A Good Day

View of Cairnwood Cottage from my Secret Garden--lots of work to do in those flower beds!

Today was very busy and very good. I woke up several hours earlier than I normally do when I'm on vacation, and went out to check the peeps first thing. They came charging out of The Peep House when I opened their little door, and immediately set about scratching, running, establishing the pecking order, flying about and doing all manner of peeply things. I was yet again dismayed to see that some pecking had occurred overnight...perhaps 8 peeps had bloodied tail feathers. I did leave the heat lamp on overnight, so perhaps that's part of the problem; they've got light all night long and are up and about getting bored all cooped up in their coop.

Here's a photo of the Duct tape solution that seems to work pretty well. Stylish, no?

Peep sporting its' Duct Tape Nether-Region-Protector!

Within 5 minutes of being let out of the coop, one little peeper found an earthworm and came running down from behind the coop just cheeping its little head off, carrying that worm which was so big it was dragging the ground. Of course this alerted all the other chicks to the tasty morsel and the chase was on! One of the golden sexlinks got the other end of the worm in its beak and a short tug-of-war ensued before the sexlink won out and ran off with the worm and a tasty breakfast. As cute as all this was, I still cringe at the thought of the poor earthworm being eaten alive...I like earthworms. I talk to them and apologize to them if I accidentally cut one in half when I'm digging a hole. I try not to run over them when they're crawling all over the road when it's raining. I still can't believe I used to impale them onto fishing hooks when I was a kid....shudder!

I checked the red raspberries that I transplanted into the berry patch. They were a bit droopy last night and I watered them in good before calling it a night. This morning they're all perky and look like they've been there for quite some time, so I think they'll all survive. I've got so many red raspberry shoots coming up all over the yard...I'd like to sell them for what they're selling for at some of the stores around here! I'd make a small fortune!

After breakfast I jumped right into digging up that rambling rose ("The Garland") growing beside the patio and transplanting it into my Secret Garden (more on the history of my Secret Garden in another post). Hubby Dean has always hated that rose being planted there because he was constantly getting tangled up in it and was constantly chopping it back with the loppers. I think he was secretly trying to kill it. When, during lunch, I mentioned that I hoped it would survive the transplant ordeal, Hubby Dean stated, and this is an exact quote, "that bush and the cockroaches will take over after the nuclear war."

While I was planting the rose into its new home, the UPS dude stopped and delivered a package (normally I bring packages home from work with me unless I'm on the motorcycle). My 3 clematis (Clematis Montana "Broughtan Star") and 1 "Chocolate Cosmos" (Cosmos astrosanguineus) have finally arrived! One of the clematis ended up being planted in the spot where the rambling rose once thrived...I wanted some sort of climbing thing there, and I figured Hubby Dean wouldn't complain about a clematis.

Look what the UPS man brought me! One "Chocolate Cosmos" and three "Broughton Star" clematis (yeah, those things that look like cigars!)

Besides the new clematis, which is a dusky rose color and will grow up to 20 feet, I also planted 5 Sparkle strawberry plants in that bed by the patio. I remember my grandfather growing Sparkle strawberries many, many years ago (at least 40!). They were amazing, at least in my memory. I ordered 5 plants via snail mail since I couldn't find them locally. I figured I could start new plants from these when they start doing that runner thing, thus enlarging my ever-growing number of strawberry plants. Plus these will be handy there by the back door. Pop open the back door and grab a handful!

Work in progress...5 Sparkle strawberries (one is hiding behind the far right pot) and a "Broughton Star" clematis will be planted in front of the trellis. Then the dirt will be swept up...

This past week I dug up some "wild" Pheasant Eye type daffodils that I'd seen growing along a little dirt road in the woods. I'm amazed they're still there because the road crew often goes through there and digs the ditch out, and they're growing in the ditch. I promised myself I'd "save" them at some point, but kept thinking of it too late. This year my timing was just right, and I dug up four pots worth of the little beauties. They'll get transplanted into my Secret Garden and my Woodland Garden. I love these little guys.

Three of four pots of the "Pheasant's Eye" daffodil that I dug up from a ditch

Close-up of the "Pheasant's Eye" type daffodil in the process of opening up

And finally, a NEWSFLASH! Pasty Butt has pooped! If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you'll have to read my previous post. I went upstairs to the brooder to check on Pasty Butt. I was actually looking at the other chick in the brooder when out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw PB go pooh, but I wasn't 100% sure. There was a little pile of chick pooh there. How to tell if PB did the deed, or was that already there? Temperature. Yes folks, I reached in there and actually touched the pooh, and it was warm! I'm so happy!

And yes, I did wash my hands, multiple times in fact, afterwards.

CAIRNWOOD TIP OF THE DAY: I tried a little trick that I'd read about on my organic gardening list; lavender essential oil drops placed on my hat really does keep gnats from flying around in my face!