Up at Night

So...I am awake...at 12:54 am, cleaning my house. Lots of reason play into this. For one, I am awake. Two, the boys are both asleep. Three, My house is a mess. Laundry need washing, bathrooms need scrubbing, and my bedroom needs rearranged. My little boy clothes need sorted before wednesday, so I know what I am keeping and what I am selling/discarding. I need to know. I really want my home clean. I hate looking at it, and I hate even more OTHER people looking at it.

Two weeks till I graduate from all the extra stuff I am doing to keep my sons with me. One month till my case (possibly) closes with DHS. For the first time since I was 15 (that's 6 1/2 yrs for those of you who are counting) I will not have a case open with DHS. My own OR a child's. Sometime this next month I am going to see my daughter. I am so busy with so many things going on it's simply crazy!

So I am up at night. Cleaning.

four day old kits

Clover, the Mini Lop

He is the Daddy to my new litter out of Spooky. I gave him away because I decided to go with meat rabbits, maybe keeping one pet. He did make cute buns, though.

Spooky the Pet-Sized Rabbit

This rabbit has an interesting color. The rusty patches you can only see well in bright light, and she has a bit of white on her face and scattered white hairs. Anyone care to guess at breed and/or color?

She is the Mommy to my first litter, now two days old.

New Litter!

The two spotted babies are what I was breeding for. The one with the smaller saddle specifically. The black one is the smallest, and I think the runt of the litter. It get tired easy and doesn't eat as well. There are two gray ones, one of which is the largest. And a baby brown one. Maybe a tort?

MIni Lop mix bunnies, don't kinow what mama is, but man, are the little ones sweet! She had a litter of six live, healthy kits.

New Rabbits

I have met someone online that I am buying a herd of rabbits from! I am getting two bucks and six does, NZ and Cals, split down the middle! This winter I'll be able to begin breeding, and it will be 2 does, mixed breed babies, every month!

Birthing Babies

A very important skill to have is the ability to deliver a baby yourself or assist, if it is called upon.

Babies are born all the time, and some come faster than expected (cue Tristan's crying). And if TEOTWAWKI were to arrive, you can say goodbye birth control pills, shots, and other forms of hormonal contraception. People will not stop having sex, and so babies will continue to be born. (except in the case of some chemical warfare or something similar....)

Someone will have to assist the terrified, pregnant women who have been indoctrinated to believe that pregnancy and childbirth are a scary, deadly in half of the cases, proposition. If you are rural or there is a massive die-off, you may end up being the only person knowledgable about birthing, and possibly the only person period. Perhaps you are alone delivering your own child.

Make it a priority (male or female) to learn basic birthing practices, and buy (and study) the book Emergency Childbirth. It could come in handy some day.

Bathing in Minimal Water

So, while I am looking into ways to save my family (and stay happy) should SHTF, I have realized there will no longer be half an hour showers, or baths that fill up the ENTIRE bathtub  water for the free taking. There may be a terrible shortage of water. How will we stay clean?!!

Enter the sponge bath.

Now, most people don't realize this, but it is not vital to use soap in daily bathing rituals, and if we were to cut down on that, we would also save money on lotion and other products. Water and a washrag (if that) is a great cleaning routine by itself. Now, if all you have is a small bowlful of water, you will have to be careful what you wash in what order. You won't want to wash your bottom before you clean your face, for example. Here is my sponge bath routine....sans soap (since I may not have water to rinse well afterward).

Breasts, belly, back. These places are covered and so basically clean, except for sweat and body oils.
Face, neck, arms. Next in line as basically clean, but exposed to dirt.
Hands, legs, feet. Probably the dirtiest places so saved for almost last. The only "dirtier" place is....
Genital area. Front, then back. If you have two rags, it may be good to use one on the womans "front" when the water is clean and new, but if there is only one, I am cleaning the rest of me first.

About Me

What is your name?
Shara

Do you believe in true love?
Yes I am married to him :)

How many kids do you have/want?
3/10

What is your perfect habitat?
Forest by a spring, and a meadow with sun.

What is your favorite Color?
I don't know, but I think green right now.

Where do you like to eat?
In front of the computer, but am working on changing to the kitchen table.

How old are you?
21

If you could be anything in the world, what would it be?
A farm wife with loads of babies...

How do you want to affect the world?
I would like to influece people to change the way they veiw food, and inspire people to be more self suffieciant, no matter where they live.

Hiding Your Rabbits...Secrecy

If you live in a pet-friendly complex, you may not have to worry about hiding your rabbits, or at least not the fact that you have a couple. This makes it easier. It helps to explain the fact that you have rabbit food, and if you have a balcony you may even be able to put a couple out there, maybe rotate them.

But maybe you live in a complex with a strict no-pet policy. It may be wise to not have pets at all in this case, or maybe you can ask your doctor to prescribe you a pair of rabbits. If a Dr. prescribes them, there is nothing the owners can do, but let you have them. This is probably the best way, although they won't want you to breed them (probably no complex is going to be okay with THAT) so you will still need to keep the babies on the down low.

But this is about hiding your rabbits. Period.

Rule #1 in getting away with animals in a no-pet complex...NO ONE can know about them. If you let neighbors in on your secret, eventually they will also get pets, and when someone gets caught, you can bet your sweet ass that your name will pop up. I know this from experience. In my case, the manager knew I had animals (ferrets, to be exact) and was totally okay with it, but the complex had a no-pet policy, so it was on the down low. A couple of people found out, and then someone else came up with ferrets, and yet another person reported THEM. When they were told they had to get rid of them, they threatened to blow the whistle on me (and did). The managers played stupid to the owners about my animals, and I was forced to find new homes for ALL my pets. Lesson learned.

Of course, this is going to be easier said than done. With my ferrets, I kept them in my living room, and so everyone that visited knew about them. I now live in a townhouse apartment, and my rabbits are kept not only upstairs (where I don't typically invite people anyways) but in a bedroom, so I can shut the door on them if need be, and thus no one is the wiser. Now the biggest problem I have is keeping my own big mouth shut and remembering that no one else is supposed to know about them. Disposing of the poop, and bringing food also pose potential problems. Keep these in mind when planning your rabbits...and remeber to think about people peeking through windows. Plan your cages around that as well.

More to come....

Cleaner Homes, One Night at a Time

I have the bad habit of not cleaning when the kids are up. It's so hard. My toddler, for example, is the King of Helping Out, and wants to involve himself in anything I happen to be trying to do. My newborn just wants to be held.

But Caelin. The Helper. He loves to cook, mop, wash dishes, and clean windows. Never mind that he is only two and doesn't do so good a job....never mind that he is making more work for me, and half the time his brother is crying for food when Caelin desides to "help". He honestly thinks that his input is valuable. He really doesn't get that I could have it done better, faster, without him. He is heartbroken if I tell him to go away and play. So I clean while he is asleep.

Now, the house can nget in quite the disaray while I wait for the energy and time to clean my home. Most days I feel very accoplished if I can manage to get meals on the table and the kitchen mopped. Laundry gets washed, but seldom folded. When I do fold it, it never makes it upstairs, and I end up washing clean clothes because I can't remember what is dirty.

Tonight is a cleaning night. The kitchen is cleaned, the laundry folded. I am washing bedding, which smells like pee. Eew. The baby is sleeping, and I know tommorrow I will be exhausted. But at least the house will be cleaner. Maybe this time I can maintain, and in a week or two, when I have the energy, I will stay up again, and clean more of the house. Maybe, if I am really good about it, I can eventually get my whole house spotless, and even keep it that way.

Maybe.

Learning To be a Mommy

Eight days ago I had a little boy. His name is Tristan, and he joins his older brother, Caelin, and has an even older sister, Rebecca. I have been a "mommy" for years now, and even as a kid, I watched my own brothers and sisters...so it's not like I am new to the mothering business.

But with Tristan's birth, something changed. I went from being a mom (as in, someone who had given birth and was taking care of a child) to being a mommy. I now look at my boys, and I feel like a mommy to them. I look at my house (even when no one is expected) and I feel a level of shame that I had not experienced before. I look at my almost empty cupboards and wonder what would I do if I were to lose all ability to purchase foods for my family. I look at the three guys living with me, and feel like a family.

I am aware now of so many shortcomings and I see now so many places where I could (and need to) improve. Bedtime, mealtime, bibletime. We haven't been acting like a family so much as roommates that all live together. I had no idea at all,, but now I can see the difference in how I need to be, and I have the motivation to achieve it.

New Schedules

I am trying to get in the habit of better habits :) and it is not going so well :(. I got up very early (for me) this morning and plan on cleaning the rest of my house today and setting everything up to be ready when my mom is in town. Oh, yeah, and for when the baby is born, which should be anytime now. I keep forgetting about that part. :D

I am nine days overdue now, and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight. No real contractions, no nothing. Each day my stretch marks are a bit longer, a touch redder. Every day, people comment on my "not popped" status. Very interesting, but no, I have not popped, yet.

And nope, I still don't know what the baby is yet. I'll know soon, though.

And in the meantime I can try and screw up our schedules in the interest of health and happiness...

Meat Adversion

How many people do you know who gladly eat meat in the form of hamburger or chicken thighs, even hotdogs and sausage, but are repulsed by the idea of eating dog or snails or horse? You may very well be one of those people.

An article on FOXNews says:

"They're really mellow like a dog. They like to be brushed and are very sociable � they will come if you call them," he said.
Sowers said the cows love people � and that the feeling is mutual. He's had buyers take the li�l animals back to homes from Florida to Hawaii.

"They're real people-oriented animals," Sowers said. "They have a wonderful disposition. And I found that there's a lot of people who want little cows for pets."
They can also be taught tricks. One man trained one of his cows to lie down while another one leaps over it, Pillard said.

"Cattle are smarter than people think," he said.
And cheaper. Pillar said it costs only about $30 a month to keep a mini cow in hay in winter. In the summer, as long as you've got grass in the yard, your cow will feed itself for free �and keep your lawn trimmed.

But don't count on having your little bovine friend curling up at your feet like a cat or dog: Miniature cows are not indoor animals.

"They don't take up a lot of room, but they're still large animals and still weigh quite a bit," Pillard said. "I don't know if they could be housetrained."

There are, however, a couple of pretty impressive benefits to miniature cows that even a cuddly puppy can't match.

"They can produce up to two gallons of milk a day, just enough for a small family to meet their needs as far as milk goes," Pillard said.

Chickens can be kept indoors, and there are even many patterns for chicken diapers, so that the animals don't poop in the house. Or rather, so that their poop is contained. People have specifically bred pot bellied pigs as companions, not that they are any more intelligent than their counterparts destined for your MC Donald's sausage patty, but look different, much like different breeds of dogs look different.

So why the aversions? Is it possible that the same creatures we are used to and love could serve as double duty creatures? All too possible, actually. Rabbit meat is extremely healthy and eco-aware, being easy on the earth to feed and house many rabbits. Shelters are packed with healthy dogs and cats that are euthanized everyday, only because no one has wanted to adopt them. About four million cats and dogs are put down every year, or one every eight seconds. That could feed alot of hungry people. Of course

In the last census, there were about 297,831,960 people in the US. In order for that all the dogs and cats to be saved from shelters (only the ones that are put down) four million cats and dogs would have to find a home EACH YEAR. That's in ADDITION to all the pets already, and all the animals who are abused, neglected, and is not counting strays. Look at horses. I see horses on Craigslist that are free. Not because they are bad horses, but because their owners can no longer afford them. Those horses would make great cheap meat.

Don't get me wrong, I don't really believe that culture can get over this hang up about certain animals, but I think we should question it. I think that it makes no sense at all, when the animals that we do eat are also sweet, intelligent creatures, and we eat them all. Maybe we should think about it.