HOT WORKDAY SATURDAY

A relaxing Saturday morning today with nothing pressing on the agenda felt good. We got chores done and thankfully the silkie hen was still setting on the guinea eggs and the 3 chicks and their mama were happy to be out on the ground and have much more room to move around.
I had breakfast then EL and BB came to stay while their mom ran to the post office.
After they left hubbie decided to take down one of the dead limbs on the mimosa tree that has provided a shady lower yard for years and is now slowly dying. This limb was totally dead and hanging over the driveway so it needed to be taken down.

While he did that I took the weed slinger down the driveway and cut down all the poke weed and other large weeds that were starting to take over the banks.
It is upper 80's again today and I got over heated quickly swinging the weed slinger.
I came back to the house and got a cool drink and sat down to cool off before lunchtime.
Hubbie came in and we ate lunch before I went back out and helped him clean up all the branches from the driveway.
It was ahot job but we got it done and then took a nice break to rest.
I went up to the garden and pulled a big bowl full of Kale to fix some for supper and a bag to freeze. The kale has done very well this year and is still very tasty.

Hubbie sprayed the entire garden this evening with organic sprays to try and keep the bugs at bay and get rid of the fungus that is creeping in on the potatoes and peppers.
We need rain badly but the showers passed us by today.
I watered some of my suffering potted plants tonight.
We got chores done and I got the brooder box that I moved the chicks out of last night cleaned out and shut up for next time.
Hubbie grilled a couple steaks for our supper to go along with the fresh kale I put in the pressure pot.
Leslie the market manager called this afternoon concerned with some guys that showed up with automatic weapons to join the protest today in downtown. She said they had scared away all the customers and the vendors at market had all left.
Thankfully there was no trouble at the march where about 350 people showed up to march.

Not a good Saturday afternoon for businesses downtown.
I relaxed out in the covered patio with my sidekick this evening.

And we saw the first lightening bugs of the season tonight.

With the hot temps and sunshine it was a perfect pool play day for all the kids who enjoyed their own pools today.

Thankful for the blessings of this day and the strength that hubbie and I are blessed with.
God Bless and Good Night

GRADUATION DAY 2020

Up to another morning with an agenda to get the day started. It was cloudy for awhile but the sun came out and made for a hot morning.
We got chores done and had a quick breakfast then we caught 2 of the Silkie chicks that were the first hatch of this season, a black one and a white one to deliver to a customer and grabbed 4 dozen eggs for another customer to meet at the same location this morning at 10:30.
After everything was delivered we stopped by daughter's house on the way home and checked out IR and CA's new pool.
Addie was there also and they looked like they were having fun in the new pool.

Hubbie and I came home for lunch and then we cleaned the house.
I mopped us out the back door and we walked down to d-in-love's where all the kids were gathered now playing in the pool there.
We watched them play for a little while then we headed back up here when daughter left to get home to get ready for graduation this evening. Son-in-love and his mom are talking care of the girls while daughter is gone.
All the graduates had to drive through and only they were allowed to get out of their cars to receive their diplomas and then there was a backdrop for photos that could be made from your car.

The teachers were all stationed along the route to wave and congratulate the seniors.

And of course it rained and everyone got wet . This is daughter and a fellow teacher sharing an umbrella after the tent they were under blew over.

A very different but very memorable graduation ceremony for this year's senior class.
Hubbie and I watched the rain as we got 3/10ths of an inch today and then we went up to work in the garden.
We got our green bean trellis up as the beans are starting to put out runners.

I also noticed this bright spot in the yard as these day lilies are showing off right now.

I crossed my fingers and moved the flighty silkie hen who has been setting on 13 guinea eggs for almost 4 weeks now from the silkie house to a brooder box. This hen is the one who flew out of the first brooder box I set her up in and the only way I could get her to set back on the eggs was put them in a nest in the Silkie house. She has sat devoutly on the nest for 25 days now so with hatching time getting closer she had to be moved into a brooder box for the eggs to hatch. As I lifted her and the eggs into the brooder box she got off them and I was racking my brain for any ideas for the eggs but she got back on the eggs and settled down.
The box I put her in is the darkest box I have so I am not even going to open the door to check her until I hear peeping of chicks so maybe she won't spook and leave the eggs.
I also moved the 3rd hatched chicks and their mama hen to the old guinea house and lot with the remaining 3 silkie chicks and the 1 Araucana rooster from the first hatch of the season.
This has been a pretty strange year for setting silkie as not many of the hens have shown any sign of broodiness.
It was a good year to invest in an incubator and I already have 8 of the latest guinea eggs in it and will add tomorrow's big hen eggs to it on day 21.
Hubbie and I spent a restful evening in the cool house as we turned our air conditioning on for the first time this season today.
Thankful for the blessings of this day.
God Bless and Good Night

POOL IS OPEN

Up earlier to get another busy morning started. After chores hubbie and I finished loading our trash and recyclables and picked up RL on the way to daughter's house.
Today is our weekly trip to the recycle center and the girls love this time and think it is a big adventure each week. D-in-love always fixes them a snack / breakfast and they enjoy that together as we ride.
First stop today was to meet an egg customer with her 4 dozen eggs.
Then it was off to the dump where there were no wild animals for the girls to get to see but they still remembered the turkeys and deer we have seen there before.
We left there and dropped the girls both off at daughters . IR's other g-ma was coming by to see her and Addie was already there so RL wanted to stay there with them until d-in-love got back to from the grocery store to pick her up.
Hubbie and I had lunch alone today and then d-in-love stopped by with our groceries.
We have been wanting a new gas grill so we shopped online at Home Depot and bought one that was available for curbside pickup.
We figured it would be tomorrow when it was ready for pickup but to our surprise as we at and watched a short rain shower outside I got a text saying the order was ready for pickup.
The rain stopped after only leaving about 1/10th inch of rain in the gauge and we got the truck and went to pick up the grill.
They were really slow to bring the grill out to us but we finally had it loaded and on our way home.
The dark clouds looked like it would rain any minute but no rain came. We parked the truck in the barn with the grill in it so hubbie could put it together out of the back of the truck.
The kids were all swimming down at d-in-love's pool for the first time today so we went down there to spend the afternoon with them. It is a good day for the cool water with the temperature in the upper 80's again and very humid.
IR still isn't a fan of the pool but did get in with d-in-love holding her a couple times. She was content to sit outside and watch RL and Addie play in the water.

These 2 are going to be an adventuresome pair !!!!

We came back to the house to get chores done under more threatening clouds.
Hubbie got the new grill put together but left it in the barn in the dry as the winds got high and the clouds got darker I gathered things in for a stormy night ahead.
This one little sliver of sunset color was all that this evening could muster.

So far we didn't get any of the storms that some surrounding areas got thankfully and hopefully tonight we will get some much needed rainfall on our garden.
We rested for the evening.
Thankful for the blessings of this day.
God Bless and Good Night

HOT JUNE DAY

Up earlier again this morning to get chores done, I love seeing the sun rising above the horizon on the pictures the Ring security camera takes.

I grabbed a cup of coffee just as daughter dropped IR off on her way to take CA to the doctor for her 12 month check up.
IR went with us to the Curb Market where I had to do payroll and make a deposit of vendor payments.
While I worked alone in market on a market closed day hubbie and IR walked around outside.
Daughter met us with CA after her appointment and we switched her still sleeping into our car so daughter could pick up an order at Sam's Club.
CA checked out great with her weight up now to the 40% and her height in the 70% but they need to watch her damaged electrodes in heart closely so she has to go back to the doctor in 3 months.
We went to Fletcher Feed to pick up chicken feed and fertilizer for the garden.
Thankfully even after 4 shots in her little legs CA slept all the way home.
Daughter met us here and we had lunch then went outside to play under the covered patio.
D-in-love and RL went over to Re's house to let RL play in their pool so daughter took the girls over there for a while.
I cleaned house and changed all the furniture covers and decor for the month of June. I did a load of laundry and then helped hubbie in the garden. Our potatoes and peppers seem to have a blight that is making brown spots on the leaves so we pulled off alot of the spotted leaves then hubbie sprayed with a fungicide to hopefully get rid of it before it damages the vegetables.
Seems things are surely working against the garden this year.
I noticed this huge mushroom lurking under some bushes . This is one of the biggest mushrooms I have ever seen.

After chores this evening hubbie and I both relaxed in the covered patio and enjoyed the cool breeze that blew up with the clouds this evening in the upper 80's heat of this day.
The "Strawberry" full moon is almost full and will be on Friday this year.

 We rested this evening and got an early bedtime expecting another earlier morning tomorrow.
Thankful for the blessings of this day.
God Bless and Good Night

BASKETBALL LESSONS

Up to meet RL as she came early this morning so d-in-love could go to the elementary school kindergarten graduation at her school this morning. It was another beautiful sunny morning but still a bit cool early.

RL helped with the morning chores happily before the other girls got here.

After we got finished taking care of all the chickens she went with hubbie to spray tomatoes up in our garden and down at her dad's garden.
Daughter came in with IR, CA and Addie and RL was glad to see them and they ate breakfast of bagels and cream cheese before playing the morning away.
I got the bed covers changed and did a load of laundry between taking care of the girls.
D-in-love came home about lunch time and brought lunches for all the girls. They enjoyed their chicken sandwiches today.
After lunch daughter and I took all the big girls outside and hubbie put CA down for a nap while d-in-love did online work for school.
We set up the basketball goal and daughter gave RL and IR their first shooting lessons.

 RL was a proud little girl when she made a basket !!!

Her excitement was short lived as when she went to pick up her ball from the grass she got bee stung on the finger and we had to come inside and put some baking soda and vinegar mixture on it .
We spent the rest of the afternoon out in the covered patio swinging and dancing and eating popsicles. A perfect summer afternoon.
Ben picked Addie up and then everyone else left shortly afterward.
Hubbie and I got chores done then we moved the bath tub that has the radishes in it that was in the shade into the sunshine. I helped hubbie unhook the forks and wood hauler from the tractor and hook up the bush hog. The buttercups are taking over the lower pastures and he is getting ready to cut them down.
We came inside and had a light supper then he watched TV while I did weekly paperwork and paid bills.
Thankful for all the blessings of this day.
God Bless and Good Night

HELLO JUNE

Hello June as you come in with a beautiful sunny but cool morning.
I got chores done and then watered all the raised beds.
The beets, rutabagas and carrots in these beds are doing great and we are harvesting some already.

The radishes are too shaded in this location so they have not done well at all. We are planning on moving the tub soon into a more sunny location.

The new tomato plants in this tub are looking good.

And so are my herbs, tomato and pepper plants in these containers.

The blueberries are prolific this year.

This is our June 1st garden this year.

I harvested more spinach today for the freezer and for use this week.
The rains almost did my lettuce in but there is a few leaves for salads this week. We are still getting onions and plenty of kale from our early garden. I am disappointed with my turnips that I planted in the garden because they are wormy, guess I'll need to move them to a raised bed also next year.
I came in the house as daughter arrived with IR and CA as well as Addie to stay her all day while she goes to work to finish the graduation programs.
RL came in a little later so d-in-love could get her end of the year online work done.
The girls enjoyed each other today.

 It's nice to have Addie to help them with their games on the devices.

We all had lunch then we all went outside to play for a while and get some vitamin D.
When we came back inside Addie rocked CA to sleep for her afternoon nap.

We ate cupcakes and RL and IR helped me with laundry.

I got the 3 loads of weekly laundry done today between playing with the girls.
The move to keep the new brooder box full of new chicks to the basement was a good idea as they were fine last night and we set the box just outside the basement door this morning and didn't need a light bulb for heat until the shade came in later afternoon.
Daughter came in with a bad headache so she stayed here until son-in-love got home. I fed the girls supper and then they went home.
Hubbie got the lawn mowed this afternoon and then we got all the chores done.
Thankful for the blessings of this day.
God Bless and Good Night