I woke up this morning to watch the swallows nest building right outside the upstairs window. We put one of the new bird houses on the post next to the viburnum and they moved in almost immediately…

Next time I may get the one with the clear plexiglass viewing window.

The mother robin has become comfortable enough with us that she doesn’t seem to mind us using the front door now so I got a sneak peek inside her nest and found two of her four eggs hatched…

I still can’t do much weeding in the flower beds out there because I’m afraid it will annoy her too much and make her abandon them, but that’s okay. There’s plenty of work to do everywhere else.

Like weeding. I could spend hours out there just in the iris beds, which are beginning to bloom…

Everything else seems to be doing really well and the potatoes in particular are coming in so nicely…

I still have a few more to plant. By the time I’m done we should have fifty or so, which means a lot of potatoes to harvest (hopefully).

It looks like we’ll have a bumper crop of apples this year (finally)…

Every branch is full of baby apples, which means lots of apple butter and jam and pie this fall. 🙂

I also have baby Siberian pea bushes that are sprouting…

They are taking a long time to grow, though. Still, at least they *are* growing. If they survive the first year they should do quite well and within two to three years should start producing pea pods for the chickens.

It’s supposed to get into the 80s today so I have to get right out there and back inside before the heat triggers a reaction. I have plenty of work inside to do, even though I’d rather stay out. I may trim my basil plant a bit more since it has taken off so well.

Last week I took a dozen or so cuttings to put into water so once they root I can plant them and make more basil…

Everything is taking off so well this year, so I want to keep the momentum going (and going).