Friday, June 8, 2012

State of the house and yard

Small Cozy Cottage for rent...

Well that's what a sign should say on the front of this little house.  A little bird took up residence in my decorative birdhouse next to the front door.  I think it is a house wren although I can not be sure.  She laid eggs that have hatched into a loud little family.  We are hoping they all move before the babies get too big to get out the hole (which is smaller than an inch) or the cats get them.  In the meantime we have had to stop using the front door.  It makes the mom so nervous she dive bombs and chatters at whom or whatever is there.    

 The front no longer has overgrown yews, we have added perennial beds instead.  I transplanted day lilies, lily of the valley, ferns, phlox, and joe pye weed.
 Here is one of the many beds of day lilies that I am working on transplanting around the yard.  Close to the house you can see the last of the overgrown hedges we haven't bothered to take out yet. 
 This is the back view of the glass living room now that the tree is removed.  There is an area about 12 by 12 feet that is completely bare.  I am transplanting the lilies, bishop weed, and ferns to fill it in for now.  Someday we will build a deck but I have a feeling it is pretty far off.
Here is the chicken coop and run.  See the woodpile behind it?  John split the tree we had taken down with an axe and maul and Ben stacked it.  It has taken about 9 months but it is mostly done.  There are a few really knotty logs that are going to require time to be split, but the project was pretty impressive!



The hens are full grown now and are all laying in summer cycle.  Most days we have 8 or 9 eggs which is pretty good, we have nine hens in all; 2 Leghorns, 2 Rhode Island Reds, 4 Barred Rocks, and 1 Wyandotte.