Got milk?

We do!  Meet Avelanna.

She is a yearling Oberhasli, already in milk!  Mickey found her on craigslist, and since we brought her home, she has made herself right at home.

She especially loves munching pine! (She prefers it to grains actually.)

She has been giving us 6 to 7 cups of milk a day.  I (Sarah) have been subsisting on primarily milk and loving it!

Mickey built her a beautiful milking stand!

She really doesn't mind that stanchion as long as there's food on the other side!

Meanwhile, Hazel and Corylus get into the salt lick we bought them.

We are thrilled to go from "none of our own milk" to "all of our own milk, cream, and cheese" (when I take the chance to make cheese).  

"I want to show you something."

Mickey was rather excited when I came home for lunch last Friday.  "Close your eyes."  He even spun me around until I was dizzy, so it was really dramatic (I didn't know which way I was pointing).  Then... surprise!

He had built the basement stairs!

While we will never again enjoy watching Gerard climb up the stringer (he became very adept at that!), this is much more convenient than (a) a ladder, or (b) going around outside to use the Bilco door.  So handy to have actual real stairs!

I couldn't believe how quickly Mickey whipped it together!

And speaking of the basement, the drain waste vent plumbing is nearly done!

A fellow passing by a few weeks ago had heard our trailer would be for sale soon and asked us if he could buy it...turns out he's a plumber...and, months before we thought about putting a "for sale" sign in the yard, we've virtually sold our trailer, exchanged in part for some help with the plumbing!

And speaking of plumbing, don't the pressure tank and hot water heater look official?! Thanks to Steve for lending his truck and an extra pair of hands to bring home the water heater!

And on the floor above, Mickey is getting ready to lay the tile for the bathroom floor.

And speaking of tile, he's also ready to lay the tile in the entryway.

We think it is a much different "Welcome to our home" feel than Advantech!

And speaking of "Welcome to our home", the ceiling is officially complete!  Stain, poly, the whole deal.  It is a pretty exciting feeling!

We love the way it turned out too.  It is hard to believe that this time last year we didn't even have a ridge beam yet!

We hope you'll come for a grand tour yourself sometime soon! :)

Well, back to work, but it's awfully exciting as we're nearing the end!

It started out as a mountain of dirt...

Pretty ugly looking subsoil left over from the excavation.

Then last summer, weeds began to grow on it.  

This year, it's a mountain of daisies!

Gilly and Mirabelle

Our two new doe rabbits!  Mickey saw them advertised on craigslist, and we picked them up from a farm not too far from here.  They seem to be very happy in their new life! and love all the greens.  They also seem to enjoy watching the sideshow every morning and evening as the ducks and geese process past the rabbit hutch from their permanent evening pen to their day pen.

We chose the names in keeping with our hobbit theme for rabbits.  Sam and Rosie have graduated to a pen that we move around the yard so they can do their own weeding!  We have now filled out all three suites in the rabbit hutch.

Mickey chose Mirabelle because he loved her beautiful colors (as soon as I saw her, I knew we were taking her home).  Gilly was a similar color to the other bunnies, but the most active and curious, and well, we're suckers for that. :)  (That was also the deciding factor for Rosie and Chestnut.)

Gilly even managed to climb nearly to the top of the hutch!  They are growing fast.  And (not that I don't love our birds, and sheep, and goats, but...) I (Sarah) find the rabbits refreshing because they never complain out loud!