Sunday, September 21 2008

Another beautiful day, temperatures falling into the 40's overnight and then rising to the mid 70's by noon.

I planted 50 crocuses around the blueberry bushes and have another 150 waiting to be planted. I love crocuses! They are the first flowers to brave the early spring and are often in full bloom during a late March snow. I will plant another 50 by the blueberries, then put the rest among the various flower beds closer to the house.

Murray is regaining his meow. For the last couple of weeks, his meow has changed from normal to scrathy to almost inaudible. I did not know what to even look for as a possible cause, so I did the only thing I could, I wormed him! Seems to have helped, his meowing is returning to a normal volume.

Saturday, September 20 2008

The weather today is nearly perfect for September, cool nights with temps down into the 40’s while daytime highs are up to the low 70’s.  hb left this morning for a weeklong business trip.  Sigh . . . I will miss his company.  Before leaving, he made us his signature summer time breakfast; omelet’s using our chicken’s fresh eggs with peppers and tomatoes from our garden.  Toasted English muffins on the side with butter and Sourwood honey.  Yummy!

This afternoon, I cleaned the chicken coop.  Since our chickens free range, the coop stays rather clean.  Then I fertilized the tulip poplar trees in the field and the redbud trees near the house.  We had a real problem with Japanese beetles this year, so I put down milky spores by the asparagus and blueberry bushes.  Last week, hb and I spent a few days weeding the asparagus, strawberry and blueberry gardens.  Then, we put down compost on the asparagus and blueberries.  So those areas were ready for the spores.  I also added oyster shells around the blueberry bushes to help with their love of acid soil.

To encourage their migration, I took down the three hummingbird feeders for the winter.  I haven’t filled them for a week or so, and have not seen a hummingbird since last week so the time felt right.  I cleaned the feeders in soapy, Clorox water to remove any bacteria.  We had an amazing group of hummingbirds this summer.  The two feeders in the gardens were emptied at least once a week, and the most popular feeder next to the house everyday at the height of the season.  Check out the Wildlife page for hb’s spectacular pictures!

The washing machine received its new cold-water pump from our much too busy Maytag repairman.  I spent the early evening still playing catch up with the laundry.  Working in the garden always leads to large piles of very dirty, smelly clothes.