A Striking Evening

As I sit and type this at 7:30 tonight, there is a rolling thunderstorm overhead.  Ranger, Abby and Hannah are in with me, but Gertie and Lil have gone out to join Keith in the workshop. 

I went out once after dinner to lock up the juveniles and the little henhouse, but there were still birds out.  I was worried about lightening, so decided to come back in and wait for a bit. The three Ameracaunas were in with the other juveniles, though they had a hard day.  No blood was drawn, but they were bullied around by the older chicks.  If it gets too bad, I'll put them in again with the porcelains, whom I pulled this morning.  They are too nice of chicks to let them be torn up by the older birds. 

Yes, another pen is on it's way to Calamity Acres this weekend.  I'll set it up in the Little Henhouse yard. 

 I didn't intend to write about chickens tonight, but the hard work that Keith did in the garden over the weekend.  We have several beds ready to plant.  We have decided since it's just the two of us, and corn is so plentiful around here, that we will not plant any this year, but buy it.  We are going to put cukes in, and squash, and the beans right away. 

Here are the beds Keith was working on:

These beds are almost ready to plant.

Here are the potatos, and we have been eating young red potatos for several days now.  Keith dug a yellow potato plant up partially, but they are just now blooming.

That's my perennial bed from last year on the other side.

But here is what he really spent his time on.... the new bed that will mirror the one I built last year with my grandson Chris's help.  He built the edging to it on Sunday night and Monday, and on the other side of the fence will be a mirror bed, only about two feet less wide.  In that bed will be the bramble fruit... blackberries and possibly raspberries.  (strawberries?) 

This one will be all perennials and annuals again.  It will have three trellises like the one from last year, for climbing flowers.  That's the sedum and peony bush I transplanted from the bed in the middle of the yard, but the llama bedding fried the peony.  I don't know if it will come back right, but it will not bloom this year.  It was uncomposted.  We could do it with the pony poop, but not the llama.

I will be cleaning out the llama barn this week and covering the far end you see still green here.  It will then be covered with leaves and grass that has turned into dirt already, and the humus and LOTS more dirt.  We figure probably 140 bags. 

You can just see the arbor gateway into the garden in this picture on the left... and the mirror bed is on the other side of this arbor.  There are also three climbing trellises which will be eventually mirrored on the other side.  Of course we are made of money and this will all magically appear this year (NOT). 

We had hoped to start decking the new henhouse, but the weather is not cooperating tonight.  I'm going to go out now and lock the little birds up... I am now locking the henyard up every night, because of the possum last week.  I lock the little birds in their pen each night, and they are rarin' to go in the morning.  When I went out 30 minutes ago, the three Welsummer girls were still out.  I'm sure they are in now, it's so dark out.  It was the Welsummer cockerel that the Brewster Boys attacked this morning when I tried to put him in with the little flock... I pulled him fast, as all three tried to kill him at once!  He's back with the juveniles, but will be separated out when I get the new pen.