Rosie the Chicken

For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; so turn, and live. - Ezekiel 18:32


So I have this chicken…

My dog is a known lover of chickens.  His name is Lucky, but occasionally he turns into his alter-ego, El Diablo, and kills and eats one of my chickens that has gotten out.  Or my ducks.  Or random bunnies.  He’s a meat eater by nature.  It’s no fault of his own that they are delicious.

So we keep the dog separate from the chickens at all possible moments and keep the chickens’ wings trimmed to minimize their flying over the fence and into enemy territory. 

But…

A couple of months ago I noticed we had a regularly out black hen.  Her morning trek takes her over her own fence, across the backyard, over the dog’s fence and into his pen, where she looks for a morning snack of june bugs that have drown in his swimming pool overnight.  Several times we’ve come home to find the chicken and dog in the dog pen.  So far, El Diablo has been ignoring the deliciousness of said chicken.

This morning she was perusing the selection of my garden and its fallen tomatoes and was selecting her breakfast from bugs under the oak tree. 

Our chicken reminds me of the hen from the children’s book Rosie’s Walk.  Our dog is the fox.  In the book Rosie takes quite a perilous walk about the farm with the fox always hiding in the bushes watching the chicken. 

Our chicken is brave.

And bold. 

And perhaps a little oblivious.
 

Just like Rosie...  So that shall be her name. 

My Garden

My garden has things I did not plant.  Things I try to keep out of the garden. 

It is full of sunflowers, mint, and children.

Today I am planting hope. 

We dream of ripe tomatoes, cucumbers from the vine, and potatoes deep beneath the soil.

We search for the perfect plants at greenhouses near and far.  We choose them by how healthy they look.   

But the ground is not good. 

So the plants wither. 

We add compost, manure, leaves.  We till and hoe until we think there is not one weed left. 

But we always miss one.  And from one come many.

And the plants die. 

We water, water, water, but it is never enough.  We pray for rain.

Then the rain comes and the potatoes rot. 

The cucumbers yellow. 

The tomatoes die. 

Let’s plant something else say the children.

So we plant flowers.  It is too late in the season to expect that any vegetable will grow before it gets too hot.

Then we water, water, water, but it is never enough. 

Then it becomes a water fight. 

Then it becomes a slip and slide.

Then we are muddy. 

Then we all have sunburn. 

And the flowers die.
 

But the sunflowers, mint, and children grow.

Grasshoppers

"I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten - the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm - my great army that I sent among you."  Joel 2:25

The locusts are happily singing all day long in my trees in the backyard, and I seem to have an abundance of these guys this year. 

 Takes me back to when we used to run trot lines on the Neosho River and in the evenings we would go out along the highway and collect big yellow and black grasshoppers in 2-liter pop bottles and put them in the refrigerator. 

Now how many of you have ever had pop bottles of grasshoppers in your refrigerator? 

Raise your hands... 

Anyway, I seem to have quite the abundance of grasshoppers this year.  Lots of different kinds. 

I've got big ones and little ones. 

Green ones and brown ones.

But the common denominator is...  They are eating everything in sight! 

Maybe I should go fishing. 

H-O-T!

"It rises at one end of the heavens and make it circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat."  Psalm 19:6

How hot is it? 

It is so hot that everyone is heading to the pool, including this June bug and his Styrofoam floaty I found today.

It is so hot that I barely can remember being up to my thighs in snow only five months ago. 

It is so hot that I don't want to do anything that involves being outside for more than a couple of minutes.  Unfortunately the horses needed water, so I had to tend to them.  Hey, Scooter, why the long face? 

Get it?  It's our long-standing joke.  Today's answer is "Because I need water, Dummy, and I won't fit in the pool!" 

So since I had to go outside for more than a minute, I thought I'd take you on a tour of what is left of my yard. 

I have three developing tomatoes and this one just might make it. 

The sunflower seeds are nice and dry and ready for snacking on by the hub...  or birds...  first come, first served. 

The basil is going to seed.  It still smells good.  I plant it every year with the intention of eating it, but I really only smell it.  I like the smell.  Makes my mouth water.  But I never eat it.  It might ruin it for me.  I like how fancy the seeds are though.  I'll bet I have more than one plant next year!  More smelliness!

The black-eyed susans don't appear to care if it is 105.  I think I only had about six plants last year and this year, I have a gazillion.  Looks like the crispy ones are all ready to make me a flower plot for next year too.  I love perennials!  Oh, and look at the little butterfly too.  I must be more dainty than a butterfly. 

Another not-so-dainty butterfly out catching some rays.  And guess what happens to spent coneflowers??

Yep!  More seeds.  Had one plant last year, eight this year, so next year??  There looks to be several hundred chances right up there alone!  Did I mention that I love heat-loving perennials?  

The milkweed is beginning to bloom too.  Won't be long before we're raising caterpillars again! 

And last but not least, the sunflowers are still seeing some pollination action on new blooms.  And to think I didn't even plant any sunflower seeds this year! 

The seeds I did plant - cucumbers, broccoli, turnips, radishes, etc. - didn't hold a candle to the seeds I didn't plant!  Maybe next year I'll have a no-plant garden and just see what shows up! 

Hope you're staying cool today and that all your days are sunny.  Personally, I think we're due for a few clouds and some rain!  And maybe a second dose of deodorant! 

Spring Bragging

"Now listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.'  Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.  What is your life?  You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.  Instead, you ought to say, 'If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that.'  As it is, you boast and brag.  All such boasting is evil.  Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins."  James 4:13-17


Ok, so today I'm just bragging (but I'm forgiven!), but I have to show you all my little garden endeavours and how they are panning out. 

Remember when I thought I was too early?

Well, my timing was impeccable for the first time ever in my whole life.  I am proud to report (brag) that my garden plants are actually bigger than my neighbor's for the first time ever.  And I'm proud to report (brag) that everything I purposely planted, and some things that I didn't, have all come up and are doing quite well despite my less than stellar gardening skills. 

I hope you're enjoying warmer weather where you are, and I hope a unseasonably late frost doesn't kill everything I'm so proud of (and like to brag about). 

My yard in photos...

This is about half of the "garden".  Notice the new and improved board border this year.  It will hopefully keep errant balls, dogs, cats, and boys from trolliping through the plants and then swearing they didn't know they were in my garden.  Cats can be that way, you know.  I like to think it makes it all look more Martha Stewart-ish, but Martha would have a stroke if she saw all my weeds.

The turnips are really outdoing themselves.  I actually thinned them (like you're supposed to) this year, and they appear to have liked it.  I don't personally eat turnips, but the husband likes to eat them like apples. 

Potatoes that I planted all wrong that are defying the odds.

Radishes that will eventually be too hot to eat.  I don't eat these either...  husband again.



Broccoli, which I will eat, but has never made it before the heat got it.  Look at the weeds!  Someone get Martha the smelling salts.  

The peas are cute with their little curly Q handle thingys reaching up.  None of these will make it into the house, as we eat them raw off the vine as quick as they will make. 

Two rows of carrots that we will dig up and feed to Roany Pony.

Volunteer pumpkins from the birthday party last year (pumpkin chunkin') that have sprouted by my lawn chairs.  They can handle the weeds if I don't forget and mow them. 

And the strawberries are blooming and making little tiny strawberries.  Birds usually get these before we do.   

And now for my flowers.  My daffodills and grape hyacinths are D-O-N-E.  I will probably mow them this week.  I had one tulip bloom this year, but it is also a shriveled mess.  But here's what I have this morning...

I don't know what it is, but it came from a wildflower mix.  Last year I had one.  This year I have five. 

Same goes for these guys...

And these...  They are getting kind of shrivelly.

I am most excited about this one.  I planted the bulbs last fall and couldn't really remember what they were until the bloom showed up. 

My weigela is also blooming today.  They are first year bloomers too for us.  I was hoping they were a darker pink, but hopefully the hummingbirds will still find them attractive.

I also like how my hand looks like it is 100 in this picture. 

And finally, my lenten rose, or hellebore.  It has been blooming since just after Snowmaggedon melted sometime around late February.  I've had it a couple of years now and it seems to bloom better every year. 

So maybe you're not having the best of weather today, or live in a colder climate than I.   Perhaps my bragging will bring a glimmer of springtime to your Monday.  I always feel like I'm coming back to life this time of year after being in hibernation all winter long.  I hope your spirits climb right along with my peas and raspberry vines.  And I hope that if you're inclined to brag today, that you too are forgiven! 

"'Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.'"  Acts 13:38

My Doomed Project

“He answered, ‘The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man.’” Matthew 13:37

Here’s what I’m doing today:

Now I don’t save glass jars from jelly or cheese dip, but apparently my neighbors do. And, since I’ve given them a couple of jars of homemade jelly, when they return my jelly jars, they give me any stash of glass jars they've accumulated.


“Just throw them away if you can’t use them,” she said.


Well now I feel bad about throwing away a gift, even if it might be considered trash in my house. Plus some of the jars had cute little handles.

So I broke out what was left of the worst bag of potting soil ever, and filled them up. I’m currently waiting for water to penetrate the soil to make some kind of a squishy concoction that would lend itself to accepting seeds. Every now and then I stir my little pots with a stick just to hurry along the process. I don’t think it is helping.

Premium ingredients... like sticks and rocks!  Ha!

Anyway, on my counter in front of my sink, I found these seed packets.

I do this every year. I buy seeds, stash them away, and forget to plant them. I think it is mental illness.  Or an underlying hoarding habit. 

So, guess who’s getting planted as part of my doomed project today? I will be planting last year’s seeds in the worst potting soil ever in jars destined for the trash.


I’ll let you know in a few weeks how it all pans out.

I'm Cultivating Something

“So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.” 1 Corinthians 3:8

I bought myself a wonder product on Tuesday and I have to tell you about it.

It is an electric cultivator.

Last year, I tried borrowing my neighbor’s tillers for my tilling needs and his are gas-powered, hard to start and emit noxious fumes that almost killed me. Oh, and they seem to outweigh me. They were terribly heavy and seemed to have a mind of their own.

After purchasing an electric leaf blower in December (read about my debacle here), I decided that electric is my friend over gas-powered anything in the lawn tool department. I’m sure it is greener or something, but for me, the #1 reason I would choose electric over gas any day is…

I can start it!

You push a button.

Even I can do that!

Pulling the cord seventy five times after priming the thing and then flooding it and having to pull the cord another seventy five times makes my arm hurt. It seems like exercise. And we all know how I feel about exercise. At least any exercise involving me. I’m sure it is good for OTHER people.

So I got the electric cultivator on Tuesday, screwed on the handle, hooked up the extension cord, pushed the button and started cultivating. I’m pretty sure I did just as good a job with my new friend as I did with the beasts of burden I borrowed last year. I’m pretty sure it doesn’t go quite as deep, but I’m pretty sure that a garden like mine (where it is survival of the fittest for the most part) won't care.

I tilled the whole thing up in about thirty minutes (my garden area is pretty small). I even ran the thing through a section that didn’t get weeded much (OK, at all) last year and had a gazillion strands of bermuda grass. Yes, it bogged down a little, but it kept going and all the bermuda strands eventually looked like a giant rolling hairball stuck on the tines. I began to rethink my weeding strategy when I realized that I had to clean all that out, but guess what? I just pulled out a pin, took the tines off, separated them and stuck them back on, clean as a whistle.

Ok, a whistle that had been rolled through the dirt, but was at least grass free. E-A-S-Y!!

In other words, I LOVE my new electric cultivator, especially after having experienced the “other side” last year. I’m thinking it will be good for my flowerbeds too and I have high hopes of making the children a small corn maze with it in the front yard once the weather warms up a little more.

I have dreams of broccoli and peas and tomatoes and cucumbers, and maybe, just maybe, my little cultivator will help them put their roots down a little better than they would have otherwise.

I know my arms are already happy!

Here’s wishing you spring thoughts and garden dreams today!

“But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown.” Matthew 13:23