Everyone is Chipping In..


Everyone is running around these days.
We have been officially certified organic, and there is work to do.


Even the bees are buzzing harder.


The flowers are popping out..finally!


We have bouquets to pick..


..and arrangements to make.


The chickens are getting bigger.
And they seem to want to chip in too...


"No No, dude, listen to me..
..you pull that cord, and I hold this handle down,
it's not that complicated!"


The gardens are filling out..


The vegetables are popping up..



and the chicken coop is almost done!
Can you see it..it's behind the three foot garlic stalks!

What?..Do We Stink?


What I love about where I live, is nights like this. 


It's pretty private around here. 
Or rather, there is a mutual agreement between myself and the two other ladies in the homes around us.  Housecoats and pyjamas can be worn anytime.  Never stare, never mention them. 
Just act normal.  I like this agreement.
I like to encourage a good game of 'how many times can you run to the blueberries and back' just before bed. 


It was during this game we saw this bunny.


Leaping over and over again with mouthfuls of..stuff?

National Geographic here I come! 
We inched closer and closer.


She didn't seem to care...


...till her husband came home from the pub without the milk.


Bloody hell, I'd run too!


She let us get within a foot of her.  We sat there as she built her nest.
We felt bonded with nature.  Accepted.
Then, it happened...


She made this face at us. 
Now, I can take this one of three ways.
1.  It's an attempt at a funny face for the camera
2.  She has decided we are as useless as the husband as we also don't have any milk
3.  We stink


Well, it was a hard day of working in the garden, so fair enough little bunny. 
It's probably #3. 
This was my garden today...or rather tonight.
Weeds and all.

Chicken Bum...


The blueberry bushes are in bloom!


We did a walk about the yard to see what else is flowering...
Hello pretty dogwood.


We found the first lilacs at the end of blueberry row #5...


..and a few other bits for our first official garden bouquet.
Outside of the dandelion and buttercup bundles that is.


We had a new deck built on the front of the house, and we've been working hard to get in planted up.
This shot makes it look like we have done a pretty good job so far!


And today, the chickens were given their first free range opp.
This is why I brought the camera out - to capture this experience.
Happy chickens in the gardens.
Butt...


No, I meant to add the extra 't' to but, because butt is all I got.
Chicken butt.


Chicken butt.


Chicken butt.


I know just how she feels.
Sometimes, I feel like a small chick overwhelmed by the world too.

A Small Peeve of Mine..


This post is about something that irritates me. 
Many of you will flood me with praise -
"How brilliant!"  "How clever!"
"You should have your own TV show!"
Others may scroll right up to the 'x', give it a click and never return. 
Inwardly thinking:
"Wow, that chick is really cheap!!"
 I have posted this pretty shot to entice those of you who doubt me, to come back later.


Sometimes, when I get a good paycheck, I like to treat myself to an expensive candle.
Something soy, that smells divine, and is always white.
But, it's these very candles that burn out down the middle and leave you feeling..
well...completely ripped off.
Half a candle left, but no wick.
Seriously..I'd say that's an easy 15.00 worth there. 


Fed up, I broke my candle up, dropped them into a designated
"I don't want this bowl anymore" dish,
and put it in the microwave for a minute.


Shoot, I forgot, I need a new wick.
Remembering I had warped tapered candles from a wedding eons ago,
I broke those and pulled out the wick.


I poured my wax in this mini crock pot, and floated in a new wick.


Bloody hell!
 I think this is just one inch shorter than the original candle I bought.


An encore burning.


I even had some extra.
OK bloggers, call it..
1.  clever, crafty.. or even eco savvy?
2.  cheap, too much time on her hands, forget the candle, what kind of flowers are those?

In My Garden Today..


There is so much to do these days.  The strawberries, the garlic, the blueberries, the raspberries.
Pruning, feeding, fixing, building.
But it's exciting.


Last week, I showed you a beautiful daffodil field.
Today, I show you our yard.  This is in between the blueberry rows.
It's actually really pretty and the bees are insane for dandelions. 
So we let them flourish in the name of honey production.


I had our inspection for the farm and my kitchen to be fully certified organic this week.
Let me tell you, it's not easy.  The paper work alone is mind blowing.
The cost is pocket emptying.
But, we are all good, and should be officially 'Certified Organic' this season.


I'll now be able to switch our labels for the jams to include the word
"Organic"


Our hearts are healing, but we still miss our sweet dog Finn.
For those of you who ask after Mabel (our duck) - she is so back to normal.
She can keep up with the others, and is often in the lead now.


We let the new ladies of the farm out for a larger play today. 
We have them penned in a separate patch till they get big enough to protect themselves in case one of the ducks decides they don't belong.
Yes, ducks can be mean. 


How could anyone hurt this sweet gal.
She has become my favourite. 
She jumps up on to my girls head and likes to lay there.