Here is another Weekly Winners post, all photos were captured using my new Kodak Cd-1013 Digital Camera.

This is the crappy food photo edition. Behold my first attempt at making Mac and Cheese from scratch, easy enough right?

I knew something was terribly wrong when the macaroni was practically disintegrated after just a few minutes of cooking but I drained it and proceeded to make the recipe anyway. Here is how it looked when plated up:

N took the first bite and didn’t say anything, he just seasoned the stuff and kept eating. When I took my first bite I practically vomited in my mouth.

The recipe wasn’t bad and the cheesy part was good as was the asparagus that was mixed in.

The problem was the wheat pasta that was no longer pasta. It was more like a wheat mush. Could the issue have been that the pasta was a Big Lots $.25 special? Perhaps it is because it was a product of Mexico?

Either way it was clear to me after one bite that we could NOT eat any of the meal so I grabbed the plates up because N was still trying to be polite by eating the mush and not vomiting… I tried to come up with a quick plan B for dinner.

Luckily we had some frozen burritos in the freezer that we could nuke and enjoy.

Too bad we had to discover some three day old chocolate chip pancakes still chillin’ in the microwave when we went to nuke the burritos.

What? We don’t microwave very often and I never store food in there, unlike some people…

We felt bad about all the wasted food with the botched Mac and Cheese so just for good measure we offered it up to the animals as a “treat”. Usually they jump at the chance for some people food.

When the cats turn their noses up at it you know it is totally bad news…So yeah.

I can make all sorts of complicated things from scratch but Mac and Cheese, not so much. I blame the pasta! Someday I’ll attempt it again with better pasta, but not for a long time. Left a bad taste in my mouth.

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Here is this weeks Weekly Winners post, as with last week all photos were captured using my new Kodak Cd-1013 Digital Camera.

Here is Alexandria-Maybelle, the bunny. We have had her since way before the move to Evansville. We ended up buying her at the feed and tack store one spring while my mom was visiting us in Flagstaff. We had a bunny, Baby Bunny, prior to Alexandria-Maybelle but because of living situations (the landlord forced us to remove our unauthorized pets from the rental) we had to send her and the cats down to The Ranch to live with my mom for a few months.

Anyway Baby Bunny died (from eating apple core and seed we suspect) and we went several months, almost a year, without a bunny in the home. Then we spotted Alexandria-Maybelle. Here she is in the bottom of her giant cage near her litter box. We aren’t sure what her breed is, probably mixed.

Well, N has been talking about this bunny that was found hippity hopping through the grocery store parking lot that someone he worked with had taken in but could not keep. They were keeping it in a plastic storage bin like this oneand were not able to keep it.

It caught his eye because it was a lop ear and he has always wanted one, plus they weren’t providing it with proper living conditions. Oh and we are also suckers for rescuing pets…

We make our pet decisions together normally and during last week he brought up taking the bunny in again. I was trying hard to not get sucked in to the cuteness of the bunny or any of that because once you do you are screwed.

Don’t get me wrong having a bunny isn’t that difficult, the key is providing it with the proper cage that will both keep your home clean and also keep your pet healthy and safe. Bunnies are cute and cuddly and appealing which is why so many people try to keep them as pets. The thing is they are also animals with needs and should be considered life long additions to your family if you choose to adopt one.

Sometimes bunnies can spray pee outside the sides of a typical rabbit cage, which can in turn stain carpet or dirty walls. Plus, they need a means to get exercise if they are solely indoor rabbits and a cage should provide that unless you plan to take your bunny out of the cage every day and let it play and run. Oh and you’ll also need to supervise it while it is running the house it to insure it doesn’t chew through any power cables on on your walls or something. Lastly, just because they were once wild animals does not mean you can just leave them outside in freezing or smoldering temperatures to fend for themselves, this is just cruel.

So when N brought up the bunny thing I explained that there was no way we could afford another $100+ multilevel cage for a second rabbit. Besides sexing young rabbits is hard and putting two together that are not the same sex (and also unfixed) is just bad news. Every heard the phrase humping like rabbits? They are prolific breeders folks!

I told N that if he was set on taking the rabbit in he would have to construct a cage for the thing that was sufficient for indoor use and also that allowed for exercise. And that is had to be done within days of bringing the new bunny home. Well, let me introduce you to Boner, the bunny.

You are probably wondering “well how does she know it is a he if sexing rabbits is so hard?”. Let me just say that we slowly introduced the two rabbits yesterday and he climbed right on top of Alexandria-Maybelle and started humping her head. When I grabbed him off her his penis was hanging out which very quickly told us he is a male. Plus he has these, balls.

Young rabbits are hard to sex but once they become sexually mature it is a bit more obvious, as you can see. So Now we are keeping Boner and Maybelle separate to avoid baby rabbits, we’ll also have Boner fixed when we find a vet and get some extra money. In the meantime the rabbits will just stay close but be kept apart.

Oh and all the household members are now friends with Boner, here is a video of everyone hanging out last night. Crazy huh?

The post Weekly Winners January 12th- 18th appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

Here is this weeks Weekly Winners post, as with last week all photos were captured using my new Kodak CD1013. Enjoy

Here is our newest addition to the family, Gabby. She is a tortoiseshell/ tabby mix and was posing for the camera in the bathroom just for you! I love her eyes.

Here is another decent pet photo. This one is of Mr. Guy, he is gazing up watching flies or something.

Here are the infamous belly shots for your viewing pleasure. Like I said week 14 was a big growth week for me and I am now carrying the weight lower, pretty soon my pants wont button. Oh Joy.

And here is a fun shot I got of the bubbles in the bath tub. The goal was to capture to colorful rainbow in each of the bubbles. I’ll do better at this in the future after more practice. This was my first attempt.

The post Weekly Winners January 4th -11th 2009 appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

This is the first attempt at Weekly Winners that I have made on this blog. All photos were captured using my new Kodak CD1013 that refuses to turn on when I need it. These Weekly Winners aren’t stunning examples of mad photography skills like the shots Lotus takes. Mine are just stunning glimpses of day to day life in my house. Enjoy (but pay no attention to the mess okay?)!

Don’t you just hate not being able to pinch off that last piece of poo?

Dragging your butt from side to side across the bathrom floor is not the optimum way to finish your business but hey, some just have to make due right?

Do you see the long, dark hair in the factory sealed package of salmon?

Jack, out kitty has a real bad habit of turning and running before he surveys the area. This results in him running in to the corners of walls and hurting this same spot time and time again. How many times does a cat have to face plant in to a wall before loosing one of it’s 9 lives?

… And then there are the Wii photos. How about a little Wii Fit Yoga that the dog gets in to?

She was really in quite a trance.

Then there is the spilled coffee thanks to N bashing the Wii controller in to the table following Christmas gif opening. Nice!

The post Weekly Winners – December 29th – January 4th appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.