New babies and friends

Thelanore and Teddy's first litter was born on Thursday, May 30th! We were blessed with 5 bouncing babies! All five babies and momma are doing well! 

We also received a new friend on June 1st! A bouncing 9 month old baby girl ferret! 

She's our first ferret, and we are very excited to get to know her and enjoy the new world of ferrets! :) 

               It's been an exciting week of new babies for sure! 

New parents to be

 Exciting news!

Thelanore and Teddy are expecting!! 

Teddy has been a dad many times over, but this will be Thelanore's first litter. Fingers crossed that she's fertile! 

 

Bunny love is hard work! Snicker! 

Due date is : May 27-30th , and the babies will be ready for their new homes the fourth week of July! Can't wait to meet our new babies!

A river runs through it. No really, a river, in my backyard

So this is how this went down. While working in the gardens, suddenly my husband stands up and says " hey honey, what do you think about....." (this is the moment I always get very nervous, and look at him warily, because you never know whats coming when he says that sentence, lol!) "about a RIVER in the yard!" :) :) :) (<--- that's his great big grin, lol. He's always wanted a river in the yard. Me, I want a LAZY river, inner tube and all, but that's not the kind he was thinking of! lol) I stood there staring at him, but honestly had no reason to tell him no. That's actually a parenting philosophy of ours. We really try to not say no to the kids doing something unless we have a real valid reason for it. It's worked out quite well. Soooo, having no valid reason why we couldn't or shouldn't build a river, that's exactly what we did! Here's how we did it. 

First we took an old hot tub we had laying around, (it has electrical problems. So while it still holds water, it does not run) and turned it into a water fountain pond. (many thanks to my daughter for the idea!) 

Lets get started!

Our ground is very un-level, so we used sand to create a level pad for the actual hot tub...........

Welcome Silkies

Our silkies are here! Our silkies are here!!! 

Our silkies hatched on April 18 and they are one week old today! They are just precious! Tiny little things and too too cute! We have two whites, a black, and a blue splash. They are going to be so fun! Now they just need names! hmmm!

this pic shows the difference in the black and the blue splash a little better

sooo cute with their fuzzy cheeks and furry feet!

I LOVE ME SOME FUZZY CHICKEN BUTTS!!! :) :) :)

In other news, the big girls enjoyed a yummy meal worm snack today :) 

whatchu lookin at willis?? 

Bunny Boomers

Come meet the newest members of the homestead! 

Yesterday we brought home some wonderful new members of our mini lop breeding program. They are proven in their show performance and past litters, and we are excited to see what they bring to our program!  

Meet TEDDY: a two year old broken black torte, false dwarf buck. 

Love his large head and his sweet teddy bear personality!

This is COPPER: a one year old solid black torte buck. 

He's like the energizer bunny, he just keeps going and going! :) 

And this princess is LULU! A 10 week old broken blue doe.

She is the SWEETEST & CUTEST THING EVER!!

Lulu cuddled with me for four hours of our trip home, just licking me and snuggling away! 

Furniture upcycle - bench

I just love upcycleing furniture! I get to use my most favorite tool. PAINT! 

I was given this wood bench. Its a nice sturdy bench, but needs a fresh pop of color :) 

Tada! So pretty! I know I know, you want to know the color. :) At least I always do when I read blogs. I'm usually like - yea, yea, yea, just tell us the COLOR! lol! Well ok, the color I used is Valspar's "Seaflower" . (found at Lowes)  :) And there ya have it :) 

Pretty Pond Filtration

He's at it again! My husband has come up with a beautiful pond filtration system! I feel the need to remind you ladies that he's taken! ;) 

We purchased this pretty plastic pot, and are going to turn it into a pond filter!

First he drilled a hole in the bottom and used a drain connection for an evaporative cooler, to connect the hose to the pump. This attachment  is water tight and prevents leaks. 

Next he drilled holes to create a fountain effect. There is a delicate balance between too many holes and not enough. You don't want the water to overflow the pot, and you don't want too big of a hole where it doesn't shoot out. We started with just a few tiny holes, and  then after we filled it with water and let the pump run, we then added a few more and then made a couple just slightly bigger until we found the best combination for our needs.

Then he places some chicken wire inside, so that water can fill the bottom.

Then he tucks in evaporative cooler pads for filtration. The water pumps into the bottom, is forced to travel through the filter media, and then out the pre-drilled holes. 

We placed some cinder blocks into the pond for a stand, and wallah!  A beautiful filtration system! This is the best filtering system we've tried yet, and it's so pretty! :)