Still wrapped in the gentleness of the summer glide we had a productive day yesterday.
Summer sauce went into jars. Dried capsicum into jars. Stuff I am not going to eat came Out of jars and into the mouths of my piglets. I have a terrible habit of keeping things in jars just because they are pretty!
Look at Big Dog. He has a perfectly good enamel potty filled with fresh water and The Big Dog chooses to drink out of the old tin kettle for the cats, he can barely get his nose in there. What wrong with that lovely potty.
It matches the lovely jug. The shot below is for Maria my most favourite cousin who is a teacher on the outback in Aussie. Good morning Maria Christina Cuz!
My red light! 
A lot of thought goes into a good Chicken Tractor you know. Though we will call it The Ark.
The bees have their third story. They are doing very well, lots of honey, brood and activity. Learning from last years mistakes I am going to start feeding them their horrid sugar water soon. The flowers are coming to an end and there is no rain in sight. I think we may be in for a long cool autumn. I don’t want them using up their honey stores before winter and starving. 
Good morning. This shot was a set up. Both dogs have been told to Sit and Stay. I seldom do that for an image for you. But I wanted you to see how tall the field corn is. We are surrounded on all four sides with the corn and frankly I love it when it is high. I get to live in a walled garden for the summer. People driving past on our gravel road only see the very tops of our rooves.
Todays work (among other things) is to prune the grape vines. Sunlight needs to get to the grapes. Are you there Roger? What am I meant to do with the prunings? You told me once they are good for something special. Charcoal? Grilling? We best find out soon or the animals will be eating them.
The ark is finished! There will be a tarp on top that I can roll up. This is such a learning curve but I am thrilled with the design my friends came up with. Though they have told me that it will still be a few weeks before the birds are big enough to come out into the field. They are still very small and need to feather out. That’s fine. There is plenty of room in The Black Mariah.
Soon I am going to have to invest in a winter dressing gown. It is still quite chilly in the mornings.
Have a lovely day.
your friend, celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
59 responses to “The Bee Hive goes Up a Level”
I always love the corn around us…the roads are shut out the and it is just us. The only bad part of the corn is the heat…it sits in the middle of the field which is us. And we sweat…pant. Then in the winter the winds come and you know that story.
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
http://deltacountyhistoricalsociety.wordpress.com
A friend of mine told me that Oprah Winfrey started a farm in Hawaii and has a mobile chicken coop! She calls it a wheel barrrow coop or something like that.
Good grief that Blue Boo is growing fast! He must be some special fast-growing breed like the chickens. Ha!
How nice to have a corn fence to surround you. Boo and Ton are quite the handsome pair. It’s good to see Boo feeling back to normal.
I’m so glad that TonTon got to help with the corn’s measurement comparison! It’s so tall!
Wow I cannot believe how big the pup has gotten already! He’s a cutie!
Wow! The Ark is coming on well. I am curious to learn how you will put wheels on it without a gap for the chickens to escape. Me being a city girl and all that!
So am I! I guess they will set them high with just an inch of wheel below or something.. Not My department thankfully.. how ever when they go in the chickens will be too big to escape.. c
PS. Yes, C…..vine prunings are a great thing to grill with…nice smoke for the barby! You can also use the prunings to make cool things with…like wreaths, etc. because they are so bendy! I have a grapevine wreath that I make over 20 yrs. ago and it still looks good! I just plop in on the front door for the fall, winter months and decorate it according to the season or you can just leave it plain! 🙂 Just as pretty that way too!
And if you make dill pickles at all…stick a grape leaf in the bottom and top of the jar….cukes stay cruncy…don’t ask me why…just one of those crazy things!
a wreath sounds like a marvellous idea, though i have never made one.. c
Dogs always prefer somebody else’s water, it seems…. I’m glad the bees are doing well. They are high on my “want” list for my future farm, once I settle down. I’m still too mobile and don’t want to move with bees.
~The Homesteading Hippy
Ah, Big Dog is wise… cat’s get the best of everything – water, food… my Bo always thought so too.
Some day I would like to tell you a story about our “potty”–which we called “the thunder mug.”
oh dear..most excellent.
Big Dog has his own agenda.
Practicing with an iPad, Celi! Sorry!
Sorry having lots of problems.
I thought you had a mac, it will be alright, it just takes a little getting used to.. c
I used to go home this time of year for Mom’s birthday. The corn was so tall and I loved to take different back roads when running errands just to look at it all. I know each field was pretty much the same but that didn’t stop me from driving around to see them. My next trip home would be in October and most of the fields would be stripped clean. How desolate looking! Good news about the bees. I think you’ve got everyone hoping they fare better this year.
Enjoy your evening, Celi!
Yeah for the bees !! I love the ark….wish I could experience a “farmy”
chicken……YUM !!! I have a delish recipe for chicken thighs with rosemary
and stone ground mustard !!
oo that sounds delicious! I must makes sure to water the rosemary so I have heaps when the chickens are ready! morning Nanster