Whirlwind

"Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore," ~ Dorthy from The Wizard of Oz



It has been a whirl wind of a week.  I accomplished a great number of the projects that had been building on my to do list.  My daughter and I cleaned out the Chicken Coop and using the straw and manure that came out of the Chicken Coop were able to form two raised gardening beds for use in the Spring.  I used some old wooden fence posts that were laying around from when we rebuilt part of the fence.  I made simple squares using four fence posts.  I started with a kill layer of cardboard on the bottom as the weeds here are horrendous, and am using the straw with manure mixed in from the Chicken Coop, along with compost such as egg shells, coffee grounds, banana peels, and pieces of produce that the Rabbits and Chicken won't eat.  You'd be shocked at how picky our Chickens are, and the Rabbits are simply snobs; the rabbits turn their nose up at celery.  I plan to add another set of fence posts on top of the first layer of fence posts to make them deeper raised beds.  Over the Winter the mixture in the raised beds should break down nicely into nutrient rich soil.  I would have loved to add newspapers to the beds, but all of the newspapers we receive from family and friends go to starting fires in our wood stove during the winter.





    Since the War on Bees has stagnated for the time being I'm more than pleased at the number and variety of wildlife that have come back to the property.  We now see Dragonflies on a daily basis, our Frog population has increased, Birds are starting to use the bird feeders again (both Doves and Woodpeckers), there is a mischievous Squirrel that comes to visit from the neighbors and my daughter was able to meet a Preying Mantis for the first time while cleaning our Rabbit cages one morning.  She was delighted to say the least.  It's always quite a sight when my daughter and I clean the rabbit cages every morning.  Given that we're not morning people, in the Summer I'm usually in running shorts, a camisole top and flip flops.  My daughter is usually in her pajamas and a pair of Sandals or High Heels depending upon her mood and our two little dogs are barking frantically as they dance around us trying to see the sacred Rabbits.  I'm sure our neighbors our usually on the floor laughing at this point.  This week I've started catching up on some projects that have been simmering on the back burner; such as buying a three hole punch to start on the massive mountain of paperwork I have to sort through and organize. 
   

    My Moonflowers are still outdoing themselves and next week will determine whether I need to add an additional Tomato Cage on top of the first one.  We'll see.
     I was also able to organize the upstairs guest room so that my husband can resume using music as a stress reliever such as playing a Guitar.  I also organized it so that the movies, CD's, and cassette tapes can be used by the family.  My husband has made great progress in repainting the house while the weather is good; I'm anxious to see the final result, it will be lovely.  All in all a delightful week, I'm hoping to continue to make hay while the sun shines (all pun intended). 

 

Wishing you and yours a lovely week,

 

Yoko