Lets do the chicken dance,

I spent an hour this evening watching the chickens peck around the back yard.I went out,closed all the gates and emptied my brain.While I sat upon the feed bin I had hoped to come up with some wonderful blog entry filled with useful information and a bit of wit.What I came up with is this pearl,the chicken dance that small children learn to do hits the mark dead on.I was watching Abby as she looked for worms in one of her favorite spots.Yup,that dance is perfect just replace the clapping with happy clucks.
I enjoy just sitting and watching the yard.When I slow down I see there is a lot going on.There are several types of birds living amongst us,Junco's,Robin,Red Finches,Crows,Humming Bird and a tiny House Wren.The Junco's name is Little Boy Bird and he likes to talk to us.The Robins are fairly tame and take no notice of us.The Crow's well they have a soft spot in our hearts but won't come near.Then there are 4 kinds of Bee's and a large black dragon fly with niffty looking double wings.
Speaking of Bee's, awhile ago Sol signed up as a homeschool project to count bee's for the University of San Fransisco's Great Sunflower Project.The University was going to send us seeds for Lemon Queen Sunflowers and we thought maybe we had missed out on the project but today the seeds came.In the morning we will plant them.We will be looking for Bumble,Honey and Carpenter Bee's. Seeing no bee's is more important than seeing them.It is a sign there is trouble in the bee community near our home.We have already seen all 3 kinds in our yard so getting them to come won't be an issue.And the fact that they are here is good news in the world of bee counting.
We had some high temps here over the weekend, 95 F was the highest I saw posted.The lettuces here at Hrafinstaad did not survive.We were not alone in this, co-workers of Chance's had the same thing happen.Misery loves company so now I feel a bit better not to be alone and salad-less.
We harvested our first Snow Peas to be eaten in a Stir Fry this week.We love Stir Fried Veggies and it is a great way to use up odd bits of just about any thing.
The high point of the weekend....my Mock Orange bloomed.This is one of my MOST favorite flowers.The tree is much like a Lilac in size and shaping,theclusters of blooms look like orange blossoms,smaller white almost rose like and very fragrant.I nursed mine form a single twig in a bucket into a sensible sized tree.I waited to plant it so it would not some how get run over.
I still don't think this is a very interesting blog.We are waiting for the veggies to grow and local berries to come in.There isn't even much weeding to do; between the hay bale garden and heavy mulch,that is taken care of. So we are watering,feeding the hens,gathering the eggs and learning about the true origins of the Chicken Dance.I have rounded up the canning things,baked bread and cookies,made Thai Salad Rolls (good and low Gluten!) lost count on the loads of laundry,hosted Friday Night Boys Night and did some sewing. I sat in the shade with my feet up with Ice Tea in hand loving this life of mine.
If anyone out there has a topic/question about something we have posted about or did not go far enough into let me know.Like I said right now we are waiting for the next busy time and have the time to be more helpful.
Rois