Warning: Fowl Post

Spring has sprung,

and there's a whole bunch of new additions to the coop.

The fowl influx started on Easter with the purchase of 2 ducklings.

That's what happens when you have a grandkid.

On the right we have Scooby-Doo,

and on the left is Shaggy.

Shaggy was named something else by my son, 

but was renamed by the grandson.

This past Saturday I ventured out to the Poultry Swap

 to get some new pullets.

The grandson had some specific requests for new hens.

He wanted an orange chicken

and a green chicken.

He was happy to settle for one that laid green eggs 

after I explained there weren't any green chickens.

So I picked up a Buff Orpington that has been named Velma.

And I got an Easter Egger that has been named Fred

(I'm sure you can tell the grandson's current interest, 

though I'm a Scooby fan from way back).

Let's hope that Fred not only lays green eggs, 

but doesn't live up to the name and lays eggs period.

To finish my purchases, 

I picked up a pearl colored Cochin, a white crested black Polish

and 2 speckled sussex pullets.

AND....

a turkey.

This little guy is a Black Spanish heritage breed turkey.

It's one of the oldest turkey breeds and is in danger of disappearing.

So he will not be eaten.

Or she whatever it is.

Currently the turkey has no name,

but I'm sure I'll think of something eventually.

 So far, the lone hen I already had 

(named Donner because she's a cannibal)

is getting along with everyone.

There is some pecking going on,

but over all I think she's happy to have friends. 

Hopefully everyone will manage to got get eaten or pecked to death.

The Rock Salad Garden

With the fabulous weather we've been having, 

Big E and I have been spending spare time doing things in the yard.

The latest task we tackled was cleaning up 

a garden area on the side of the garage.

It's been neglected for a while now,

and I think it is a good spot for a new garden 

for lettuces and kale.

It'll save on the grocery bill for tortoise food.

Not only was it full of weeds and nasty Bermuda grass, 

it also had 5 invasive tree species growing in it.

Apparently, this used to be a rock garden.

Or cement garden.

This is one of 2 piles of cement block that was dug up

and hauled out of the garden.

Once section actually had large pieces of flagstone in it

and resembled a chicken.

Big E wouldn't let me keep it.

 In the end, we got it all dug out, 

and it looks great. 

Again, hard to imagine that there was so much cement

in such a small area.

Not sure if I'm going to make a raised bed, 

or just use it as is.

Either way, I'm glad the area looks better, 

and I'm anxious to get the salad growing

for me and the tortoise.

(Though now we have to clean up the piles of crap we took out of it)

Monster Forsythia

Busy as usual.

Wednesday evening Big E and I worked on 

removing the forsythia shrubs at the back of the yard.

Forsythia are very misleading.

Like icebergs.

They look manageable enough, 

but underneath is this massive root ball leviathan.

Big E was convinced the easiest thing to do was sell the house

and buy one without forsythia shrubs that need removal.

Big E had attempted to use his saws-all to cut through the roots, 

but the roots just wore the teeth off the blade.

I made the suggestion that we dig around the shrub

and use loppers to cut roots as we go.

He scoffed at this idea.

I suggested using the chain to pull them out, 

so off I went to get the chain from my dad.

On the way back, this was the text I received:

I wanted to make sure that everyone saw the actual proof

that I was right..... again.

Anyway, we hitched up the chain

and popped the first stump out.

The second was a little different.

It took several tried before the thing even budged, 

but it the end it popped out too.

We had to remove the dirt from the root ball,

and when I jumped in the hole it was up past my knees.

Huge job accomplished,

now we need to get to work on the veggie garden.

Busy

This weekend was busy,but it was productive.

Saturday I had a dog adoption event

to take my foster dog to.

He was adopted, so he makes the 3rd foster dog we've successfully found a home for.

Later that day, I managed to get a little deep cleaning done,

well, basically just deep cleaning the couch.

I also needed to degrease a vent hood for the kitchen.

Our hood no longer works, so every time we cook, the smoke detector goes off.

Big E replaced someone's hood at a job,

and brought the old one home

(there was nothing wrong with it other than it didn't match the people's new appliances)

With some cleaning and some appliance paint,

 we plan on replacing our broken hood with this one. 

Later that day, we headed out to REI to spend a lot of money 

get some new backpacking gear,

and hit one of my favorite Italian restaurants.

Sunday brought some warm temperatures and sunshine,

and that meant outside work.

I painted the vent hood.

No photos though, besides, who really wants to see a bunch of photos 

of a vent hood?

I managed to get a lot of the weed piles bagged up out of the garden,

so now I'm ready to get the flower beds tilled and mulched.

We also finally got around to measuring and marking stuff for the new fence.

You'll notice my stellar handwriting ability using spray paint.

Must be from my tagging days in Baltimore.

Okay, I never tagged anything and I lived in the 'Burbs.

Still, it's obvious I'd have mad tagging skills. 

Hopefully we'll be able to get our permit and get started on the fence.

It sure will be nice to let the dogs out and not have to walk them on the leash!

The day ended with a 3 mile hike and some shrimp creole at my mom's house.