On the Farm | a bit of everything

Things have been hopping on our little 'farm' lately...

A friend gave me five of her older chickens who aren't laying anymore to use for bug control around our place.

They've been quite industrious, scratching about the yard.

I converted our old lamb tractor into a coop for them...

For those not in the know, a lamb tractor is a portable fenced structure either on wheels or runners which is used to move lambs around the yard for grazing purposes.  You can also use them for goats and there are chicken tractors as well.  We simply removed the wheels from ours so it would sit flush with the ground and viola!  A chicken coop.  Our old one is 1) falling apart and B)...no...2) farther from the house.  Keeping them closer to the house will hopefully eliminate the predator problems we were experiencing.

The Muffin kitty, taking a break from hunting mice, grasshoppers, rabbits and birds;)

It will be cherry picking time soon!

We've already been sampling the cherries.  Just can't wait until they're completely ripe:)

The orchard was here when we bought our property - some of the trees are around 50 years old!

Resting in the shade with the Bonnie dog.

The best thing about summer - bare feet!

The Syringa is our state flower...

I love our cedar trees.  They're so big and tall and smell so good.

Dewey and Freckles are an interesting pair.
They're grooming each other one minute, then biting each other and squealing the next.  Silly boys.  Bob, being an amazingly intelligent boy, stays out of it;)

Oceanspray...

My garden is doing quite well this year, although it desperately needs weeding.

I learned my lesson on over watering tomatoes last year and there's no blossom end rot to be seen!

The sheepies are enjoying their lush green pasture...

It's been unusually hot lately - in the 90s - so I've been watering a lot.
And eradicating thistles.  I couldn't find my heavy work gloves, so I settles for cutting the heads off and bagging them.  I may or may not have amused myself by muttering "Off with their heads!" while doing so...;)

The llamas have been in the brush-y unfinished upper pasture eating the brush.
They prefer brush to pasture anyway, so it works out well for everyone.

Happy Trails, y'all!