Slink, slink, slink, I creep up on chickens.

Can you guess what I am?

A FOX (from one of Lilah's books)

Yes, we had a fox attack last night:( It pulled Cordon Bleu out of the coop (which we foolishly didnt shut) but somehow she got away. I heard her scream around 1:30am. Dan immediately ran down to check (desperately trying to find his bathrobe for the teen temps) and Marley chased the fox off. Bleu then ran back to the coop from the front yard. Dan intercepted her to check her out. She had a bit of blood on her, and a rough looking spot on her shoulder. Dan kept her inside for the night. This morning, there was no fresh blood, and she looked calm but pissed so I let her back out. I checked throughout the day and she seems fine.

However. we did discover Tetrazzini is missing:( I dont think the fox got her last night as I realized I didnt see her yesterday either. I would normally assume she just went off somewhere for a bit, which has happened with others, but with it being so cold, and a fox in the neigborhood (not to mention the enormous hawk I saw last week in addition the the regular one that hangs about) I dont think theres much hope of her returning.

Its Catalog Time!!!!

Woo hoo! My catalogs are coming. I am planning on ordering from Nichols, Baker Creek, and Seed Savers. Nichols and Seed Savers came Saturday. I have been fantasizing about fruits and vegetables all day (lol).

I am really excited about the Ecology Lawn mix from Nichols. It is a low water/mow mix of grasses, wildflowers, and herbs. I have been having a hard time deciding what to do with our lawn because I do think its very important to have an open space for the kids and dog to play. This should take care of that!!!

Garlic, Potatoes, and Bulbs

Lilah hid the camera cord this past weekend, so I couldnt upload pictures:) Saturday (after home improvements by Lilah) we bundled up and went out to the garden. We planted our garlic and dug up the potatoes.

Garlic Bed

Now Empty Potato bed

Potatoes!! (really pitiful potatoes)

Sunday was much nicer weather. Dan and Lilah planted the flower bulbs (tulips, daffodils. windflowers, irises, aliums, crocuses, grape hyacinths, and mountain bells). Lilah wanted some tulips and daffodils in her sunflower house, and the rest went along the side fence and in the front bed.

Lilah's Home Improvements

This is the door Dan taped up to cut down on drywall dust flying everywhere. Lilah was fascinated by this "window" and kept running up and asking Dan for tape.This is why she was asking for tape. She was very proud of her window:) And yes, that is her level and tape measure she was using to make it.

November in the Garden

Chicken Happenings

I had some great pictures of Bleu during her molt...she was pretty much featherless for a while and looked really funny. Lilah somehow erased the pictures though:( So, here are just a bunch of random pics.

This is the current coop (tractor)

This is Dan working on what will be the new coop. We are planning on nest box access from insider our porch. We are also adding compost bins along the north wall of it.

Homegrown and updates

So, for the first time since Lilah was born almost 3 years ago, Dan and I went to the movies! We went to the Tivoli and saw Homegrown, it was part of the St. Louis International Film Festival. I have been going to Path to Freedom for inspiration for a couple of years now and was really looking forward to this documentary. It was very good and Dan and I will be up late tonight discussing it and future plans for us I am sure:)

We also harvested a bunch of lettuce, green onions, and arugula yesterday. We still have several tomatoes that havent gotten bit by frost yet as well. We are covering the two beds on the east side of the house at night, trying to keep them going for a bit still.

We havent gotten the fence up around the new beds yet, but it is a top priority before spring. I have a bunch of bulbs I have to get in before the ground freezes as well.

We have been planning on adding bees and I think that will also be on the list for spring. I still really want goats, and Dan is getting more and more sold on the idea, so in a couple of years, maybe.

We are also debating adding more chickens next spring . Dan is building a new coop. The current tractor is great, but as we no longer use it for moving them around, we want a permanent coop. They are free-ranged in our yard full time so it would make more sense to have a sturdier and bigger coop. We keep going back and forth with whether we should get a bunch of chickens to raise for food......dont know if I can do it:(

Oh, and maybe we found a remedy to our rabbit problems:) The fence should help a bit, but it looks as if a family of feral cats moved into the house behind us. I am more than happy to get them neutered and keep them fed if they would take care of the rabbits for us. It was actually pretty sad....there were two (looked to be around 4-5 months) eating the chicken food today. We have had some mice out there lately, so maybe they will take care of them as well! Sorry for the bad pic, but we had to take it through the window and screen.

Fall Foliage

Some pictures of the view from my front yard

YES WE DID!!!!!

I watched this video frequently leading up to election day, and felt inspired each time. Now, with the election over, it still moves me and makes me proud to be an american.

Autumn Garden Pics

Tiniest egg

This was either Pate' or Alfredo's first egg.

Cian's Cake

While not directly related to gardening, it is crafy, and is nature themed:) Dan's mom made it. It was so cute. She asked what he liked and we told her grass and sticks and balls. Very impressed with how she tied in all in:) She forgot the extra icing at home as she wanted to put more stick and grass around the pond, but it looked great even without the extras!:)

Sunflower...er, Calendula House

Well, we all know the Sunflower House was a flop. The runner beans disappeared into the rabbits harvest as well. The Calendula, however, is going strong. Lilah doesn't seem to mind the fact that her house is only 12 inches tall:) She likes to jump and spin in it, and you better knock at the door if you want in:)

I will definitely be trying this again next year.

Full Moon

Pic of the "babies"

Alfredo
Cacciatore

Pate'

Its hard to photgraph, but her black has beautiful green sheen to it.
Tetrazinni

Curry