Wednesday

Yesterday I came home to find Buck happily lounging in Rupert's pen; this morning he was leisurely browsing on clover outide the front door. He has become a houdini! I have not yet figured out how he's doing this; the fenceline is intact.

This morning shows promise of being a lovely day. I don't start work today until 10 a.m., so I'll have a while to putter outside after the kettle boils and I have my morning tea. I bought some herbs and tomato plants on the way home from work yesterday, so I'll plant them today or tonight.

Rupert last eveing having a dusty nap. He looks terribly shaggy at the moment; his winter coat is coming out very slowly and in patches.

We had our first rhubarb of the season on Sunday! The plants are threatening to take over the entire bed; they'll be moved to the big garden in the fall.

This little chard plant survived the winter!

Gardens and Clotheslines

Hmmm, it seems I haven't blogged in over a week...I could've sworn it was just a couple of days ago. Oh well, back at it again.

Mike was home all last week, and we got some projects done. The new garden bed is fully fenced, dogproofed, and mostly planted. So far I've put in peas, potatoes, bush beans (dodgy, as we can have frost any month of the year), two types of carrots, beets, swiss chard, turnips, rutabagas, two types of parsnips, leeks, cauliflower & basil (in the green house). I haven't made a trek to the garden centres yet to get tomatoes and zucchini; maybe after work tomorrow.

And I finally have a clothesline! (Which explains why it's been raining for the last couple of days.) Nothing smells better than clothes, towels and bedding fresh off a clothesline. And we can be a little greener, by not using the dryer & fabric softener very often.

We spent yesterday afternoon getting the truck stocked and packed up, and Mike and Cody set off in the early hours of the morning. They are on their way to Pennsylvania! It seems very quiet here without Cody Amos...I haven't been apart from him for more than a few hours since his arrival at the end of February. It's odd having my shoes stay beside the door; I usually have to track them down when he's around.

Photos tomorrow!

Saturday Shots

Here's how Lucy keeps her teeth all pearly white.


Cody...when Mike arrived home in the truck this morning, Cody jumped right in - by himself! I'd never have thought he'd be able to do that.


Our aspens are in leaf today! Last year they greened up on May 12.


Best lawnmower in town. Buck has lost most of his winter coat, and is looking spiffy.

Home Again!

What a difference nearly three weeks makes! We left home with snow on the ground and no sign of Spring's imminent arrival, and returned home yesterday morning to find that summer has arrived! It is unseasonably warm, and the only thing that seems odd is that there are no leaves yet on the trees. Any day now they should be out. There are daffodils blooming here that were barely peeking up through the soil, and I have a gorgeous pasque flower in bloom. The hummingbirds are busy at the feeders, and the air is full of birdsong.


The big dogs were excited to see us come home, and Cody had a wonderful reunion with them. He spent about two hours zooming around at high speed, and I think he exhausted himself, as he's much quieter today. Jen looked after things for us while we were away, and had to be on her way south in the afternoon as she and Lee are going camping for the long weekend.

I spent a couple of hours early this morning doing some clover and dandelion removal from my flower garden, and Buck came out of the pasture to graze on some of our very prolific clover "lawn". Rupert was indignant at being left behind, but clover is too rich for him. (he's at risk to founder, which is laminitis of the feet caused by too rich of a diet; donkeys should eat quite a spartan diet).

I took a quick trip into town this morning to check out the Farmer's Market, and came home with two bags of seed potatoes, Yukon Gold and Nova Scotia Blue. Our major project for the coming week has to be enclosing the new veggie garden. The dogs have been romping and digging there, and I want to plant next weekend. Jasper won't survive another episode of eating all my carrots, either!