April Hailstorm and Chickens

We got pummeled last night with a summer-type storm and it's only April. It started out as pounding rain, loud thunder and blinding lightening. 

Then came the hail...thank Heavens there are no crops planted yet, the farmers would have lots of damage, it came down that hard & fast.

It was very large, the largest I've seen in ages! And it was so loud...when we went to the pool room to watch the storm, we couldn't talk over the noise. The pool room's roof is made of corrugated plastic, during heavy rain it's deafening, and even worse with hail.

I have to say though, it was pretty neat...Mother Nature was really angry.

So, this morning, I'm looking at photos from last summer, trying to remember what it's like. Our chickens love watermelon, it's a sweet treat on a hot, dry day. 

Did you get the storm last night? 


Sharing with:

Tilly's Nest 

Plants in Peril

We have 6 chickens, and sometimes it seems like a heck of a lot more! The damage they have done in my gardens is not nice...when you consider the time & money spent on them. Love the fresh eggs, but...

Starting to dig & scratch for bugs

My poor Frosted Jade hosta and butterfly bush!

One of the holes dug in a new area of the garden, so much for my glads & lilies :(

And they are having a field day in the woodland garden! Most of the plants have been there for years, but newer ones are in danger from those claws. Not sure what we're going to do about this area...already lost a few. But I'm trying to save my hostas...I collect and love my hostas!

See all those rocks? They uses to be around the cedar tree...that's how strong their claws are! This is a tiny section of that garden...and all the bare spots...used to be filled with plants. :(

Larry suggested putting landscape fabric up as a fence to stop them from coming up to the courtyard area. Yuck! How ugly! I asked how much chicken wire he has left over. Not enough, but it's cheap enough to purchase more. As we discussed this, sitting sipping a cocktail, I noticed an old deck railing I had leaning against the tree. Remembered there were more out back.  A friend had torn down his old deck and brought them over (we get everyone's garbage)...he was going to burn them when I told him no way, they'll be useful one day!

Leaning, waiting for me to decide what to do with it

"Hey Honey, how about that old deck railing? Wouldn't that work, and look a hundred times better?" He jumped up, grabbed the measuring tape and we measured, and measured twice. We had the perfect amount to build a fence across behind the tree!! "Wow," he said, "you are a genius, great idea!" My 'feathers' puffed out in pride. :)

We brought them all forward and the next day he built the fence! I was soooo pleased, he did an awesome job and it looks wonderful! He even built a gate!

Pickle wondering why all the rails are up here.

My wonderful husband started the fence! Look at all the dead grass and poor shrubs...drought and high heat did a number on everyone this summer.

Hard at work. And Pickle bathing...

With the large maple tree, there are large roots. He broke an axe chopping those roots to put the fence poles in. oops

Starting the gate...as you can see, he didn't measure twice to dig the hole. lol

Done!!! 

Brownie & Pandora are confused as to why they can't get to the side garden! lol

With the chickens not being able to venture to where the bird feeders are and scratch around for fallen seed, I decided to move the bird station. And decided the fence would be a perfect place to put my collection of bird houses! The other side of the fence is now my 'bird garden'. :)

See the old bird's nest? I know it won't last long, but it's fun for now! Going to put solar lights on top of the gate posts. (ignore his collection of garbage out back...he keeps promising me it's going...)

 Put the feeding station in the area an old honeysuckle had been, so the ground is perfect for scratching chickens. :)

 You can see some of the birdhouses on the fence

 My nephew gave me this bird house and I love it!

And the old/new bird cage that so far only the chipmunks seem to use.

But we are far from done. Now comes the task of cleaning up & repairing the damage the chickens did. We are getting a load of soil to level out the ground/holes, and then a load of mulch to put in the new gardens I'm adding. And I'm in the process of making stepping stones for the pathway...but that is another post.

I've also made a bird bath out of concrete to add to this bird garden and you can see it in my Home Made Bird Bath post. I love it and so do the birds!


My entry into Terrific Tuesdays @ Adventures of a DIY Mom sponsored by Appliances Online and their best Range Cookers.

I'm linking to:

Carter's Cottage My Monday Muse

New Bird Feeder, um, I mean Cage, no, Feeder!

So I went yard-saling last weekend...again (becoming addicted!!) and found a slew of great items to recycle! One of them was this bird cage. Nothing fancy, nothing old (you can find this same kind in the pet stores) but I thought I could do something neat with it. See the big old wrought iron one beside it? Wow!!! I'm thrilled with that find and can't wait to re-purpose it! But that will be another post. :)

Had some red & yellow Rustoleum Painter's Touch spray paint, so I painted the top...

 The dogs just had to investigate, aren't they adorable!!

...and the bottom...

...and decided it looked pretty neat!! And decided to put it on one of the shepherd's hooks in the bird garden. I have some of the chicken scratch feed in it (Larry bought the wrong kind, we need layer feed, and we can't use it so we figured some wild-life will like it!)

 Just noticed I forgot to put the perches back in...have to do that tomorrow.

I spray painted some steel wire yellow to match the cage and secured the door and 'food holder doors' open so the wild-life can get in & out with ease. 

Haven't seen any bird in it, figure they must feel too 'caged in' so they use the regular feeders. BUT, the chipmunks love it!! Saw one this morning peeking his head up every once in a while. They probably feel safe from the cats in the cage. I'm so happy they feel at home in this feeder!

And the great thing, the chickens love to scratch around the feeders...they devour all the seed that falls, which is wonderful!! We don't get a lot of weeds growing under the feeders.

Pebbles under the feeder loving the seeds the birds drop

Update:
Even though I had drainage holes in the bottom, when it rained the feed became soggy & clumped together. So now I only use it for the peanuts, and yes, the blue jays love it! They go inside to get their treats...never thought I'd see that!

The Ants Came Marching Out...

I will remember this as the day the ants came out. Every year we get the 'red ants growing into flying ants' nests, they all come out at the same time within an hour or so of each other. And we don't see any signs of the red ants before they are ready? I don't understand their life cycle, maybe I should google this.

I think this is the record...we found 10 nests!!! It really grosses me out, I remember our first year in this house we couldn't go outside because they were flying all over the place. But now, when we first notice them we eliminate them. (Cats were put inside, chickens in their run/coop & dog in kennel. Tomorrow we will clean up any residue. I don't like using chemicals, but don't know what else to do in this situation!!)

I have a couple pictures...not sure you want to see this, but these are the two nests at the bottom of the stairs in the courtyard leading to the deck off the dining room. Three of them were in my succulent garden (would that have anything to do with some of the plants dying?) and five in the pool room between the concrete slabs!!

 This was the smallest nest of the bunch. 
See the dead weed? I used 2 parts vinegar to 1 part dish soap and holy cow, does it work like a charm!! Now to work on the others...the ones I can't pull...

Look at them all!!! Yikes!!! 
(Yes, the stairs need repairing!! The whole courtyard needs an overhaul...)

Thank heavens we noticed them before they started flying!! Mind you, now that we know what we are looking for, it is easy to see...basically the earth is moving! Yuck....

Chickens, Cats, Dog & the Mulberry Tree

The mulberries were ripening up fast. One day last week, a couple squirrels were having a feast way up in the tree! Silly cat that Pickle is, he was lying in wait for one of them to fall...at least that is what Larry said he was doing...and doesn't he know squirrels are tree dwellers and don't fall? 

Pickle keeping a close eye on the squirrels, he thinks he's hiding under the hosta! 

Well, the chickens have found them all over the ground. And boy were they enjoying them! We already knew the dog loves them and nibbles all the time, but this is pretty cool the way the chickens have taken to them, too. The funny thing is, Brownie decided she could get her own and kept jumping up to feed off the branch that is so laden it is hanging low! She was hilarious. :)

Brownie

We had a so much fun watching the squirrels, the dog and the chickens all devouring the mulberries, while the cats looked on. We did manage to snag a few for ourselves.

Jet helping himself while Pepsy watches (still lots of work to do on this side of the property)

Mulberries

 Pepsi watching the activity...

Zara finding a berry

Garden Visitors

I love the birds. My first pet was a budgie called Mickey. I have always had bird feeders on my property, different ones for different feed to attract different birds. You can see my post on the hummingbirds here. And I love having homes for the birds so I have assorted bird houses around as well. I am lucky to get lots of varieties of our feathered friends visiting. I will sit quietly near the feeding stations with my camera hoping to catch a bird or two enjoying the feast I offer. And of course, the chipmunks always enjoy the buffet. Unfortunately, I don't get the squirrels because we have chickens, and squirrels just don't like chickens! (guaranteed you will not have your fall bulbs dug up if you top them with hen manure a couple times a year!!)

So I am sharing a few pictures of visitors I had the other evening. I was disappointed because the cardinal picture didn't turn out and every time he came around there was too much activity going on, meaning he didn't stick around. One day soon...I promise I will have the perfect picture of one of my favourite birds. :)

 Blue Jay

They love the peanuts I put out for them!!

 Yellow Finch

These pretty fellows seem to prefer the black oil sunflowers over the niger seed!? 

Wren

You can see her peeking out the 'door'. She makes her home in this old bird house every year. (at least I like to think it is her coming back each year, or maybe it is her daughters returning home to raise their young?) :)

 Chipmunk...he loves the peanuts...heck, he loves it all!!

I love the birds...and my most relaxing time is sitting in my garden with my camera trying to catch all the activity in my own backyard. 

Chickens & Storms

Wow, have I got a lot to learn! I was reading a blog today on learning how to blog...not just as simple as writing a few words and posting some pictures. I got lots of tips and tricks from 'At The Picket Fence' and will be following their blog. Of course there's lots of other fabulous stuff on there too! In the meantime, I have made it easier for people to comment and I don't have to approve comments! What was I trying to protect myself from? :)

Larry should be home soon and after dinner we are going to move the table I will be using for my new potting bench. It's higher than the one I use now so it will save my back. I would like to add a shelf underneath before I organize it, somewhere to store the saucers, pots, soils, etc. Afterwards I'll post again with the before and after pictures. I'm so excited to get it all together!

The chickens are doing a great job...we get 5-6 eggs a day. Might have to start selling some soon, we can't eat that many!! Of course, we give them away to family & friends...doesn't leave a lot left for selling.

I love that they come running up to me when they see me in the back, if they are free-ranging. We usually let them out to roam for the evening when we are around. They head back to the coop when dusk hits, and when the dog is taken to the kennel we lock up the pen. It's also great having somewhere to put a lot of the kitchen scraps, composting is great but love watching the chickens go crazy for the food.

This is what I found in their nests this morning, and another one later in the afternoon. 

 They sure enjoyed the broccoli I cut up for them. :)

Our grandson wanted to name her David. When I told him the chicken is a lady he said ok then, Davika! 

 This one I call Brownie, in honour of the nickname my Dad calls my Mom! (my maiden name is Brown)

 Davika & Pandora love nibbling on feet & shoes...and if I hold food for them they go for the fingers!!

Jacy

The flock...Pandora, Davika, Pebbles, Zara, Brownie & Jacy

Working outside earlier, I saw some large raindrops. Sporadic and strange, and then came the hail! From a small cloud that seemed to be over only our home.

Hailstone, not big but they made a lot of noise on the pool roof!

A short time later I heard thunder, so I looked out back, towards west...and saw black...and wondered if we'd need to take to the basement!! My greatest fear is tornadoes, and I don't much like thunderstorms either, as beautiful as they can be. It was all around us so I knew we couldn't miss it. 

 Scary skies

I rushed to move some of my succulents and cacti into the pool room, they got wet enough the other day from the heavy rains we had.  

Kind of hard to see in this picture, but we had a rainbow. Sun was shining to the west of us while we were still getting the rain. :)

And then the rainbow!

The cats were hanging out in the games room/workshop while the storm was on. I know all cats love curling up in boxes, but you have to see the size of the one Pickle choose to have a nap in tonight! LOL

Pickle in his box...now that's a tight fit!