Mothers' Day 2013~

It's time to take note of the things that go on in our micro-climate regarding our garden...  Some "notes to self" if you will.  I just need a place to keep this info...


We planted swiss chard in February.  It took awhile, but it's really strong and healthy now.  We planted beets a few weeks back...we only got partial germination...that's ok.  It will stagger this way.  The early lettuce (I think it's a deer tongue variety) held on until this week.  It shot up like a weed within the past 7 days.  Darn.  We'll see how it tastes.  The snow peas got one good setting of peas, now the weather is changing to hotter than they like, and they're trying to push out one last burst...I'm not sure it's worth waiting, unless there are a lot of plants...more than 12.  The garlic bulbs we put in last year have tall, onion like stalks...Interesting.  The tips of the leaves are starting to die back.  Hmm. Hmm. Hmmm.  The lemon balm is OUT of CONTROL!!!  LOL!!  I should put up the starts and give them as gifts!  There are little lemon balm plants popping up all over that bed.  *sigh*

Blueberries!!  We bought 2 plants this year, according to Farmer Fred's recommendations... An O'Neill and an.....don't remember!!  Regardless, the O'Neal  (if I spell it enough different ways, one will be right!) fruit is ripening!!  We ate our first 2 blueberries last night (ripe if they fall into your hand), and there are 2 more coming.

Farmer Fred is talking about bolting cilantro...LOL!  We have one in full flower.  We were looking at the beneficial insects in the plant just a couple hours ago.  He's recommending to let it stay to get beneficial insects into the garden. 

Bruce put sunflowers along the front fence...and is sprouting melons along the inner fence shared with the front yard.  All of those plants are up and going.  We don't have many tomatoes yet...I'm going to be buying fruit again this year.  Cucumbers too if things don't get better quickly. The weather is really doing great this year.  We needed more rain. I'm glad we use raised beds.  We can water a lot more effectively.

Spring Things...

We had to spend the last week of March at UCSF...bless those who cared for our creatures, and the Animal Angels too.  It took them ALL to contain this wild bunch. Jasmine stayed with friends because I was just too worried about her.  She's never met a stranger.  What was supposed to be 4 days turned into 7, with all heck breaking loose about day 5. Although we lost 2 laying hens and 2 roosters, somehow Mama Hen (she's one serious bad-ass!) and her 2 babies survived.  Somehow, a litter of kittens hatched in the hen house too...the renegade Siamese mama.  She won't have her kittens too far away, but not too close-in either.  Blanca didn't wait for us to get home either; she had her babies in the hay. 

Last weekend, we drove to Reno, NV and reunited Luci-dog with her mama. This week, it snowed up there.  Go figure.  Such is Spring in the North State (CA).  Now, it's back up into the 80's and will hit the 90's mid-week.  I laugh at people who call the quiet rains of late February and March "winter."  That is our Spring.  There are a few weeks of coolish weather with some rain and fog...then some big wind, and the next thing you know, it feels like summer.  Personally, I'm hoping for a good stretch of 70's-80's before we jump into the 90+ temps.  I'm not a heat-lover.  I'm too moderate!

Today was a good day for shedding horses.  We're really dragging shedding out a long time this year.  Both girls still have fuzzy spots that haven't given up yet.  A few days of 80°+ and that will end.  The ladies decided they needed an early morning romp...  Bruce didn't get the gate latched well enough last night and they went into the neighbor's 4+ acre fenced lot.  As we were heading up to catch them, a Horse Angel stopped and gave us a hand.  She parked in the driveway to keep the horses from running out into the street, and walked up the drive with us to be a 3rd catcher.  What a sweetheart!  Regardless of their early morning escapade, I still wanted to get them well-curried before a new week took over.  Somehow, I'm always down-wind and get a nose-full of dust and horse hair.  Shasta is a brat.  She is very food motivated.  We were able to catch her first...cookies....cookies...  No one gets cookies during grooming...and grooming is at full liberty.  Shasta couldn't stand that Willow was getting all the attention AND there were no cookies coming her way.  No one got cookies until I was completely finished, and packed up.  Then we had cookies. *Ü*  I know..."Mean Mama," right?

Meet Luci...Our Foster-pup!

A little more than a week ago, I stumbled across an adult dog whose Mama was looking for a home for her. I would love to provide "foster care" for critters, but...we weren't so sure that was for us. Something about this girl and her situation tugged at my heart...A few PMs and emails later, we were scheduling transport of "terrier" Luci.

It takes a few days for everyone to get to know everyone else, but the first night was a great indicator that things were going to be just fine.  We had the typical lip curls, growls, a few teeth-gnashings, and many more introductions than you see here!  She sniffed at the back of Shasta's leg, and made tracks in a big hurry when that hoof came up off the ground!

For the most part, she got along with everyone...not everyone was ready to accept her though...  Jasmine isn't quite as gentle with the kitties as Luci is.  Luci approaches them slowly and cautiously...waits for acceptance, and doesn't quite understand if they growl at her!  A week has made a lot of difference in that category! Most of the kitties have become friendly with her in that week, and she and Jasmine have just about worked out all the kinks about who's Alpha...they're sharing. And they actually do share.  They both want the same place in the bed at night...Jasmine gets it to start with, and if she gives it up, it's fair game.  They both get to sleep on the bed.  They both get treats.  They both get to pre-wash plates. It keeps them content.

After considerable research, I've determined Luci is predominately General Schnauzer...making her the in-between size.  Not a small dog, but not a moose either.  She's about 17 inches at the shoulder...her nose just clears the top of the coffee table, which brings up some minor house-manners issues.  She's responding well to the reminders, she doesn't like the "Mama" tone.  We also discovered she had developed a bit of "follicular dermatitis" which is so common it's expected in Schnauzers.  It's so easy to treat, we've knocked that down already.  Schnauzers are so susceptible to this ailment that it could have been triggered by something as simple as change in her diet, or the hay in the back of the car on the trip home, or even the change from outside kennel to in and out.  Like I said, it was quickly solved.  Now, we're working on mats.  She loves that so much I only torture her for short periods.  Poor honey!  She'll be visiting a groomer soon (as soon as I get past pay-day!) for a Schnauzer cut...left a bit long for winter comfort...although she pants so much, she might be okay without all the extra!  We can always put a toddler sweater on her!

We only had one worrisome episode...she chases the chickens...and came away with a mouthful of Mama Banty hen's feathers.  Everyone is okay.  I think it's because they ran.  She was trying to meet the rooster the other night, and gave chase when he ran.  He went over the fence, but Mama Banty still has Peep with her.  She'd die before letting anything get to Peep.  Obviously, this will require a bit of work.  Since Luci wasn't overly concerned about the chickens once they were in their pen and not running from her, I think this is a reasonable expectation.  Time to work with baby chicks and a water pistol. It's a great passive training tool!  We need to increase and replace some of our flock this year regardless.  I'll be interested in Buff Orpingtons (have rooster...), Marans (love the BIG dark brown eggs!), and some banties. I think having babies in the house will give Luci a chance to learn about them from start to pen.  After that, she'll be fine.