Archive for April, 2017
April 19th, 2017 | 
Author: One thing I missed when I lived in California were lilacs. Lilacs are pretty in their white and purple abundance. They smell amazing. To me they are one of the most special flowers in the world.
Today, I took a photo of a beautiful white lilac bush….
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I have been wanting hot cross buns for a long time. They are a wonderful Easter treat. I made this Pioneer Woman recipe:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/hot-cross-buns
If you don’t know about Pioneer Woman, you should. She’s an amazing blogger and now has a show on the Food Network.
Anyway, I used cranberries instead of raisins. I think they came out perfectly… and YUMMY!
Well, the baby ducks are growing like crazy. As a matter of fact, when I walked into the barn this morning I found this…
That is not ideal. So, today the combining began. In the divided run are the silkies, Bubbles and her chick sisters and the new baby ducks. Reasonably, I was worried that the baby ducks might get picked on. Nope, Splish – the white baby duck- went after everyone. And who was most upset and scared? Bubbles, who is at least 4 times their size was terrified! Oh well, after a few minutes they all settled down. It is a pretty big space.
Bubbles in the new pool!
Yesterday, being April 2, I got busy in the “garden.” One thing I have realized over the years is that with all the traveling I do, any grand garden plans I have usually don’t work out. So, last year a friend was cleaning out her garage and sold me her earth boxes.
4 things helped that help me realize these gardening containers are the way to go are that the box size keeps me from getting overly ambitious, they are located right on the deck so no one (me, dh, the house sitter) will forget to water them, the hose reaches easily to the deck, and they are safer from all the predators we have (deer, dogs, raccoons, etc…).
I planted one box of lettuce (black seeded simpson) and one box of peas.
In the box of peas I put sticks and tied them to the deck railing for the peas to climb on. I love using things that are direct from nature. I don’t need them to last more than the season so I am not looking for longevity and they are free and there are seemingly an endless supply.
I have two more empty earth boxes in the barn and I am saving those for tomatoes and zucchini.
Yesterday afternoon was beautiful. It was sunny and cool enough for sitting in the pleasant sun. So, I dedicated a couple of hours to letting the girls roam free. I only do this under supervised conditions nowadays as last fall I lost 2 of my girls while they were free ranging. They have a large run (10×20) so I don’t feel too guilty, but of course I wish they could free range all the time. Lately, I have seen other blog posts about the insecurities of free ranging and their points have hit home with me. I want to keep my girls happy, but I also want them to be safe.
I even had bubbles and the baby chicks out….
The babies are in a fun contraption called a “Peck and Play.” It’s an enclosed play yard for animals that are at risk. I think bubbles is big enough that she would have been fine out and about, but the chicks might have been harder to keep track of so I contained them. The peck and play is not foolproof when it comes to predators though so I still keep a close eye on them.
All in all, we had a lovely afternoon…
Silo enjoyed hanging out with us too.