Colt's burn

Oh my goodness, so I've decided to just for the records put Colt's burn on here. I don't think I even told mom and dad about this even though it was pretty bad. So it was 2 days before New Years that Colt decided to take a cup of steaming hot water out of the microwave by himself. Needless to say, it was not a pretty sight. I was rounding the corner to the kitchen when I witnessed him taking the cup out. I think I might have scared him into spilling it onto his chest. It must've been my, "Ahhhhh! Colt! Don't take stuff out of there!" that made him get scared and jumpy and then splash the steaming hot water onto himself. Ohhh, it happened and he screamed! And I don't know how to even explain his scream. It was a nerve wracking jolt into thin air and he was scared and hurt and shaking and uncontrollable. So, I immediately called "Da" my grandfather in law who we always call when an emergency happens. Da used to drive an ambulance so he has an immidiate answer to all things medical. Its great. The one and only advice was cold ice water. So after I frantically got off the phone while trying to calm Colt down, I placed him on the counter and at the exact moment that I put a freezing cold rag on his chest, he found instant comfort. So, for the next 3 hours all I did was re-ice his rag while he laid there on the couch in pure uncomfort. Now, taking him to the dr.'s at this point was not on my list. And Da told me to look out for blisters. If there are blisters, no doubt about it, take him in. So at this point, I was taking it minute by minute just trying to keep that sad boy comfortable. And for the most part, as long as there was an ice cold washcloth on him, he was good. But literally the second the washcloth started warming up, he was in instant pain again.



This is what it looked like the next day. Incredibly, the night of the burn, Colt got a full sleep and the next morning, the morning that it looked like this, he didn't even complain about it. We asked him how he felt and he said, "good". And literally he never complained about it again.


So the next day I got burn medication from the Dr.'s and non stick pads. It was a miracle! The white burn cream is called silvadene and it is a MUST for burns. It cleared it right up. Here is a pic of Charley helping with Colt's wound. We would have to change it a couple times a day to re-apply new cream.


And here is Colt today. Just a mild discoloring where the really bad part of the burn was. Seriously, Colt was pain free after the first night. He is such a freakin trooper!

Life on "The Farm"

So technically, I wouldn't call it a farm. We have meat rabbits, laying hens, a rooster and two goats. One of whom might be pregnant. And when and if she has her baby, we will be able to milk her! So, I wouldn't call it a farm, but its a pretty decent start, right?

Here are a few pics:

The different colored eggs... the white chickens lay white eggs, the brown chickens lay the green eggs, and black and white chickens lay the brown/light brown eggs. We just recently started getting the green eggs and Colt is SO exciting to have them!

This is one of two of our meat rabbits. They are huge! We got a male and female and yes they are called meat rabbits because we intend on breeding them and eating them! I believe that animals can be used for our liking, only if we eat them sparingly and not in a ravishing manner. So, we're not just going to be slaughtering hundreds of rabbits all the time. We have read that rabbits are really easy to skin and prepare and rabbit meat is high protein and super low fat. Doctors have often put patients on rabbit meat diets because it is so lean and healthy. So we'll look forward to that.

The boys after egg collecting.

Charley hangin out with our boy goat, Al.

Colt getting the eggs from the nesting boxes. We are not getting a steady flow of eggs because the hens egg production goes way down in the winter. Some days we will get 6 eggs, some days we will only find 2 or 3 in there. We have 9 hens and they should be laying an egg a day each. So maybe in the summer when its warm we'll get all the hens to lay an egg a day each.

This is our chicken coop. on the bottom left there is a little ladder for the chickies to go in an out. And inside is their food and water. On the back there are the nesting boxes. This coop is cool because you just lift the back door there and grab the eggs. That's Colt, its heavy.

The goats are a bit annoying when we let them out to just roam. The goats and chickens have a really big fenced in area with their own shelters and food. And most people would just keep them all in their area all the time. Its big enough, it really is a big area. BUT its dead! The chickens plucked all the grass and the goats eat the trees. So if its a nice day out and we're just hanging around, I'll let them all out. Our 10 acres is all fenced in so I don't worry about the animals straying. But holy cow! These goats are so annoying! This is a pic of them just standing at our front door, waiting for food. Literally, they will eat anything and they act like they are starving all the time! Most people wouldn't even buy hay for them, but we do. Because they have 10 acres of grass and trees and shrubs to roam around and eat whatever they want! But no, they sit there at our front door and wait for leftovers. Yes, they've been spoiled, we always throw out leftovers for the goats and chickies

Our flock

Yeay! We finally installed our wood burning stove! So one of my city friends was so amused that we put in a wood burning stove. She called us pioneers! But on the flip side of that, I had a fellow Anza friend come over the other day and the first thing she said was, "ooo, what a beautiful stove!" HA. So out here, every house runs on propane for their heat. The big propane trucks come out and fill up our propane tanks when they are low. We don't have the gas company like in the city. So, in case you didn't know, propane is expensive! Nobody turns on their thermostat heater out here, because it will literally cost $450 / month just to heat the house moderately. And most of the houses that we looked at already had wood burning stoves in them. That's just what you do out here! So here is the process from start to finish:

You can't just put the stove on the carpet. It gets so hot, it will burn right through the floor. So you have to either buy a hearth (pronounced HARTH) pad, or make your own. Well, we did buy one, it is a non combustible pad thing, but it was corny looking. So we went through the process of making our own. So you beat together powder and water to make mortar.

Here is Nathan starting the hearth (and by the way, I did just as much of this work as he did. Except for when I stopped to take pics) we start with a cement board, then brick and mortar on top of that.

The next morning, you fill in the spaces with more mortar grout stuff. Seriously, its like Martha Stewart for men. Look at that oversized cake decorating bag!

This is the finished Hearth! Pretty hard core.

So, you have to wait for a nice sunny day to work on the actual installation. There is piping that goes from the top of the stove, through the ceiling and out the roof. So, literally, you cut a hole in the ceiling up through the roof. Har har har...such a dude.

Yeay! The hole in the roof! This picture is taken from the inside of the house, where the stove is. Nathan always smiles about things. That's one of the kabillion things that I love about him. He looks at everything as an adventure. Ha. I have a really bad habit of laughing at him when he actually does get in a bad mood. I'll just laugh because its just not him.

This is a bad picture and its sideways, but it shows how grimy and dirty my daddio was getting. Look at his hands.

And the final product!! Ahhh, so nice and cozy! By the way, these few pics do NOT give the whole project justice. It was hours on end of being up on the roof. And back down, going to the hardware store, calling people who actually know what they're doing, taking parts back that don't fit, buying and ordering the right parts....anyway, it was a great learning process. And NO there isn't an Anza handyman that just does stoves. Trust me, I checked, and everybody says its just kind of a Do It Yourself project!

So the wood doesn't just show up at our doorstep by the way. That's actually a service project that the guys do out here. Nathan traded his city truck in when we moved here, for a beefy 4 wheel drive. They 4X4 it up the mountain, spend a couple hours chainsawing wood, then bring it back down. You have to stack it neatly by the side of the house and make sure to put a tarp over it so it doesn't get rained on. Ha. SO PIONEER!

More Trailorific-ness

So I do find Trailorific things around here every once in a while. Here are a couple that really stick out.

1. Our laundry area is just off of the kitchen. Not quite in its own room, but in its own cozy little nook, out of the way of things. So when I'm in the kitchen and the washer is going, the spin cycle will literally make the kitchen floor rumble. Like a bit of an earthquake feeling! Yes, our floor shakes during our washer spin cycle. So, is that just a super powerful washer, or could it be...Trailorific!?

2. I can literally vacuum the whole house without changing where I plug the vacuum in. There's an outlet literally right in the middle of the place, so I have to use that one particular outlet. But! Vacuuming is a breeze around here without having to change where the plug goes every time I go too far. HA! So, because the place is big enough for us, without feeling cramped, I'm going to call this just pure....cozy....trailorific!

Our family is growing!

So last weekend we went to Temecula with a big ole grocery shopping list. Out here, we go grocery shopping every 2 weeks. So the list is very calculated according to what dinners, snacks, lunches, breakfasts we will be having for the next two weeks. And I have my path through Winco that I go, so I itemize my list according to how I jet through the store.
Anyway, I had my list in hand, we were dropping Colt off at a friends' house, it was all set. But Nathan had a different plan. He was calling ranches in Temecula while I was working on my shopping list to pick up more animals.
So a whole afternoon later, and no Winco trip, we came back with 5 more hens, a rooster, and two goats. All in hubby's truck. In fact, we even went through a Mcdonald's drive through with the sweet little goat on my lap!
Can anybody else say they went into town for a grocery shop, but came back with livestock instead??.....You know you're a Redneck when....

So the new colorful Hens are really cool. They lay brown and green eggs. The Goats are Nubian goats. The black is female and the brown is male. We named them Peggy and Al. Girl goats cycle twice a year (that's when they most likely get pregnant if there's a dude around) and the rancher that we bought her from said she is most likely pregnant. Soooo....that means, after she has her baby, we get milk! And supposedly she has very silky udders. (A selling point? If you're goat shopping?)

Our humble home

I've been holding out of pics of the house because we're not done yet. We've only primered the walls so we haven't put up any pictures or decorations. But here is what we're starting with. Notice our headboard made of pillows for our bed!
Also the entry way wall is the wrong yellow. But I'm showing off my cool homemade hat rack!

Halloween

Okay, these are totally chesy pictures of Colt and Charley. They are just standing there posing for the camera. AND I have to defend myself with Colt's mummy costume. It looked much cooler in real life! He wore it for school on Friday, then for his schools trunk or treat that night. Then on saturday for a birthday/halloween party. Then for trick or treating. And each time, he would stand there while I would wrap him all up in different shreds of sheet. It was fun and he loved putting it on. And every time, he got a ton of compliments. So, anyway, the pics don't show you how cool and mummified he really looked.
Also, Charley's classic dracula costume: Nathans Grandma sewed it for him when he was 2!! So that costume was handmade 30 years ago. And some of you may remember Colt wearing it a couple Halloweens ago. Thanks Melody! That thing is like, such a huge hit!