A Weekend in the Garden

7:22 p.m.

The weather this weekend was sunny and breezy. It was a weekend devoted to being outside. To weeding, tilling, building and spending too much money at the nursery once again. It was a weekend for breakfast out, lunch on the run and late dinners eaten in a quiet state of exhaustion. It was one too many trips to the hardware store. It was a progress measured by a pile of rocks at the end of a garden row. It was a perfect weekend.

I spent the weekend in the garden. The lettuce still needs some serious thinning. I'll get to it tomorrow hopefully. I tilled the future tomato and pepper beds. All the little plants are ready to go into the ground. The rest of the week looks to be warm, so I may just put them in tomorrow. I also got the mounds ready to plant squash and zucchini. This year we are putting down pine straw between the beds. Big Daddy can bring it home from work for free, so we may as well put it to good use. Hopefully, it will help keep things tidier than last year. I've only two more rows left to prep. The asparagus bed is almost filled in. I'm excited to try a little potato farming. The heat of the last couple of days has helped them finally sprout.

Big Daddy spent the weekend working on the chicken coop. It now has a fancy double door and shutters on all the windows. The fence around the run is almost complete. We just need to finish burying the fencing around the bottom and to hang the gate on the run. I think I'll move the chicks in this week. They are already trying to escape their brooder. I found two outside of it this morning. I really didn't expect them to grow so rapidly. They are starting their little pecking order with short scuffles that are all about ruffling up their feathers. They get kind of goofy and flap around the pen - some take flight. One strange noise and it's, "The sky is falling! The sky is falling! Run around like a chicken with your head cut off! Hurry, cross the road!" Yes, they are one giant list of cliches.

Monkey's third birthday is next Sunday. We are planning a small birthday party. Her little friends are coming for a garden party. Hopefully the weather will be nice and the children can all run around outside. As for a birthday gift, she really hasn't told us what she wants. Forget toys, all she wants is chocolate cake with strawberries. How can I deny her that? Monkey simply wants a chocolate cake with strawberries. Actually, she wants Chef Boots to bake her a chocolate cake with strawberries. Not me. At least she knows who can truly make a cake worthy of her birthday. Boots and his wife, Dr. E, are planning on driving in from Winston. Monkey wants them to come. I'm sure her motives involve chocolate. She's very cunning that way.