New legs and a big dragonfly

My big oak beam that we rescued from The Pantry is now officially a bench in the backyard thanks to 4 new hemlock legs courtesy of Tom and Roberta. I plan on letting the paint weather away for another year or so, and then I will seal the whole thing somehow. Haven't figured that out yet. The next backyard project will be the paver patio that will probably have to wait until next year. The bench will be much happier on a drier, level surface.

While we were all in the back watching Tom put the new legs on the bench, the largest dragonfly I have ever seen found his way onto the screen porch. It took me about 20 minutes to escort him back outside. Dragonflies are big mosquito eaters. We love our dragonflies!

It's hard to get a good photo of a moving target, but I got a close enough look to identify it as a Brown Hawker—about 3" long, brown body, clear wings with a coppery sheen along the edges, and some yellow green stripes on the body. Easy ID when you can just type in "big brown dragonfly" and find the name of your mystery insect. What did we do before Google?

Growing like weeds

The baby chicks are now the teenagers. I love this awkward coming of age stage. Little boys are sparring like big boys do sometimes. Little girls are staying close to mom and each other. (Guess which 2 I think are the roosters?)

My first year of protected gardens inside the big fence was hampered by my old-fart knee. I did manage to plant some heirloom variety tomatoes behind the weeds and flowers by the living room windows, but the Zebrina hollyhocks and Rudbeckia are winning the battle so far. The tomato plants have blossoms and some small green attempts at tomatoes, but they are struggling for the sun behind their taller neighbors. I will learn from my mistakes and do better next year with a better knee by then I am sure.

The Husband's gardens are doing much better inside their improved fencing. We have a huge crop of large tomatoes, and are starting to get some corn for the first time in about 3 years. But his perennial gardens have been struggling with the critter dining and the rough weather and those darn weeds.

The zinnias in the feeding trough, however, are spectacular!

Garlic, tomatoes, hot peppas, and corn!

Here is my very first successful crop of garlic. Lack of attention is my usual problem,  and it was this year too, but the whole crop managed to survive the weedy, stony plot where I planted them. They are a bit small. Something to work on next year.

I have 5 tomato plants in the same plot. So far, only 3 tomatoes have gotten red enough to pick. All 3 were rotten and chewed up by something on the bottom where I couldn't see. I thought it was the slugs that I saw on the first one, but the last one had tooth marks on it. I suspect the devilish little chipmunk I have seen out there. It is the only thing that can fit through my double fence (I think).

The Husband has had much greater success with his much larger garden. Woody is pointing out the spot where I "hide" the tomatoes. He has no great interest in the corn or peppers, but he would like you to know that Ball jar box is full of nice big fat ripe tomaters.

The last photo is added here to see if anyone has any suggestions on how or where to sell these 2 swords. I tried in a group on Facebook, but apparently it was denied because these are considered weapons. The Macleod has a 40" sharp blade and is as heavy as it looks. The other appears to be a replica of a US Marine sword with scabbard. My good friend Colin moved from a house to a small apartment and has "hired" me to sell these for him. I might just be giving them back if I cannot find them a home...

    

Storm clouds

An unexpected storm rolled through last night. A different beautiful big sky every 5 or 10 minutes. Serious downpour only lasted a short time, in the middle photo.

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.