Q: What's Growing On...

A-Existing: Fredonia grapes, hops, figs, lemongrass (overwintered in my front bed and was relocated to the chicken run border), lilacs, peonies, roses, hydrangeas (successfully propagated), butterfly weed

A-new to the garden: My Chaos Garden is a bust as far as I can tell. I dusted the area with the seeds given to me and I got bupkis. Part of the problem is that we dug around in the same area to set up a post (reusing segments of an old flag pole) for a shade sail for the pond and the seeds may have been buried a little too deep in the end. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I have 2 peanut plants surviving currently from the 9 or so peanuts that I sowed! The squirrels feasted on most of what I put in the ground. 

  

New Order

I feel so extraordinary

Something's got a hold on me

I get this feeling I'm in motion

A sudden sense of destiny *

* from "True Faith" by New Order

We spent a good chunk of the day today working outside and in the sun room. We've been without window treatments in the sun room since we took down the 70's blinds almost 3 years ago. This makes the room unbearable in extreme temperatures. Yesterday I found some blackout drapes at Target (42"x84" panels) for $13/panel so I got enough (4) for the north and south windows and was able to use tension rods ($12 each x 2) to hang the drapes. It has made a tremendous difference already.

These khaki shades will do for now.

I got more hardware today for the long west sliding doorway but I was only able to procure 2 more panels because my Target is out of the khaki 42x84 panels. We got the curtain rods hung tonight and will try to procure 4 more panels to call it a day with window/door treatments in that room.

I also moved my seedlings out to the garden today. I hope and pray something survives. I am excited at the prospect of growing my own kabocha squash as it was so difficult to find. And if we can grow some of that wonderful watermelon that we enjoyed last summer...that would be too cool as well. I have more tomatoes growing in planters and I tossed a couple of snap peas into the pot that the Passion Flower used to live in...so we'll see!

Fingers Crossed

Something else we moved from the sun room to the great outdoors were the 3 little hens. They are about 6 weeks old  now and Ozzie is definitely letting them know where they are in the order of the coop.

Pick on someone your own size, Ozzie!!

The poor baby chicks have been forced to roost on top of the henhouse...



Soon they will be big enough to sleep inside with the rest of the chickens. The girls can be mean, especially Einstein, the hen who was previously at the bottom of the pecking order (she's the one who matches Ozzie). She's probably happy to have someone to pick (peck) on these days. It's hard to watch when for no apparent reason Ozzie will charge across the coop and peck down into the middle of the threesome to disperse the babies.

Oh well, I hope you are having a better weekend than they are!!

Three Little Birds





W is for Water

I don't think that's a good idea, guys!

That's a much better idea...

Day by Day, Minute by Minute

Nice things I experienced this past weekend:

• seeing a new release at the theater and going to old haunts {campus corner was hopping!}
• the sound of the cello
• a cool breeze through the open bedroom windows & the warmth of the heated mattress pad set to 1
• hot coffee in a heavy mug
• soccer victory in the morning dew
• the smell of pumpkin bread in the oven
• leaves beginning to change colors {I am hoping for some beautiful yellow this year}
• a flock of PELICANS flying over the lake
• the noise of cousins playing in PeePaw's basement
• squeals of delight when MeeMaw took the kids for a spin on the Red Rider
• Sunday afternoon nap
• a dozen eggs in brown and baby aqua
• hearty soup cooked by my darling daughter and husband

Scott and I saw Contagion at the Warren Friday and that was a good movie. I didn't know that Bryan Cranston was in it - what a pleasant surprise! We almost chose to see Drive because we knew he was in it, but we opted for a scary movie - Contagion - because it IS flu season and it seemed a bit scarier than Dream House. We shared a Warren "Grand" Burger before the movie: a hamburger patty nestled in between 2 grilled cheese sandwiches (one swiss, one american). Oy! They should probably hand out sides of lipitor with that yumminess. It was so good. There were only 7 people in the theatre with us and that was a good thing considering the movie we were seeing. Later we hit a few places on campus corner for drinks and appetizers.

Saturday we got Emi's soccer game over with early (they are undefeated!) and we came home to play (them) and work (me) in the yard. A few weeks ago Scott got me a handy dandy weeding device to help me in my quest to rid my yard of dandelions and dallisgrass.  The yard is not perfect, but it looks much better. It was a nice day for the kids to run off that extra energy and for me to get busy pulling weeds.  Later the kids helped me make pumpkin bread and mini-muffins.

We went to church on Sunday, the first time in weeks. It was nice to come back and we got to hear from a guest pastor. The band was outstanding and made me fall more in love with the cello. A few months ago our church band played the Gungor's Beautiful Things and I found the cello hauntingly beautiful.

Can you see the pelicans?

Love my chefs!

First Two

They were a little small...

We got our first eggs this morning! Two  beautiful (and small) browns. One was in a nest and one was on the coop floor. I am guessing that this egg laying thing maybe caught the hen by surprise. Our chickens are just a little over 5 months old.

Nearly Perfect Day

Labor Day was a nearly perfect day from start to finish. I woke up early and opened the windows to feel the cool breeze for the second day in a row! I let the dogs out and got a pot of coffee (with cinnamon) brewing and immediately got in the front yard to do a "quick mow" (My quick mow turned into a couple of hours of trimming and mostly digging up the Dallisgrass that has invaded our lawn.) while the kids played a variation of Cops and Robbers. That was cute. Emi was kind enough to buy her little brother and sister some toy guns, handcuffs and a holster at the Dollar Tree.

In the pokey

Don't they look sad pretending to be in jail? I heard them pretending to pull over the offenders for running red lights. Time in jail seems sort of extreme...unless they were texting while driving too. Every time I tried to capture them making sad faces, Aubri kept laughing the second I took the picture. So hard for my sweet little sunshine to even pretend to be sad.

Later we had watermelon in the back yard with the neighbors and watched the wildlife. 

Raining ... Pouring... Crowing

Well, it was raining...at 2:30am. I woke up again to rainfall. I peered out the window and saw rain gushing down the street. And later this morning when we were all rushing about to get ready for work and school I opened our bedroom windows and let the cool air inside... Two days in a row of rain! Keep it coming.

At breakfast, we stepped out back to check for wind damage (none - well, downed leaves) and on the tadpoles (lots) and Ozzie crowed at us. It sounded awkward like he wasn't sure if this was the right way to do it. All these weeks he's been one of the girls (and NOT one of the dominant ones, mind you) so he's probably not sure about his masculinity just yet.  We imagined that while he was looking at us and stretching his wings he was asking the ladies "Should I? You think it's ok?" and then he let out an unsure "Cock-a-doodle-doo!" which sounded more like "Er-er-er-er-ooo?" He is not very vociferous (yet) and I hope he continues to be courteous.

In My Yard

We once called "her" "Happy Feet". He now goes by "Ozzie"...it's so obvious NOW but it really wasn't before...

My Butterfly Ginger is coming up...



Another view of the emerging plant

The moon looked strange around 8:30

And the skies looked ready to rain down on us...

We got that rain around 10 pm, big fat raindrops for about 17 seconds (just enough time for me to update my FaceBook status!) followed by lots of loud thunder and flashes of lightning. It was music to my ears. I fell asleep listening to the "symphony" and then I woke up a short while later to the gentle rain. I was tired but I made myself get up to see if it really was raining. Beautiful! Thank you God for the much needed rain!

Humpty and Ozzie

So we found out this morning that one of our hens is actually a rooster. We'd suspected for a while but he never has shown any dominance. Still hasn't. This morning as I was watering the front yard and talking to my neighbor I thought I heard the hens. I thought they must be very close to the front yard because they were a little loud. I stood in the alley to be sure of what I was hearing and then I heard it, the unmistakeable crow of a rooster. Emi dubbed him "Ozzie".

In other news, Aubri entertained us at dinner last night with her version of Humpty Dumpty:


Aubri on Humpty from Nolita Morgan on Vimeo.

Push Ups

David's First Push Up

Aubri's First Push Up

Chickens Don't Get Push Ups (sorry)

Not Pictured - Emi and her bud eating their Push Ups playing American Idol (Wii)

Oh, What a Night!

Last night was WILD around here. So much so that I thought those rapture folks might have just been a few weeks early in their predictions! At work I had heard there might be a chance for a little rain and I was praying for a 30 degree drop in temperature and a nice gentle rain. It was almost 100 degrees (again) after work so I picked Emi up and told her we were going to the grocery store. When we pulled into the grocery store parking lot I parked at the sno cone place where we met Daddy, David and Aubri. We successfully surprised them with a cold treat before dinner.

Eskimo Snos

Afterwards we went home to prepare dinner and do some light yard work. We let the chickens out of their pen to wander around and while we were eating dinner the wind picked up outside. I let the dogs in because it was starting to sprinkle. Before too long the wind picked up so I checked with friends on FaceBook to see what was up with the weather. Some friends on the NE side of town posted about piles of hail and extreme wind and that's when it really picked up in central Norman. The winds gusted to 70-85 mph and it started raining hard and hailing like I've never seen it hail before! For something like 30 minutes it hailed pea to golf ball sized hail in my neighborhood and according to our rain gauge, we had 1.5 inches of rain. I can't imagine being trapped in my car during this storm but I had several friends who experienced just that because the storm came so suddenly.

We were worried about the chickens because instead of going into their house, they stayed under a pine tree for the duration of the storm. The hail was pounding down sideways and we were certain that our bird brained pets were not going to survive. After the hail subsided, Scott went out and rescued the chickens. While outside he said he felt like he was in a tornado. [Today we found out that we experienced microbursts with winds up to 90 mph]

The yards were covered in fallen branches and shredded magnolia leaves, pecan branches and ice pellets. There was steam coming up from the ground and the pool and the water in the pool was moving hypnotically back and forth long after the hail storm ended. It felt creepily like we were in a Stephen King movie.

It was strange to walk around and step into the freezing cold puddles when it was sweltering earlier.

My garden was hammered pretty good so I am not sure if we'll get watermelon, but if I'm being honest, I was not too sure we'd get watermelon before any hailstorm. I think my herbs will be okay and all my animals were accounted for. The creek swelled up about 1/3 of the way up the alley (which is why we can't use the detached garage located on the creek).

Many people on the NE and Central part of town were without power and some places in NE Norman looked like a war zone. We feel lucky that our damage was minimal.

Oklahoma Sky in the Spring (almost Summer)

We had a few visitors this morning:

And we got a LOT done in the yard. The chickens were finally let out of their coop once we got their run mostly covered in chicken wire. We are using a greenhouse frame under one of our pecan trees for their run and the girls seemed to really like their new digs:

We also weeded the garden, partially cleared the back drive and started the forsythia hedge in the front yard.

BEFORE (notice the turtle?)

AFTER

I have been wanting to create a hedge to block noise and I really wanted a YELLOW hedge this Spring. The forsythia that we have were transplants put haphazardly in the front yard some time back. I dug up the odd one out to plant in a row with the crazy wild one in the corner and found a couple of offshoots with roots (good fortune) to go on either side. I've read that you can create a hedge with forsythia just by taking some of the long branches and clipping them into the ground beside the mother plant. After the new plant roots you keep repeat this process and grow a thick hedge.

With a little luck (and fertilizer) I can get the Japanese Barberry to grow together and the forsythia to grow together so I can have a red border and a yellow (then green) border in my natural courtyard.

Flew the Coop

Our chicks have morphed into hens and while we have them outside now (Hallelujah!), they are not quite settled into their permanent home. They have been in their coop for a few days now (Hallelujah!) which is just to the West of the vegetable garden. Originally we were going to fence off an area to the West of the swing set (which is North of the veggie garden) and build their run in front of the ginormous Cottonwood tree. But once we actually got the chickens and completed the coop, that area didn't seem ideal because it was further away from our house and the ground slopes a little....plus there would be a LOT of work making that area secure from raccoons and possums.

So, we decided to put the coop in a "plant bed" which I've been really just using as a compost area/garlic garden (I am hoping to harvest some garlic SOON!). We painstakingly moved the heavy henhouse to this area and called it good before we put the teenage chicks inside. We discussed how much safer the new location will be due to the concrete borders and proximity to a power source and then we brainstormed for a design on the actual run. The chicks needed to stay inside the coop for a few days to learn that this is their new home (not the sun room!). That was Friday night.

Sunday afternoon after a design still wasn't coming to us easily, we decided to pull out a Green House that the Best Neighbors Ever gave us before they broke our hearts and moved Far, Far Away. ;.( I thought it would be really cool if we could utilize the chicken's warmth in the winter to grow plants and use the plants to help with oxygen and feeding of the chickens (and us). Scott had partially put together the greenhouse on Monday and it looked like it would fit perfectly over the coop. We talked about just sticking the frame in the bed over the coop where it is now and placing chicken wire around the frame instead of the plastic that came with the house. Tuesday after we moved it to the bed, it didn't quite look right because the odd shape of the borders. We looked around for options and decided to head Easterly and put the greenhouse partially under a pecan tree, in an area that isn't used much and has more weeds than grass growing anyway.

So now we have a plan and the materials to execute so stay tuned for updates and pics ...

Serenity Now

So, we used to have a black front door. It faces the South and would get very hot on sunny days. For a few years I envisioned our house with a red door, maybe crimson. I researched the meaning behind a red door and found in Feng Shui, it symbolizes the mouth of the home. Red is supposed to be welcoming to friends, money and success. After finally settling on a color, we decided to scrap red because everybody and their dog has a red door. I am so glad we did. It would have been a heat absorber too, I'm sure.

Blue represents water and abundance; trust, loyalty and stability.

Speaking of heat absorbers, the week old chicks (who require their heat lamp still) are very therapeutic and educational to watch. Sort of like watching a pile of ants, but these are bigger and peck at each others eyes on occasion. They are so cute and the pecking order has already changed.

Of Late

Let's see...where do I start? I've spent a few days digging, excavating, transplanting, pruning, etc and I feel like I've made a smallish dent in the work I've set out to do. I moved my garbanzo bean plants that I sprouted inside into a container outside. I divided up my banana plants and tons of daylillies and irises with a TON more to dig through. Slowly but surely we are clearing up the pond area...

We got baby chicks on Friday and they are soooo cute (and also not too bright). I forgot about all of the chirping and pecking. We got 3 Buff Orpingtons, 2 Araucanas (Easter Egg hens) and 2 Black Australorps. They are a couple of days old now and getting some feathers already.

We spent yesterday painting the coop and preparing the yard for a nice, relaxing yet productive summer.

We also did some porch sitting...

Later we went to Thai Thai, a new thai bistro in our neighborhood and YUM! So Good!

Later we stopped at Braum's for some ice cream and Aubri wanted some "brown"

Look who made it...

Last Monday we decided to go into town to eat at T.E.A. Cafe. On our way out the door we saw our guinea hens squawking for some food and we heard a little chirping. We saw 2 little baby guineas! We hoped they would make it for the duration. The last batch we had a few months ago (15 babies in all) didn't make it. That's how it is out here in the country.

Today I was out planting some Passionflower cuttings and cleaning up debris from the storms we'd have lately and I saw the babies.