busy,busy,busy....

It has been very busy around here lately. School has started here with both girls. I have been taking the oldest to volleyball practice every night...the games start next week...she has three games next week and of course I will post if they win or loose on here.. The oldest will be also working the concessions at some of the basketball games this year since she is a junior...goes towards their prom and senior trip...she will be working them thru out the year.....
now into a little garden....

      working on transferring all of the mint into the washer tub...so then the mint will be confined to the washer tub...hopefully it will stay in the tub....one of my projects for the garden for the fall.

here is a start to another project of mine for the garden.. a new iris bed...hubby is tired of mowing around the iris bed in the front yard...so transferring them to this bed...going to make it one long bed of irises, different colors.....love my irises.

                                     a little watermelon developing at least I think, better late then never..

                                              
                                               This rose the picture don`t do it justice

                    Our new truck, we sold the other one...it had over 400,000 miles on it and got this one the same day, so glad we finally have a full sized truck....one of my hubby`s coworkers says it`s a ford ranger on steroids , that`s what a f150 is, lol.

                                               now on to some animals and building

                                   This is a chicken coop I am working on....I had a weird request for our anniversary present this year...I got a drill....besides the truck....am planning on putting nest boxes on the back end of it....Bandit just had to get in the pic.....
                                                        now animals, chickens first....

                                                  
                                           A pair of Seabrights, I traded for ducklings for.
                                          Hubby was wanting some again, wanting to breed a silver and a
                                        golden and to see what color we will get, just his project....
                                    
                                                            now ducks.....

                                                  
                                                  Mary and Lillie snugglin, oldest daughter took this pic
                                        with her Ipod.

                                                        
                                                    just plain Lillie, .changing and growing up

                                            
                                                           Mary, growing up....

                                         
            This is shay and dawson, hopefully both hens, Elizabeth`s babies, named them after some of the cast members in Chicago fire....the little yellow...shay almost lost her ,she was so tiny after hatching, so we are keeping her for now and she just had to have a friend...dawson a chocolate colored one...I am all about chocolate this year.....

Well I need to go and do the chores for the day, since a ballgame tonight.....everyone have a enjoyable weekend.....

getting on soapbox on poultry...

It has come to my attention that some people buy their poultry and then resale it within a few weeks or a couple of days and past the birds off as their own birds from their own stock. Some of even sold sick birds and birds full of mites, then swear that they are healthy birds. they have even lied about the sex of the birds, like for instance sating that they are all hens when actually they are roosters.
A couple of months ago, I traded some of my Muscovy ducklings for  2 red and 4 buff cochin bantam hens, needless to say these birds were mite infested and half their feathers were missing, combs were very dull in color , I felt like I got cheated and those I traded with will not buy from again...the birds weren`t even from their own flock which I found later that probably got them from the Amish. I am not against the birds from the Amish, but at least be upfront about the birds and where you got them at.
Two of the buff hens and both red hens are finally looking better then when I got them....the birds didn`t even know what bread treats were.....

I am very proud of the birds that I have , these people should be proud of the birds they are selling as well....I don`t sell very many of my cochins or any of the other chickens, ducklings are another story.

When I sell or trade my ducklings or chicks , I want them to go to the person I sold them to or a friend of theirs , not just to be resold in a few days or weeks. I know their are circumstances that come up and you need to sell the birds to get money to pay a bill, you wasn`t expecting to pay. I`m ok with that , but to buy the birds , just to resale , is what I have a problem with.


Just my 2 cent worth, I step off my box now...

another replanting...

I have decided to dig up all my tulip and Easter Lillie bulbs and then transplant them thru out the garden.

                                              
                                            This is the part of the bed , I have dug them up so far!
                                                  Trixie was out helping me....

                                          
                                                This is one of the ice cream buckets
                                             that I have so far and then I have a half of one.

                                            Since the mint has taken over this section, I have decided
                                         it has to go and be replanted elsewhere. will be digging up this area as well

 

This where the mint will be replanted in.

 

                                              this little flower was just begging to a picture taken of it!
                                             These are the steps across the bed I recently made to get to the grapes

 

Thought I would show an updated pic of the two grape plants

I would like to get one more grape to put along the panel, don't know what kind.

Hopefully these two will survive the winter here, the last one I planted didn`t make it.

I planted these two in a different place.

 

                                              
                                             Mary and Lillie/Glimmer relaxing in the sun
                                                     

                                 
Introducing Sport, my new Partridge bantam cochin roo, he is such a sweetheart. Am planning on putting the one little partridge hen with him, right now she is with Gizmo. My hubby thinks he looks like a min Eddie( my main egg layers roo). The next day after I got him I was taking the girls out to the bus stop and I saw one of Cochin roos out and thought it was him....it turned out to be attitude, I think Eddie must have had a fight as attitude doesn`t try to get you anymore....at least not for the last couple of days.

          Here is another new animal here....a lion head doe, my youngest daughter`s to go with her buck, which is only part lion head....I forgot what she has named it....her plan is to have bunnies...

 

This is the start of  a chicken coop...I have seen plenty of videos on youtube where they use plastic bottles, and tin cans and glass bottles to build houses, green houses ....So I thought why not a chicken coop and save those cans from going to the landfill, might put some glass jars/bottle on the sides to let some light in. This will be the back wall, don`t know if I will have much done before winter hits here, but it`s a start of a recycle project that I have been working on for a couple of months.....It is 8 feet across and have not started on the side walls as of yet. So every once in a while when some progress has been made I will try and post pictures of it....It is only about a foot tall so far, am wanting it to be at least 5 foot tall in the back and 5 1/2 in the front with the run will be.

 

It has turned back to summer here with the heat.....well so long for now....

Summer is winding down....

Not much happening here on the farm . The garden is winding down , after all that rain the squash is no more as u can see from below picture. I pulled it up and put in compost area.

 

The beans and the Cherry tomatoes are still producing.....I go out about every other day and pick almost a bucket full of both...love those cherry tomatoes and green beans. I have been snapping them and putting in the freezer, am planning on canning a few of them for this fall, hopefully I will get to them next week, it`s been busy around here lately.

I finally figured out what I wanted in my toilet ....mums...local store finally had this morning when went to town and pick these up....I think they will fill up nicely next year, I know they will be fall color, But it will be very pretty.

 
                                             The mums I got last year, are starting to bloom.

                                                    Now lets look at the marigolds!

                 
             I am thinking that the bottom cannas will not be planted in this place next year unless I make the bed deeper then it is this year....something to work on.

                                           
                                 Just one of the surprise lilies that I have coming up this year

Finally got a glass bottle in the cooler planter, hoping to find a few more.

Now I think I need to find an old sink or tub for the garden, yes, just an old hillbilly garden here, lol.

 

Now on to a few animals

          
                                              Elizabeth hatched out 17 babies, different colors

                                                I hatched this out of the incubator, a wee little cochin mix chick. After the next bunch , only cochins hatch this bator will be put up for the winter....I hate to do it, but I will have hard time keeping the little chicks warm, not to say we won`t be having more babies here....I have two ducks setting and another one starting to lay again to hatch out....

 

Little Miss Mary was just wanting her picture taken, boy has she grown since the last pic.

 

School has started here , both girls are in school, different schools. I am glad they started on the same day. The youngest always gets a little upset when the oldest doesn`t go for a few days.

The oldest is playing volleyball this year, can`t believe she is a junior this year, whew where has the time gone .Practice has started and is every day, she is so sore from the practice....am looking forward to her games...she is not my athletic one.......

 

Everyone have a beautiful day!

between the raindrops....

I went out today and took some pictures of the garden and some random pictures before it started raining again....hope u enjoy!

                                         
                         Little Miss(hope it is a Miss) Mary Margaret is starting to get some feathers.

                                    
                         Glimmer/Lillie is also enjoying the rain , she is free -ranging with mom now

 

Here is Cheetah enjoying the bouts of motherhood...she had 16 baby chicks , we lost one. these baby chicks come out of the incubator and she took them..

 

             Cuckoo maran chicks , I picked up in the rain Saturday at farmers market, 5 of them

   

another shot of them , my youngest daughter`s chick(older one) is mother hen to them, this morning all of the baby chicks were under it, I have the 5 cuckoo Maran chicks and the little Cochin chick and its disabled buddy in there and the older chicks had almost all of them under it.

 

 

Just a couple of the surprise lilies coming up despite the rain, ..

 

                                               The squash is taking over the bed they are in....

                                                         Squash I picked today.......

    
                                      The total of the squash from the last few days....

 
                                What I picked today..............besides the squash between the raindrops

                                  
                                               The little cochin chick that hatched out last week, want to raise myself , so I can watch how it color  develops, it had to have a friend....

                           Sparkles is setting again.....maybe no one will take over her nest this time

Our little road with some of the rain this morning....last week road graders graded it and it was ruff on the end towards the school....I seen the graders out this morning going toward the school on our road.

 

Little mushrooms are popping everywhere because of the rain and I would say the cool nights.

I guess that is all for today....everyone enjoy the rain, I know I am....considering it is August and usually don`t get that much rain and I don`t have to haul jugs of water to my garden, no hose close enough to it......