The First 3 Rabbits Are Here!

Yesterday morning as it hailed and spat cold rain I went back to Michelle Chandler's farm, and was able to pick up the first three of the four breeder rabbits we are getting from her. The fourth, an American Blue female isn't quite old enough to be sexed accurately yet. So, time to introduce you all to the rabbits.

This is Umbra, son of Shadow. He is the son of one of Michelle Chandler's stud bucks, and his mother, an American Blue, produced substantial litters.

Quick Hit: Rabbit Genetics

I'd intended to post about building the hutches today with pictures. Unfortunately I appear to have forgotten to upload the pictures the lady of the house took of me working on the hutches. I want to actually do a post on building the hutches another time with those. Due to my failure to properly plan I'll give a few links to the information the lady of the house has been reading about rabbit genetics in preparation for picking up the rabbits on Wednesday. I'll leave a post on genetics to her since she knows what she is talking about, and I do not.

An easy to understand article on color genetics in rabbits.
http://www.thenaturetrail.com/rabbit-genetics/color-information-easy-to-understand/

A primer on rabbit color genetics over all that was a bit dense for me as someone who hasn't really learned more than Mendelian genetics, but understandable.
http://www.threelittleladiesrabbitry.com/colorgenes.php

An article specific to American Blue Rabbits. Or buck will be a Black, American Blue is why this was of specific interest to us.
http://www.americanrabbits.org/about-americans/27-american-genetics-achieving-a-true-blue-white-in-two-easy-steps

Thursday will have pictures of the three breeders we will be picking up then, and after that I will talk about the process of building the hutches and some of my learning experiences.

The First Two Hutches Are Complete!

Quick post for now, the first rabbit hutch is complete! It isn't perfect, and there are a few things I've learned from it for the future ones, but it is done!. I should have the second one done today, and can probably finish 2 more tomorrow. Many thanks to a friend of mine, Charlie for helping me out with the things that are just not one person jobs. Below the cut are pictures of the one that is done, and the two that are in process right now. Hopefully next week I will be able to have a pictoral step by step of the process of building a hutch.

Recipe: Butternut Squash Lasagna

A recipe from the Lady of the House for the post today. Decided to post this since for our communal birthday party we did a local or home made food potluck party. When we hosted the party many people commented about the lasagna being vegetarian, and being doubtful about it. Yet at the end of the party almost all of it was gone. This as recipes goes is fairly easy and tastes great. Though you do need to make sure that you cut the cheese quite thin or it'll be uneven. The Lady of the House goes into the recipe, and what prompted it below.

An Indoor Workspace

I need an indoor work space. Not a space to use my computer inside, though that is necessary given using computers. I need a place I can build things inside, work on mechanical bits, have tools laid out, and a work bench. This has become very apparent to me as I have been working on the rabbit hutches. I should be finishing up all 4 of the hutches I need done immediately, tomorrow at the latest. That isn't going to happen.  Some of that is because of things coming up that had to be dealt with, but in large part it is because if it rains, and when night falls, I can't do any work.

A Bit Of Excitement

So rather than talking about theory, or planning, or things I have been working on. Today I'm going to talk about a bit of excitement we had recently and what we learned from it.

The Lumber Has Arrived

Promptly at 9:00 this morning, the local supply company arrived with the lumber for the rabbit hutches. They came on up the driveway, turned the truck around, and dumped the lumber. I was expecting to have to re stack the lumber, but that didn't end up being strictly necessary as it all somehow landed on the skids. I won't say it's a perfect stack, but the fact that it is all together and I can throw a tarp over it covers what I need from the stack for now. What I really want to do is go and frame out the first rabbit hutch to get started on that project. What I really need to do is efficiently finish up the electrical work in the studio space. Either way, today is going to be spent on projects, which will be fun. I'll try to have pictures for the blog about what I get done today, and this weekend in general.

The Arrival Of Spring

As spring arrives, I have a list of things that I want to do as it does, and things I want to have done before the ground is thawed. Some of the things I wanted to have done before thaw I really wanted done some time ago, but have been slowed down or prevented from happening by various obstacles. What that means is that now I am in a bit of a rush as winter ends on getting my winter preparations done.

More Snow, Different Weather Prediction, Many Pictures!

One of the wonderful up sides about where we live is that we live in a fantasy forest. Right now it is wearing its winter wonderland regalia.

There are many pictures below the cut as a warning for those with slow connection.

Delayed Post

There will be a post today, it will mostly involve pictures of our snow, but I need to continue working on clearing said snow first. Expect something by 4:00 PM Eastern Standard Time or earlier.