Photo Filler Wednesday

Having survived a whirlwind of finals, last weeks of school, and surprise visits from the Sailor- we've been a little too busy to do any major projects around the homestead. We have plans- oh so many plans! But they'll have to wait until this weekend when we have a little sun and everyone is officially on summer break.

Guest-Author-Girl-Child here advocating that the veggie garden looks AWESOME. I'm really excited, mostly because I've never gotten past the watering-indoor-plants stage. Inevitably, any horticultural feats are eaten by my cats before I can endeavor for something braver. Growing veggies from seed and being successful just blows my mind.

Mesculin in the bottom left, red peppers immediately to their right, onions next to them and radishes taking up the lower right hand corner. Tomatoes line the back wall- caged are store bought but in the top right hand corner you can see the seedlings I started in the green house happily growing along. 

Oh and cucumbers! Those are growing nicely too! We opted to just use the seeds we had and take note of what sprouts and what doesn't- so far everything sowed (sewn?) in the raised garden beds are thriving. 

Those trays in the greenhouse filled with the remainder of our test seeds isn't as productive. So far only this one pot is sprouting anything of interest. One more has hints of green, so I'm just keeping an eye on them for now. 

Local grocery store had a sale on fuchsia trees- this one happily greets us by the front door. 

Mum moved this old wheel barrow from near the chicken coop (between those two trees in the far back of this image) and planted some fun bright flowers. They're still adjusting but as long as the chickens leave them alone they should thrive.

Mum has these fantastic mock wine barrels. This one, we filled the bottom with upside down plastic pots and then covered with fresh soil. Mum liberally sprinkled some of our herb seeds, just to test if they were any good. So far it seems so! Parsley, English thyme, Basil, Dill, and Cilantro to get us started. The plan is still to make one of the out door areas a permanent herb garden, but this will suffice until we can weed and pull tree stumps and get the area prepped. 

I'll see if I can snap any photos of our fast flying visitors- there are at least 2 species of hummingbirds who frequent the hanging baskets. Mum picked up a new feeder and dusted off some of our old ones and now we've constant visitations. The cats go crazy, moving chairs to situate themselves for their new favorite show.

Better photos of our deceased back yard denizen, general consensus is that it's a badger. The front canines aren't as long as some of the other photos I've seen- but the orbital cavity  and the coronoid process seem right. A super helpful website has been the Museum of Osteology and its supplier Skulls Unlimited International.

Rear view- we found it beneath that tree trunk and assume that it fell or was crushed by the tree.

Upside down view haha- but you can get a good look at its jaw and orbital cavity. Definitely an omnivore!

More photos- found most of his bones beneath the ferns, 

Found a bunch of vertebrae! 

Future project time! Mum identified these plants as NOT hydrangeas. Initially mum moved them from the middle of one of the garden beds to the window outside the downstairs studio/office. She thought they were some kind of hydrangeas but they are DEFINITELY NOT. There will be a mystery plant Monday explanation as soon as Mum sits down and types it up. We were quite startled with the discovery that these are NOT hydrangeas. DEFINITELY NOT. 

Future project will involve moving them to another part of the property. 

Hopefully this midweek update will tide you over- until then enjoy the outdoors and keep your fingers crossed that I do well at my interview!