Buddies at play!

Hey everybody I'm back been a busy, busy time. What's going on? I haven't been ignoring the backyard just been ignoring my blog! I am sitting outside in the sunshine on an 80° day watching two dogs play.
A week or so ago I was bored so I built a chicken gymnasium out of some scrap wood I found. I added some old DVDs for some sparkle and something to peck at. I even added a ladder. They don't seem to like it as much as I would hope. Here are some pictures of it anyway.

Feed the birds with the squirrel-n-ator!

Yes that is right, you saw it here first, The Squirrel-n-ator!

The story goes that  I got so tired of those fence rats (Grey Squirrels) chewing up my bird feeders just to get at the seed I was literately at my wits end. My wife in all her wisdom went on line and purchased me the toughest bird feeder she could find "The Squirrel-n-ator". OK, it is really not called that. I just made it up. But the first time I saw those little thief's coming around with thoughts of chewing out the seed pecking holes, watching all the seed hit the ground, and feasting I thought.....Hah...take that you little grey devils! The Squirrel-n-ator was born!

It has a steel cap and feed holes that are painted with a very slippery paint. It is almost impossible to scrape away. I tried a small spot simulating a squirrels sharp teeth with a knife and not a mark I could make. You can't imagine the joy found sitting in the window watching their feeble attempts to get at the seed. I could almost see the pain in their eyes as time after time they tried to chew it and failed to get the seed. So what did they do, they went over to the suet bar holder and ripped it apart and ate it all! However, that is another story for another day as it involves me, a BB gun pistol, a broken broom and a lot of shouting.

All cleaned and loaded for the little birds in the yard.

Another view....

The suet cage. Note I stuffed it with bread and a dinner roll. This thing locks shut, how the heck do the squirrels open it?

Summers evening view

I managed to capture a double rainbow the other evening. Not too much else I can say.....

The gardens are growing.....

Hi everyone! Wow what a month. We have been working very hard to get the gardens in shape and it is all paying off. Have a look at our hill side plants and our new chairs that my father made and my wife painted. Too cool. This is one of our "garden spots" to sit in an afternoon or evening. We have a bite of lunch or some wine and chill out. It is funny, but it seems every time we are here nature comes to us.... a humming bird comes along to feed, or a woodpecker climbs around the tree we are sitting under. My bees are everywhere, it is peaceful. We will pull out the fire pit soon and sit in the evening with friends after some BBQ and roast smores...that is the best. Simple life, simple pleasures that is as good as it gets.

Our neighbor rebuild the fence...great job Jeff!

A busy weekend!

WOW - we just had one of those super sunny weekends that makes 5 months of rain worth it. I even got some sunburn...but most of all we got a huge jump on the garden and accomplished many tasks.

I worked on getting all the seedlings planted and ready to go into my new portable hot house.

Things got a bit messy but it got done!

My new hot house has so much room I am going to help the neighbors out and keep their starts too.

As you can see I am only using about half the space. This thing is sturdy and keeps a nice hot, humid environment for the seedlings. I hope to see some little plants cropping up in a week or so.

Sunny afternoon flowers

So there has been some sun here the PNW (Pacific North West) and my flowers are starting to pop out. I took some time to grab a few shots of some of them.