Boo Boo Mr. Roo!

Wildwood Acres! What a place! Between the Mexican petunias, ginger & canna lilies, I sometimes wake up feeling like I’m living in a botanical dream! Fine by me. Flowers make me absolutely giddy! The more I live among them, the more I’m convinced of their magic. Yes. Flowers are magic. Just try sniffing a magnolia blossom or sipping on some wild honeysuckle on a blue-sky day. Better yet, boil some rose petals or dry some lilac for your bedside table. Find a use for whatever floral that happens to be in bloom each season & you’ll quickly learn just what I mean.

So, our girls are officially back to school (6th & 8th graders this year) & so far, so good. No one is trying to bludgeon the other to death during morning bathroom routines, I’ve not heard any complaining about class schedules or less than desirable seating assignments & I’m certain our 6th grader is pleased to be back in the same school with her older sister - even if she won’t admit it. Our little toddler dude is maintaining his filthy fingernails of summer like a true dirtball champ, my hunk is diligently gathering supplies for our new chicken coop to be built (hopefully) this weekend & I have now taken to carrying a broom around everywhere I go in self-defense of our semi-psychotic Australorp rooster, Mr. Darcy.

We’re preparing our property & new coop for our incoming meat birds – 6 turkeys & 20-some roosters. They’ve been living with Chanda - my ‘partner-in-poultry’ guru. She & I are splitting the cost & care of these feathered friends in an effort to stock our freezers this winter full of free-range, healthy goodness. Getting the new coop & fencing in place is crucial as they’re quickly outgrowing their ‘city life’ & ready to move to the country. Thank goodness for my crafty-craftsman of a husband, who knows how to make jazz happen. If it were up to me, these birds would be roosting in my son’s plastic “Little Tykes” play castle out in the backyard.

Our personal flock of egg-layers (& our two roos – Vince & Mr. Darcy) will continue to live separately from the meat birds. They are currently providing us with about 4 eggs per day & just enough hassle to have me contemplating chicken & dumplings for dinner at least a couple times per week. For the life of me I cannot understand why they have to poop right outside of the sliding glass doors. I spend half the morning collecting eggs, watering & feeding everyone. Then by the time I make it back up to the house, I spend the next half of the morning spraying their goopy poo off the patio. They’re worth the frustration. After all, I truly do enjoy chicken keeping & I genuinely love watching them do their thing. It beats the heck out of watching television! And it’s all so rewarding, even with the negatives. You know, like being cornered & then attacked in the scratch yard by a 20 lb. rooster with a comb as red as demon’s blood & feathers as shiny & black as anthracite coal. It happened a couple of mornings ago. He crept up on me while I was collecting eggs. I screamed like a 6-year-old little girl & almost broke my foot as the result of this devil child’s attack. Granted, it was sort of my fault. I got all spastic & freaked out & accidentally kicked the stainless steel watering can (while barefoot) as I was attempting to defend myself. It was all very intense & probably incredibly entertaining for the hens who all stood in a line watching from the other side of the fence. I realize I’m essentially ‘stealing’ eggs from his lady-friends & he clearly knows I’m a thief, not to be trusted. He is just doing his job - & doing it well I might add. He’s protecting his coop & his ladies. Having said that, he has gone after our little Jabba man twice now – unprovoked. He chased off my 10-year-old niece while she was visiting over the weekend (as my sister & I watched & laughed from the window.) He has attacked Josh (probably provoked) & now ME. I feed this beast an organic, GMO-free diet, icy cold peach slices as a special treat on hot summer afternoons & frighteningly large, delectable worms from my garden. Because of me, he is living exceptionally well. However, if he goes after anyone else he’ll be feeding ME by the end of the month.

So the garden is a wreck. Time to add some compost. I’ll spend the weekend cleaning up & cleaning out. The bushes are heavy with big, beautiful beans & we’re almost ready to harvest. The tomatoes have caught their second wind & our new lettuce is going in the ground tomorrow. Jabba & I ripped out the last of the cantaloupe & watermelon vines this morning & collected the last remaining cucumbers. He is my little farm buddy these days. We hiked through the woods this morning & watched our neighbors harvest their massive field of corn. I thought we’d have time to head into the house for lunch & a quick nap before they made it to the field near us. Unfortunately by the time we headed down to watch the excitement, they were already finished! Sure doesn’t take long to harvest that sea of corn that took all summer to grow.

So that’s all folks… Blessed be, to you from me.

ABOVE: Jasper was fascinated by the remnants left behind from the corn field harvest. He carried them around all day long & said he was going to "plant them in our garden"... Guess he misses the tall stalks already. I kind of do too. But, it signifies a shift in the seasons. And that's a beautiful thing.

ABOVE: The corn field after harvest this morning.

ABOVE: Morning chores. As I waltzed by the window I caught my reflection & realized how ridiculous I look, carrying this broom around everywhere I go. Self defense. Paranoia.

ABOVE: Our girls on the first day of school this week! Teagan is off to middle school! 6th & 8th grade! Where did my little Keely go??? ;)

ABOVE: After the girls hopped on the bus, Jasper & I headed down to the dock to eat our breakfast on the bay. We enjoyed our biscuits in the morning shine.

ABOVE: Jasper's first day of "school" in our art room! We were working on colors. He made a lovely Fall piece.