Mamá e hija

I don't even know what to say.

Wildlife Sanctuary or Garden of Horrors?

The birds chirp, praising God.
The chipmunks and squirrels are a great example, industrious, yet playful.
The soft bunnies hop to and fro.
And the Templetons of the world find rest and sustenance, a break from the struggles of the city.

Or...

Flocks of cacophony pilfer seeds, uproot plantlings and tear up worms.
Chipmunks tunnel under great patches of earth, drilling holes here and there and everywhere.
Squirrels steal grapes and topple sunflowers.
Ravenous rabbits raze entire crops.
The Templetons (I shudder at their common name!) mangle melons and half-gnaw tomatoes.
And now, mapaches murder hens!

Ah, Rhoda-hen,
Once robust,
Reduced to a pile of bones.

-update-
1.  We have bought two replacement pullets.  Their names are Henya and Henya.  (I love that name!)
2.  After putting the hens in a seriously reinforced lock-down last night, Rob came in and said, "Well, the good news is that nothing is getting in that coop.  ... ... The bad news is that there are four raccoons on the sidewalk in front of our house!"

Accordingly, we were distracted for a good portion of the night.  I served as Second-story Look-out, telling Rob when and where to go and flush out the mapaches.  Oy!  However, no hens died.

Share the hair

My babies!

Sweet sibling love!  Thank God for that!

This week's harvest

The last of the poppy seeds and more zucchini

My bean situation is so sad.  And now even the hens are pecking at the remains of the rabbit's current destruction, my cannellini beans.  I did, however, sow two long rows of Dragon's Tongue beans over at the dacha, and carefully protected them, so hopefully the situation will ameliorate in a few weeks.

Mmmm, basil!  I made my version of Noodles' old Pasta Fresca: "zucchini pasta," sauteed/steamed broccoli with garlic and red pepper flakes, those raw tomatoes, and tasty pesto.  I even had enough pesto to freeze... to remind me of Pleasant Summer in Dreadful Winter.

I have decided to pickle the okra pods as I harvest them as it seems as though I'll never have very many at a time.  For this, I picked that dill-plosion for flavor.  The ground cherries were happily snacked up by my children.  And there is one Sunshine pepper.  There are so many more on the plant, just needing to size up.  And soon I'll have quite a few Macaroni Peppers.  It looks like this will be my best pepper year ever.  I give credit to the heating mat and lights.

In related news, Mr. Chip and Mr. Templeton have both "graduated" and then Mr. Chip and Mr. Templeton Juniors have taken part in a privately funded relocation program.  So, hopefully, the rest of my vegetables will make it to be harvested.

Check out others' harvests at Daphne's Dandelions!

Fun with beads!