18 weeks

Yesterday was the start of 18 weeks!  The bump is pretty obvious now :)

 

In fact, I'm really only wearing maternity clothes now.  Thanks Megan for sending the box stuffed full of cute clothes!

 

Horses and Flowers

Peanut came home from Horsin' Around for a little break between sessions so I decided to let him hang out with Mow and Rabi to graze. He seems to really enjoy their company and definitely doesn't know that he's half their size! 

 

Peanut still goes back to his pen at night so that he doesn't get too much grass, although he likes to eat out of the big boy hay feeders too.

 

Springtime for horses also means it's time for the annual vet appointment.  I took Rabi and Mow to a friend's house (to split the barn call fee) and both horses got their annual vaccines as well as a dental float/exam.  If you haven't seen a horse having it's teeth filed, here are a few photos.  They are both sedated and the vet uses a power tool to file down any sharp points they have grown over the last year.  They had their feet trimmed the day before so it was quite an eventful week in horse care!

 

 

The "drunken" line up as we call it; waiting for the boys to wake up enough to trailer them home.

 

 

One other project I've been slowly working on was re-mulching the flower beds.  I got a load of wood chips and it took me three days to freshen up all of the beds with it.  Being pregnant sure has slowed me down!

 

I haven't mulched in a few years so this should last a while and I was glad to get it done while I can still be relatively active.

Fencing

Another item on our BB list was to finish installing the permanent horse fencing around our pastures.  My dad set the last 15 wooden posts while my parents were visiting and Matthew and I stretched the fencing over the next two weekends.  Here Matthew ties a new roll of fence to the end of the last section we installed.

 

Our fence stretcher really got a workout over the last year!

 

Matthew has also become quite the professional fence installer.  (I helped too, despite how the photos look, haha)

 

The last section of fence was tricky because we did not have any trees to use as an anchor.  Instead, we put our truck to work!

 

 

The photo doesn't really do it justice, but the horse pasture and mini pen is now finished!

Around the House

Before the freeze yesterday the azaleas were gorgeous! The white ones in front of the house are finally getting large enough to have a lot of blooms.

 

I moved these azaleas up to the house right after we moved in and I think that they like their current location.

 

I've been feeling a little better in the evenings and we finally were able to go out to eat and dancing last weekend.  We've also been playing games in the evening after work and finally got out the game I gave Matthew for this birthday.  It's a camel racing game and was surprisingly entertaining. 

 

Finally, the foxes in our horse pasture were out with their new cubs earlier this week.  I managed a few photos before momma fox decided that I was too close and left.  We'll enjoy watching these babies grow up and play!

The BB List

Our home improvement list has recently changed into the Before Babies (BB) list!  We started working on it when my parents stopped by on their way back from Florida.  Matthew and I have been covering the walls of the tack room and with the extra help of Mom and Dad we were able to install the ceiling.  Once the ceiling was up Dad helped me put up some shelves and hang photos.

 

Now one half of the tack room is done!  The shelves made room for the horse trophies to move out of the purple room in the house (the future nursery) and the finished walls needed a few photos.  It might be another five years before we finish the other half, but I'm excited to have this part finished.

 

 

I've also been working on the garden and getting everything planted.  The snap peas, lettuce, carrots, potatoes, onions, broccoli, and popcorn are already planted and the tomatoes, herbs, eggplant, and peppers are growing inside.  The late freeze we had today has set back a few of my plants but the warm spring has most things ahead of schedule.  We will be adding two more raised beds soon and adding more carpet to cut down on the amount of weed eating needed this summer.

Check Up

The kids and I had two check-ups this week.  Monday we saw the specialist for some quick measurements and everything checked out just fine.  Today we saw my regular doctor for a few more measurements and lots of questions (from me).  Here's a photo of the top of both babies' heads.  All is going according to schedule!
 

Rabbits - Warning, slightly graphic

We recently dispatched several rabbits and have made some improvements in the process.  If you are squeamish or don't want to know more, please skip ahead to the next post!

 

First, we bought a new hanger to replace the old ropes we used to use.  The metal one is sturdy and very easy to use.  Plus, we mounted a bucket below to catch the scraps.

 

Next, I've been working on using more parts of the rabbit so that we have less waste.  I read about someone using the dehydrated ears as dog treats so I gave that a shot.  Of course, we don't have a dog so these will go to someone else's lucky pooch!

 

I also saved all of the fat from the 13 rabbits we butchered.  Some were fairly fatty so I ended up with a lot!   Here it is before starting to render.

 

After many hours and two days of watching over the cooking, the fat was finally all rendered.  The finished oil is on the left and the "cracklings" are on the right.  We technically could have eaten these, but we weren't feeling that adventurous.

 

I plan on using this for a new soap recipe I found online.  I'll take more photos when I get around to making it.  We can also use it as a replacement for butter in recipes although it does have a little different odor to it.