Things are rather quiet and uneventful around here these days.
We've been sitting back watching the rain, rain, rain...
taking a little time here and there for bird watching,
and relaxing.
(Yes, Maddie is sporting her summer haircut.)
(It took me 3 hours to shave her!)
In between the rain storms, we have been tending garden,
building flower boxes,
and planting, planting, planting.
After so many months of greyness, I just cannot get enough of flowers.
And so I asked Hubbs to build me another raised box
by the long side of the greenhouse.
(When the rain stops, I will paint this box grey to match the greenhouse
and the outhouse which is right behind it.)
I have begun planting flowers, but plan to plant a whole lot more!
I want to have oodles of flowers to cut and bring in the house this summer.
I started planting my salad table with an assortment of herbs,
and decided that this might be the perfect place for another fairy garden.
This is just the beginning...I have a few secret plans for this particular garden.
I'll share it with you after I have spoken to the fairies!
Many thanks to Joyce, a friend in Pittsburg,
who sent me a surprise box of fairy garden accessories.
In the vegetable garden the asparagus is starting to emerge.
Oh, how I love this time of year...
when I can pick dinner right out of the garden!
Hopefully the sun will come out in the next few days
so that we can get our picnic pavilion finished.
Weather sealing (a combination sealant and walnut stain) for both
the pavilion and the picnic tables will be the finishing touch...
as well as a few strings of white lights and a gas grill.
And last, but never least....
my chicklets are no longer chicklets,
but have turned into henlets.
They are almost fully feathered now...growing by leaps and bounds.
They have begun flying...
giving them access to the roosting perch.
Like all youngsters, they don't stay little long!
Comments
What a spectacular picnic pavilion! The contractor does beautiful work. I envision lots of family gatherings there and sweet memories made under those eaves!
Can't wait to see all those flowers in bloom this summer (another thing I'm missing. Oh well, I'll enjoy yours!)
Love Maddie's summer cut, 3 hrs - Wow did you knit a sweater from all the hair, LOL!
I can't believe you - Sitting relaxing??? I guess strange things do happen! Enjoy the day! Hugs!!
Your beautiful farm is just waiting to bloom, I can actually feel it. Everything is so lovely and just waiting for a bit of sun.
I agree with you about the devastating effects a groundhog can have on the safety of a farm...BUT I did want to tell you about something useful I have learned about groundhogs. They do perform two useful duties in our ecology: 1. by burrowing they bring up trace minerals from deep in the earth, making these trace elements available for growing plants. 2. They provide dens for skunks (which as you know eat many nuisance insects); skunks apparently are "lazy" when it comes to digging out their own dens and groundhogs happen to be very generous and will either allow them to bunk with them or the skunk will simply use an abandoned groundhog den. I learned this information at a recent sustainable farming conference; the speaker was referencing a county in Kentucky that has eradicated groundhogs via competition hunts, and unfortunately this eradication of groundhogs has had an unintended negative impact on the county's skunk population. It is so interesting to me just how interconnected all creatures are, even the creatures we seem to be so annoyed by.
Thank you for your beautiful posts and letting us in on some of the special moments of your life.
Joy Goode, D.V.M.
Baltimore County, Maryland