Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Cannot believe how much time has passed!!

When I saw the date on my last post I was amazed. I have thought about things to write but never sat myself down and made that post. I hope all has been well, we continue to bumble along with highs and lows. The Summer was the Summer that never was, I think I only turned the air on a day or two. My garden did not do as well as hoped due to cool temps and too much rain. Once again it was a learning experience so all is not lost.
Earlier today I was gathering up my pumpkins and was surprised that there were more then I had thought. They did fairly well, more heat would have resulted in larger and riper pumpkins, but I am happy that for the first time I actually had ones to pick!! The largest one on the right I was barely able to lift, was also hard to get my arms around it. Right behind is a pile of vines with the mini pumpkins I planted, they are so cute. As you can see many did not ripen, this was a problem for many growers, of course they grow hundreds,lol.



The goats continue to amuse and eat and eat. They are all healthy and active. Now that the soybeans have been harvested I can once again take them outside their pasture to roam in the woods. Once the soybeans were ripe they would head that way which was a huge no no!!

They started on the fields around the house yesterday morning and by the afternoon all was done. The machines they use are amazing, they had two or three harvesters and a couple of tractors
which follow along with the harvesters to load the grain. From there the tractors go to the semi's to off load the beans. Every time I see this I wonder what the original settlers would think to see this. How hard they had to work with their wooden plows and one horse or manpower to plow and scythes to harvest.






The Chickens thrive, no eggs yet but soon I am sure. I like my variety pack. Sorry this picture is a tad bleary no sure why. She has the pretties colors, what kind she is remains a mystery. I think the hatchery got some extra ones in by mistake. I ordered 10, but later realized that I had 12. Within a couple of days I lost two. The count is still not right as I have 3 Gold Stars, 1 Silver Laced Wyandotte, 1 that looks like a pheasant as in the picture. There are 2 Black Australorp, 2 Buff Orpinton and 1 that is black with white you can see her in the picture. . They were busy eating the grain the goats spill.

Nice to be back, looking forward to catching up.
Best to you Barbara

6 comments:

Joanne said...

Hi Barbara, Welcome back! Your summer sounds like ours here in New England, cool and rainy. I think it rained most days in July, and our tomato garden was very sorry this year :(

Glad to hear all is well, always enjoy the goat reports ... Happy Autumn to you!

violetlady said...

Welcome back. Thank you for sharing what you do for your old cat. I don't have a large animal cage and really don't want to spend a few hundred dollars over what I am already spending. We just keep plugging along.

Karen said...

Nice to hear news from you, Barbara. I think many bloggers took a break these past few months, some intentionally and for some it just happened. Fall seems like a better time for musing over our days and spending time at the keyboard. How lovely to have your own pumpkin patch!

Renie Burghardt said...

Hi Barbara,

I'm a sporadic poster these days as well. Good to see a post from you. Your pumpkin patch looks lovely!

We had a cooler than normal, rainy summer as well, and a cooler than normal October, although it finally got into the lower 70s this week. (But my tomatoes did really well, and I have so many pears the branches are all hanging low.)

Usually, October is the best, but this year we've had November in October. Hope that doesn't mean a very cold winter, which I hear they're predicting. I absolutely hate the thought of winter!

Love your chickens. Hope the dogs and cats are all doing well. Enjoy the rest of October. My older son and family will be here this weekend. Yay!

Hugs,

Renie

Mary said...

Barbara,

How nice that you actually harvested so many pumpkins. I do like the miniature ones as well. The boys carved their pumpkins here a couple of weeks ago. They are still holding up but are starting to show signs of wear with all of the rain we've had.

It was a lovely day here today...warm and sunny. I took a walk around the neighbourhood and have posted a few photos.

Wishing you a wonderful week.
Blessings,
Mary

Edie Marie's Attic said...

Hi Barbara!

Your pumpkins look great and oh how I love those chickens!! There's just somethin about chickens pecking around and making those little clucking noise that are a delight to the soul.

Hugs, sherry