Fall is Almost Here

The summer flowers have still been going strong... 

But the fact is, things are starting to fade now.  I have already pulled the 
amaranthus out of the two planters it was in. 

I won't plant it again, I had planted it in the ground years ago, but I did not like how it looked in it's planters over the summer

I absolutely loved the wildflower mixes I planted this year, but they were extremely water-hungry, and I could not keep up with dead heading the many zinnias.  As much as I loved the unusual wildflowers in the mixes, I won't plant these next year. 

My well has to pump up after I use a lot of water, and I had to pace myself all summer in our hot weather.  

I'm going for something much easier to take care of next summer. 

The hanging baskets I made still look really good on the shaded edge of the porch roof. 

They smell good, too. 

My one tomato plant, a cherry, is still bearing, and that blue flower is an example of the wildflowers in one of the mixes.  I really enjoyed them. 

The grass is dying already, and I have not had to cut often these last two weeks.  I am going to get the mower out today to do along the road and a couple of other spots, but really... we have had so little rain it has not been necessary. 

My friends in the big sheep flock went home three weeks ago, and three 

individuals came over to stay with me for a while... 

Snickers the Jersey heifer, Doodles the goat, whose mama Apple was here for two summers... 

and Snowball, one of the first sheep my friends who board here owned.  

I have so enjoyed watching these three, I told their owner I was in love with them and they had to stay forever! 

Seeing their faces at the fence makes my day brighter!

We have had some losses here, too, including one very sad one, yesterday. 

I took this picture one day last week, when I randomly walked around with my camera one evening.  I had let the chickens over on the "house side" of the yard... and I found Singleton out by the deck as I came out.  

Singleton was the boss rooster.  He was one of two sons of brown Ferdinand, who died over the summer.  Singie was the only chick in his clutch to hatch, and his mama raised him for a few weeks way back six years ago, thus his name, Singleton.  He bossed his daddy around unmercifully... and his brother Buddy and the smaller rooster, Doug, the Silkie.  

On Wednesday, I heard him crow oddly... and turned around and teased him for it.  

That morning, when I let them out, I heard him give a barking cough, twice, and I turned quickly to see who had done it, because it is an indication of respiratory infection. 

I told him he had better not get sick on me.  He took wonderful care of his hens, and I could trust him to get them in safely every single night.  Indeed, Wednesday night they were all in at seven, waiting for me to lock up. 

I found him gone in the brooder pen yesterday morning.  I was stunned. 

The ground is like iron here, or he would have been buried. 

I could not get a shovel into it out in the garden to dig a hole, and my oldest son was out of town this weekend.   

I had to put him in the pasture, where I put other offerings for the coyotes. 

It broke my heart; of all, he should have been buried here. 

The day before, I had lost my last Ameracauna hen, 

she had been fading over the course of a week... not going outside.... not able to stand for long.  She was not in pain, just fading.  (no coughing) 

She was on the floor, gone, when I walked in on Wednesday. 

I feel like this girl will be the next.  She is very old, already eight... she is the last of the Brown Leghorns, and laid a wonderful huge white egg for years.  She is the first one in every evening, and is not roosting anymore, though she does fly up to the next boxes in the big hen house and make herself comfortable in a nest for the night. 

It saddens me to see my birds grow old.  I only get a few eggs daily now... though I do have the three pullets from this year to come on in the spring.  Cochins are not prolific layers, though. 

They are still being carried in and out daily, though they are almost full grown... because I am afraid for them to go under the big hen house and then have to struggle to get them out.  
It has to come sometime, I know that.  

I am wondering if maybe it is time to move them over to the old hen house which is on level ground, and introduce them to the girls there. 

(Singleton's old house). 

There's Bob... cause of my rabies shot series that I just finished. 

I am not dead, so he must not have had it. 

He is going to get rabies and distemper shots in the next few weeks, so I don't ever have to worry again. 

The trees are already turning, and poison ivy growing in them has turned bright red. 

Fall is here. 

 

The Results are In

I wanted to post and let you all know about my results with 

my deterrents for the raccoons. 

(laugh). 

I am happy to report though, that there was only ONE on the porch last night, 

they have finally accepted there is no food there for them anymore. 

I hung a shoplight out there.  

At least they could see what they were eating, (laugh) 

I also put bread with cayenne pepper CAKING it, I thought I would have to 

pick it all up the next morning..... 

it was all gone. 

I have two large bottles of Franks Hot Sauce and an almost full canister of 

cayenne, if anyone could use them!

Terri suggested last week using ammonia, I may try that, however....

I have had such good progress with them staying off the deck, and I have 

so much fun watching the birds, I will continue with locking anything up that the 

raccoons could eat at night, suet, birdseed from the top feeder, the hanging finch feeder, etc., 

and go from there.  The two ferals are eating during the day, thank heavens. 

Yes, she is still laying in the flower box on the deck. 

She is four years old, and a Cornish hen, I would NEVER have imagined this. 

She lets herself out of the "chicken side" of the yard and comes across, 

eating a bit of birdseed, and then makes her way up onto the deck and into the 

flower box.  She proceeds to lay a good-sized egg, and takes herself back to the others. 

It cracks me up. 

I took this on the deck yesterday.  I absolutely love the "wildflower garden in a box" flowers in the washtub.  There are batchelor's buttons, a small white flower, and some tickseed, as well as 

grasses and what we would call weeds.  

I planted a lot of zinnias because, frankly, I was staying at home and trying not to go 

to garden centers, and I had a lot of seeds from the past two years.  Here is 

the thing... those planters are too shallow for the cut and come again variety. 

I am having to water multiple times a day, but oh, how I love zinnias and so do the few butterflies I am seeing, and the hummers, which have become numerous these last few days. 

The "nest" flower box.  I got these three planters at Sam's Club a year ago, I love them. 

There is one full of mint that smells so good after I water it, however.... I am digging out the 

mint this fall and replacing the whole thing with flowers for next year. 

The other side .... I don't really like the petunias in that box up on the 

railing... there is a tiny bit of geranium in there, I thought they would complement it, but they are actually rust-colored, not pink or red.  Not planting that color again, it fades in the sun. 

The perennials in the box in the foreground are doing GREAT. 

I never put my summer garden flags out... oh, what the heck. 

The last corner, filled in with more zinnias.  The calibrachoa in the top 

planter is still going strong, you just can't see it in the picture. 

My umbrella, though folded in, was caught by the wind two weeks ago, 

and overturned and broke my porch table.  That's it for me, that is the third one 

I lost over the years.  I am going to try to find a wrought iron smaller table to 

put out, as we rarely eat on the deck. 

I frightened Rusty when I came out on Friday morning, and he ran for the fence. 

When he saw it was me, he waited, and yes, he got his yummy canned food, I went back and 

got it for him.  I could tell he had eaten from the dry food. 

Some of you know my son Jeff has been staying with me since March, 

his hours were cut, and though he owns a mobile home free and clear,  he was 

having a struggle making ends meet.  

Jeff gets up very early, and puts the dry food out on the porch for me in the morning, 

and I can tell from the camera that the two cats are coming to eat. 

They do sometimes come on and off the porch during the night hours, 

but I also keep a large container of fresh water there, too. 

I got another delivery of good pork from Gray Family Farms, 

Charles told me he has a contract with Paradise Locker in Trimble to 

process hogs every month. 

I bought pork from him six weeks ago, and it is the BEST. 

Jeff and I are having 1/2" pork chops, fresh corn, and green beans for 

dinner when he gets home tonight. 

This is 62, one of the lambs that has been here for the last three or four weeks.  The Manuses brought ten, nine ewes and a goat, and then switched them out about six weeks later.  This group had two adult ewes, and seven lambs, and the goat, who stayed. 

These are the two big ewes.  I keep a small swimming pool there under the shade of the walnut tree, and I refresh it multiple times a day.  I keep the ground all around there damp, and many of the sheep 

like to nap there. 

One of these ewes had "lumpy jaw", which is mostly incurable.  I told their 

owner last night that I am sure that jaw has gone down, and is no longer swollen. 

They are coming tomorrow to switch some out... I am hoping not all are going.... and he 

is going to look at her closely then. 

Two weeks ago, the three Manus boys removed the fence (leaning and heaved) around the 

old henhouse yard.  This was the first pen Keith ever made here, and the posts were not sunk 

deeply enough.  That's the unused little red henhouse under which they are laying in the shade. 

I have noticed because of the heavy shade in this area, they like to congregate here in the heat of the day.  That's the other reason why I check that little pool so often. 

There is a deep tank in the actual sheep pen which they also use, 

I bucketed it out and cleaned it today, I try to do that three times a week. 

On Friday, Ben came and removed low-hanging branches for me for two hours in the terrible 

heat.  He is coming back on Tuesday to do the weed eating and trimming.  I could not have 

kept this place looking so good this summer without his help.  Yes, I pay him, but to find 

someone willing to do that work is a blessing for me. 

Here are some pumpkins I planted in mid-July... they are 

taking off in the raised garden. 

I have decided to tear these beds out completely at the end of the season.  

(well, not me, the boys). 

This was a loving project from Keith, but I cannot handle the hauling of the dirt anymore, and the upkeep.  If you look behind these beds, you will see one is empty now.... and those trellises, etc. are coming down, too.  Weeds grow up between the beds constantly, and they are a fight to keep down. 

I am also considering removing the only perennial bed I have left, and gardening only on the deck and porch, I am still mulling that over.  I would actually offer the plants to all my friends, in amongst the weeds there are some good perennials still blooming.  With Jeff's help, earlier this summer, I had that bed cleaned up, or so I thought, and we actually put five cartloads of mulch on it. 

It's a mess, I'm embarrassed to show you. 

I swear the zinnias (yes, more zinnias) and the pumpkins behind them grew two inches overnight. 

Do you see the weeds and grass growing in between?  The beds were made a little too close to get the mower in there and clean them up all the time, it has to be weed-eaten.  Ben will do that on Tuesday. 

We are 92, feels like 102 right now, but.... clouds are coming over and rain is expected tonight.  

Tomorrow, my little Snowy girl has a mammary tumor removed, 

and I am very worried about her. 

It means also that I get up very early, get her to the vet, and 

get back here in time to feed Fritzi and give her her morning meds, 

we have a routine now and Snowy is involved in that. 

My little Snowy.  I love her, she has only been here since March but she is a 

wonderful little dog.  I am praying nothing happens tomorrow. 

My dear Jester. 

Fritzi is holding her own, but her hindquarters are weaker and she has trouble walking. 

I watch her like a hawk. 

Our resident bunny.