The gardens are in full bloom, the hot humid weather is upon us & so are those pesky mosquitoes!
The newest summer purchase for the lawn was for a mosquito zapper, the gizmo is full of moths which makes my heart sing with the amount of wool & natural fibres that I have in the house! Yes, it has captured quite a few of those pesky mosquitoes too & Bill found that out when he tried to empty the container into the ditch, thinking they were all dead...he thought wrong & was chased away by many angry mosquitoes, he will dip them into the rain barrel first before emptying it again.
The Westside Anniversary Garden is a symphony of colour!
And the bees & butterflies are having a feast these summer days, just as we planned for this garden!
I've spent several hours in the heat organizing the neglected potting shed this week.
There's such chaos in here from last year & putting things in their place was such a chore, I'll show the finished result in the next blog.
The potting shed heated up with the heatwave & Bill chased me out after a few hours of being inside.
There are still hours of sweeping, and vacuuming, & the windows need the Windex!
It was fun being in here with the gardening things & next year I will be doing seeds to plant outside!
This grassed area has always been a mosquito landmine, so next to it was where the insect trap was installed, it works through the night too!
Here is the gizmo and is supposed to be effective for one-acre coverage, Bill has emptied it twice now with mostly moths in it from the night. I'm thankful that the bees & butterflies have nothing to do with it just the mosquitoes & moths.
The new little red maple is showing its true colour this spring. Last fall Nick put a French Drain around his house & removed many plants in its way, he had wee trees and bushes that were in that collective. We took & planted them here at Beaver Moon, our homestead last fall & everything has come back.
The gardens need some thinning next year but the colour is spectacular this year!
Heather, our Hardwicke plant expert, gave me this woolly moss a few years back & it is thriving in the heat & humidity this summer.
The lilies are in full bloom in this garden and the lambs' ears are everywhere making the bees buzz with delight!
Bill is the Master Gardener here & has cleaned up several of the overgrown weeded flower beds. He has such a green thumb working in the garden & enjoys his time there but the rapid growth of the weeds frustrates him as he tries to stay on top of their spreading.
Several bees singing in the lamb ear plants, I can't help but touch those leaves, oh so soft!
Happy bees = good pollination.
The limelight hydrangeas are so full & will be the last of our summer garden blooms. The Annabell hydrangeas are in full bloom right now in the gardens.
The flowering tree on the right, behind the cement bench is one from the French drain path, it is a joy to view those soft flowers and complements the wild rose bush on the left.
The lilies at the shop are just beginning to flower, it's so beautifully fragrant in this area when that happens! And 14 hours later...
Beautiful! The lilies of the valley have come & gone & they too were plentiful this year.
Blueberries! The five bushes were moved last fall as the cedar box Bill built for them had the neighbours' driveway snow from the blower on them with the added snow drifts from the winds, creating a 12-foot-high snow drift that never allowed these beauties enough warm soil to get going.
They are happy here and we see them every day.
With the two dogs around I'm hoping they keep the birds off them too, they're located outside the fenced area on the east side of the house.
The blueberry bushes are on the east side, where my clothesline is located so it's a hub of activity most days doing laundry as I love hanging out the clothes & linens.
Chicken Coop - Chicken Chalet!
My girlfriend Debbie biked over to see the chicken coop & she laughed out loud at viewing it and said "This is no chicken coop, it's a chalet". From then on I've named the chicken coop, Chicken Chalet! Thank you Debbie for thinking out loud!
Welcome to Chicken Chalet!
This is a photo of the back of the Chicken Chalet.
Bill made a box for the mint & will place a metal framed screen on top so the chickens can snack on the leaves as they grow upwards.
Rusty & one of his hens Henny looking out the screened front door, with the window on the opposite side for cross venting on these hot days. These two are Plymouth barred rock chickens and I love their black & white colour. Rusty has become such a wonderful rooster in looks & temperament, he's a gentleman with his ladies.
Rusty with his lady hens, the Red Rhode Island hens are starting to get big. They were born May 6th making them 2 1/2 months old in this photo & Henny is 2 weeks older with Rusty at 4 months old.
This is their outdoor area and they can go indoor if they like. At night the door between those areas is locked. We've had several incidents with raccoons and foxes killing other people's chickens, so this is like a fortress to keep them safe day & night.
Bill, Nick, Leslie, & I were at the Open Door Antique Auction, Louis's first with Atlantic Auctions Inc. & what fun we all had there!! We purchased this ladder for the chalet for $5.00 and they love it!
I'll show more in this blog on our finds now back to the chickens.
Rusty is such a handsome fellow & crowed loudly with this morning's red sky. We are in for bad weather this afternoon. He also crows when Donald walks through the woods, our little watchdog, he also crows when cars come up the laneway. lol
The largest red hen I have called Reba & is a bossy one that the others follow, they are not named yet.
This is their roosting, and water/snacking area.
It was designed with lots of windows for light in the winter but I'm going to make some thermal drapes to keep the heat out & the warmth in for comfort on those unbearable days.
This walk area has cleared nicely & to the left will become an outdoor area next year for the chicken's pleasure of pecking. A fence will be installed next spring for them.
A new garden area was installed in front of the stonewall when Leslie's mom & aunt came to visit her & Nick & thinned out their garden. Again we were asked do you want them? Of course, we want them & made room for them here!
It really enhances the natural greenery on the other side of the wall in the wooded area and will be lovely next year when they flower!
The porcupine grass that was planted the year Baxter was attacked with over 100 quills in him, came back this year too!
I wanted it to spread around the gargoyle that had his first winter and weathered well too!
It's such a joy to walk through the woods in early spring & fall when all the mosquitoes are gone!
We are all wearing 'Ode To Deet' as a fragrance when outside. lol
These are bullrushes from the pond! The frogs are jumping everywhere & the dragonflies day & night are so plentiful too!
There's a frog on a leaf/stick that camouflages beautifully!
New plans are in the making...
Behind the firepit area will be a kitchen/barbeque area that will give the chickens company when they are outdoors next year in the fenced area from the chalet to the walking path. The cluster of pines on the left will be part of their area.
We marvel at how far this wooded not used area has been an extension to our outdoor pleasure and is all viewed from the front porch.
Some sewing...
Calico Garden is now back from Rose & she has done a beautiful job on the quilting!
This is a large quilt that finished at 90" x 90". I've been busy sewing on all the button embellishments before doing the binding that is accented with rickrack.
Bill watched NASCAR & I watched YouTube with Lori Holt & Kimberley Jolly on Bee in My Bonnet's next book called Prarie Pioneer and for 1 1/2 hours. I sewed on these thirty buttons for the pea pods. Next will be the black beads for the 8 birds, it's a large quilt to work in
Ok, now the auction items that we purchased last weekend!
This tiger oak rocking chair in a mission styling caught my eye with fabric in the style of William Morris, this chair was purchased for $15.00. I put the lumbar with William Morris pinwheels on it & have enjoyed having it in the coffee bar area.
This black fox stole was mine for $3.00 and the feet are how it is tied on, such beautiful work!
I love sewing & this tabletop beauty was made in St. John NB in 1910.
The case cover & decal are so perfect for something that is 115 years old, it was mine for $5.00!
I had purchased a teapot of Romatice England & a dish set on FB Market Place & now had the opportunity to add to them with this boxed item with all those dinner plates! 46 pieces were mine for $40.00 and these are dishwasher safe!
Come autumn these will grace the table for our meals!
Another glimpse at the $15.00 rocking chair!
Now this is what caught my eye in the preview of items! I love Persian carpets, it was listed as 'heavy carpet' and yes they are! It is not perfect but it is beautiful & now is in the sunporch in front of the sofa. It really warms the area visually & in the fall when the floor is cold, the feet will not be! Form & function, beautiful & it sold for $30.00!
This beautiful handmade cedar chest was $35.00 again it will have form & function as a table between chairs in the great room and inside will hold more quilts/afghans.
Being cedar it is perfect for keeping wool afghans safe from the moths that do get into the house.
The colour is a warm one & reminds me of the stairs, floor & bannister of the great room when we first arrived back in 2012.
I was after the black glass teapot with strainer & got these treasures for $1.00 - sold!
There were other items too that if I post I'll explain where they came from but for now this is becoming such a long blog & thank you for staying with me until the end.
My dad used to say to me 'Your mother must have been vaccinated with a gramma phone needle', and I would reply 'We don't have one' not knowing what he was trying to say to me but I get it now and can envision him in my head laughing and shaking his head from side to side saying it.
Thank you again for visiting Beaver Moon, our homestead where our hearts live, here in this beautiful province of New Brunswick Canada.
Have a safe and wonderful summer of two months and 7 days...until autumn!
Hugs, Cynthia xXx
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