Kieffer Pear Tree A Cat And A Dog

I'm excited because most of the pears are still hanging on the tree!  We've rarely gotten a crop to make it the entire ripening period. Strong winds or storms will come and make pears drop or break limbs. Holding our breath for pears this year.

The cat and dog love to sit under this tree it is one of their favorite spots in the yard.

These two make us laugh daily!

Today's post is pictures of the pear tree and these critters. I really think this is a variety to have in the home orchard. We have another pear on the property it is an Ayers and let me tell you in many years we've yet to see even one bloom. When I purchased these two they were said to cross-pollinate, but I've added another variety a Bartlett this year to try and get them to bear. For now, here at least the Kieffer appears to be a winner.

I'm busy in the kitchen canning tomatoes today and hoping to make more to can.  We do love tomatoes around here and homegrown home-canned just can't be beaten!

This That and Another: The Tiger Lily The Pear Tree a Turtle!

Tiger Lily

(Lilium lancifolium)

Do you have flowers that over time you tend to become used to and simply overlook? Believe it or not, at times I take these faithful lilies for granted! How could I do that?  Just take a look at these beauties.

My love for these and in fact these came from the gardens of my now deceased mother in law Genolia.  She was an avid gardener and was very accurate with her information about each plant. She loved to read her gardening books and shared her knowledge with others. If you knew or were related to her you already knew this. A gentle, soft-spoken beautiful lady she was indeed.

She told me to pop off as many of the little round black seeds as I wanted and start my own garden. So, I did and now moved miles from the old homeplace I still have some of these beauties.

You know the things that do best in your location are the things you should try to help flourish, (I'm reminding myself as well).  I need to pop off some black seeds and begin more lily gardens.

Today I share a few pictures of these lilies and the pear tree.  The pears most of them are still hanging on the tree. A few have fallen off or maybe even had some help falling off, but many remain.

Sunday Chicken Day Chicks Are two Weeks Old!

What is this?

The chicks are checking out this new red thing. Mother hen remembers what it is and wants to dig in, but gives the babies a chance to see.

The baby chicks have grown some and the yellow/white one is really taking on the wing coloring of the father Midnight a Silver Campine.  Hopefully, it is a she and not another he. I find myself calling them he when talking about them.  Our track record here whether hatching or buying sexed chicks has always been roosters 2 to hens 1. Here's hoping that record will be broken this time. Hey as a matter of fact the father Midnight was sold as a sexed pullet but began crowing at a young age.
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I trust you all had a good 4th of July. We cooked out our small in house group and it was delicious, but sure missed those that couldn't be here with us.

Today is Sunday Chicken Day.....

HYDRANGEAS BEAUTIFUL BLOOMS

The Hydrangeas have been especially beautiful this year. I suggest if you are in a zone that can grow them, that you do so.

This shrub if you've been with me for a while you know is one of my favorites. I remember my grandmother having some and even as a small child I would just stand in front of them and stare.

Clemson video talks about them in the post below

Hydrangeas

These flowers are automatic arrangements. A cluster or group with so many different colors on one bush that they make one fantastic display and without much effort, I must add! You can see a post done about Arranging Hydrangeas if you like. 

Mine are now starting to die off after weeks of beautiful blooms. You can dry them when they are at their peak if you like.

Grumpy Gardener's Hydrangea Tips

Southern Living Videos

Today's post is the simple beauty of the Hydrangea in pictures.

Summer is Here: This and That

Hydrangeas 2020

Summer has arrived can you believe it?  I find it hard but then again this has been one year for the record books and still is! 

The Hydrangeas are as usual a beautiful sight with their many-colored blooms. The roses well that is another story, the daylilies are beautiful.  My new garden this year in buckets and pots is coming along. The pears are still loaded on that one tree. The grapevines are coming along. 

Our grand-pets are thriving and that is good.  The little chicks are thriving and growing.  They are a little over a week old now. They've learned how to come up and down on the ramp from the two-story coop! Whew, that is a blessing. I was bitten hundreds of times by mosquitoes one night trying to train them. Silly me like the mother hen didn't have that in hand. They are so adorable!

Happy Daddy's Day!

Daddy has been gone now for almost 30 years. Wow, that just hit me that it's been that long!  How can that be and where oh where did the time go?  All I know is he and Mama are missed every single day of my life.

You, if you are blessed to still have your parents never let a minute go by without showing how much you love them. I pray you have a good father.  

I say father here but pish-posh that is not what we call ours here in the south. Daddy is what we call them now and forever! Pronounced like ded dee or dea dee.... depending on the mood. If you want something the latter is drawn out to sound like dea deeeee I need something only you can do. You get my drift.

Today talking about daddy, car shops, racing etc....

The Last Chick Has Hatched!

I'm so excited that all the eggs have now hatched. There is nothing better than the natural way of life. Eggs hatched under a hen fare better by far in my experience than incubating them. Plus, how convenient it is for you to have the mother hen taking care of them!

This year as you all know has presented some unusual problems in all areas. It is time for us to buy new chicks so our family egg production will continue on. Thankfully this surprise broody hen made this possible.

I know eggs don't cost much and growing your own chickens for eggs can be expensive but, the eggs are worth it. You most always have them on hand and sometimes enough to share.  Fresh eggs are more nutritious and sure do taste and bake things better there is no comparison.  Fresher than store-bought which can be as old as 45 days when you purchase. I love fresh and it is always better.

This hatch is near perfect!  One blue egg the hen culled from the bunch and maybe just maybe she had a reason behind it.  The hen that laid the egg I buried yesterday, she was sick. I loved her but she wasn't doing well.

The Lord gave me four more to help ease the loss!  Today sharing pictures inside the henhouse.

We Have New Chicks 2020 Hatch!

How adorable is this?

Hey everybody look at this! I was so sad because my last blue egg layer is dying.  I went out this morning and found these little cuties, that cheered me up!  I can't believe they made it.  We have one egg left under her and there is still hope today is day 18.  I will give it a few more days and then remove the egg if it doesn't hatch.  This hen has already sadly removed the blue egg from her nest on her own. I was so hoping for another blue egg layer, but it's not meant to be.

I have to say we didn't know if we'd get a hatch out of these eggs. The hen seems to have so many issues and is stubborn as a mule!  

You may recall she is the one who took everyone's eggs and put them under her.  This is the second batch because after the first batch she abandoned I discarded them. Tried to move her to the little red hen house on the ground, but she would have none of that. She just abandoned them and went back to the two-story hen house and started setting on more. Had to mark them and daily remove all the extras she would hoard including the two fake ceramic eggs!  Even up until last night I removed two real and one fake.

We're excited to see our new chicken family additions!