Sunday, April 24, 2011

Easter Tidings

My very own Easter bouquet...in a photo that was taken on the last sunny morning (whenever that was...certainly not this morning).  These tulips were planted years ago, and continue to delight me every spring.  They are all that is left of the many, many bulbs I've planted over the years.  With a never-say-die attitude, I kept trying, and ended up just feeding the gophers, voles, and ground squirrels.  Those pesky critters have at least left me the daffodils (for which I am grateful), but everything else is gone.  Anything I really want has to go in a pot on the deck.

The current rain-sun-rain may not do much for my disposition, but it surely does cause the weeds to grow.  If we get a couple of consecutive dry days, I really need to mow again to try to keep ahead of them, especially the star thistle.  There is also another patch of bracken out behind the chicken pen that needs to be taken out.  I think it is a hiding spot for predators, as two red hens have gone missing in as many days.  I'm trying to block the holes under the fence that the little girls have made, in an attempt to keep them from free ranging, but they continue to fly over the top to freedom.  Blondie, the only buff Orpington left, has more sense than all the others combined.  She never leaves the pen.  Perhaps it's not too late to find some laying chicken chicks.  My flock has really taken a hit the past year.

Only because I happen to be thinking about chickens:  I saw an egg carton the other day that proclaimed those eggs were organic, from vegetarian chickens.  I understand the "organic" part.  Unless those chickens were never let out of the crate, and bugs are not considered meat, how can a chicken be certified as vegetarian?  And who cares?  Chickens are omnivorous, and they go after lizards, mice, and frogs with gusto.  Left to themselves, they would not choose to be vegetarians.

On Farview Farm, the Easter bunny must be a jackrabbit.  There are certainly enough of those around.  I'll go on an egg hunt later...if the sun comes out.

1 comment:

Kathryn said...

Your Easter bouquet is gorgeous...and I wish you would stop sending your crappy weather down here! Hope it's being a good day for you and your critter-charges!