I spent the morning all bundled up, sitting on the bench next to the husky pens drinking my coffee and enjoying the lovely fall weather we’re having.

It’s nice to have a safe spot to interact with the pups without being inside their pens where they like to try and jump on me and lick me to death. 🤨

As I sat there giving them cookies and telling them how cute they are, I thought about the work still left to do before winter sets in. We got a lot done this weekend, but there’s still plenty to do.

Like rototilling what’s left of the corn stalks…

That’s a job for the hubs since I can’t physically manage the rototiller.

I can, however, finish raking and composting the leaves and I also need to figure out where to move the bird feeders. I love being able to see them hanging in the maple trees while I’m upstairs in the bay window, but the birds sling a lot of seed around under the maple trees, some of which sprouted, leaving a smattering of rye, sunflowers and millet this summer.

It’s nice that they grew because it makes even more bird seed in the long run, but that’s where we planted the irises and we don’t want those beds all messy with bird seed seedlings next year. So I need a new place to hang the feeders where they can still be easily seen and don’t create unwanted gardens in the process.

I might move one to the tree out in the chicken pasture so they can drop seed to their little heart’s content and add to the pasture grasses we’re already growing.

I also need to be able to lock the roosters further inside the part of the coop where they roost at night with the girls. Well, where they are supposed to roost. Last night they were both out in the open area crowing at 3:30 am (!) and although it was not nearly as loud as it used to be when they could go further out into their tunnel and the bigger attached pen that we shut off at night now, it still woke me up.

Of course I’m a light sleeper so it doesn’t take much to wake me up. The hubs, on the other hand, slept through it like a baby.

Figures. 😆

So I enlisted some help from my son after I had my coffee and we mucked out the coop so I could close the little door that lets them in and out of the interior roosting area.

Hopefully that will fix their wagons once and for all!

We used the fertilizer on the veggie beds so they’ll be ready for planting next spring.

By the time we were done it was time for lunch and a nap, for me at least. Of course as soon as I laid down and closed my eyes the pups started up a group howl and I had to get up and deal with them.

There’s no rest for the weary at this little homestead.

At least not today… 🙂