Well, again it has been a long time since I last posted. Reading my last post brought up alot of memories and tears to my eyes. Glad I had a box of tissues handy. Much has changed in the year and a half since my last post. I am now single and have moved back to my home state of Virginia. I mourn the passing of the love of my life and best friend. Even though we had parted in our relationship, we had become the best of friends afterwards. I miss him greatly.
On a happier note, I am living on a nice little plot of land where I had a wonderful garden this past summer. There is a heavenly grove of trees in the front yard and half of the property is wooded for those nice walks amongst the trees. I wake alot of mornings to deer in the grove and all day squirrels are racing from tree to tree. Here and there are a few bunny rabbits, but they mostly keep to the hedges at the front of the property.
My garden this summer was amazing, even thought I got it started a little late. We moved to this property in June and by then most of the planting should have been done. I had loving kept my little seedlings alive and thriving in the temporary living arrangement I was in until I got here and was able to place them in the ground. Even late, the seedlings took off like crazy. I had more tomatoes than I could eat or give away. I grew patty pan squash this year and the plants were so gigantic, reminded me of the gardens from my childhood. In North Carolina, I could never grow squash because of the humidity. By the time the plants started to take off, powdery mildew set in and they all died. I had handfuls of pickling cucumbers and had so many, I was able to make a few jars of old fashioned pickles and bread 'n butter pickles. This was my first adventure in canning anything on my own. They turned out quite yummy!
And I finally have my little flock of chickens! I have six little hens and a young rooster. The hens will not start laying eggs for a few months yet. Everyone has a name and everyone gets along well. I take them out of their pen twice a day, morning and evening, for some free ranging time. I keep a watchful eye on them because there are hawks in the area. With the trees as cover they are safe most of the time, but a power line runs through the property and if they get in the clearing, the hawks start to circle. My young roo is getting smart and brings the girls to the garden and they hide under the tomato plants that are still there. Still, with the hawks around, I will always have to watch them during free range time. I don't mind, because they are amusing to watch and make me smile. They scratch and back up and see what they have uncovered and their fluffy butts are funny to see running across the yard trying to catch a bug.
