Dirt, Food, Hens, Friends

It was a good weekend, this one.

Yesterday, we spent all day outside.  The chicken coop flooded again thanks to a stopped up downspout so we had to do a whole clean-out of that.  It needed to be done anyway so I wasn't too annoyed.  Luckily the rain held off and we actually had some sun to help dry stuff out so it really was a nice day to be outside.  And the ladies didn't mind, they looove being outside doing their chicken things with us nearby.  They just hang around, scratching here and there and putting their noses (or beaks and claws) into whatever we're doing every once in a while.  We even turned the compost pile which exposed tons of big wriggly worms which they happily slurped up like spaghetti.  Even though they were standing on a gold mine of worms, they still had to fight over them.  Silly girls.

We also did a major pruning job on some bush that was getting a little overzealous and taking too much space.  I did leave enough bushiness for the chickadees and junkos to hang out in.  I also gave one of the oregano bushes a haircut and noticed that the rhubarb is already showing signs of life again.

No outside work is complete without playing in the dirt.  I moved some soil around to different planting areas and added some compost to a bed that I'm using for the first time this year.  What did I plant in this bed?  Sunchokes!  I just bought some from the store, cut 'em up and threw 'em in the ground.  We'll see what happens.  The biggest thing is going to be keeping them safe from the chickens while the plants are still babies.  I hope it works!

For dinner we made a hundred or so gyoza (japanese pot stickers) for a Karate Kid movie watching night with some friends.  We watched the original and the new one.  I'm sure everyone agrees on which is better.  We made three flavors of gyoza: kabocha/corn/cheese, shrimp/cilantro, and beef.  They were delicious.  If you want more info on how to make 'em, lemme know.  I also did a really cool baking experiment, which of course I forgot to take pictures of, so I'll just have to do it again and then tell you all about it.  It's a secret... But trust me, it was really cool with fantastic results.

We did something else cool today, but I'll tell you about that later too.

aaaaand today's picture:

His name is Albus.  As in Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.