Little interuptions

It's warming up here and I'm busy getting some planting done. I have planted many trees over the last few years and since these trees must be watered I decided to plant around the trees. I'm planting long beans, watermelon or squash right now. Beans to climb up the tree and watermelon or squash to cover the ground. These are my early morning chores after I get the chickens fed and watered.

I've been having computer problems so I can't put up any pictures right now. I hope this will be taken care of soon.

The peahens are laying eggs and Leroy the peacock is pretty noisy. I have been keeping him in the pen as he seems to stay quieter there. If I let him free range he likes to hang out on the back porch and make his cat calls. It tempts me to put him in the pot. ; ) . I have had some moments of complete frustration when I find the chicken yard gate open. My Cheriki is getting pretty sly, she can open the gate to get in for the chicken feed. Of course Leroy is then out and is getting to be a real pain about putting back in. It's about a half hour of playing run around until he finally goes in the pen. Cheriki is now turning on water facets as well. Yesterday when I came home from town I found the front water turned on and a huge mud puddle. Sage is getting to be such a pet that if I eat my breakfast on the back porch she has her nose in my breakfast or cup of coffee. She is also quit a pest when it comes to eating the young fruit trees and seedlings I'm working to start. I'm letting them pasture in the front part of the property as there is so much feed. My neighbor calls them weeds, I call it pasture.

I'm watching the Indian fig or mission cactus put out blossoms and think of the sweet juicy fruit I will be enjoying come this summer. My fig trees are putting out quit a few green figs as well and I noticed that the pistachio trees are putting out blossoms. The bees have moved on and birds are setting in their nests. I'm sleeping without blankets at night and know that before long it will be very warm.

Bee Swarm

This little almond tree with all the bees is right off my back porch. Not the best place for a swarm of bees.

Vistitation

A swarm of honeybees came last night and formed a ball in my young almond tree. I called a local bee keeper and he told me to give it a day and they would move on. He said they were looking for a home. He had no more hives so could not take them but said tomorrow if they were still here he would come out and remove them and release them somewhere else. They are not aggressive and it is interesting to see them. I hope they find a good home somewhere close as they will be a good asset to my fruit trees. Wish I had a hive to keep them in.

chicks

The chicks are now outside in an old bathtub. They're feathered out but still
love crockpot mom. Looks like I have some barred rock roosters as they fill
the box if it's shy of 25 with roosters. I didn't order any barred rocks. My order
was, 3 welsummer pullets, 3 wyandote pullets, 3 silkies mixed, 3 arracauna
pullets, 3 collumbian wyandots mixed and 3 reds pullets. 18 and 2 of the silkies
died and 1 of the collumbian wyandottes. Looks like I have 6 barred rocks.

Leroy

Leroy, framed and beautiful on a Spring day.

Spring is here

This morning while I was out weeding I spied Leroy my male peacock spreading
his feathers. I had to stop what I was doing and take a picture. I hope I can get
a closer picture so the colors are clearer but I think this is a nice picture anyway.
Look how tall his feathers are, almost as tall as the fence. The bamboo is sending
up new shoots now too and expanding. I will have more bamboo to transplant.

Hanging Out

I'm enjoying Sage and Cheriki hanging out on the back porch. Ive been letting them out of their pasture so they can eat the weeds down. I feel so blessed because every day at about 4 or 5 p.m. I go out to the pasture and they walk in. My peacocks head for the chicken pen and there you go. Everyone gets put up for the night, no chasing, no sweat. They calmly accept my schedule. I let the chickens and peacocks out at the same time in the morning as I open the pasture gate and they spend their days scratching and preening wherever it suits them. Soon, I will have to keep them all in more due to the garden. What I have planted now is covered to keep it safe. I'm planting pots of seeds for later transplanting. I'm hoping for a good garden this year.