Sunset

Templeton Sunset

Our Apricot Tree

So we apparently have an apricot tree. I got home one day and noticed some on the ground and the birds going crazy.

The tree is directly off the deck and grows over the roof. My friend Lindsay and I took turns climbing the ladder to pick the fruit.

The fruit tasted great but was very small. I think I will prune the tree back this winter and hopefully that will increase the number and size of the apricots next year. This basket was all we got from the tree.

A Lovely Start to Summer

It's raining! What a magical sound to hear in June. Surely the plants outside are happy, especially the weeds. As you can see I have some weeding to do. I have figured out the specific weed we have in the veggie garden are easier to pull out when bigger. I have been waiting to go out there and now it is raining. Darn. Guess I will have to put it off a little longer:) Too bad school is over. If I had a test to study for the garden would be free of all weeds and my house would be spotless.

The corn and green beans are growing fast. Jared keeps asking me if the corn will be knee high by the 4th of July. Everything seems to be growing except for the pumpkins which never sprouted.

These are my new gardening/ chicken feeding shoes. Crocs for $15 at Costco. What a deal! Now I won't have chicken poop and foxtails in my shoes anymore.

I started an herb garden on the side of the house. I planted everything in pots so that if the deer eat anything I can move them onto the porch. There is no fence around this garden so I am a little worried. Jared caught a mom deer and baby eating my poor little sunflowers a couple days ago. See below:

The herb garden has Italian parsley, parsley, mint, cilantro, thyme, roesmary, and some jalapeno and basil plants left over from the garden. I'm trying to grow potatoes that our friends brought back from Italy in the wine barrels. They are high protein potatoes originally from Africa. They haven't sprouted yet. The sunflowers are growing behind the wine barrels.

The chickens are getting more chicken like and less like little alien birds. They are very curious and come to check me out everytime I feed them. They also like to check out the deer and Hiro the cat. They love to eat any type of melon. So far I have named three of them but I still don't know if any are roosters. The white is Hollywood, the tan is Buff, and the dk brown is Big Red.

Hiro's new favorite place is sitting in front of the chicken yard. He likes to stare at the chickens through the fencing. Then they run over to him flapping their wings and he gets scared and runs away. It's pretty funny to watch.

It's too hot already!

I just love it when a Pecot comes to town. It's projects galore! Ben is here on leave from Hawaii for a couple weeks. This past weekend we were hanging out at our house when the temperature started to rise. It kept going. I think it was over 100F. Unfortunately we do not have A/C in our new place just a swamp cooler in one room (those don't work!). Hiro had the right idea, stretching in front of the open window to catch whatever small breeze came through.

After the second day of heat we ventured to Home Depot to get a fan. Fortunately there was a sale on a ceiling fan ($200 on sale for $64). Ben and Jared decided it would be easy enough to install so we bought it.

It's much bigger than we anticipated but it comes with 2 lights which is helpful.

The finished product. Ahhhhh, so much better! It even matches the decor.

Our veggie garden

For my birthday a couple weeks ago I asked my family for a vegetable garden. They have a big one at their house every year so I thought they would be able to get us set up. First we had to get rid of this shrubbery in the back of the house so we would have some room. We had to use the chain saw (Jared had fun) and then drag all the brush to the front of the house to burn.

Once it was cleared out we actually had a nice flat place to plant. My parents brought over some goat manure and we spread it out and watered it down.

Sampson, my parent's dog, helping out.

Then my parents brought over the rota-tiller (sp?) and went to work. We accidentally left the sprinkler going for almost 8 hours the day before so it was a little tough. It was really muddy. Oops:)

The final product:

It's about 12' by 25'. We had to fence it in because of the deer. We fit into this tiny space some corn, green beans, pumpkin, chard, tomatoe, banana peppers, tomatillo, basil, jalapeno, serrano, zucchini, yellow squash, watermelon, cantelope, honeydew, cucumber. It is going to be jam packed. At least we won't be wasting water. This morning I noticed some sprouting but I can't remember what was planted there so it will be a surprise. At least it is growing and I haven't killed it yet. I'll post more pics as it grows!

Baby Birdies

About two weeks ago Jared noticed that behind these two roses ...

was a nest with some eggs in it.

Last week they hatched!

This was taken yesterday.

We are not quite sure what kind of birds they are. The mom/dad always flies away very fast when we walk by. It could be a tit mouse or some type of finch. We have both around our house. We have seen other nests but no babies.

Who wants chicken?

I have been bringing up the subject of raising chickens for eggs to Jared for the last couple months. Now that we live in the country, we have room for them. I was met with some resistance. So when our Pecot parents were here visiting a couple weeks ago, I seized the opportunity to bring it up again. They loved the idea and we decided to go get the chicks that weekend. Sorry Jared, you didn't have a chance. Justin decided to split the cost with us for half of the eggs so we got six chicks. We have a Rhode Island Red, California White, Black Australorp, Buff Orpington, Gold Sexlink, and a Black Sexlink. Hopefully all females! Here is their first day home.

We set up a brooder in the garage. Here they are at two weeks old.

Three weeks old.

Currently, at four weeks old.

Jared and Justin have been working hard on the coop. The front has bigger doors that open for cleaning. The backside has the laying area with the roof opening to get the eggs.

Jared telling Justin what to do. You can see the roosting poles.

This weekend we will be moving it outside to put the roof on and paint it. We will then be able to make a fenced in yard to protect them from wild animals. The chicks are ready to spread their wings and run around outside.