They’re Pippin’ !!

Woo hoo, I checked on my eggs in the incubator and what did I see???



Can you see that, that is a chick pecking its way out into the wide world. Since they are a day early I had to hurry and take out the egg turner and put down some paper toweling so they can stand easier, the plastic is too slippery.  Plus the paper toweling will keep the incubator cleaner.



When I looked closely there are more trying to break out!
I lift the lid of the incubator to put in the toweling and I can hear little chirps!  It is so cute.



I need to find my little camera that has video.  Lets see how long it takes these babies to break free! 

Can you tell I am excited?

Diehard Snow Lover’s Post

Okay all you snow loving people, this is the post for you.  You may be basking in tropical type weather and enjoying digging in the yard but the only digging going on around here is with a snow shovel!

We woke up to over a foot of fresh snow this morning.



Do you remember last week?

Spring Potting Bench


My pansies are under that somewhere, I will get busy and shovel a path to my potting bench and rescue them, I will house them in the greenhouse until fine weather returns, and return it shall.

  Eventually.



There are plants in those pots but they are resting now under a fresh blanket, all snug and cozy.



The path to my Burb courtesy of my shovel wielding husband. He is actually on the other side of the Burb shoveling around it. He did not bother to pull out the snow blower, this was his aerobics this morning.



The trees are laden too. This is pretty, for January but by March I am hankering for Spring.  Though, to be truthful, this is typical for March in these here mountains.



My back deck fountain, the one the hummingbirds shower in each day.  It is a hoot to watch them flit from side to side as if washing under their wings. 



My bed of lettuce, I think we got it covered just in time.  The little sprouts don’t seem to be suffering greatly in the least.  I do need to block the ends though, my cat likes getting under here and I do not want him to think it is his litter box.



This is a potted ivy, it is going incognito at the moment.



If you look closely you can see the snowflakes falling.  It has continued to snow all day so far but not real accumulation beyond what you see here. 



Last but not least my breath of spring in the greenhouse, my camellia, it keeps on blooming away!

While the snow carries on outside I am doing a bit of this and that, sewing on pillows, painted on some special order signs and cleaning.  We made some homemade cream of broccoli soup for lunch and now I think we will turn on Pride and Prejudice.  Once every year we like to have a marathon day and watch the entire thing, usually on a stormy day like this.  A nice get away.

Enjoy my snow from sunny California.

A Snowy March Day!

I know many are enjoying warm Spring like weather but not us!  I read of different ones sporting their flip flops and shorts and I sigh!

But for those of you who love the snow (farmlady), this is for you! My potting bench at first light this morning.





And then this afternoon!



And the snow continues to fall…tomorrow is more of the same.  I supposed we are making up for our lack of winter. 

I have my Spring started inside.  Here is my latest acquisition and I do hope it roots. My cousin sent me an email saying she sent me a little something earlier this week and a day or so later I get this little box in the mail. 



Have you ever heard of Epiphyllum Orchid Cactus??  Me neither so I had to go look up some photos of them.






Ooooooh, I think I am going to like this.  So I got busy and potted up the cuttings and placed them on my plants racks. 



Can you see the difference in these 2 pelargoniums?  They were both started at the same time from seed but one has been under the lights and in the warm house and the other in my unheated greenhouse. 



In the winter my greenhouse gets very little direct sun though now it is getting more since the sun is higher in the sky. 
I will continue to house my less than cold hardy plants and seedlings inside for about another month then they all go out to the greenhouse.

And it is 4 days to hatch day for my chickies…if you enjoy chickens you might get a kick out of this post.
Designing for your Inner Chicken

I will, of course, share photos of my new babies once they hatch! 

Until we meet again!

The Rain Has Finally Come.

The past few days have been cloudy and rainy and I have been knee deep in year end corporate tax work and juggling finances.  Oh what fun, but at least it has not been sunny and warm, which beckons me to be outside instead of slaving over ledgers and sums.

I am hoping the rain may let up some soon, this weekend is the Flower Show at Ironstone Vineyards.  I wanted to get some great photos of all their barrels and barrels of flowers, though I can take them anytime and I do not have to go just this weekend. I just need the rain to desist long enough to whip out my camera safely.

In the meantime I have my indoor garden I tour every morning with my coffee to see how my sprouts are doing.

I planted some tomato seeds and were happy to see they sprouted within a few days. There is this tub in front which is Summer Salsa and you can see one behind it which is my Camp Joy heirloom cherry tomato from Renee's Garden seeds



We had to move our chuck wagon roof from over straw bale hotbed, the place where I buy my compost in bulk is closed for the winter and the bagged stuff is just too expensive. 

My homemade compost is not finished yet so the hot bed must wait and we put the roof over one of my raised beds from last summer that already has lettuce sprouting in it. (I had let the summer lettuce bolt and go to seed in Fall and it reseeded itself)



Those are a clump of green onions I had in a pot but I tossed them out here, they had no flavor at all so were not really worth eating, I am not sure what I am going to do with them.  I checked this morning and the wee bit of snow you see in the bed is already gone and the lettuce sprouts are happier, I also planted some sugar snap peas along the edge of the bed.

Here is my Camellia happy as lark in the greenhouse.  The blooms are a cheerful thing to see as I walk in each morning to grab some chicken feed for my ladies. 





This is the best it has bloomed ever, maybe it likes the weak seaweed water I give it.
 




My ladies waiting anxiously for their breakfast, they are not happy I am dilly dallying around taking photos of plants and flowers when they think they are going to starve to death. This photo was taken days ago, this snow is all gone now.



 I have yet to feed the girls this morning and I should get my fandango moving.  I am rather slow right now, I had a bad night suffering from a gall bladder attack.  I feel like I have been run over by a truck this morning but I have to press on.  Going out and visiting my girls always makes me feel a bit better, they never fail to cheer me.

That reminds me, my little hatching eggs seem to be doing okay, most anyways and the countdown is now 8 days to hatch.  I need to get the brooder set up and ready for the chicks.  We candled the eggs and it looks like 5 of the 7 are viable but since I am new at this I cannot be sure.  I will be more than thrilled if I get that many to hatch! 



I am off to take care of critters and start my day.