A Muscovy rescue mission

PICTURE OF THE NEWBIE SOON! 

    As we all know I have the kind of personality that just can not saying no to helping out a little animal in  need of some TLC... add a sad story to it and there is just no way I can resist taking the little critter home with me. This time the call came while Brandon & I were strolling through Target on a late night shopping run. We then got a call from Brandon's boss frantically asking if we would be interested in taking another little duckling home with us, of course, I said YES! She then went on to tell us that this little guy was the only survivor and that the rest of its siblings had drowned in the swimming pool in their back yard, so sad. She had to pull all the other ones out as the mama duck stood by, and one little guy was still alive and just barely hanging on. We went to pick the little guy up as fast as possible & stuck him under a heat lamp inside for the night. So far the little cutie is hanging on strong & is just as cute as can be! We did find that the heat lamp, although provides great heat, just was not quite cutting for this less than day old baby. I decided to fill up a small pillow case with some rice ( which we obviously have plenty of ) and microwave it for a couple minutes, the little baby loves it! I make it like a little nest and then just place her inside and she falls right asleep. 

These are the three orginal ducklings, the ones in the video below. They are just the prettiest little babies! 

Also, discovered the chickens and ducks favorite treat today! I am all about making my own food, for all my animals, poultry included. So here's the "recipe":

Chicken Food:

• 1 C cooked oats, I use steel cut just because I love the texture that it has
• 2 cucumber diced into tiny pieces
• 2 handfuls spinach
• 1 hard boiled egg diced
• 2 tomatoes diced
• 2 Tbsp. ground flax

Combine all the above and that's it! It actually looks really yummy when it is all blended up & I'm sure Brandon would try it if I left in the inside fridge, but I try to keep all the animal food in the outside one just to make sure that does not happen. I make a lot of different chicken & duck snacks with lots of different goodies so there will be many many more in the future. The greatest part about having the birds around is there is NEVER an excuse to throw away any vegetables or fruit. 

Here is a short video of my little outside quackers enjoying some tomatoes. The little ones are Muscovys and the bigger girl in the back is a Campbell Khaki. 

Two Blue Heelers

Gus & Dolly.... The infamous duo. Brandon and I picked up these cuties last winter, they are now 7 months old, from Idaho. These two little critters are a blast and certainly keep us on our toes. There is certainly something special about this breed, they are so smart and so loyal! Every morning they are by my side when I feed the horses and every evening they just want to snuggle up on the couch. 

Gus: The ultimate mama's boy.... just the way I like him. This little guy has a heart of gold, super lovey dovey, super protective and just sweet as could be. Sometimes he picks on Dolly just a tad too much , but what else are little sisters for anyways? This boy aims to please & does just that.  

Dolly: The little trouble maker. This little girl is smart smart smart smart smart!! You know that saying

 " too smart for your own good" that's this one. She can find her way out of the smallest hole, can reach the treat no one else can and can out run anything or anyone. She is quick! She is a daddy's girl. She would much rather be with Brandon riding around in a tractor than hanging out with me around the house. We have high hopes for this girl in being the best watchdog for our little farm, so far she is passing the test with flying colors. 

Meet the herd

Chip: 13 year old. APHA gelding. 16.2 hands, picky eater. Chip is my go to horse. Has dabbled in every discipline and done extremely well in a large variety of them, he's my little super star. This guy came from Idaho when I was in school and has been by my side through all the good and bad times since then. Can easily say this fella is my best friend and we have each others backs. 

Sugar: 9 year old AQHA mare. 14.1 hands, eats anything & everything. My little rodeo mare, love this girl and she certainly loves her job. Unfortunately, last year she had a pretty bad accident in her stall and hurt her shoulder, she has not been quite the same since. This little girl also came from Idaho and once we got to California developed a cough in the summer, through homeopathic remedies her cough is all gone & I will tell you all how later. This little girl is full of talent and spunk!

 My plans are to breed her this year to get a futurity prospect. Fingers crossed! 

Ginger: Our lovely Molly mule. 16 years old, 16 hands. Surprisingly picky. Picked this sweet girl up to be a pack mule for Brandon. To our surprise she is broke to ride, has a really sweet personality and loves to snack on watermelon rinds. She has been a lot of fun and a great learning experience for us. There is definitely a reason the saying "stubborn as a mule" exists but we happily put up this the stubborn in exchange for her reliability. 

Levi: This guy is a stud muffin! This is Brandon's favorite horse to ride. He's a AQHA beautiful bay roan 15.2 hands full of spunk but really level headed. Sugar's boyfriend. This guy currently belongs to an old client of mine, we are planning on making an offer to make this guy completely ours soon! 

Beef Tacos

I took some ground beef out the other day without a clue what I was going to do with it. I was looking through the fridge and found all the essential goodies for yummy tacos! I personally like to let people assemble their own tacos. However, this time I decided to put them all together for Brandon.


Ingredients:

• 1/4 C. of Coconut Oil
• 2 C. Canola Oil
• 1 Lb. of Ground Beef
• 1 Medium Yellow Onion, chopped
• 2 cloves Minced Garlic
• 1 C. Taco Seasoning 
• 1 C. Water
• Salt & Pepper

The Fixings:

• Corn Tortillas
• Lime Wedges
• Sour Cream
• Little Green Onions sliced
• Cilantro minced
• Tomato diced 

Directions:

Spoon out coconut oil and heat into large pan. Add onions and garlic and sautee until onions are a little translucent. Add the ground beef and brown. Once the meat is completely browned, drain out the fat. Put the meat back onto heat then add taco seasoning and water. Place lid onto meat combination and allow to simmer until water has all disappeared. Taste. Salt & Pepper as needed. 

For crunchy tacos:

Heat the canola oil up until small bubbles appear. Add the tortillas to the oil, fold them in half using tongs and allow them to get all crunchy! I leave a plate off to the side with a paper towel to drain off the oil. Then I use a finely grated parmesan cheese and sprinkle the cheese onto the  outside of the taco shells. Super Yummy!

Meet the Farmer

This is my other half, Brandon. He's the best! His family grows rice in our area and he is a crop duster. He is one heck of a golfer, guitar player and partner in crime. Brandon has a lot of cool hobbies like hunting, fishing, jeeping, flying... all the fun stuff! I am convinced he is the most helpful guy out there, helps me with all the many things I want to get done around the house and encourages me to do the things that make me happy. So yup, he's the best!

Meet the Cowgirl

Well this is me! I'm an old fashioned girl who believes in the old fashioned ways. I'm very blessed to have an extremely supportive other half, " the farmer", who I will tell y'all  about later.  I grew up riding horses , spending time in the kitchen with my mom and gardening with my grandma & my dad. I went to school and studied Animal Science which has helped me immensely around our little farm.  I plan on putting my recipes, my garden tips & tricks, and lots of information about our little critters on the big ol' world wide web in hopes that they can help some people out! Definitely a lot of information about farming and flying will make its way in here, but I promise it's a lot more interesting than it sounds!