One for Woolly Bully

There was definitely no time to update the blog this weekend. The weather changed from a rainy, grey week to extreme heat just in time for our 8 guests to arrive. It was so hot that Nathan took both ends off the greenhouse and we built Zeb and Thomas an extra shade shelter since Molly the horse was hogging the first shelter. We knew they needed another one when we saw Thomas chasing Zeb all over the field (who knows why) and then suddenly collapse, breathing really hard. Zeb didn't even look winded - maybe his stint with Lucy last week got him in shape.

While we were building the shade shelter, our guests were sitting on stumps watching us and enjoying the traditional bbq in the paddock. We were concentrating on pounding the posts in when we heard screaming. Before we even really noticed what was happening, all of our friends were inside Nathan's truck with doors and windows closed. Woolly Bully had been walking along the fence and he took a half-hearted 3-step charge at Abby (she very easily avoided him), which I admit may have been panic inducing for a newcomer to the farm. I wish we had had a camera out there...

It was also finally hot enough to swim in the creek we discovered a few months ago. We all hiked in there to swim on Saturday, then went to a nearby lake on Sunday and to the ocean on Monday. Apparently there's a lazy river nearby that the locals tube down in the summer - that's next on the list!

When we cooked dinner on Saturday it was so nice to hear things like "this is how chicken is supposed to taste!" and "I don't normally like green beans but these are delicious!".

Carrots, beans, broccoli, peas and basil...everything is growing so quickly now!

Including the "chicks". Zebra Head now crows every morning....but they still take naps throughout the day. 

They also still sleep in a pile instead of on their roosts, and try to burrow underneath each other like they would with their mother.

Extracurriculars

We were away from the farm this weekend because the sheepdog failure was busy being an agility superstar. Ryan ended up in 3rd place on the podium at the Regional competition! 

(photo by Liz)

All the plants looked like they were given steroid injections while we were gone. How did they grow this much in 3 days??

Softball sized cantaloupe.

The broccoli that I was sure was going to flower didn't - it just kept growing, along with this zucchini. I sliced up the zucchini, dipped it in egg and some panko bread crumbs and then fried it to have with our burgers. It was pretty good. 

Cucumber and lots of weeds. 

Fred and Barney (the horses) were also away for the weekend and when Jim (their owner) brought them back, I came outside and saw this:

I think Denise just wanted to get a look at herself in the mirror. 

Farm Life

I think we showed our 7 guests this weekend a pretty good farm time. Highlights included:

-fresh eggs for breakfast (with ham and cheese on an english muffin) served with hot lattes. Nathan and I got a taste for what it would be like running a bed and breakfast.

-a bbq and campfire in the paddock - a 3 minute walk from the house but we drove over in the back of the truck for farm authenticity.

-target practice with Benjamin and some old coke cans.

-a sudden downpour right at the end of the bbq that lasted just as long as it took us to get soaking wet rushing everything inside.

-roast chicken, pork and veggies for dinner served with garden fresh salad and plenty of beer, wine, rum and whiskey....which led to

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-a sheep naming contest in which the winning choices were Ewean and Eweneequa....

-a quick ride on Molly

 -multiple tours through the greenhouse (this basil made a big batch of pesto for all of us and barely looked touched after pruning).

-a taste of the first few ripe strawberries.

-almost everybody (including me) seeing a head of broccoli growing for the first time.

- chicken handling 101.

-an adventure hike along a creek to the ocean.

-4 extremely happy and tired dogs.

Tied Up

The newly tied tomatoes all looked good this morning. I drove anchoring stakes in between the squash, cucumbers and melons too so that I won't damage their roots doing it later on. I want to try and get stuff growing vertically as much as possible - I think that will help them get more air circulation in the greenhouse.

Brussels sprouts - too hot in the greenhouse for them. We'll plant a few outside where the arugula is, once it's done. We bought 3 artichoke seedlings to plant outside and a couple of spaghetti squash for in the greenhouse.

Giant broccoli! The outdoor plants that are the same age are maybe 6" tall with a few measly leaves. The greenhouse plants are a foot tall with giant leaves. Hopefully they won't just go right to flower with the hot temps, though.

Avert your eyes if you don't want to feel extremely itchy.

Poultry lice on poor Mother Clucker. The white stuff at the bases of the feathers are their eggs, and you can see the lice all running for cover. BLEH!!! People can't get poultry lice but they still make me feel all squirmy.