GUESS WHO CAME HOME?

Yesterday we picked up Penny. For the first eight weeks she was well loved by Peter and family but now she is ours and we couldn't be happier.

Last night went well. She slept five and a half hours before letting us know she needed to go outside. Once done back into her crate for another three hours; no problem, no fuss.

Mary makes sure Penny gets all the love, hugs and cuddles she needs. We are one happy family.

Life is extra busy these days, with chickens and a new puppy to look after. So far all has gone well and we are looking forward to having family and friends visit the next few weeks. I'm sure Owen and Kate are anxious to give Penny some hugs.

Stay safe everyone and thanks for stopping by.

CHICKS and CHIPS

Our chicks arrived yesterday in this cardboard box specifically designed for safe and easy transport from the hatchery to the co-op.

Once home we transferred them into this child's wading pool lined with newspaper and wood chips.

We soon learned that wood chips could pose a health hazard to the baby chicks as their digestive trac isn't able to digest the fiber yet.

Now their home is chip free and everyone is safe and happy. They slept huddled together under the heat lamp and now are busy running around bumping into one another and eating non-stop.

I'm sure there will be other lessons for us to learn, so if you see us doing something wrong please write and let us know.

Stay safe and healthy and thanks for stopping by.

BABY CHICKS

Our baby chicks arrived this morning. We ordered 30 and they sent 32 just in case two didn't make it.

The first thing Mary did was place their bills into the water trough. This was necessary so they would know where to go for water.

We have two water stations and three food stations for the baby chicks. 

Their food is spread out in this feeder so they have lots of room for eating.

We were originally going to keep the chicks on the porch for the first week or two but it has turned cool so we moved them indoors to the mechanical room. It's the warmest room in the house and they are well protected from any predators. In a few weeks we will move them outside to the chicken coop.

When we went to the co-op this morning there must have been over 100 boxes full of baby chicks.  If on average each box had 30+ chicks that works out to over 3,000 little baby chicks going out to new homes up here today. The guy at the co-op said they have never been this busy with baby chicks. Looks like more people are trying to be self-sufficient. 

Thanks for stopping by and keeping an eye on us.

CHICKEN COOP and TURTLE EGGS

First job this morning was to get the roof on the chicken coop.

Fortunately it was a very still morning, no breeze, and we could easily roll out the TYPAR on the north side. Mary was a big help securing one end and taking pictures while we nailed everything down.

WE then moved to the south side and started installing the plastic windows a friend gave us years ago.

Not quite done but very happy with the installation so far. This little modification has been a considerable upgrade to our chicken coop. Hope the chickens appreciate all the work when they arrive next week.

While we were busy down at the chicken coop, four large turtles came up by the house to lay their eggs. This is a yearly occurance and we never tire of watching these natural cycles right outside our windows.

Enjoy the day and thanks for stopping by.

SMALL STEPS

Yesterday we got the post support cut and fitted under the beam. The chicken coop is 24 feet long (7.3 meters) so the beam does need some support in the middle, especially during our winters.

We have enough of these plastic panels from an old greenhouse to cover the south side of the roof.

I think the panels will be perfect; allow some light but keep our chickens dry when it rains. There is a solid green panels that will fit across the bottom to complete the job.

Today I will cut the boards to length and fit them along the roof line. The north side I will cover with TYVEK and steel siding which should keep that side dry as well.

Another busy day and it's time to get started.

Thanks for stopping by.

MORNING BIKE RIDE

Early morning is a great time for a bike ride or a walk through our forest.

My shots from the saddle as I rode through the forest are too blurry to post but once out on the road the ride was smoother.

Our lake was still and the shore a perfect reflection, nothing moving but the loons far out by the island.

By the time I got home, Mary was out in her garden checking on her flowers and seeing how Owen's apple tree was doing after being sprayed yesterday.

After breakfast we plan is to work on the roof of the far chicken coop. Of course plans often change and we tend to think and reflect, discuss and debate, more than actually working these days. At my age thinking and reflecting are my favourite activities. Swinging a hammer and climbing on a roof are causes I often avoided it seems; especially on sunny days with few bugs.

I'm sure we will accomplish something, just not as much as we could but then again it will still be there tomorrow.

Enjoy your day and thanks for stopping by.

FRUIT TREES

We have a small flower/vegetable garden just behind these raised hothouse beds. Mary plants a new fruit tree for each grandchild and today we gave some attention to those trees.

The apple tree has the promise of an abundant harvest and Mary didn't want to see the apples damaged by insects. She read that baking soda,, warm water and soap sprayed on the buds would help deter the bugs. This morning she was busy with the sprayer.

We used a simple two gallon weed sprayer available at most hardware stores that makes the whole job very easy.

No toxic chemicals, no harsh pesticides just baking soda and soap. We shall see how successful this solution is.

Next job will be the chicken coop; it needs a new roof and the chickens arrive June 24th.

Stay safe and healthy everyone and thanks for stopping by.

LIFE IS QUIET AGAIN

Owen and Kate went home yesterday and the house is like a tomb, quiet beyond belief.

Our house may be still but our gardens have been active.  Our cucumber beds are doing quite well in their mini-greenhouse. New leaves have sprouted and the plants look healthy.

We need to find a better way of planting carrot seeds. The seeds are tiny and we obviously drop too many too close together. Now we need to go back and thin them out for the second time.

One variety of lettuce was quite bitter so we pulled it today and Mary planted radishes.

The other bed got a new planting of dutch-sets which was my Dad's favourite vegetable. He always had 3-4 across his supper plate.

Our strategy this summer is to replant a new crop as soon as we pull the old. That way, we should get 2-3 harvests from each bed before winter closes everything down. Today Mary was able to freeze five bags of spinach for future smoothies this fall.

It's a busy time for us and will get busier in a few weeks when the chickens arrive along with the new puppy. Are we crazy?

Stay safe everyone and thanks for stopping by.

HIGHS and LOWS

Today we stayed cool by playing in the shade and eating Oma's popsicles.

Owen was busy digging the deepest hole in the hopes of catching a chipmunk.

While Owen dug, Kate bounced higher and higher. She had a great time on Oma's little trampoline.

Time to relax and have a group hug. It's wonderful going to Oma's and having so much fun and so many treats. That's what being a grandparent is all about.

Stay safe everyone and thanks for stopping by.

PUPPIES MEET OWEN and KATE

This morning Kate and Owen met "Penny" for the first time.

I called Peter to see if it was OK for us to drop by; No Problem!

At first they were a little hesitant to hold the puppies, afraid they might scratch or bite, but they soon learned that the puppies just wanted to be cuddled.

By the time we were ready to leave they wanted to take them all home. We are so excited about getting "Penny" in a few weeks and the joy she will bring to the family.

This will definitely be a different summer once "Penny" arrives.

Stay safe everyone and thanks for stopping by.

MORNING HARVEST

Morning is the usual time for Mary to go out and harvest the greens for our daily salad.

Pea shoots are a delightful addition to our salads; something we had never thought to add until this year.

Mary picks only the outer lettuce leaves which allows the plant to continue to produce and give us greens throughout the growing season.

Doesn't that look delicious?

Onions give any salad an added punch and we are now able to harvest our first "Dutch Sets" Almost time to do a second planting so we will have a continuous supply throughout the summer.

Our first picking of beet greens. We take just enough so we don't kill the plant as we look forward to the beets in August.

Time to make my smoothie then head to Toronto.

Safe travels everyone and thanks for stopping by.

0*C

June 1st and our temperature this morning is a cold 0*C/32*F.

Our cucumber plants are in the tall raised bed you see here. We've made it into an inexpensive mini greenhouse for added protection and covered the plants with fleece cloth to keep them from freezing. Once our temperature reaches 5*C we will check to see if they survived the night.

These plants are hardy and the cold temperatures are not a threat to them. We will experiment this fall  with a late planting and see if we can pick fresh spinach and lettuce right through to the end of November.

Compost is vital for a healthy garden and we are trying to expand the volume of compost we create so all our gardens will get a healthy covering during spring planting next year.

I will update this entry sometime after 10, once we've inspected the cucumbers.

Time for an UPDATE 12 Noon.

After it warmed up this morning we opened up the cucumber bed. 

Mary pulled back the fleece cover and all looked good.

Some plants even have new leaves a sure sign of a healthy plant.

Thanks for stopping by and stay safe everyone.