Sights from around Crooked Acres.
This tree, in the back forty, was hit by some serious wind back in 2011 (when the tornado went through half a mile south of us). It kind of leaned a little, but it looks pretty happy. (It’s pretty much the only real source of shade in the back forty during the middle of the day – and having a tree that size cut down will be pretty expensive – so we’ll let it stay for now.)
When the roots lifted, this hollow was created, and one day last week Fred realized that the girl ducks were going under there and laying their eggs. We decided to fill in the hollow with dirt so that we didn’t end up with a bunch of baby ducks running around (the other places where the girl ducks lay their eggs are much easier to reach.)
Saturday afternoon Fred could see one of the girl ducks out running around, but not the other one. Which meant that she was under the tree. We waited and waited, but she didn’t come out.
So we had to go make her come out.
When I got on my stomach on the ground and looked, I knew right away that I wasn’t going to be able to reach her. She was about four feet back, and my arms aren’t that long. Fred went and got a hoe, and I hooked it behind her and pulled her forward a little But then she moved to the side and I couldn’t see her.
Fred ended up reaching in and grabbing her, and pulling her out. There were about 20 eggs back there, in a pile.
I reached under the tree and pointed the camera upward because I was curious to see what it looked like. I didn’t actually know it was hollow up inside the tree!
You can’t really see it in this picture (click on the picture to see a bigger picture over at Flickr), but there was a spider, right of center, glaring down at me.
This is the good (creepy) picture. See all those bugs up inside the tree? ::shudder::
Fred dumped a couple of scoops of dirt at the base of the tree, and we spread it and filled in the hollow, and then put a huge stump over it so that the ducks couldn’t dig their way back under the tree.
Gracie supervised the entire time.
They thought it was funny when a cave cricket landed on me and I gasped loudly.
And did their best to stay cool.
Meanwhile the boy ducks dirtied up the water dishes.
And Fred sprayed them with water, which they like a lot.
Check out that sashay.
They always think the fresh water is for swimming in. They are WRONG.
There’s a bird’s nest in the wood shed, and these baby Robins hatched a few weeks ago.
Yesterday I was standing out by the wood shed (which is next to the garden), and one of them squawked at me and then flew off. They grow so fast!
The garden, last week. There’s watermelon and cantaloupe growing on the far right, then two rows of corn, and a partial row of green beans. On the other side of the green beans are squash.
This past weekend I planted my cucumbers and about half of my tomato seedlings; I’ll plant the rest of my tomatoes, peppers, and herbs (basil and dill) this weekend or next. Then a few okra plants, and the garden will be all planted.
I intended to only do one row of tomatoes, but as it turned out ALL the tomato seeds I planted grew, so I’ll have two rows of tomatoes. 50 plants. For two people. That’s okay – we eat a lot of tomatoes, and I always make a lot of tomato sauce and salsa. And of course the chickens love getting any extra garden produce.
Blueberries! We’ve got two bushes in the back yard, and they are HAPPY.
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Tricki takes care of my daily nap time exfoliation.
She is such a licky girl! But you know how some cats lick and lick until they bite? Tricki never bites. She’s just a peaceful licker.
I managed to catch Livia and Dennis having A Moment.
Lick-lick-lick-lick.
Then Livia got bitey, and Dennis stomped off.
And Livia took a snooze.
Pretty girl!
There she goes, curling that tail again.
Thomas, before he went off to Petsmart, keeping Fred company in his office.
Tricki, greeting Livia.
Livia, taken aback.
Thomas went off to Petsmart just fine, meowed a few times on the way there. But he’s such a laid-back boy that he was more curious about the cat room than worried or freaked out. I left him with instructions to get himself adopted quickly. I snuggled Orlando, Angelo, and Mariette, and gave them the exact same instructions. They need to turn on the charm!
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Joe Bob likes to keep an eye on me when I’m filling the bird feeders, to make sure I’m doin’ it right. (He didn’t tell me otherwise, so I guess I did an okay job.)
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Previously
2013: “WHAT YOU DOIN’ LADY? MAMA, THERE’S A LADY. AND SHE’S SITTING THERE AND WATCHING ME.”
2012: No entry.
2011: No entry.
2010: Doesn’t he totally look like a Buster?
2009: These kittens love their sleep.
2008: Kara and the babies are continuing to kill me with the cute.
2007: Stupid weeds.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.