Feral Cats Oh MY!

I want to talk a bit about the feral cat population on our homestead.
FYI...Unchecked populations of wild cats are alarming and the results are devastating. I feel that that shooting and killing of these cats a sad alternative to more humane population control. If 70% of the cat population is spayed or neutered it makes a tremendous impact on population control. Did you know that a dominant neutered male cat will protect his territory and keep un-neutered males from moving in and mating with un-spayed females? But the key to this is "dominant" factor. For quite a few years we have neutered our tame male cats and our populations have lessened noticeably on our farm.
This winter we lost our "Puss Cat" and "Pal", the two most dominant tame male cats to old age and illness. Both worked diligently to keep as many wild Tom Cats off the property. We still have "Mittens" and "Target" both fixed males but they are...um...wimps. We need another dominant neutered male badly!
This morning as I cleaned the outdoor cat boxes and fed them, it became apparent that our population of wild cats has increased. Another black wild Tom Cat has moved in. We now have three that I know of.
I'm going to repost my pages on the Rustic Rooster Art Project of the "Neuter Commuter" that came here in 2005. I need to find a similar solution to our increasingly feral cat population problem here on the farm and in the area.

Friday Update

The woodshed is filled again. Win and Rem went out with Uncle Keith and Manley yesterday and brought a couple loads home. Today they split and we all stacked. I'm a bit sore but it's good for me. At my age I need to keep as active as I can.
Our chores have been getting done easily with this January thaw. We hope this nice warmer weather continues on into calving season. I've posted some pics I took of a very frosty morning. It was beautiful out. It actually stayed frosted all day which is rare. I wonder if that is called something...like "all day frost"...just being silly here.
Our first calf is due February 7th!
This weekend we will bring the cows up into the cow yard and get them on a schedule again of us walking through and checking on them every two hours. The first week, all calves are due from AI'ing...Artificial Inseminating...from up to 9 different bull semen that we used. We are excited as this will bring in some new genetics.
Our first kid is due in May. We pulled the Billy Goat "Lester" the beginning of this month. The girls, Flossy and Snowball, are happier without him. He can be a little rough and a bully.
We have 15 Moscovy Hen Ducks for breeding and to hatch out this coming summer. That is exciting. We kept 4 males and butchered the rest. I really like Moscovy meat. We learned a lot about hatched out Moscovy ducklings last summer. We now know that when the hens come out with their new little ones, we let her show them how to eat and drink for about an hour or two and then put them (little ones only) in a brooder. We had a huge fatality rate last year, as we didn't realize how fragile they were.
When you have a chance go visit the Rustic Dandelion blogger. I've been busy organizing the shop and have the office all done as well as the storage room.

Have a good evening!

Sunday Musings

We are finally getting a break in the weather and it's warming up. I can walk from the house to my shop without being bundled up! I took the dogs for a walk this morning and they all were happy to get out and run and play.
I have been working on the Rustic Dandelion website and have gotten to where it can be viewed. I still have a few members profiles to get done but those will be done by tonight!
www.rusticdandelion.com
Well my shop is tore up and I've got to get things reorganized. I had frozen pipes last week, so the wall had to be taken down (easily done as we've had this problem before) and heat tape installed to get us through the winter. The outside faucet is working again as well!
So with that said, I'm moving the office to that back room and organzing supplies.
Alright off I go...have a nice rest of the afternoon!

Building A Labyrinth

I updated my page on Labyrinths at my Rustic Rooster website.
www.rusticroosterartproject.com/Labyrinth.html

We have been building a labyrinth beside my gardens here on the homestead.

It will be finished this spring!
I hope you come and join us for labyrinth walks this 2010!

A New Idea for Bath Salts!

Every year at this time, I make bath salts. I have packaged them differently such as in; bath salt tubes (round and square), cello bags, canning jars...and all worked Ok but I wanted to come up with something different this time. So, I was looking at my bath teas and thought, why can't I package the salts the same way. A one-time-use that is convenient and simple! I've got three batches made so far (Lavender, Lavender/Tea Tree, Peppermint/Grapefruit) and will probably make a total of 5 different kinds of Essential Oil Blends.

Oh Forgot!

In my earlier post I was talking about consignments and totally forgot to mention the Crow Wing Food Coop in Brainerd carries my product year around for your convenience.
http://www.crowwingfoodco-op.com/

Winter Solstice Musings

This is always a time of extremes here on our homestead. Are daily activities revolve around the care of the livestock. We don't venture far, so even the holiday celebrations (if much at all) are kept close to home. On Christmas Day we visited my parents (who live in Brainerd) for a few hours and had a ham dinner and a fun activity of sugar cookie decorating.
The snow accumulation was not only sudden but abundant and temperatures warmed enough that melting occurred for a couple days. I took pictures of the snow slide off of the shed roof that is behind my shop. We realized that if it let go and actually slid all the way off it would fall right in front of the doorways to the animals that are housed there. So Remington, my youngest son cut it in sections and shoveled it away from their doorways.
Most of my product is home from consignment at Christmas Markets. I have been busy re-labeling and taking inventory. This last year has been a different venue for my product. I consigned at four new locations. It was successful and a learning experience to say the least. I will be continuing with only one for the 2010 year; the Remer Arts & Craft Coop.
So this leads me to make an exciting announcement. My shop will be hosting a new venue this next year and will be re-opening. The Rustic Rooster Art Project will be hosting a collaboration/partnership of some very talented artists, wellness facilitators and business women. Please visit the new "Rustic Dandelion" blog to find out more about this exciting venture planned for the near future.
http://rusticdandelion.blogspot.com/

All of January I will be preparing for the "Back To Basics" hosted by Happy Dancing Turtle Organization.
www.happydancingturtle.org
The date for "Back To Basics" is Saturday, January 30th. Please visit their website for workshop information and sign-up. I will be vendoring as well as being a presenter.
This week I am making Bath Salts and Body Butter. Now that the dry winter months are upon us we all need to take extra care of our skin and our health. What better way to nourish our skin than with moisturizing butters and deep cleaning and detoxifying.
Wishing Everyone Wellness
"Earthlyte"
*Body *Mind *Spirit Care