Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Not the Post I Wanted to Make

Yesterday afternoon, I worked a lot on this: 


That's the henspa, and normally, I simply rake the straw shavings out the door into the henyard. 

This time, I wanted to recover them. 

I had to lock the goats up first, because Kelly would LOVE to get in there to eat chicken feed. 


The straw, which was bought at our regular feed store, smelled okay but was particularly DARK. 

I'm wondering how old it is.  It did not smell moldy, though. 

Some of the smaller birds rarely go outside, and they were spazzing while I worked.  Then they calmed down. 

I got a lot of eggs from here yesterday, eleven of them.  I used to get twenty, but I have old birds in here now. 


The cart load was shoveled into the new bed.  If you look at the far end, you can see the darker cleanings from the old henhouse.  These were lighter, I had just re-bedded it a month or so ago, but they were full of chicken poop.  It will all compost over the course of the winter.   We'll come back to this picture in a minute. 


Our gorgeous sunset last night. 


I dug the potatoes nearly 2 months ago.  Keith insisted there were more, and I knew that some plants had started growing again. 

He was right. 


And we found at least ten baby pumpkins (and one big one) on our vines that we didn't plant until mid-July.  I'm hoping we get a few in time for Halloween! 


Look who was hiding behind the ammo box/nest in the old henhouse!  Mr. T!  

I honestly thought the snakes had gone underground already, but these last few days of heat have brought them out for sure. 

It was very dark in that corner, and the flash lit him up. 


Kelly is trying his best to eat all the porch decorations! 

Okay, back to that flower bed picture.  If you make it a little bigger, you will see that the yarrow patch has become badly overgrown with grass.  I planned to dig it all up, pull out the grass, and divide it today. 

I got about three spades in, and realized I was totally pooped out.  It was 85 degrees out, and I just.could.not.break the ground. 

I'm either going to have to get Chris up here or wait until it rains tomorrow. 

Today we receieved the Liebster Award from Stella Rose, Maggie, and Gussie at The Three Little Pugs.  Thank you, friends!  We will comply with the "rules" tomorrow. 

Also, we read two bits of sad news.  
S and J at Cranky Puppy have lost their 17 year old Pomeranian girl, Foster... we are so sorry to read of this, and for your loss.  She was a beauty. 

And Ian, at Life on an Acreage, has found out that his wife Elaine has Parkinson's... our hearts go out to you, along with lots of prayers.  They will be moving from their home on acreage, back into town. 
We have enjoyed so much Ian's pictures of the beautiful Canadian bush where they live. 

Resting up this evening in hopes of getting those plants out tomorrow! 

12 comments:

  1. I got to go to Ian's farm last summer and I'm so sad for him. I'm hoping for a good new chapter in their lives but really.. its so hard. I wondered how long your porch decorations would last when I saw them! LOL. I figured those little kids would be into those in no time. At first I was thinking "why is she saving all the bedding" then of course it made perfect sense why you were saving all the straw! Hopefully you just might get some pumpkins yet! :)

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  2. I'm so sorry that your blog friends are going through this sad time. I am glad you quit working in that bed when you felt too tuckered out to continue. A better time will come for it.

    Kelly is so cute stretching up there!

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  3. Mr T is frightening.. We would have ran for the hills. We do love your farm
    Benny & Lily

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  4. I guess I would just get rid of that snake...especially after he's made me jump so often. I bet he's loving eggs and spa time.

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  5. Mary Ann,

    On a sad note, I'm so sorry to hear about Foster passing away. Foster will look upon her family and friends as an angel above, rest in peace little girl and run with my little girl Bug. Sending prayers to S and J.

    I'm also sending prayers to Ian and Elaine, my heart goes out to both of them.

    ~HA~ the goats found your autumn decorations, before you know it they'll be gone.

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  6. You have such a lovely homestead. I'm sorry about your blogger friends as well. I will have to look for their blogs and send them some well wishes.

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  7. Go slow while we still have the heat to deal with.
    Kelly just cracks me up!

    M :)

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  8. The heat tires me out quickly, these cooler days are just perfect for getting outside now. That picture of the sun setting is so striking. Here we are in the middle of a city block so don't get to see a view like that. Ours is hampered with trees and houses. I'm headed out into the country today and hope to get some good pictures to share. I will keep your friends in my prayers. Hope you have a wonderful Wednesday!

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  9. Mary Ann that snake has got to go!!!!
    Sorry for the sad news of your friends- we do get attached to our bloggie friends and their families--
    Our growing season is long over....
    Hope u get more pumpkins!!!
    U guys are hard workers- but isn't it so much "funner" then going to outside world work?!?!!!
    Fondly,rain :)

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  10. My goodness... I can't believe what a brave soul you are; dealing with those horrible snakes!
    Sorry to hear of your friends troubles; sad news, on both counts.

    Hope you enjoy those newly dug potatoes, and hope your pumpkins grow like crazy and are ready for Halloween.

    Smiles :)
    K.

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  11. Look at Kelly, he's so skinny (LOL...his sides are bulging out).

    Sorry to hear about the loss of your friends little companion. Also, very sorry to hear about Ian's wife and her illness.

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