It's iris time and almost chicken time

I took a quick walk around the gardens today (before it got too hot to work) and I counted 11 (I think!) different kinds of iris. I don't know their names. I just go by their color and their smell...mmm! I love iris time. I think it's one of my favorite times in the garden.

Black-purple iris

Maroon and white iris

Purple 'pez' iris

Light blue iris

Two-tone white and blue iris

Maroon with yellow tongue

White iris

Yellow iris

Heirloom peach, yellow and pink iris

Heirloom white and purple

Siberian iris

This is a few of them and it's not counting the ones that haven't bloomed yet. Still waiting on those.

I'm also waiting for our new babies that are supposed to come on Wednesday (15 chicks and 15 guineas). How exciting it will be to see them.

Yay, spring!

Beautiful blue sky day, perfect for working outside

I've been so busy this past week (ever since the last of the snow melted and I finally got to dig my garden fork into the soil) that I haven't had time to sit down and write. All I want is be outside because there is always something to do everywhere I look. It was a busy fall. Winter came on quick and with me being gone in PA for a few weeks to see the grandbabies, not much of the fall yard clean-up got done. I'm paying for it now with this spring clean-up.

At least the chicken house got cleaned out last week and now we have happy (and much better smelling) chickens. We ordered 15 new silky chicks and also 15 guineas this week too, so I've been working on getting the old chicken house and pen straightened up.
I started on the pen yesterday. Can you believe the dead weeds in there were taller than me! And the new ones, nettles included, already had a pretty good start at six inches high. After removing the weeds, the washout holes still needed fixing from a downpour last fall, which ran underneath the shed's concrete floor.

It took forever to get the pen clean and I'm still not done... there are a few more washout places beneath the fence where predators could get in. But in spite of all the things that need to be done, I'm getting very excited about this new spring growth. I just love the surprise of seeing a new crocus or daffodil that wasn't there yesterday.



                                                                                                            

The cattle seemed to be enjoying the warm spring day as much as I was

Angel with the calves (the light one on the left is hers)

Erin and Rocky (our baby bull)



No good luck; but at least spring is finally on the way

It has been a rough and very sad two weeks. We lost the white calf before she was a week old and sadder yet, we lost Leah on the Wednesday before she was two weeks old. We tried hard to keep her going (many, many hours worth) but I guess it was not meant to be. Out of the 42 calves we've had so far, this makes only 4 losses, and I'm still wondering what went wrong with these two.
On the day before Leah died, a thought came to me. Perhaps they had a selenium deficiency. This deficiency is very common in our area, and I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner. We try to keep a selenium block out for the cattle at all times but we haven't checked it lately, and the vet hadn't mentioned it either. Unfortunately my husband was on his way home from the vet with 3 shots for Leah when she died.

This has been a long, sad winter for us but at least spring is starting to show itself. Our valley only has mere traces of snow left in the woods and ditches. The fields are starting to turn green--well, at least they're trying to. My tulips and daffodils are already 3 and 4 inches high, and of course the Johnny-jump-ups are blooming. I think they bloom underneath the snow! How encouraging it is to see all of this green going on.
Of course the chicken yard is still half-full of snow. Yesterday I took a walk in it and some spots are at least 6 inches deep. I've been opening up the coop door so they can go outside if they want to.

These next pictures were taken on March 6th. The snow is over a foot deep here.



It was the first time I let the chickens out this winter and of course no one wanted to venture out into the... eww, ick... deep snow! I was on my way back inside the coop to chase the others out when I noticed that my brave little silky, Snowflake was out in the snow all by herself (She's my favorite by the way).

When I put the other chickens out in it, they were afraid to walk on it. They stood in place. No one can dispute that my chickens hate snow!

                                                                                                              

Another sure sign of spring: the goldfinches are starting to turn gold