Chasing butterflies

I spent about 10 minutes yesterday chasing these 2 Milbert's Tortoiseshell butterflies, trying to get a better photo of them. I had never seen one of these, and needed to get a better look to identify them. (What did we do before Google? And before I had that iPhone in my back pocket?) Even sitting still on the bench, they would come close, but as soon as I moved to take a photo they would leave.

Now that I know what they are, and that they feed on goldenrod, lilac, and thistle, I am surprised I have not seen one before. That is mostly goldenrod (about 5 feet tall) outside the fence. There is a lilac bush just next to the pots, and thistle everywhere, although not as plentiful as the goldenrod. They feed on the flowers—none are blooming yet—but I think they were more interested in each other than feeding.

And since I was right there, look at these petunias! I love this color combination!

Big chicks and a better knee

The little chicks are now big chicks. They are getting old enough that I can see that the blond one with the darkest feathers is a rooster. Possibly the black one too. At least I think the 2 lightest blonds are females, but only time will tell.

They take Mom everywhere. She has to find a way in and out of the 4-ft goat fence without losing sight of the little monsters who go right through the holes. I am not sure why they enjoy hanging out with the goats, but Mom keeps a close eye on them.

Making progress with Old Fartknee: I think the exercise program that the volleyball- and dog-loving therapist gave me yesterday will get me back to normal. Plus I got some additional help with a pain-relief prescription from my Prime Care doctor. At least she agreed with me that 5 weeks with a hurtin' knee is 5 weeks too long.

There is an end in sight. I believe it will be a happy one.

1 day, 4 day lilies

I don't remember where I got these 4 day lilies. I know I brought the peach one with me from my New Jersey garden, and I think the purple one was given to Tim by someone at work. I have no idea where the 2 red ones came from.

This is the first year that they have all bloomed together. Now in the safety of the new big fence, they are happier than ever. And so am I!

Limelight

I think the name of this hydrangea is Limelight, for the light green flowers. Now that it is inside the big fence, I expect a full show of its brilliance. Up until now it has been regularly trimmed by the deer. Last year I fenced off as much as I could, but they trimmed off the parts that came through the fence. The longer shoots at the top were the only parts that bloomed.

This year, the only danger is from the dogs hiding in the shade underneath, and maybe digging a hole or 12 to make it cooler still.

Chicken Mama has her hands full with the 5 little ones. In this pic they are following behind her, but most of the time she is doing her best to keep up with them in the lead. Since they kept escaping whatever fortress I made for them, we decided to just let Mama defend them against all the scary things out there in the big world.

Yesterday they were almost all the way back to the house by the goat sheds. She still managed to get them all back in the coop at night to go to bed. Hard work being a good Chicken Mama!

Dog days

If you are the WoodMan, there is always a comment to be made. I think this one from last night was "I am sure it is dinner time somewhere. Can we please get this going?"

Both dogs have been very understanding considering I have not taken them on their daily afternoon wanders. I still do not have a clear idea as to what is happening with Old Fartney, other than I can't walk without pain. I met with the surgeon today. Although I am happy he is not pushing to do surgery, at this point I would accept it. Almost 5 weeks of resting, icing, compressing, and elevating is getting old, like me.

But Smiling Cyrus and the Vocal WoodMan seem to be quite content to hang out in the backyard during these dog days of summer. We are all thankful for the nice weather, the new big fence, and the beautiful sunsets. We would not be quite as happy to be trapped here in the winter.

Sunday bath for the kids

I spent far too much time yesterday "overthinking my chickens" according to The Husband. They had escaped their enclosure and were out and about with mom in the morning when he opened the coop door. I spent a hot and steamy afternoon scooping out the dirty hay on the floor, and then made a nice new fenced in portion of the coop for them to play in. One of our older hens, Miles, even jumped in with them and gave it the thumbs(?) up.

Hub goes back about 2 hours later and they had escaped again, with Mom. So as of today they are free range chicks just like the adults. Not my ideal way to care for those stubborn little bits! Mom didn't seem to mind.

Then I go out this afternoon and can't find them anywhere! Finally Miles pointed them out in the doghouse taking their Sunday baths with Mom. Miles must be Mom #2. She is often hanging around keeping an eye on them.

Also, I gave 3 of our fertile eggs to Larissa for her hen that went broody. At least 2 of them hatched today. Once they stop being adorable, she has promised to return them. That would up our total to 27 if all 3 hatch. I believe that's a new high for us, but sadly, the numbers are always changing. That's the price they pay for being free range.

5 chicks now

She's hatching one a day for the last few days. I see 3 eggs left in there mom. Did you give up on those or do we get even more little chicks?

I gave her some cold grapes to hatch with those tomatoes.

4 chicks now

There might be 1 or 2 more chicks on the way, but as of now we have 3 blond chicks and 1 little black one that looks like it JUST came out of its shell.

Momma is better about letting me go in there now that she knows I am not harming her or her chicks. I will keep them locked up in the crate in the coop for as long as I can. Normally I would let her take them out for a stroll as soon as she is ready, but I don't think we are done with the mystery predator yet. Thankfully it has not found its way inside the coop.

There is 1 grape tomato in the nest that I gave her yesterday. She ate a few and tucked the rest under her...to hatch? For a late snack? Not sure...

The hummer and chick #2

The columbines have pretty much stopped blooming and all who I promised seeds to will have them as soon as they ripen a bit more...which means my visiting hummingbird has to go elsewhere for his cocktails.

Here's another of my bad pictures. Little hummer at the top of the Zebrina hollyhocks. This is a garden in progress. I am letting some of the weedy wildflowers, including Zebrina, come back under the living room windows. Added some heirloom tomatoes that I don't really have a home for until I work out a garden plan next year. Old German is a large yellow, and Large Red is not actually all that large, but I bought the original from The Farmers' Museum, and have kept it going for 3 years from seed. Even with the heirlooms, still not as tasty as my old Jersey tomatoes!

And the big news with no photos: chick #2 was born today! Didn't even know except when we picked up mama to move her into the crate for the night. Broken eggshell under her. Hub felt around in the dark until he found the little one. Thank heavens (thank Husband!) it didn't stay out without mama overnight. Mama was very well behaved about the move. Thank you Mama.

Life and death on the farm

Having just lost Little Roo to what I think was a mink, and having the mink still out there probably waiting to make a second raid on my chickens, I was relieved today to find that the broody hen in the coop hatched her first little chick. I need to move her from her second floor nesting box to the crate we prepared for her and the little ones on the floor. Once they start hatching and exploring, there is no way she will be able to keep them in this tiny box 5 feet off the floor that is meant for egg-laying, not child-rearing.

She is giving me the Mom Stink-Eye in this pic. Moving her will not be easy...

I set a HavaHart trap for the mystery marauder who is most likely a mink. It says they are very smart and hard to capture, but I have no other choice except to try this, or tell the Hub to sit out there all day with the rifle. He doesn't sit. That won't happen.

The other good news is that my very fragrant Munstead Wood English rose bloomed this week too. Even though Old Fartknee has been neglecting her, even surrounded by weeds blocking most of the sun, she still managed to put on a show for me. Thank you Rosie!