This Week's Round up & I KNEW I should have built that ark years ago...

Remember the Robin eggs we found not too long ago?

Well it must have been a nest that was washed away in the Ohio monsoons since a rather determined mother robin has built another nest exactly where I thought one had been.

Now that the weeping cherry trees have filled out with their green coverage, her nest is much safer from the down pours.

We have had about 45 days out of 60 producing rain. I am not kidding when I say the garden looks like a beach where the tide had gone out. I can not retill being plants & seeds have already been sown and thanks to the moisture content, i have had to pull back all the black weed cloth to prevent anymore green mold growing underneath.

The rains have been so bad that our trip to the Backyard Mushroom grower has been put off for a few more weeks. The area where we would be standing is in about 1 foot of water! Although it may be entertaining to you, seeing me dog paddle through her backyard, I opted to move the visit for hopefully sunnier days.

I know they say the rains are good for the flowers & trees but with as much as we have had it looks like it is only good for drowning them...and preventing any road trip adventures. So frustrating that here we are almost to June and I have not been able to do any video destinations or projects.

The good news is that The Captain is almost done with all the posts for my garden fencing. The chicken pen has grass finally growing {well in most of the areas}.Plus I was able to swing for a new Sony Cyber shot 560 point & shoot after my 4 yr old digi dropped out of my garden basket,unbeknownst to me, and was destroyed in one of our hard rains. I'm still saving my pennies for that Nikon D3100 and am half way there. Just taking a little longer then I estimated.

Now I normally do not share much about my children's personal lives outside of our playing farmer but this time how could I not share? Little Miss Frog graduated Pre K Friday and during her graduation she was given an award. What award? For "Fashionista"! Thanks to all of her "original & colorful choice of outfits" she so often wears to school. THIS is one of my top favorites and will help give you an idea of why she was awarded "Fashionista" by her school:

The award, the above picture & her "diploma" will go into a Framed custom collage for hanging in her room. I hope she will always hold on to being independent in thought,behavior & hopefully...always remember to never fear standing out from the crowd.

The rains have really bummed me out so I best focus on getting some Mojo back to spice things up a bit. Maybe a trip to an estate sale or even a country market will get us back in touch.
Until next time...

Sweet dreams,

~Tammie

Garden Knee rails, coop peek & out smarting hungry chickens

One thing I dislike about the beginning of garden season is the bareness of it all. Which has brought  problems with mysterious child like foot prints, appearing in all the newly sown beds. Of course no one knows where these prints come from and usually are accompanied by tiny paw prints as well.

My solution in hopes to curb the trampling is these rustic "knee rails" I whipped up the other day. I salvaged pieces from last years garden obelisks. The white Birch will look so nice when things have grown up and out a bit.

In the future I may need to add some "Chest rails" about 5 inches from the ground. ..to help with those tiny paw prints popping up as well.

I began my Long Pie pumpkins & various melon seeds far too early this year. The black cloth to the left in the above is their intended home, so remains bare for now. I am shocked at how quick they sprouted from seed this time around. I planted the seeds in the flat around dinner time 2 days ago. A few melons were already 2 inches tall just 24 hours later! I Kid you not!

I know it's been a while since I brought the new chicken coop home and although it is ALMOST in it's final state, I thought I would share a little peek. Not as Fancy as I had envisioned but FAR nicer then any coop I have had before:

See that dirt in the dutch door bottom? Yeah. Umm. That would be from the wood apparently swelling so we have had to kick it into the door frame when being closed. Gotta break out the jigsaw and take a little off the area. It will have to be on a day that someone else can entertain these chickens. They are like little kids, following me EVERYWHERE with their curiosity and of course determination I have food hiding somewhere on my person.

Why just the other morning I went to let them out of their coop but made the mistake of not bringing their food with me. I walk towards the gate. 17 chickens walk  Run towards the gate. I stop. They stop. Feathered bodies between and under my feet all the way. So I make a mad dash back towards their coop, thinking I could shake them by going around the coop, after all they are not the best at taking corners ,then RUN for the gate. Slam! tiny little heads popping out the chain link. I could not help but laugh. Most people run from A mean rooster. Me? A mob of breakfast hungry chickens.

What makes it worse is when you go in the ....barefoot!

And gosh forbid your nails are painted {even as chipped and in need of refreshing as mine:

Oh! I forgot to mention, it's egg watching time! Coming up on 5 months in 2 weeks. I wonder who will be the first? Will I actually find the first few eggs in the coop or will they be in their yard wherever the "urge" hits them?  Will it send them all into a clucking competition as they try to figure out what just happened? What about "Root Beer" the Rooster? Will he Crow for the first time or will he continue on with just sweet chatter to his ladies??

Silly chickens. They never cease to amuse me.

Sweet Dreams,

~Tammie

Winner! Winner! Chicken Dinner!

Giveaways can be so much fun, even better when it's something that keeps on giving.Thank you to all who have entered. Comments are always a joy to read. Having an Unusual prize made this one rather exciting.

 I wish I could give everyone of you a prize. To have your own mushrooms growing just outside your home. Truly I do. So easy, so delicious and rather "Unique" as our winner said in her comment for the contest.

Panda & I sat down before the school bus came so she could do the Randomizer, for a computer generated winner. So when the number came up, she counted down the entrants and announced "Sharon Lovejoy is the winner! Does she really live in a sunflower house?" Which made me laugh and I explained the meaning behind it.

Sharon Lovejoy is a wonderful Author & Illustrator. One can not help but be inspired not only by her words but the sight of her beautiful Art. The actual inspiration behind Panda's own Sunflower house many years ago before I "met" Sharon in Cyber world. My writing of her could never justify such a gift of a person she is to all us.

Rather fitting she has won, being she has given so much to many many families with her writings. An amazing & inspiring woman whom now can add Mushroom Gardener to her diverse activities.

Congratulations Sharon! May your adventure with Mushroom growing be as pleasurable as the moments you have inspired for so many.

And a thousand Thank You's to Field and Forest, Proud to be a part of this Rotting world! They so kindly sponsored this  Unusual Giveaway.  A true asset for Backyard & Larger scale Mushroom growers, coming highly recommended by many fungi growers I have spoken with.

Just because your number did not come up here does not mean you can't grow your own. Check out their informative & easily navigated site for your Backyard start up. For under $20, you could have your very own 2 pounds of Wine Cap Spore in sawdust delivered right to your door. Giving Many years of edible, delicious Adventures.

Sweetest dreams,

~Tammie