Days together are special!

I love feathering our nest for the different seasons!  

Checking all the time on Momma and her babies...they arrived Sunday afternoon while I was at the baby shower and Ted was on bunny watch.

The chicks are now in their teenage stage...their feathers are coming in...

The squirrels are busy in the oak tree and the dogs are not amused.

8 wiggly little bunnies...and I am always amazed that Momma doesn't have them covered up better!

Supper on the deck!

Setting the post for the gate...

I wanted something sweet.  Pumpkin dip on the pastry crisps was the perfect fall bite!

Slow mornings on the deck in the sun are just what we like!

Standing in line to vote early...the signs are great!

Date day...yes, please!

Real life requirements vs. mainstream media hype...it is a thing!

Lunch at Yoders!  So yummy!

Perfect time of the week to go to avoid the crowds!  The view was beautiful! 

 

It was time to shut it down!

We have been working to put up a fence around the backyard to keep the dogs safe.  We have also been monitoring the pool temp to be able to shut it down for the season.  We finally reached optimal water temp (60-65 degrees) for closing it down.  While Ted set posts, I monitored water drainage.  I had already shocked the water and got all the leaves scooped out.

The pool water has stayed crystal clear all season!  Key...keeping things vacuumed and skimmed.

Draining the water out of the ladder.

Blowing up the pillows to float under the cover.

I took a break to walk up to the garden and found a few peppers and a tomato and still LOTS of zinnias!

I have been drying out flower buds.

I have a collection of zinnia seeds and now gathering marigolds.

We have some more water to drain before I add the final chemical...but the cover is on!

Teddy and Sloan came on Saturday afternoon to measure for the new HVAC system.  Good thing we know a great guy who does great work!  Come see us!?  We will take you to our favorite Mexican restaurant! 

Full moon rising...and beautiful sunsets...

and gorgeous mornings!

 

It is fun when Ted takes vacation days!

We are enjoying the change of the season.

Our day dates...to Rural King and Tractor Supply!

We are putting a fence around the backyard for the safety of our dogs.

We have all the tools to make it easier.

Work smarter...not harder...until you run into an issue and have to pull out posts and reset!

And we once again picked the hottest days of the month to do this project!  We took a break till the sun passed over the house.

And then...the clouds moved in and the weather shifted!

What a beautiful fall weekend!

She wanted my attention...but I was busy making cards for an order.

Just to see...we cracked open the one egg that didn't hatch...it never developed.

After a long day of working outside...for supper...chicken pot pie!  And we laughed...but it tasted soooo good!

 

Learning all the things...

about incubating chicks!  We started with 22 fertilized eggs.  We found 5 that stopped developing and removed them.  Evidently, you do NOT want to experience a bad egg exploding in the incubator!

The incubator we bought has a candling light built in to it.  We did not candle them when we first got them.  We will next time.

We did it on day 14...and the egg is too developed to see much...but we could see movement and the air sack on 17!  

We did one more candling and removed one more egg before "lockdown" which is three days before hatching.  The cycle for chicken eggs is 21 days!  We also removed the white turning tray and put down a piece of rubber shelf liner for traction for the new babies.
 

Fridays have become a vacation day for Ted

But...all that means...he gets to stay on our green acres and field all the calls and meetings!  He started out with one standing Friday meeting at 10am.  We got to sit outside with our coffee and watch Oakley stalk flies.

He got a call Thursday night adding one at 8:30am.  By Friday morning, he had another one at 1:00pm.  He set his alarm so he wouldn't forget between the 7 other calls and trying to clean the gutters.

I finally got to check this nasty job off my list!  I cleaned up the old fire-pit that had all kinds of "who knows what it is" stuff in it.

I helped check the end of the gutters to see if we were getting clear flow.  Not great...so it will be an on-going project because previous owners thought that nothing had to be done if you had a leaf guard system.  They had done nothing in at least 4 years...the gutters are compressed with junk.  We have oak trees around the house!

Broken glass, nails and screws, melted plastic, bullet casings...

All done and as many rocks removed as possible till the rain settles more up to the surface.

We took a break and enjoyed the beautiful weather.  Oakley has no sense of boundaries and helps herself to what she wants.  Velle just relaxes whenever and wherever...especially is Oakley is preoccupied and leaving her alone!

I walked up to the garden and found a radish that bugs had found too.  I don't know what happened to the rest of them!  I found more tomatoes and two little peppers.  The tomatoes and peppers are still coming here and there.  Notes are being made and plans talked through for changes next year.