Out with the Old ... In with the New

Always something new at my house - this is a duck that has magically appeared in the front yard.  I saw him Monday and he seems right at home now.  I'm giving him water, bread and some corn.  Well, I can't leave him out there with nothing to eat - good heavens!  I thought he was hanging around a nest but the males leave the females to do all the work with that (go figure).  So I guess he just can't fly.  Can't see anything wrong with him and he's friendly enough. 
But unfortunately Dumpling (my white and black hen) has gone to chicken heaven.  She just died a natural death the best I can tell.  But she lived a good life (as all the chickens at my house do) but sad.  Now I'm down to four chickens and the duck.  Don't know what I'll do about that.
To be continued . . . . .

Extra Insurance

Checked the bees today.  Added another super to Nuc #2.  It was leaning a little and we're supposed to have thunderstorms rolling in tonight so I thought I might shore it up a little.  Never hurts to be prepared or maybe over prepared. 

Added super to Hive #4 and did nothing to Nuc #1.  The bees are busy bringing in pollen and lots of bees in each hive.

The Color Yellow

You all know what I'm talking about - POLLEN!  Everything (and I mean everything) has a coat of yellow pollen on it. 

Mr. Ellis came on Good Friday and we opened the hives.  Everything looked - no hive beetles yet, lots of bees and big drones. 
Hive #4 - reversed the deeps and put super on top.
Nuc #1 - no change, still feeding, least amount of bees in hive.
Nuc #2 - added super in between top two supers.  So many bees in this hive!

I've planted tomato and pepper plants.  Planted potatoes (Yukon Gold) and onion sets last week.  A little late on potatoes but we'll see how they do.  The strawberry plants are all over the place.

Hydrangeas

Well this is a sad state of affairs - my hydrangeas were hit really hard with the last cold spell.  We had temps that were below freezing - not much and only one night - but enough to freeze any buds that had new growth. 
The hydrangeas are putting out new growth at the bottom of the plant now so I know they're not dead but it's a pitiful mess.  Needless to say, I'll have no blooms this year.  No pruning until next year. 
My oakleaf hydrangeas were not affected by the freeze which seems strange since they had new growth too. 
Now if you look closely at the photo on the right side you can see the Little Kitty sitting inside the lattice.  She's nice and warm and snug under there.
Warm (really warm) temps today.  Thank goodness!

Chicken Talk and Old Folks Home

It's a miracle!  Eggs, eggs and more eggs.  All my old hens are laying right now.  I think they must have heard me talking about sending them to the old folks home.  They sure have surprised me - they're all at least seven years old. I'm pretty sure this won't last but more eggs than I can eat this week.

The weather has improved - we'll still have a couple of chilly nights, maybe even a frost, but for the most part I sure hope winter has gone away.  I worked in the garden and the weeds have taken over - doesn't take but a minute it seems.

Spring and a Blue Egg

Spring has sprung at my house - forsythia, daffodils, and camillas are blooming.  Weeds are popping up everywhere and the bees are buzzing. 
A blue egg yesterday from Dumpling - she is 7 years old and this is the first egg in years. Every year I struggle with getting rid of my four old hens.  What to do - do you keep feeding them forever or believe those Craigslist ads that say "loving home and will not eat - bring your unwanted animals to our house".  I have an egg every day for breakfast and lots of company for Lily and the cats so I guess they'll continue to stay and I'll probably continue to complain about them.

Slushy Mess

A slushy mess this morning.  Freezing drizzle, snow flurries last night and continuing this morning and temps not yet out of the freezing mark.  No power for a little while this morning but now everything is up and running.  So glad to have power and heat - we are such creatures of habit.  The animals got up and went back to bed - what a life! 
My camellia limbs are hanging so low - afraid they might break with the weight of this slush.  The pines, magnolias and other trees are weighted down too.  Supposed to stay cold a little while longer - highs today low to mid thirties. Tomorrow highs in the mid to upper 30s.

This stuff might hang around another day or so.
So I'm off to quilt some and piddle (my usual snow day activities).  Be safe!