backyard

Earl

February 3, 2017

This little guy is still coming around. He’ll be 5 years old this spring and comes to visit almost every day.

He’ll look for me through the kitchen window to remind me that it’s time to meet him on the back porch with some nuts.

He is especially liking cashews these days.

He and Chris still have quite a bond. Earl will sit on Chris’s lap and eat right from his hand.

Yesterday we spotted a red tail hawk in a tree across the street. It was feasting on it’s prey. We gasped when we realized it was a squirrel!

We were so relieved to have this visit from little Earl later that day. Phew!

Happy Birthday Norah!

November 8, 2016

Our little Norah turned 11 today!

She celebrated with some of her favorite people on Saturday pressing apple cider, playing outdoor games and watching a movie outdoors.

She made her own birthday (cheese) cake and topped it with caramel acorns.

Making pretty with what you have

May 27, 2014

We hosted a little birthday celebration for my mom yesterday.
As we were driving back from the beach in the morning my mind began to wander as to what needed to be done once I got home to prepare for the party. Bake a strawberry rhubarb cobbler, clean the bathroom, marinate the chicken and asparagus for the grill, make a few flower arrangements…..

I wanted to be able to entertain mostly outdoors since it was going to be a warm evening but I began to get into a funk as I thought about our back porch which is looking a bit run down (plans to rebuild it next month!) and the fact that we needed new outdoor furniture and that I wished there was some money in the budget for some new plants and …… you get the point.
I stopped myself and said “Amy you can do this. You can get creative and make a beautiful outdoor experience with what you have. I know you can!”

After the car was unpacked and a visit to the market I got to work.
I swept the patio and porch clean (what a difference a clean swept space makes!) and unearthed the patio umbrella from the garage. I brought out a woven rug and laid it out on the porch. To serve hors d’oeuvres, I set up my antique ironing board with a pretty cloth napkin and glass jars filled with stems of Solomons Seal and Honeysuckle. I placed a piece of large flagstone on top of a clay crock and one on top of the stand that holds our fire pit to make little tables to set food and drinks on. I used a basket tray to place on top of one the tables for a homey feel and set out a bouquet of flowers and a votive. Instead of buying flowers, I made arrangements from my own garden of Lambs Ear, Catmint, Hosta leaves, Enonymous and Comfrey. I got out the birthday flags and stuck them in arrangements and planters and set out a chalkboard wishing my mom a Happy Birthday when she arrived.

When I was finished I stepped back and fell in love with the cozy outdoor party space made entirely with things found around my home and garden. Later that night as I was blowing out candles and cleaning glasses off of my makeshift tables I realized I hadn’t noticed all night how run down the porch was. I sort of like it now.

Mother nature creates the most beautiful vignettes

May 14, 2014

I love how at this time of year my house feels like it stretches it’s wings and extends out into the garden. Everything feels a bit more roomy, like we have put on an addition.
Our home takes a big inhale drawing in the light, palette, textures and shapes from the garden giving the inside a whole new feel.

Just as I favor certain corners of my home I am also drawn to specific corners in my garden.
A fern growing out of a rock wall, moss growing in between the cracks of a pathway, a climbing vine peeking through a fence, a chartreuse leaf intertwined with a deep purple one.

I like to create vignettes both inside and out but many times it’s mother nature that creates the most beautiful ones without my help at all.

In the Garden

August 1, 2013

happy august friends!
we are headed up to the lake tonight for a long weekend. i will be back on monday with some photos of our adventures.
hop on over to tend tomorrow for my garden post!
have a lovely weekend! xo

Chickens take baths too

July 3, 2013

nothing is more entertaining than watching my hens take a bath. a dust bath that is, the ultimate spa treatment for a chicken

they dig a shallow hole, loosen up the dirt and toss it up letting it fall in between their feathers and skin.
this little ritual helps keep them clean of lice and parasites.

it also seems to be a social and relaxing event.
once one starts a bath the others soon follow till they are all dirty and happy.

when they are finished they all hop up shake off the dirt and begin preening and cleaning their feathers.
i read that fireplace ash makes for good bath dust. now i can save my winter ashes for my roses AND my hens.

call me weird but i just love to sit and watch their quirky little ways.
it’s better than tv!

A broody hen

May 9, 2013

our hens bring us so much joy.
so much that we can’t stop talking about them.
so much that we actually teach classes about them.
so much that i want to focus on them a bit more here in this space.
there is always something to say and learn from from them.
and since we have several people popping in here from time time who take our classes i thought it might be fun to write about some of our backyard chicken adventures.

i am working on a downloadable backyard chicken guide complete with photographs and even movie clips.
stay tuned..

but for now let’s talk broody

meet lemon. our americauna hen. she may be the plainest looking of the flock but her eggs are a pale blue-green and she is the sweetest of hens. the first to roost up on her branch at night and the quietest of the bunch.
yes chickens actually have personalities. and each one of our hens has it’s own distinct traits.

last week we noticed lemon was inside the coop more than usual and a bit grumpy (not her usual self). when she would come out to the run she was puffed up and clucking quite a tune. some of the other hens would peck and chase her and she would run away and keep to herself.

we knew right away that lemon was “broody”

broodiness is the tendency to sit on a clutch of eggs to incubate them. it is innate in a female bird to want to hatch her eggs whether their eggs are fertilized or not. so since we do not have a rooster, poor little lemon would have sat their til the cows came home.
This can be a problem since when a hen becomes broody they become so focused on hatching those eggs that they go into a trance as they sit on their nest, forgetting to take care of themselves. They will not eat, drink or exercise leading to illness and possibly death. if you were in the mood for a few more chickens you do have the option of finding some fertilized eggs for your broody hen to hatch. but since we are quite content with our flock of four off we went to help lemon back to her old sweet self.

it is important to collect eggs daily and if possible as soon as they are laid. broody hens will not only sit on their own eggs but eggs of other hens as well, so collect all eggs. you may have to get right under her and take them. she may peck and scold you but remind her you love her and are doing this for her own good.
try to scoot her out into the run which may mean closing the door to the coop so she eats, drinks and socializes with the other hens.

a broody hen will raise her body temperature to prepare for the nesting phase.i had read about placing ice cubes on the nest or a dunk into a bath of cold water to cool her down. i however did not have the heart for this and thought i would rather try to focus on not letting her get too comfortable instead.

we scooted lemon out of the henhouse several times a day and even let her out to free range away from the other hens to get a break and be reminded of her normal chicken ways. we fed her sunflower seeds and let her romp around in the garden for a bit.

it took a few days of staying on top of her but soon she was back to her old self.

Earl

Happy Birthday Norah!

June garden

In the garden-May