Amelia's Menagerie

     It is almost Christmas, as in only four more days until, and as most people experience around this time, I am quite busy trying to get presents bought/made for my family. Apart from the snow flurries a few days ago, it feels quite warm, and although I would normally love it, it is always nice to have some snow in the winter. I actually remember a few years ago, we were getting off for summer break at my homeschool co-op, and while we were having a party inside, it snowed two feet. When we were getting off for the SUMMER. Anyways, I am excited and a bit stressed about Christmas. The rats have been "helping" wrap things, as in running through empty cardboard tubes, trying to play hide and seek. I have been making hammocks, although sadly, I did not get an etsy account, or I would be selling them. My rats like their full size cube hammock the most, and sleep under, in, and on top of it. They are disappointed I am washing all their fleece right now, but they can just dea...

     Hi people, well, the rats have grown, the new ducks are being a bit more social, and it is almost Christmas! Yes, I have more pictures of the rats, and I have some pictures of the new ducks, as well. And, even some of the Christmas tree! I actually have a lot of things to say right now. One is that I have successfully litter trained one of my rats, and maybe another. Still working on Pearl, but Ruby is fully litter trained, and actually went out of her cubby where she loves hang out to use the litter box. I am one proud mama. It took less than a week, and she was not really thrilled with the box at first, unlike Onyx. Onyx, as soon as I put the box in, jumped in and tried the litter, to see if it was edible. It apparently was not, and she spat it out with disgust. She still likes it, and she has used it a few times, but not consistently. I have also lined the cage with fleece and they really like the soft fabric on top of the cold, hard wires. I have made sooooo...

     On December 14, I will be celebrating exactly 6 months of this blog. This will be my seventeenth post in six months, and on the actual date I will write another post, making an average of three posts a month. I have really enjoyed writing this blog, and I hope you enjoyed reading it. Okay, now my sweet, sentimental part is over, and it is time to get a bit less formal. Pictures! Oh, and by the way, these cuties are 7 1/2 weeks old. Ruby and Pearl. Onyx being cute, as always. White elephant awesome!     Also, I have started making adorable rat hammocks and hidy tubes, which will have pictures of them soon, and I will be selling them soon. My ratties love them! They are also great for any small animal, such as hamsters, mice, gerbils, etc. So, if you are interested, please ask, and I can make one for a few dollars, just because I went and bought new fleece, and they take a bit of time to make. All the best, Amelia

      Guys, I cannot do suspense, fancy intros, etc.,etc. You probably know that. So, I will just get straight to the point. Anthea, my sister, got me some adorable baby rats for Christmas. I know, it is early, but they are adorable, and I am teaching some of friends to take care of rats, so Mom, Dad, and Anthea surprised me with these cuties early, to help teach our friends how to care for rats. The cutie's names are Onyx, Ruby and Pearl. They are super friendly, and do not bite at all, at least not yet. Actually, as I am writing this, Onyx is sitting on my shoulder. She is black except her feet are white and she has a stripe all the way up her tummy. Ruby is named because of her eyes, which are magnificently beautiful. They actually do not creep any of us out at all. Pearl is a black hooded rat with a star on her forehead and spots all down her back. She is timid, but loves to run up and down your arms. Ok, enough of that, here are some pictures of the cuties. ...

     Okay, guys, I am super excited at the moment. We just got back from the farm down the road with our newest additions to the flock. They are super cute, both girls, and have tremendous attitudes already. We were very scared that the older ducks would traumatize our newbies, but as soon as they waddled in, they owned the place. They are really funny, and I cannot wait to get some more eggs tomorrow. Their names are Daisy Duck, who has patchy orange and grey feet, a blue bill, and a small white stripe on her neck, and Illya, who has patches of different colors of brown and white all over and a green bill. I know, I was going to name one Bella, but trust me, these girls are not that type of ducks to be called Bella. I will try and get you pictures of our own soon, but right now I will give pictures of their breed off the web.       So, anyways, I am very excited and am praying that the transitions of the pecking order will all go smoothly. But, you are...

     I ran through the forest as fast as I could to the small grove of trees I knew so well. I knew today would be the day they arrived. I could hardly breathe as I peeked under the large rock with the moss and ivy intertwined in its crevices. I carefully pulled the looser ivy blanket from the hollow space beneath the boulder. I heard some faint cheeps and held my breath as a low growl was expelled from the small cave. I reached in, getting pecked and growled at several times, and found my way under the wild turkey to feel some fluffy turkey chicks cheeping in protest as I carefully wrapped my fingers around one of them. Pulling her out, I heard the mother hen calling her back in. I carefully placed her in my large basket filled with hay. Mama will be so happy, I thought, as I quickly gathered the rest of the chicks and hatching eggs and placed them in my basket, along with the loudly protesting mother. Yes, this would make Mama happy at last. I quickly got up, being care...

     Okay guys, the rumors are true, I am still alive. Sorry for not posting for almost three weeks, I have been very busy, as we had a Narnian themed parents' dinner with our church's youth-group yesterday. I had a lot of work to do, and due to what the parents were eating being a surprise, it took all my energy to keep what I was baking concealed. I had to make meringues, gluten free rolls and cupcakes and sponge toffee. Thankfully, we got to the church at 11 am. on Saturday and managed to get some skits worked out and all the food prepared. I was Mrs. Beaver, and a very cute one at that, and my friend Ethan was Mr. Beaver. I was told we acted just like the beavers, even when we weren't trying to. We really should have worked ahead more, but everything turned out very well. I will try and get some pictures to you all at some point, but until then, you are just going to have to use your imagination. Okay, done with that, moving on. So what do you want me to talk about n...

      So, as you all probably know, I have been making baby hats recently. I am now more skilled and can make about one a day, and am at a good place to start selling hats. If you want one, please tell me how you want it in the comments. They are $5 each for striped, or 3 for $12,  $3.50  for plain, or $4 for patterned yarn. They are handmade and crocheted. The yarn I use is 85%  cotton, 15% polyester, and I can make plain unbleached white or brown hats with local alpaca wool for $15. Here is a picture of a striped baby boy beanie: This one was too wide and not long enough. I had made a mistake with the pattern. I have learned how to fix this since then.      I can also make matching scarves to go with hats, but these should not be used on babies. Scarves are $5 for plain, $7 for striped or patterned yarn. I can make doilies for $3, or coasters for $1.50. I am sorry for any inconveniences that may arise, as I cannot make exactly measured...

It has happened. I have reached the uniquely me part of my life where I am making baby hats 24/7 for friends, baking gluten free bread that actually tastes like bread, and celebrating when my beloved sister, Anthea, turned sixteen. Two big birthdays in one year: my thirteenth, her sixteenth. Life has been pretty good lately. We sent off a picture by email the day that it was due to enter into the Meyer hatchery catalog cover. The photo depicts one of our really cute chicks standing on our tractor/lawnmower, and I honestly think it could at least place. Oh, I love our chickens and ducks. All the fowl decided to molt, which means no eggs for a bit, except the one faithful duck whose egg that we get daily. The reason I have been crocheting hats is that so many of our family friends have babies right now. With one friend, I am trading ten hats or so for a laying duck. Pretty fair trade, in my opinion. The bread I have been baking tastes very good, or so I have heard, and I will hopefully...

       So, today is Anthea's 16th birthday, and I wanted to do something special for her. I finally settled on getting a bunch of pictures of her (you are welcome, Anthea) and posting them on my blog for her. Here they are! Flying a plane. Yes, she actually flew it. At the Color Me Rad 5k She loves hats.      . Anthea is on the left with the crazy hat.  Our whole family and my grandmother.      Well, I hope you enjoyed that, Anthea! (And other people who read my blog) and I hope you have a good Birthday.

     Well, it has finally happened. Fall has arrived, today, to be exact. Fall is probably my favorite time of year, and also the chickens', too. The colorful leaves, the pumpkins, the large quantity of eggs... The list goes on. I'm sorry I haven't been blogging as much lately, school has been really busy. The main problem with the chickens and fall is, wait for it, Hawks. We can't have free ranging in the fall because we would loose probably about half of our flock. Other than that, though, the chickens love fall. We have some squash and potatoes in the garden that will be ready soon, and our late planted tomatoes are FINALLY getting ripe. Emily, our newest rooster (I know what you are thinking, "His name's Emily?!?"), crowed yesterday for the very first time, even though it sounded like a cat dying, it was the best first crow I have ever heard. He is finally in with the flock and already trying to "help" some poor hens lay eggs by "talking...

     So, recently we have been going to a lot of parks nearby, and we went to one with our friends called Alta Mons, and while we were there we met some adorable puppies that our friends named Luke and Leia. That was fun, but the dogs ended up being strays, and they went to a pound. We are hoping some of our friends adopt them. We have recently been getting visits from some hum ming birds at home. Two are regular green, and one is a ruby throated humming bird. They look like this:      Also, we have purchased several new flowering plants, like butterfly bushes and hydrangea. We are hatching some eggs in an incubator that we are borrowing from a friend, and we might even hatch some ducks! Our broody chicken abandoned one dozen eggs she was sitting on, and now we have the possibility of raising twelve chicks.      We have never hatched chicks in an incubator before, and we are excited. Sadly, we had to put our rat, Vermicelli, dow...

       This week was a busy, exhausting, incredible week. I was able to go to Bethel Bible camp, which is one of the most amazing Christian camps on the planet, where you memorize verses, learn new skills, and learn to evangelize. It has awesome grounds, too, and I learned a lot in air rifles and archery. I learned that I don't have to make myself bold, but that the holy spirit will give me courage to go share the gospel. Our speakers this year were the Kings, who are some very nice people who go to a lot of places to share the gospel, and they have even gone to where people suspect Jesus was buried. Mr. King was in the military as a medic, and has some great stories of death bed redemption. The camp director is Mr. Shelor, who can be really funny or really stern, so much so that he has been called Mr.Stern Man. He has actually signed shirts with that name, but he has a great sense of humor. I learned a lot of things about evangelizing people, and am better...