Plants & Dirt, Chicken Treats, & Home Invasion Scares

Gotta have dirt to go with all those pretty plants...I bought 3 bags full yesterday and promptly dumped them into a hole this morning....all three bags!  I could have used 6 more!  I would like to eventually fill in that stinking hole, someone thought the little hill in our yard needed a water feature before we got here.  It lasted until the first Spring we were here before I tore it out of the ground after one of my little tweety yard birds drown in it!  So, once I found that I can't even get the shovel in the ground where I originally was going to put the Raspberries, I immediately thought of this pit in my yard.  Perfect for filling with Raspberries!  So, that's what I did, I finally got the Raspberries out of their bags and into the dirt!  To my surprise, there were 4 plants in there too!  I thought I had 2 plants, woot!  They look a little wilty now, but I'm sure they'll perk up over the next few days.

Everything is growing really well right now, and the Ladybugs have showed up to help!  Everywhere I looked this morning there were Ladybugs!  I did have a small "accident" with my flowers I bought recently...I thought they were getting water from the leaks in the watering system (I'm still working out this year's kinks in it), but apparently they weren't so they were really dry and slightly wilty today too.  They are now (mostly) in new planters and well watered!  I do need to go get at least one more bag of soil, I have 2 window boxes left to fill with soil and the plants I have to go in them!

I did work on the watering system a little today, I have some planters getting too much water while others aren't getting enough.  I got some flow regulators the other day to help slow down the water in the planters that are getting too much and have fixed most of the leaks in the hoses.  So far I have proper water tubing going to everything on the right side of my deck, I had to stop for this morning when I realized I had forgotten my morning insulin and it was nearly noon!  I'll try to get it finished over the next few days...weather permitting.  The three "cauldron" planters are going to reside on my outdoor table this year, but I'm not bringing it outside until I fix all the leaking & spraying water issues (it's a wood topped table).

The herbs are doing good, the Stevia plant is even surviving!  Despite our best efforts to kill it too, lol.  The Catnip is out preforming the other herbs, but as this is my second year growing it, I expected it to take off early and stay strong for the season, it is not disappointing me either!  For the most part, everything is looking happy and green...my Morning Glories are just not handling being outside well at all and I suspect they won't last much longer, the leaves are looking "funky".  I think some sort of bug may be the culprit, but I haven't been able to see any!

The girl's got a new treat yesterday, well they got two new treats, both of which they absolutely love!  First, I got a bag if Meal worms while I was getting a new bag of feed (Purina Start & Grow now...this stuff is what they'll be on until they start laying).  I wasn't sure how they would receive these foreign objects, but they gobbled them up like they had been dreaming of them since hatching!  Next came a small bag of BOSS (Black Oil Sunflower Seeds)!  Gerty was the only one that went right for them, but the other two soon followed when they saw her gobbling them up!  I sprinkled a few over their feed at bedtime last night and I got met with happy chirps this morning when I turned the light on and they discovered the black goodies on their feed!  Still no crowing and they are 10 weeks old today!  I suspect I will be getting 3 eggs most every day starting in another 10-12 weeks!  We're halfway to breakfast!  I will control my urge to fry up the first eggs laid until there are enough for both of us to have them together though, I should only have to wait a few days though (from when they start laying)!

And just a random side note...My arm is peeling, I first thought it was "just my sunburn healing", but it's the arm that didn't get as much sun.  Then, it got worse!  My whole arm is peeling now, from my wrist clear up to my shoulder!  Last night, I noticed the same sort of peeling on top of my head!  It's just the top layer of skin, but it kinda has me wondering if I could possibly be allergic to chicken dander...  Do chickens have dander?  Eggs have never effected me (unless combined with a carb...).  I'm not too worried at the moment, I could use a fresh "look" anyway, lol.  If it gets worse or continues spreading to areas I haven't had sun exposure on, then I'll call my Doctor...until then though, I will be watching it like a hawk! 

Yesterday was a weird day all around.  I spent a good 3 hours out running various errands that included going to the feed store, the grocery store, and skipping a few shops after I got tired and was wanting a snack.  Since it was a cooler day yesterday, I had taken my dog with me.  This is a pure joyful treat for her, she lovesears ago held them off though!  No marks were left on the deadbolt, just the handle, so I'll be locking the deadbolt too...one more measure to keep my belongings safe!  Also, the dog won't be going anywhere for a while...she barks like she'll tear ya to shreds and she keeps all the neighbors apprised if anything/anyone is in front of my house that shouldn't be, lol.

Later in the afternoon, someone came knocking on my door...we get a lot of door to door sales junk here, I hate it with a passion and on a good day get great "happy feelings" when I can slam the door in someones face!  We have a no soliciting sign at eye level on our door...I have heard parent's tell their children that are selling wrapping paper/cookies/Kool-Aid (yeah someone sent their kids running through a strange neighborhood knocking on doors with no adult in sight!  The kids do not live on my street...) that the sign doesn't apply to them!  Yes it does!  If you want me to buy something, it applies!  My personal opinion on the signage (whether it "means it" or not) is that I have it there because I don't want anyone knocking on my door that I don't already know!  No survey people, no sales people, no damned kid wanting to annoy me!  Okay, I know harsh...but we get a lot of this sort of harassment around here.  I grew up where this stuff didn't happen, if you had to sell something for school, you sent it with your parents to work, you didn't go knocking on stranger's doors!  So the guy yesterday...he got as far as "I noticed your Monitronix sign here" before I flipped out on him.  Yes, I over reacted, but since I was still dealing with the stress of someone attempting to enter my home while I wasn't here...he deserved it.  I asked him if he also saw the sign that says no soliciting and slammed the door in his face.  Well, maybe I didn't over react, lol.  But, there was a strange man with a giant binder standing on my door step, asking about my home security system and if I was the owner of the home a mere few hours after a scare like that!  I'm a little paranoid at the moment, a few of the details, like the dog happening to be gone and the fact that my truck was still here, leads me to think that maybe my house is being watched by one of the neighbors that I don't know...  It's a little coincidental after hearing that I have a peeper!  If you see someone looking in someone else's windows, tell them about it ASAP!  Don't wait until the subject happens to come months down the road!  Okay, that's all I have to say about that...I could rant about this for pages, lol.