How Does Your Garden Grow?

My adventure into raised bed vegetable gardening is going very well.  All the hard work and expense of bringing in good, new soil is paying off.  

  With every rain, everything shoots up half an inch.  You can almost see them growing.  

  It has been fun to not only start most things from seed, but to also try many new vegetables I've never grown or eaten before.  

  I don't know about you, but I find great peace and joy in my gardens.  

  

source   

Mother's Day Adventure

Our Mother's Day was spent much differently this year.  My neighbor found two little orphaned raccoons on her front porch and asked me to take care of them as she was rushing out to work. Poor babies were huddled in a corner by her garage door on top of each other for warmth.  We scooped them up and quickly gave them a box, and an old rug and towels for warmth and security.  

   When we got them, they were pretty far gone with a glazed look in their eyes, and I wasn't sure we could save them.  Per internet instructions, we first gave them Pedialyte to rehydrate them, and after just one feeding, they were showing more spunk.  By the second feeding of Pedialyte, they were taking it eagerly and by the third feeding, we were giving them a kitten milk replacement formula.  

  It didn't take them long to come out of hiding once they understood where the food source was and they would practically fight over the formula we were feeding from an eye dropper, anticipating our hands every movement.  

  We named them Ricky and Rascal.  This picture is of my daughter, Kate, with Ricky who bonded with her within a few hours of feeding.  

     Unfortunately, tomorrow we will be taking them to a local wildlife rescue center that will continue to raise them and then release them into the wild.  It will be hard to part with them, but it is definitely in their best interest since we have the new baby chicks and a dog who would definitely kill them if given the chance. They definitely gave us a Mother's Day we will never forget and revived  memories of around the clock feedings.  ~ Linking with ~ The Farmhouse Porch for The Scoop ~   A Stroll Thru Life for Inspire Me Tuesday  ~ VMG206 for Brag About It Party

Spring Comes Softly

Spring comes softly in so many pretty pastel colors. A few Virginia Blue Bells that I cherish and love as they were given to me by a dear friend who passed away from leukemia.  

   

   Sweet little violets that self seed and pop up everywhere in the spring.  

  Precious soft yellow primroses that I brought with me from Maryland when I moved here 24 years ago.  This is the last surviving plant after all these years.  

  Spring comes fragrantly to my yard in the form of lilac, wisteria and honeysuckle trees.  For a few weeks every spring, my yard smells like heaven.  

  

   Sweet little pansies that I have finally gotten to grow for me after years of trying.  

 

  And a little cherub angel to make it feel a little more like heaven on earth.   

  So thankful today for spring and all the wonders it brings to renew our souls.  ~ Wishing you a week full of spring wonders.

Meet the Girls

I apologise in advance for the poor quality of these pictures.  They are under a red heat lamp for warmth and they are moving constantly, so it wasn't prime conditions for a photo shoot.  But never the less, here they are. ~ This is Sally and she is a Polish chicken.  

 She has a mop head and when she is full grown, will have a crazy feather hair do.  ~ This is Wendy.  Not sure what kind of chick she is ~ we'll just have to wait and see how she turns out.  

  Here is Lucy Lu posing with Wendy.  She's also a Polish chick and sometimes I call her "Blondie" for obvious reasons.  Lucy Lu came to us by default as I returned a chick that was an aggressive bully and beating up on everyone, especially Sally.  I wasn't real crazy about her at first because I didn't want any of the fancy chickens, but she has quickly grown to be my favorite.  Her blond mop head makes me smile constantly.  

  In case you're wondering, they are posing on top of a big stuffed lop-eared bunny I gave them.  From the very first moment, they loved this bunny and snuggled with it.  Now they play "queen of the hill" and poop all over her.  Going to have to sneak her out of there for a trip through the washer and dryer.  ~ Here in the center is Gertie.  She is one of our Australorp chicks and they are the sweetest of the girls.  Darling personality, friendly and inquisitive.  They will be totally black when full grown.  

     And here is Dolly ~ our other Australorp.  We can only tell them apart because Dolly's beak is mostly all black.  

    A few more pics to share with you.  They are a week or so old  at this point and getting more active every day.  

 

  Which one is your favorite? ~ And here is Moby who watches them endlessly.  Not sure what to do with him as he is completely and totally obsessed with them.  He doesn't even bother us when we eat anymore, nor does he seem much interested in his own food.  I wish this obsession was a show of protection, but my fear is that he'll never stop obsessing over them and I have no doubt he would gulp one down in a hot second.    

  I think we have some interesting days ahead as they get more flighty.  We still have at least three more weeks of them in the house before they can move outside to the coop.  And then there is the other problem that the coop isn't anywhere near done yet.  I guess we'll just have to take it one day at a time.

Timeless

Scripture Sunday ~ Whatsoever

Finally, brethren,  whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest,  

images via: Indulgy  Sarah Raven  Fine Art America    whatsoever things are just,  

images via: Diary of a House Elf  Ticking and Toile  Cyndylou    whatsoever things are pure,  

Crooks and Nannies    whatsoever things are lovely,  

  images via: Pinterest Indulgy  All Things Shabby and Beautiful   
whatsoever things are of good report;  

  images via: Country Woman at Heart Crooks and Nannies  Pretty Little Flower 
if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. ~ Philippians 4:8 ~ Linking with   The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sundays

While Away

I feel like I've been away from blogging for so long now, or at least very sporadically.  My yard, gardens, and chicken coop conversion have been keeping me  very busy and very tired. Here is a little progress on the first of the raised vegetable beds.  

  This garden is under netting because the squirrels keep digging things up.  The bed is 4 by 10 feet and is divided into square feet because I'm trying the "square foot gardening" method.   Everything in this garden I planted from seed and it includes peas, three kinds of onions, radishes, five kinds of lettuce, swiss chard, nastursiums, cilantro, carrots, red beets, spinach, and kale.  These are all early cold weather plants which enjoy the cooler temps.  

  I feel like these seedlings are my little babies and I check on them several times a day.  It always amazes me how much they grow ~ especially after a rain.  

  The raised bed next to this one I have just planted with two kinds of cabbage, brussel sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, and two kinds of parsley, with 13 squares left for several more types of vegetables.  

  In between the four raised beds, I placed a 3-tiered iron planter that I'm using to grow strawberries.   

    They have a ways to go before we'll be getting any berries, but it is fun to watch them grow since they came bare root and no leaves.  

   A few flowers blooming around the back yard add some much enjoyed color.  

   Our new chicks are coming on Tuesday, and although they'll have to live in the house for a month or longer, I've had to divert my attention from the gardens to the work of converting part of the green house into a chicken coop. That will keep me busier than the gardens, so I may not be around blogland much but will certainly share pictures of the chicks and visit you all as often as I can.