One Sunday in September...

Today was a misty, cool, Sunday. I love days like this; they remind me of Ireland, but the day wasn't so moist that I couldn't get outside and enjoy it. Rather than write a bunch, here are some photos taken from my stroll around our property today.

I planted sunflowers at the edge of our property where they'd get plenty of sun. Despite the drought this year, they're doing pretty good.

Squeak follows me everywhere. Here, he's near the hedgerow at the edge of our property near where I've planted the sunflowers. He's a most excellent "helper".

My garden was somewhat pathetic this year due to the fact that I had a bunch of young chickens running wild most of the summer. They devoured everything. Here is a young kale volunteer that I managed to cover with a sheer curtain; these kale volunteers have come up 2 years in a row!

Ah, this is suppose to be a "Peter Pepper", which is suppose to look strikingly like its namesake. I got the seeds from a Seed Saver's Exchange member, but obviously it crossed with something else....it's nice and hot though.

Mail call! Our mailbox....send me a letter! Inside the blue newspaper box lurks an old bird's nest...

My red raspberries appear to be about to produce a bumper crop of autumn raspberries.

Future red raspberry

Checking for eggs, I lifted the nesting box lid and found FIVE hens occupying the 3 boxes.

I cleaned out the chicken coop yesterday and now have a full /overflowing compost bin in the garden...Golden Sexlink looks on in the background.

A "Beautyberry" bush, (Callicarpa Dichotoma) is growing up between cracks in our patio (!!!) I need to transplant it somewhere, or start more from seed. I love the purple berries that it produces.

Callicarpa Dichotoma aka "Beautyberry Bush"

Chickens Update

Squeak

So here it is September already. Summer has come and gone for the most part; where did it go?! I've kept busy all summer, though apparently not quite busy enough when I stand back and see all that I did not get accomplished (that I'd hope I would) this summer.

I will give a quick update on the 15 chicks that hatched this spring (rather than blather on and on about what I didn't get done this summer!). And I promise, I WILL write about other things in this blog besides chickens....I don't want to have to re-name it "Chickens In The Mist."

Of the 15 eggs that hatched this spring (3 different batches), 10 were cockerels and only 5 were little pullets. What are the odds?! The roosters were all gorgeous and varying combinations of Welsummer/Ameraucana/Golden Sexlink/Speckled Sussex crosses. I wanted to keep them all of course, but I've already got 2 Ameraucana roosters and with 12 roosters crowing all day long, it was getting to be a little much. So, I advertised on Freecycle requesting that they go to "pet only" homes; I couldn't bear the thought of these sweet little boys ending up in a freezer or stew pot somewhere. I ended up parting with 9 of the roosters. I kept "Squeak", a handsome Welsummer/Ameraucana cross.

Squeak is the stunning result of a Welsummer/Ameraucana crossing

Squeak was so-named because he was the second to hatch in the first batch, the first being named "Pip"....Pipsqueak. Get it?! Anyway, Squeak is colored just like a Welsummer, has a Welsummer comb, but has these big, fat Ameraucana cheeks. What a stunning combination of characteristics!

Squeak
Who's yer daddy?! Ameraucana cheeks, but everything else screams Welsummer!

Currently Squeak is the sweetest rooster to grace the earth. He follows me around like a lost puppy, making constant chittering noises. He sounds like a senile old man muttering to himself. And it's just non-stop. I will be devastated if he turns mean like Ding Dong, but I know that's a possibility.

Of the 5 pullets hatched this spring, 2 ("Biddy Boop" and ""Zoe") look like full-blooded Welsummers. Three ("Meep", "Guinevere" and "Smidgen the Pigeon") look like full-blooded Ameraucanas. I will know for sure when they begin to lay eggs; egg color will be the deciding factor. I'm really, really hoping for some Welsummer/Ameraucana crosses, as their eggs should be a wonderful dark olive color.

Guinevere appears to be a full-blooded Ameraucana

Meep, another pullet that appears to be all-Ameraucana. That's Domino in the background. He's a Speckled Sussex/Ameraucana cross.

So, with the 6 new additions to my little flock, I've now got a grand total of 33 chickens; 30 hens and 3 roosters. I've got all the new hens (pullets) integrated in with the rest of the girls. Squeak and the lame Venus still have free range of the yard. I worry that if I put Venus in with the rest of the flock that they'll pick on her. And Squeak, well, the other 2 roosters are very, very jealous. Someday soon though, I'd love to get all the chickens under one roof. Life would be so much easier.

Life is Full of Surprises

Biggest Speckled Sussex egg ever....NOT!

I've mentioned before how large my Speckled Sussex hens are compared to the other girls, and how very small their eggs are compared to those of the smaller hens. You'd fully expect such a, uh, large girl to lay a fairly large egg. But NO! The SS girls lay the smallest eggs in my flock. They, however, make the most racket, and sing the loudest egg song of all the hens. Silly girls.

Today as I was collecting eggs, I came across the most ginormous egg ever. OK. Not really. It's the smallest egg I've ever seen, other than from a wren or something. And it's a Speckled Sussex egg, no less. I can just imagine the egg song this girl must have warbled upon laying such a giant! It came complete with a butt feather. How adorable!

The colossal Speckled Sussex egg...

I haven't had the heart to crack it open yet, but I imagine there's no yolk inside...and if there were, would this thing even hatch?! Oh, how tiny would that poor little chick be!

Sesame Street game..."which egg doesn't belong?"

Speckled Sussex egg and quarter

Normal "large" Golden Sexlink egg, and the gargantuan Speckled Sussex egg.

Oh Wild Grapes, How Do You Tease Me? Let Me Count The Ways....

Leaves of a domestic grape vine, either a Concord or Niagara

What I thought were infant clusters of wild grapes growing over my Secret Garden by the woods

Number one: you tease me by having a poisonous look-alike. I was so excited a couple weeks ago when I discovered that the "wild grape" vine growing up and over my Secret Garden was absolutely covered with teeny, tiny, wild grapes in hundreds upon hundreds of clusters. Then, I compared the fruit clusters with my Concord grape vine clusters, and the Concords are miles ahead of the "wild grape". And those leaves....the leaves of the "wild grape" look a bit different than "domestic" grape leaves. But hey, these are wild grapes, after all, they're entitled to look a bit different. Then I remembered reading about a fruit that mimics wild grapes and is poisonous. After a quick Internet search, I re-discovered that Common Moonseed (Menispermum canadense) looks a bit like grapes. Upon comparing their leaves to my "wild grapes", I found that, sadly, I have the poisonous Moonseed plant growing over my Secret Garden. I was soooo looking forward to plucking clusters of wild grapes from overhead, and making some wild Concord wine.

Canopy over my shaded Secret Garden is draped with Common Moonseed

Another view of the Secret Garden's canopy with Common Moonseed climbing a drooping wild cherry branch

#2....You're elusive. I know we've got loads of wild grapes growing in our woods, so perhaps I can muster the energy and time and forage for them when they're ripe. We can smell that sweet, grape aroma when we walk in the woods, or down the road by our house on crisp autumn days. And I see the clusters, waaaaaawy up high in the treetops. How on earth am I suppose to get those?!

Perhaps it's a good thing I've got a small vineyard planted, though it's still young and not productive. At least I'll have a source of grapes that I can actually reach and not just a bunch (pun intended) of teasers.

On This Day in May...

Late May is a beautiful time. Well, the entire month of May is beautiful, really. Here are a few things blooming at Cairnwood Cottage on this fine day in May:

Lady Robin Azalea

Marigolds (from the nursery)

This is suppose to be a Paul's Himalayan Musk climbing rose, but I'm not so sure...I didn't think it would be this pink, and it doesn't have the extreme fragrance I was expecting. And it's not climbing too vigorously. It's pretty, none-the-less.

Another view of the alleged Paul's Himalayan Musk as it climbs up the dog yard fence.

And for the first time since I planted it several years ago, my Polish Spirit clematis has climbed into the sour cherry tree and is BLOOMING!

Impatiens, after being watered, in a flower bed under a tree in our front yard.

Don Juan rose is putting on a good show in front of the Rambling Rector rambling rose which climbs up the side of the house.

Don Juan and Rambling Rector roses growing at the entrance to our patio (as seen from the driveway)

I got a start of this iris from someone at a Master Gardener conference...not exactly sure what it's called, but I think it's some type of Siberian iris (?)


Daydream shrub rose

Creativity. It's a Good Thing.

I'll be the first to admit that I have a problem throwing away perfectly good things. I'm always looking for ways to recycle things; sometimes I'm successful, other times not.

Several weeks ago I bought some replacement Niagara grapes from Lowes since the ones I tried to over-winter in pots didn't make it. At any rate, two grape vines came bound together in a nifty little "gunny sack". What a cute sack! How could I throw something like that away, yet what would I do with it?!

Lightbulb moment! I'll turn it into a planter! I simply lined the interior of the burlap sack with a plastic bag, poked a hole in the bottom and filled it with potting soil, then planted a nifty little viola in it.

Little burlap sack lined with a plastic bag, waiting to be filled with potting soil and viola.

The happy little finished product!

So, what does one do with an empty Baltimore oriole nest that has fallen from the tree? Same thing!

Empty Baltimore Oriole nest

Baltimore Oriole nest turned into a planter

And They Grow....

They're a mere 4 days old, growing feathers and exploring this big, big world.

Isn't this THE cutest, fatest, fluffiest face you've ever seen? Chick from a Speckled Sussex egg...I'm guessing the daddy is an Ameraucana, judging from the chubby cheeks.

They're four days old and already they're starting to feather out. It simply amazes me how fast a chick can grow. What amazes me even more is the fact that a fully developed chick can crack out of an egg in a mere 21 days. Now that's fast. And miraculous!