About That Smile... 2nd Edition

Sooooo, this is the 2nd edition of showing the frustrating fun times had while trying to take pictures of the kids.  While little man is showing small improvements it wasn't too long ago he.... well.... take a look if you don't remember- About That Smile (1st Edition)
I guess its in the genes, little lady is following suit.  Recently I tried to take a picture to send to the grandparents for Valentines Day.  Here are a few out of the MANY attempts.

Say cheese-

Ok... lets subdue the 'cheese' part a bit-

A little too much subduing.  Just show a happy face-

Beavers and ducks! (an attempt to make them laugh to get a smile, instead I get what seems to be an  impersonation)-

Let's try cheese again-

Still not working.  How about fishy lips? (seems to be popular in selfies)-

This keeps going downhill.  Now baby girl's wardrobe isn't even cooperating-

Ok, just smile at your sister (not bad)-

Last resort, put the camera on rapid fire and cross your fingers-

Success!

Fact- its much easier to take a picture when they are not very mobile and unable look away from you.  So take as many pictures as you can while they are helpless.

Sigh, stayed tuned for the 3rd edition because I don't think they will outgrow this anytime soon.

CSI: Missing Chicken Edition

UPDATE- as of 2/27/24.  Found the other hens dead in their coop this morning.  I will spare you the gorey details but this attack seemed to have been a weasel. :(  Guess we will for sure be pullet shopping in the spring.
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More silliness but alittle sadness.

We had our first hen go missing this week.  It was  Penny, one of the Ameraucanas, that layed colored eggs.  Sniff, sniff.  Penny is the copper colored one in the front here-

Question is what happened to her?  There is no sign of any foul play (or fowl play).  Crime scene is clean-

But we investigated...

And investigated...

There were a few feathers found coming from the coop but not enough to raise suspicion.

This guy is the most likely suspect but there still should have been traces of a struggle.

Hmmmm...

I have my guess what happened but its not interesting enough to share.  Questionable whether this entire post was interesting enough to share.  Guess we will be pullet shopping in the spring.  I would like a Barred Rock but really like those Easter Egg laying varieties.  Decisions, decisions.

Much more interesting post about our chickens-
Keeping Chickens is it Worth It, Are Free Range Hens Eggs Better?
MTV Cribs, The Pullet Chalet

Curing Hams

We are attempting to cure our own hams this winter.
Mainly for two reasons:

1. The place we send our pigs to de-bones the hams and smokes them, the hams are usually small and somewhat dry (granted they are not injected with solution like the store hams).
2. After Jonathan ate my parent's home cured country hams he fell in love.  You can't get anything like that around here that I know of.  Maybe something similar at a specialty store possibly but would be expensive.

So with my parent's counsel we are trying to cure our own.  I hope I wrote down the correct notes over the phone from my Dad.  At the time I was over due pregnant and more brain challenged than usual.

Here is what we did-

We started with one of our FRESH hams.  Not one that talks back, but one that has not been smoked or cured.  The ones at the store are usually smoked or cured to cut down on cooking time.  Our meat processing house gave us one full fresh ham back cut into the two standard pieces: the shank and the butt-

The Butt End is what it implies, the butt or buttocks of the pig.  The Shank is the part below the butt, so more like the pigs back thigh area.

Here is our Butt and Shank (the shank ham already has the rub on it).  They are about 8-10 lbs each.

Here is the recipe my Dad gave me.  I had to search around for Salt Petre (potassium nitrate) but was finally able to get it through the CVS pharmacy for around $5.  Its available online also.

2 cups brown sugar, 1 cup table salt, 3 teaspoon black pepper, 1 teaspoon salt petre-

Rub it on to about 1/8" thickness.  It also exfoliates your hands.

Then we wrapped them in butchers paper.  I was told not to use any waxy type paper so the meat can breath and drip out juices.  Now they just need to cure for around 30-40 days in temperatures between 32-40 degrees Fahrenheit.  The old timers would hang the hams in their smoke house.  We plan to do the same in our shed but temperatures have been really cold here this month.  Right now the hams are curing in our frig.  

If the temperature is below freezing then its not a big deal, the hams just won't cure due to being too cold.  Therefore you would have to allow for more curing days.  If temperature gets above 40 degrees though then the meat could spoil.

Crossing my salty fingers it works!  We will let you know.

Just Some Snow Pics

Taking it easy, but I am missing sharing pictures and such.  So here are some random photos from around the homestead during these cold snowy days.

These are the faces they give me when I ask them to look at the camera and smile.... maybe I should start trying reverse psychology?

Oh wait, they looked at the camera-

I have to say, even the cats and rodents make more sensical roadways than the ones here in New England (they are straight, I always love those "S" curves on I-95).  Those twigs are our asparagus plants, looking forward to this coming season harvest of them.

Here is the rat highway to the chicken coop.... they are snatching food from their feeder.... or maybe both enjoy company during these cold winter months.

A note about salmonella (from my understanding)-  Eggs get contaminated with salmonella when a hen eats the feces of an infected rat.  When a hen is infected I hear it is quite obvious, she shows obvious signs of illness.  Then you know not to eat her eggs.

This is obviously where the rats live.  We plan to get rid of all these scrap piles in the spring to hopefully cut down on them.  The cats have really helped in this regard also (not removing scrap piles but killing some of the rats).

Ice sickles on the chicken coop wire.

Hens have been spending lots of time in the coop, very cold most days.  We don't heat their coop, we just try and keep it insulated with straw.  They are hardy girls.

Change of topic.....  Baby comparison pics.
Baby 1.0 at around 1 month old-

Baby 2.0 at around 1 month old-

Baby 3.0 at almost 1 month old-

We think she looks more like baby 1.0 (big brother) but with bigger cheeks and dark hair.... but its hard to tell.

I plan to start writing about real stuff again soon.... such as trying to cure our own hams and some house updates.  Bear with me please. :)