It's beach week for my brother & his family, so I'm on dog (two of 'em) & chicken (11) duty this week. The chickens, with the exception of one old hen, are all young & laying so I'll have about 10 eggs a day to deal with. I say “about” because a Rat snake was spotted in the hen house yesterday. My SIL couldn't catch it (a small one, compared to the 4 and 5-1/2 footers we took out of the hen house week before last). Exciting times …. not!
The garden is doing great – veggies (cukes, jalapenos, tomatoes) all have produce on the vine – harvested the first cuke the other day. The BIG improvement construction wise took place yesterday. For several years now, I have wanted to 'hide' the area where I keep tools, pots, etc. The “mess” is visible from the house & also from the driveway. The idea was to use lattice and I bit the bullet & bought two sheets yesterday & got them installed. I had to drive in metal fence posts with a sledge hammer (actually went to the 'trouble' to use a level to keep them straight) & then cut the lattice to fit. I have wired it to the fence posts rather than use zip ties so I know it's not coming down any time soon. I am very pleased with the result & it certainly “cleans up” the last messy spot in the garden. I also found a heavy duty square tomato cage at a reasonable price to use as a 2nd trellis for morning glories in my tubs. I used twine to make the blocks smaller – super happy to have found this solution – finding/making a trellis for the 2nd tub has been driving me crazy.
The hummers are providing endless delight. The front feeder, hung in the shade on a maple tree branch, is right where it can be observed from the front porch. We had company Thursday & they loved watching the feeder. The one in the back is at the Hummingbird Garden, but that is in full sun. It was busy last year & will get busy again once the flowers are in bloom, but being in full sun means the nectar spoils in a hurry. I decided to make a “shade” for the feeder …. after looking online & deciding I did not want to spend $15 - $40 for a small 'shade'/weather guard, I tried to find a DIY project. I found one using a large bowl, but didn't like the way it was attached. So, I decided to make one like I make my ant moats – cup hooks, a wine cork, & super glue. Dollar Store had the perfect bowl in red – I bought 2 just in case I screwed up one. The shade turned out great & traffic has probably quadrupled at that feeder – the red attracts & they like dining in the shade on fresh nectar. Here's a picture of the feeder & DIY shade ….. it's really cute, but “pretty is as pretty does” so I'm mostly happy with the way it works – definitely 'throwing shade'. I love DIY – very satisfying to make things yourself AND save money – I made the shade for less than $3.00.
Have a great weekend, everybody!