Friday, July 29, 2011

It's Been Raining And Raining!!!

We have gotten rain ten out of the last fourteen days. That is a good thing because the ground was thirsty for water. However, the ground is getting so saturated that the bean supports are falling over.

All the plants are looking green and are blooming again. We have hundreds of blooms on the peppers along with hundreds of pods of peppers. That is the Jalapenos and Cayennes are loaded. The banana pepper is beginning to bloom again. The bell peppers still aren't doing much. But the newer plants are beginning to bloom ...just maybe they will produce some to go in the freezer.

The asparagus beans are doing a good job. They are giving us more beans on those thirteen plants than the four rows of Louisiana Purple Pods altogether.

The birds are doing well and growing. The ducks and geese have been enjoying all the water that's fell from the sky. The rain has been keeping the pools filled for the geese and ducks to play in.

Our two rabbit does are supposed to kindle in about another week. I hope they have a good number then we'll have young rabbits for winter stews.

Nothing much is going on around here other than the rain.

I hope to get the squash, zucchini and cucumbers in the ground next week if weather permits. Also, the winter onions are coming on. They're spreading all over the place. I am thinking of thinning them and putting them in the freezer.

I hope you all are doing well. Do come back to see us, ya here? :)

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

The Days Are Winding Down

August 1st is coming upon us way too fast. That's the day the teachers have to report back for school. The teachers begin on Monday and the students will start on Thursday. I've gotten so use to William being home every day so it's going to be lonesome here without him.

Good news is that he may get to retire soon and then he'll be home every day if he doesn't get tired of staying home and decide to go back to work. LOL This morning we took a trip to Jackson to check on his retirement. Everything is looking good for a Christmas time retirement.

A little rain fell this afternoon. More of a sprinkle than a rain. I hear thunder in the distance now so maybe we'll get a good shower before the night is over. I hope so. If it doesn't rain tonight we'll have to water the garden in the morning.

The turkeys and guineas are moved into the large brooder. They were not too excited about being moved. They huddled up in the corner like scared little rabbits.

William and I gathered the pepper this afternoon. There's a large plastic dishpan of cayenne and jalapeno peppers. I think one of my nephews is going to come by and get it in the morning. I hope he will. I don't need this much pepper and I hate for it to waste.

I am supposed to be keeping two little girls next week. They're not so little anymore. One is twelve and the other almost ten. Also, one of our granddaughters is coming to spend a few days with us. We always look forward to our grandchildren visiting. This one likes to get into the breadmaking, gardening type activities. I enjoy teaching any of the grands skills that can help them along in life.

William and I are planning to pick more figs in the morning. Also, there is a yard sale that he wants to check out. We also have to get the food for his birthday party we have planned for Saturday. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day.

It's been another hot day today and the weather forecast is predicting even hotter days next week. This hot weather has been rough the last few weeks but in a few months I will be wishing for some warm weather. Just watch and see. LOL

Monday, July 18, 2011

Chores Are Getting Done Even Though.....

The chores are getting done even though it's been hot and humid here for several weeks. I will have to say the temps didn't get past 79 yesterday but it was still very humid. The skies have been cloudy for several days and that's helped keep the temps down some but starting tomorrow they're supposed to get back up to 98.

We have picked figs two days and I've got them in the freezer for later making of preserves. I'll wait until the temps drop some and William is back in school then I will get busy canning the preserves. YUM, YUM....homemade fig preserves!!!!!

We have gotten the rose bed weeded as well as the hosta bed. No weeds in either of them for now. The Red Dynomite Crepe Myrtle is transplanted and plans are to get the Natchez transplanted tomorrow. We put the red one where we can see it from the living room window. It is such a beautiful color!

Tomorrow I'm planning to prune the roses and give them some fertilizer. Maybe they will reward us with another flush of blooms. Then I will give them another trimming in September and get blooms until frost.

Also tomorrow I plan to move the turkeys and guineas into the larger brooder. The turkeys are flying up on the little roost in their brooder and when we lift the top of the brooder they try to fly out. We lost one of our young pullets like that so I want to move the turkeys before one of them escapes and we'll only have four.

Also, in the morning I have to check the green beans and the peppers need gathered. I wish I knew someone who would like to have some Cayenne peppers and some Jalapeno pepper too. We are overrun with these two and the others aren't doing too much producing. I'd love to have lots of the bell peppers to put in the freezer to use this winter but so far they're refusing to cooperate. Maybe the new plants will give us plenty to use this winter. Also, the new plants are red and yellow peppers. That should look pretty in stews.

Today has been a busy day and tomorrow is looking to be busy also. I'm ready for a good nap. Thank you for dropping by. Come again any time. :)

Thursday, July 14, 2011

More Pepper & Tomato Plants

William stopped by the County Co-Op this morning and picked up two more bell pepper plants...one red bell and one yellow bell, four banana pepper plants and three tomato plants.
Late this afternoon we transplanted them. If we can keep them watered and some kind of insect doesn't get them, we will have peppers and tomatoes until frost. :)

William also finished the pen for the goslings and moved them into their brand new home this afternoon.

I heard thunder all around us this afternoon but we didn't get any rain out of the clouds. We did get an inch of rain yesterday but when we were digging holes to transplant the peppers and tomatoes the soil was dry a couple of inches down.

This has been a very hot and dry summer. Rain is still in the forecast until Saturday so maybe X (fingers crossed) we will get some more rain.

That's about all the news from Hunny Bunny Haven for the day.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Too Hot For Much Of Anything

The weather has been hot, humid and dry. The temps have been hovering around 100 degrees with a heat index close to 110. The humidity has been between 90 and 100 percent and we've had lots of thunder but no rain. This makes for terrible conditions to work outside. So I have stayed inside most of the time.

Yesterday I did finish transplanting the tomatoes. Two of the plants I transplanted a couple of weeks ago had died so I replaced them with the two left in the pot. I probably should have left them in the pot because those were growing better in the pot than the ones I put in the ground.

William has been getting up early to work on the pen for the geese. He has it almost finished so the goslings will be moving into their new home in the next couple of days. They are growing like crazy. I may have to change Zacheus' name. He's almost caught up to Goliath. I may have rename Zach to G-Junior. LOL

One of the young guineas died. Now we have four guineas and five turkeys in the brooder. I'm thinking when the goslings move into their new home we will move the guineas and turkeys into the bigger brooder. We have a pen ready for them when they're old enough to move out of the brooder. They're growing some but not as quickly as I expected.

I've been trying to figure out what to plant in our fall garden but I haven't come up with a plan as of yet. I think we're going by our local Co-Op tomorrow to see if there's any tomato plants and bell pepper and sweet banana pepper plants still in stock. We have plenty of time for these to produce before frost.

The sweet potatoes are growing. I really hope they're making potatoes and not just vines. We'll be disappointed if that bed of potatoes doesn't make us some sweet taters. :)

That's about all that's going on around here. We get up every morning, feed and water the animals and then try to stay cool for the rest of the day. After about ten o'clock we check the animals about every two hours and then it's back to the A/C.

I hope that you all are staying cool wherever you are. Remember to drink plenty of water if you're working outside in the heat. :)

Friday, July 1, 2011

More New Hunny Bunny Haven Residents

Today while we were grocery shopping our neighbor brought five newly hatched turkeys and five guineas over. Since we were not at home he left them at my Mom's.

I wanted to order some poults but yesterday was the last day to order from the hatcheries. Also, I didn't want 15 turkeys and I didn't know anyone who would split the order with me.

I'm glad I didn't place the order now. I have the five I wanted. They are two dollars less than the hatchery poults and I got five free keets to boot!!!! Ten birds for $20.00 is a deal, I think.

The new birds:
Photobucket

The guineas will teach the turkeys to eat and drink. This is according to our neighbor. I hope they all survive and I have at least one hen out of the five.

Now we are set to raise our own birds (that is if there's a turkey hen). We shouldn't have to order more birds for a while. Unless we order some the last of August to put in the freezer for this winter and I am seriously considering this.

I would like to buy some quail and raise quail for our freezer too. But it's a little late for that this year I'm thinking. Gives me something to look forward to come next spring. Maybe by then we will have a pen to raise quail in. Just thinking. :)