Washingtonians

[Stumpfarmer]

Oh, well, my fun day has now included being logged off of absolutely everything. Including something I just remembered that I need to log in to again, ugh.

For a day I didn't feel like doing anything I've actually gotten a lot done, and all of the outside stuff has been complicated by tethering the sheep where he can get to me every time I leave the back door and demand scritches and attention and ask if it's time for alfalfalfalfaaaaa yet (which it isn't, he gets a cup at sunset and another one when the dogs go out the last time). The chickens all got sweet potatoes and brown rice atop their usual rations, except for Elvis, who got rosehips today instead (he won't eat anything that's not cold). And washed a load of jeans.

I need to take a picture of Bacchus' fleece, it's amazingly deep; Jacob's don't felt easily, or crimp much in the rain, so you see every inch of the staple. I was talking to a spinner at the fair last summer and she had all sorts of disapproving things to say about Jacob's Sheep, most of which came down to them being too small. He gets a pint of alfalfa a day, and is still working on the same bale of orchard grass I bought before Hallowe'en, and is the sweetest animal to handle I've ever owned (except for one Holstein, long ago) so I'll keep him.

 

[Stumpfarmer]

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Wise woman, thou.

 

[Chickielady]

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I asked you if you were selling his fleece already, are you, and if so, I am interested!
Mom cards, dyes, and spins, and then knits, in her 80s, and she loves a good fleece, I am always trying to make her happy.

 

[Stumpfarmer]

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I asked you if you were selling his fleece already, are you, and if so, I am interested!
Mom cards, dyes, and spins, and then knits, in her 80s, and she loves a good fleece, I am always trying to make her happy.

The fleece is promised to DD's friend Ellen, if she still wants it. It's going to have a lot of vm, although I'm picking the big chunks of hay out regularly! I won't have him sheared until February, probably, although I may get him crutched next month- he's getting grubby in his butt and belly.

 

[SadieSue]

Thank you to those of you who appreciated the Peanut Butter Fudge I brought to the pot luck last weekend. I am so NOT confident about my kitchen skills that it's nice to hear good feedback about something I've made.

The recipe is just my improvised modification of the Fantasy Fudge recipe on the side of the Marshmallow Creme jar. I doubled the recipe to fill a 9X13 pyrex baking dish. Feel free to use this and play around with it as you wish. Any kind of chips could be used - Baker's chocolate is suggested, but I've seen white chocolate, mint chocolate, etc. in the baking aisle. Any would work. Different nuts or no nuts at all - whatever you desire.

Peanut Butter Fudge (Doubled Recipe, about 6 lbs.)

5 Cups Sugar
3 sticks butter or margarine
1 (12 oz). can evaporated milk
2 pkg. peanut butter chips
3/4 - 1 Cup peanut butter
2 jars (7 oz) Jet Puffed Marshmallow Creme
1 -2 Cups chopped peanuts
2 tsp. vanilla

Lightly grease pyrex dish with butter or margarine on bottom and sides, (enough to prevent sticking.) Bring sugar, butter and milk to full rolling boil in large saucepan on medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil 4 to 5 minutes or until 234 degrees on candy thermometer, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.

ADD peanut butter chips, marshmallow creme and peanut butter. Stir until melted. Stir in peanuts and vanilla. Pour into pyrex dish. Cool. Cut into bite sized pieces.

My daughter has asked me to greet her at the door with a plate of this when she comes home for Christmas next weekend. I love a kid who pretends to miss her Mom's cooking just to make her feel good.

 

[Chickielady]

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I asked you if you were selling his fleece already, are you, and if so, I am interested!
Mom cards, dyes, and spins, and then knits, in her 80s, and she loves a good fleece, I am always trying to make her happy.

The fleece is promised to DD's friend Ellen, if she still wants it. It's going to have a lot of vm, although I'm picking the big chunks of hay out regularly! I won't have him sheared until February, probably, although I may get him crutched next month- he's getting grubby in his butt and belly.

Need to sheer the butt then, and help prevent larvae anyways.
I love his colors.

 

[jbear]

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I am so making this!! It was sooo numilicious

I also just heard peanut butter is going to be very expensive soon due to the droughts down south .. Peanut butter fudge will a delicacy...

 

[Chickielady]

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Oh I wrote it all down!!!!!!!!!

 

[SadieSue]

When DH and I came home from Chehalis last weekend, I was pleasantly surprised by my first really dark brown egg in one of the nest boxes. I've gotten 4 of those in the past week, sometimes paired with a pretty "peach" egg from one of the Faverolles girls. The new dark eggs are LARGE. No tiny pullet eggs from whomever is providing them.

I've gotten a few eggs from Illia's Araucana, surprised at how large they are since she is half the size of my largest birds!

So, I'm pretty sure these dark eggs are from one of my pullets since they are much darker than what my Barnevelder was laying and the Barnie is just now coming out of her molt. (Barnie egg is in the middle) Any guesses who deserves extra treats for the deed? The candidates are either my Black Copper Marans (hatched from Illia's eggs), OR my Golden Cuckoo Marans/Light Sussex girl hatched from the fertile egg I snatched from CGG's Light Sussex the day I brought her home. Is it possible that cross could produce eggs this dark?

I can't wait until everyone is producing again. I just love a colorful egg basket!

From left to right -
Mystery dark egg layer/Barnie egg in the middle from just before the molt/Salmon Faverolles on the right /Araucana eggs in the front

 

[Chickielady]

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Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh so beautiful!!!!!!!!!!
Awesome basket of eggs!!