Life Viewed Through an Amber Focus

I am annoyed that two of my mid-season replacement shows are cancelled. First Believe, because seriously how can anyone not love Bo? Or Tate? Or Channing? I mean come on.

Worse than that is Star-Crossed and not just because it ended on some major cliff-hangers. Because where else am I going to get my teenage space opera? I mean, futuristic, check. Romeo and Juliet between a teenage alien and human, check. Mixed species teenage pregnancy, check. Earth in jeopardy, check. Really hot looking actors that are far too old to play high school students but nobody cares because they are really hot looking, check. It makes me pout, because I like my teenage soapy shows from the CW, and lets face it, The Vampire Diaries kids are not getting any younger.

At least The 100 was picked up. Because if there is anything I like better than futuristic teenage soaps with aliens on the CW, it is apocalyptic futuristic teenage soaps on the CW. And it is getting better as it goes along. At first I was mildly interested, but now I am really interested. Especially between what happens with the grounder Lincoln and the 100's Octavia. They've set up a real us against everyone else vibe. I hope it settles Octavia a bit, because this is guy #3 and we are only on episode 10. Well, I'm only on episode 9, but 10 is out. Almost the same set up as alien/human, but more original Earth inhabitant/space station survivor 100 years after the war. And I do like Clarke and Finn and possibly Clarke and Bellamy. Though I do still think Clarke is a really weird first name for a girl. And Dichen Lachman is Lincoln's clan chieftess or whatever and I always love to see her in anything from Dollhouse to Torchwood Miracle Day to Being Human (American version). Hopefully she'll be around for a bit.

Not much all to add. The menagerie is doing well. We are currently at 4 Royal Palm turkey poults (who love to be pet), 4 Barnevelder pullet chicks, 7 adult laying hens (3 Auracana, 1 silver laced wing Wyandotte, 1 black Australorp, 1 golden sex link, and 1 white leghorn) 5 Welsh Harlequin ducks, 4 Pekin ducks, 4 New Zealand Red rabbits, 8 New Zealand White adult rabbits, 3 junior whites (we will only be keeping one of the juniors), 10 six week old white kits, 4 2.5 week old white kits, 3 chestnut agouti kits, and 2 chocolate agouti kits. The agoutis are also 2.5 weeks old and are from a Phoebe (white) and Wildfire (red) breeding.

Oh, and 14 rainbow ranger meat chickens, and 29 Cornish Cross meat chickens in various stages of growing out. I will be glad when the summer is over and the numbers go down again and the chores do, too, but it is worthwhile raising our own and knowing where it comes from and that they grew up in a good environment with fresh air and sunshine and grass and clover beneath their feet.

Life is exhausting but good.

I pretty much ignored my birthday this year since Chris wasn't home and the kids were horrible, but thanks to those of you who didn't and never do. To be honest, 44 does not feel any different from 43.

It has been a rough month and I have found myself needing the solace of writing. I've been trying to write every day no matter what. I'd fallen out of the habit.

On Friday I sold my first breeding trio of rabbits that I bred and raised from birth and made a cool $60. $20 of which I gave to my son because he does a boatload of the work. The other $40 is going for feed.

I'm going to be picking up a new breeding trio of my own on March 1st, a proven junior buck and two young weanling does, all pedigreed. They will look like these ones from the same breeder who bred these:



Yep, I'm venturing into New Zealand Reds. I'll still have the Whites, too. Eventually I'd like to get blacks and blues as well. But that will have to wait until the house sells and we have a barn or shed with more space for cages.

I'm hoping to be inspired and work on fic this weekend. Most of what I've been writing has been non-fiction, for my blogs or for the meme here. But the point is I am writing so hopefully I can start writing what I love writing most again.

My laptop has been repaired and is ready for me to pick it up. The sooner I can abandon this monstrosity that calls itself Windows8 the better. So I will have my good keyboard back just as my broken finger has healed and I can type again, at least for patches of time, without having to favor it too much.

How much writing I'll actually get done is up in the air. I've got two litters of kits due in the next couple of days and one of the mother's is a first timer, 1 litter of kits that we will start weaning tomorrow, one pair of rabbits to be bred tomorrow if I want the kits born before it gets too cold, and 3 of the three week olds have to be treated every day 3 times a day due to weepy eye. Fortunately it is only in one eye on each of them. Unfortunately they are too young to be isolated, but there has been no spread from the one in Piper's litter and there are 2 in Sweetie Belle's litter, but no signs on her other seven kits.

I am figuring that Serenity will probably kindle a litter of 8 or 9 like her sister did from a breeding with Leo and Lola will probably kindle a litter of 6 or 7, since she is more like her mother Piper. It's hard to say with Lola though since this time she was bred to a different buck. Our current rabbit population is at 36 and I can see it hitting 50 by the end of the weekend. We do have one litter that will be ready to go in another week or two. And some that will be ready to go in 4 to 5 weeks.

Anyhow, there is a lot of work ahead for me, plus homeschooling, but I am going to try to sneak some time to myself for writing. I want to finish The Watchmaker's Daughter as much as people want me to finish it.

...Meet Starbuck, Serenity, and Sweetie Belle. Be prepared for adorableness.

( The New Breeding Stock...Once They Grow Up )

We knew it was coming, but that didn't make it any easier. Rest in peace sweet girl.

At least it feels that way. I just managed a major cold after Disneyland. Then Spring Cleaning happened without my permission or authorization. Plus getting the garden ready, taking care of the chickens, taking care of the rabbits, and shoveling more manure than I ever knew such little creatures could produce, is taking up time. I hope to actually manage to write fiction tomorrow.

I am slowly adapting to my C-PAP machine. The first few days I had clearly yanked off the mask and thrown it in my sleep, judging from where I found it in the morning. I did the same thing with my mouth guard when I first got it. I'd always spit it out in my sleep and find it somewhere in the covers the next day. The last couple of days I've woken up with the mask still on, so that's progress. I'm not sure if it's doing me any actual good or not. Rose says I am not snoring, but I don't feel anymore rested than before. So exhausted in point of fact. And still somewhat insomniac, unfortunately.

I am so glad it was spring break this week. I don't think I could have handled homeschooling on top of everything else.

And I'm not talking plot bunnies.

( Cut for Farm Stuff that Some Readers May be Senstitive To )