk. Strain the reserved liquid, add to cornmeal mixture and mix well. Stir into the rabbit mixture and spoon into a greased casserole. Bake at 325 degrees for 40 minutes or until set.

Satin Angoras for sale

I have an adult chocolate doe - has raised 2 litters successfully, with a RIS winner in her March litter.  Her sire is a grand champion who won BOS at the angora nationals this spring. Photo HERE
BD Virichic.  Born 9/2010.    $85.00    Could be sold bred to a chocolate buck.

UARC Specialty today



Fran Spangle with her Best in Show colored English Angora Doe. 

Judge:  Glen Carr - 42 entries
ENGLISH - 23
BOB - CSD - Fran Spangle
BOS - CSB - Maureen Varvir

FRENCH - 13
BOB - CSD - Jenna Leonard
BOS - CSB - Lisa Rodenfels

SATIN - 6
BOB - CSD - Lisa Rodenfels
BOS - CSB - Nikki Gaona-Maciel

GIANT - none shown