Also!  We have a fox den somewhere on our property.  Even though they nailed three of our turkeys last year (operator error; totally my fault), I love having them around.  They're beautiful and an unexpected surprise.  I halfway named our place Kitsune Hame because of them.

So.  This, I love:

Been talkin' turkeys with a couple gals here in the valley.  We're looking at all going in on an order together.

I've been perusing Craigslist for rabbits and goats, too.  I know there's a local gal who raises Boers, but worth shopping around a little for, no?  We need to switch out rabbit breeds, too.  I'd love to do a heritage breed and am Just. So. Unenthused about Californians and New Zealands.

On the ARBA page, they also have guinea pigs.  I don't think I've ever seen anything that looks as much like Cousin It as this Peruvian:

Today is gorgeous, but I have slush frozen in my wheel wells, kitty pawprints all over my car, and the dog has rolled in something unspeakable.  Luckily, he was due for a bath today anyway--it's our volunteer day at the hospital!

It's been a busy couple of weeks 'round here, what with houseguests and traveling to Denver and whatnot.  Zoomed to Fort Collins on Friday to see Joel Salatin speak, which was interesting, then back up the next morning on two hours of sleep to get my friend to the airport in time.  Still haven't quite recovered, I don't think.

But it it SPRING!  Time change, then equinox, then funky Colorado weather.  Today--gorgeous.  Yesterday--gorgeous but cold.  Friday--winter storm with snow going sideways as the wind howled.  Yeah.  Never dull around here.

The critters are feeling it, too.  We've had a plethora of dead skunks and the occasional dead 'coon, making trips into town a rather . . . aromatic venture.  Had some food outside in the Great Outdoor Freezer, which a raccoon decided would be good midnight snackin'.  The cat, apparently, is territorial when it comes to these sorts of intrusions and proceeded to yowl and mrrrrrr at said 'coon until Greg came and chased it off.

Tonight is dinner with our friend Joann, the woman who got us started on turkeys last year.  I think we may split a mixed-breed run of heritage turkeys with her this year, now that she's in a place where she can have them.  Need to put together my article for The Local and clean out her cages to get them back to her tonight, too, so off I go!

I've read that when rendering fat, you can add baking soda to the water/fat mix to get rid of the smell if it's gone rancid.  Having had a jar of baking grease that had done just that, I decided to try it.

Unfortunately, nothing has been said about not adding the baking soda while everything is boiling.

Oh well.  Guess it was time to clean the cooktop anyway.  *facepalm*