Odds and Ends

Since I haven't been feeling well this last week,not much as been going on,aside from the basic everyday things:dishes,dusting,sweeping,feeding the poultry,etc. Today I actually feel better than I have since last Friday. Last night I was running a low grade fever of 99.6.maybe that was helping purge whatever was going on,because even though I still feel fuzzy in the head,I do feel better,though tired. Right now I am in the middle of straightening out the kitchen.Things are piling up on the butcher block and the dining table,so since I feel better,that is my project for today.I always tend to overdue the first day I start to feel better,so I will limit myself to that one project.

Sunday I decided to take some photos outside since I haven't done that in a while. I poked around in our potato bed and found this little guy staring up at me:
Holy smokes,a potato! We didn't plant many. I think we only have 5 plants total. It was more or less an experiment to see how well they would do. I proceeded to pick 5 potatoes all together,and they were quite good. Next year we are going to dedicate a whole bed to just potatoes.

Next I took a look at our turkeys:

They have grown quite a bit,and we discovered we have 6 males and 6 females. You can tell the males because the waddle under their necks is bigger than the females,and it turns more red.They also wind up growing a beard.Males also fan their tail feathers out and puff themselves out,making huffing noises. I tried to get our boys to do it for me,but they were not interested in the least.

Now on to the rooster and his harem:

Here is Runt ( the beige Buff Orphington) in all his glory.Runt is the cock of the walk! He was so small for so long we thought he was a female ( remember?) Then once the Cornish Game Hen Crosses were gone,he was able to get more food and he grew. We got rid of the other couple roosters,but we have grown attached to Runt,so he will stay. I love hearing him crow,but his crows always sound like a question. He has an upward inflection at the end of his crows.The boys keep telling Runt that he needs to have a firm,decisive crow,but so far he is not listening to them.

I have one pumpkin left on the vine.The rest I have picked. They are sitting on my porch,with my old ironing board and a box full of canning jars.The ironing board is waiting to be picked up by our friend,Paul,who collects scrap metal to help pay for his mortgage.It no longer opens up. The canning jars were given to us by our neighbors.

I want to attempt making fresh pumpkin pie,but of course,this has not been the week for it. Our local apple orchards have apples that are ready to pick as well. Everything is so early this year! My cozy content Fall feeling is not quite out yet. The leaves have been turning for weeks,although slowly.Our maples have just started,though. The foliage experts say this is not going to be a very pretty foliage year,and it is not going to last long.The summer was too hot and dry. Last year was gorgeous!

I am off to finish up my kitchen.Have a great day in your neck of the world!