The wind this weekend was phenomenal- kept Sue off of the tractor, which is where I think she really wanted to be.  I was not feeling well at all, which is not what I wanted to be doing with the weekend; but, despite all of that, things were accomplished anyway.

IMG_0711The brooding table was completed, Sue purchased a couple bricks of shavings so that the chickies would be comfortable on top and on the bottom. She set up the warming platform and tested it out, placed the feed and water stations on the platform. She received a notice that the chickies shipped today, so we should be able to pick them up at the post office Wednesday morning, first thing. Everything is prepared. A week after the ducklings should be here! In an effort to keep down the dust in the coop, Sue set up one of the shaving bricks in the biggies’ side. Instead of spreading it out herself, she decided to let the chickeIMG_0712ns do the work , and give them some entertainment in the process… especially since they weren’t able to be outside very much due to the wind. The shavings come vacu-packed in a IMG_0348plastic wrap, when you take the wrapping off, they retain their shape quite well, so it takes a bit of effort from the chickens to fluff it up and spread it around. The photo on the left shows them just starting on Saturday. The second photo is of the same spot on Sunday afternoon!  They did a very good job!

IMG_0710Saturday afternoon the new Apple trees were planted. Sue purchased a Dwarf Fuji (in the foreground) and a Dwarf Gala.  Don’t be fooled by the “dwarf” part, they will still grow to be 25+ feet tall. As you know, and probably get tired of hearing, we have issues with high winds, so we wanted to plant the trees where there was a bit of protection. Sue opted to place them in the depression, just at the bottom where the slope and a couple of oak trees will give them some protection from the wind, yet allow them to have a full day’s worth of sun.  During the winter, the slope will give them the nice chill that they like to have.  Think Julian Apples and you’ll get the chilly idea. Sue dug a couple of holes and didn’t run into any rocks! AMAZING. The soil looked quite nice, but she amended it with some of the compost we’ve been making.  The trees will really like that! Before that though, we did make gofer proof baskets to plant the trees’ roots in.  We didn’t realize just how bad the gophers were until they took out some trees that had been on the property for years!  So, now every new tree will and shrub will be planted in a gopher basket.  We just use avian wire (like you see on the screen door in the photo above) and make round or square baskets with wire on the bottoms as well.  Need to protect the investment somehow!  I think they’ll be very happy in their new home; they are already starting to leaf out.

IMG_0351Sunday saw the pick up of egg production. We have several chickens laying now. Easter Eggers are giving us really nice blue/green eggs. The Buff Orpingtons are contributing creamy colored eggs. Maeve’s and Imen’s eggs are really small, very cute, and a bit more brown than the Buff’s. The Tree Sisters’ eggs are quite white and more pointed on one end. We had five in total on Sunday.  The second time that had happened since the days started to become longer, and a bit warmer.

You know that we always have stuff going on around here.  Wednesday we’ll talk about upcoming projects, and Friday we’ll do a Project Update. If you have questions, or there’s something specific you’d like me to update, please let me know in the comment section below this post, or add your questions to our Facebook page  www.facebook.com/WAAP2 . Until then, as always~
Thanks for reading!

Weather Report:  DANG WINDY!  Today was a little better, but still quite breezy and cool in the shade with that wind coming off of the snow that is still holding on to the mountains. The high today was 69° and the low is predicted to be 38° early in the morning.  I like not having to cover the citrus trees at night! Tomorrow’s high is supposed to be 76°, if it’s not windy that’ll be wonderful and the day will probably see Sue out on the tractor using the backhoe.

Egg Report: Daaaat, da, da (that’s a short trumpet fan fare)! 7 EGGS!!! You probably already saw that on my Facebook update today, but it’s the most we’ve ever had in one day, so it does bear repeating! Let’s see: two Buffs, two Easter Eggers, one Maeve, two Sisters. How lovely; they must be happy little chickens.