Ugh?

Disclaimer.......this picture has nothing to do with this post....

It's just been one of those days.  I woke this morning not feeling very well, got some med's, and I still haven't taken them.  I using some natural things first.  If they don't work, I'll resort to the medication.

Anyhoo....

I laid down to watch a few hundred episodes of "Shawn the Sheep" with my nieces little one and 

then take a nap.  When I woke up, I couldn't walk!! My heal on my left foot is in so much pain, swollen, and black and blue!

I have do idea what the heck happened during my nap.  

So, my day has rounded out with me sitting in our lounge chair in the library watching "Coach", and scratching my head about this whole situation.  I'm hearing the "crunch" "crunch" of those little flea beetles chowing down my broccoli, kale, arugula, spinach, and beet greens.  I can't get out there to spray them down, which even if I could, it wouldn't make a difference because....

The atmosphere is churning up a whopper of a storm, which in turn means more rain, which in turn means my potatoes and sweet potatoes are all done!! 

They have been in a soppy mess of dirt for weeks now and I think the seeds are rotting in the ground. 

O well, thank God for farmers markets!

On a brighter note.....I have several balls of yarn sitting in my virtual shopping cart in some beautiful soft, and vibrant colors.  They are waiting for the "a ok" from my hubby.  I'm excited to get going on my project!!

Hopefully tomorrow I will be back to normal!

Chickens, Garden's, and Rainy Days

Scott and I have been chatting about the possibility of a visit to Oregon state this fall...

I'm not really sure that we need to go now.  

I think in the past two weeks we have had about 6 inches of rain...

I know it rains A LOT in Oregon!

I feel as though I'm already visiting!!

Anyway......we had another chick that I had to hatch out.  

This one is a miracle and any others that hatch out will be as well!!

I'm not sure about the last few chicken ramblings if I mentioned that I kinda over heated my chicken eggs by like 27 degrees!!!! Then I was going to throw them out and took the light off and the temperature dropped to 78 degrees!! The next morning this little chick was hatching! 

Acelia has named her Judy after another one of her favorite actresses...

Judy Garland.  We absolutely love "Meet Me In St. Louis" . 

One of our favorites!

To the Garden for an update!

As you can see....the calendula is soaked!  I do have a couple that are almost fully blossomed!

I'm starting this process.....its long, involved, but will be worth it in the end (I hope)!

I laid some out today because the rain really help keeps the paper in place until I get the mulch.  It will also hold a lot of moisture in when this rain finally stops!

The movie is so good, with ton's of information!!

My sweet pea blossom

These pea pods are yellow! 

Going for color here!

Yes, that is my chewed to bits, drowning in mud and mulch, arugula!

We have had so much rain that it is washing plants right away along with washing the mulch away as well.  It's a never ending battle.  Rain, bugs, not enough rain.....blah blah blah! Whatever!!!!!!

Inside going crazy........

We have watched Kipper, played trucks, and our new rainy day activity is play doh!

I made the above cat, which was immediately squashed with lot's of giggles....

Acelia is working on a puppy....

Then she made this snake...

All's well......

I wasn't too sure about the two little chicks that I had to peel out of the shells a

couple of days ago.  Ethel and Esther are doing great though! 

There is a question as to the gender of Audrey.  We are hoping that she isn't a rooster!

We moved the 8 week old flock into the coop today to get to know our older original flock.  

The Freedom Rangers now have the run of the barn coop.  Lot's of room to stretch their legs and run around.  They are loving it!! 

A little wind, a little rain....

With the hot humid weather here, we are in for some serious thunderstorms.  

It was a deluge for about an hour and a half here this afternoon!!

You can see the massive amounts of rain coming off the log ends of the house.

The wind was so violent that it took several large, heavy, pictures off my mantel and sent them smashing down to the tile.

The trees were completely sideways.

I'm surprised they weren't uprooted.

The ground got a good ol' soaking and the sun is out now, making it feel like a sauna.

I'm sure more is on the way.....

How does my garden grow.....

 Well, it's growing quite nicely!

I think the rain and the warm weather is blessing...

My Calendula exploded!!!!

The Garden of Eaten'

Yellow irises border the garden on one small section...

Pretty picture, and I like it and all....but these things are a curse if you own horses!

Here's the strawberries that we will never be able to eat because something always chews them before they are ripe!

Fava beans are just coming up!

Cool Blue

We've been having my favorite weather lately.  You know......hot....very hot....humid...very humid... upper 80"s, low 90's....

Hot! Hot! Hot!!

I love going to bed at night with every window wide open...

I love waking up to the warmth even though the sun is not out yet....

I love to hear the splashing and playing of my niece's little boy in his swimming pool.... or sitting on the deck watching a thunderstorm roll in, and waking up at 2:30 to lighting flashing

and the cracking, booming, roll of thunder.  I love this weather!

More chicken ramblings.....

You would think that there is nothing else going on here at the farm other than chickens hatching, but I assure you that there are several non chicken events going on here!  I just happen to think that the baby chickens hatching are the most exciting!! 

So GiGi is doing well after her rescue. 

Upon researching as to why the other two have been in their shells for HOURS, I found out that high humidity caused the eggs to hatch early.  We were left with a little dilemma.  If they don't hatch soon on their own they can dry to their shells and die.  If we try to peel the shell away, we risk rupturing the thin membrane and killing them.  I painstakingly took little tiny pieces of the shell off and used warm water to keep things moist and after about an hour and a half the other two were out.   They look premature, but we'll see how they do.  They are warm and dry and seem to look good.

I had a little accident with the other eggs all two dozen,  and I'm not sure they 

are still alive in their shells. :( 

I'm not really sure what to do with them at this point.

Anyhoo.....here's some current photo's and I'm sure I'll have several dozen more and bore you with all the details, but hey! It's my blog and I can ramble if I want to... 

:)

Ethel on the left, and Esther on the right.

Shore Roses

If your into collecting wild herbs, now is the time to collect shore rose petals.  I have a couple of quarts already dried and stored up.  You can use them in homemade bath salts, homemade lotions, or just put them in with some other herbs for a pretty smelling potpourri.  I just collected the petals and put them in my dehydrator for about 15- 20 min, then let them cool and store them in a jar in a dark place.  I'm putting these ones in with my Calendula for a nice body lotion.  I also noticed that the red clover is ready to be harvested as well.  Red clover is an amazing blood purifier and it's also good for breathing problems.  I drink a tea that is chock full of red clover!

and another....and another.....and another

Ok we're running out of names!!

We came up with GiGi after one of Acelia and My favorite musicals...

There is utter chaos in the chicken coop today so we gathered up all the eggs and brought them into the house to hatch in here.  The other chickens are not very respectful of the mother and her eggs. I found poor GiGi over by the coop window while the mother sat on her remaining eggs watching her flounder around!! I rescued her and it appears she will make it, but I don't know.  I did leave the one mother hen sitting on about 8 eggs to let her hatch them.  She can regulate temperature better than I can!! I do have about a dozen and a half in here under the light waiting to hatch! Whew!!  Acelia is busy thinking up names to name them all! How she will keep them straight I don't know, but she is having fun naming them after famous movie stars! :)

Lucy sleeping in CC's hands...

This one will be a cross between our Silver Leghorn and our Red Sexlink...

The Graduate

I can hardly believe I am doing this post! I mean just a few weeks ago he was 5 and 

running around with his brother playing in our back yard.  He is an amazing

young man.  Talented in many areas....painting, landscaping, working on snowmobiles, 4 wheelers, and automobiles.   

He has been a tremendous help to our family this year with the tilling in my garden, mowing our lawn, and 

seeing that the vehicles and trailers are up to date on oil changes, and tire changes.  He is heading off to college and we are really going to miss him! 

Congratulations Timothy John Harding!

We are all so very proud of you!

Another New Baby!

I currently have to check under our hen daily to see if any eggs are hatching.  She built her nest on the floor of the coop and when Audrey hatched she was under attack by the other chickens until I rescued her.  It was traumatic for Audrey as well as the mother hen.  We decided we would have to diligently check the nest for hatching eggs remove them and hatch them inside to protect them.   

We held her right under the warming light while she hatched....

Her name is Lucy.......

In case you have noticed we have a theme going here with the chickens.  Acelia and I love old movies so we have 4 names picked out for the chicks as they hatch....

Audrey (after Audrey Hepburn), Lucy (after Lucille Ball), Esther (after Esther Williams), Ethel (after the character played by Vivian Vance in the I Love Lucy series)...

Audrey is learning "No" really quickly and you know I'll be darned she responds when I say it!!!

Chickens are smart!!!

We do separate them at night when I can't watch them.....

We discovered ANOTHER hen hatching out a nest of eggs in the barn! 

She is pretty isolated from the others so I'll leave her to herself and let her hatch her own babies and care for them.

Check This Out!!!

This article makes me glad I am growing a huge garden.  A lot of our food comes from China!

The Clean-Up Begins on China’s Dirty Secret – Soil Pollution

Monster Baby

As I write this post,  Audrey is laying out flat on a rice bag covered up with Button's blanket in the crook of my neck.   We've created a monster baby.  She chirps at the top of her lungs until you pick her up out of her box and cover her with a blanket.  She is soothed by the sound of your voice, or the touch of your hand and won't take "No" for an answer.   She finds it very entertaining to peck everything in site....Your neck, your fingers, the blanket,  your ears.  She is absolutely adorable! and we love her!