" A Spring Tour of Swiftwater Farm"

As you know we have been working hard outside the past couple of weeks. I have just downloaded 54 pictures of what we've done, I hope you don't encounter problems trying to load the blog and hopefully you don't get bored before the end.......... :)















We put up this fence across the drive that leads to the back.............

I had intentions of moving this Rose as it's a climber......maybe next year ?

This is the front Rose bed and it is showing out. The John F. Kennedy white rose we added hasn't bloomed yet but is almost ready.............

Another view............

The Gray Beard Tree we planted last summer is in bloom..............

Here's the Courtyard Rose bed on the pond side. There are 2 beds because of the Tulip Tree.

It has 14 roses planted in it! There are free standing , climbers and knockouts, all different sizes and colors.............

Long view...............

Closeups of some of the different ones that are blooming now........

this is white knockout......

We built beds around the three sides then filled them with top soil and cow manure compost.

This is the bed across the back..........

It now has several Hardy" dinner plate" Hibiscus planted in it. They will get about 6 foot tall.

The one you see in the grass used to be in the square bed in the back yard, we moved it to this corner.

Here you see two beds because of the gate. The one next to the house has Banana Trees and Elephant Ears planted in it...The other has both giant and dwarf Cannas of all colors planted in it.

A shot taken before planting......

A closeup of little bed..............

Here's one of the Hibiscus we moved..............

Here it is in the square bed last year.....it got 7 feet tall ! We moved EVERYTHING out of this bed..........

Added a little fence to keep the "peeks" out of it..............

It now has some Foxglove planted, Petunias in the fountain bowl and in each back corner I planted a 3 in 1 Angel Trumpet...............I intend to add some other plants to this bed also...

I expanded this little bed and blocked it in. I added some purple Verbena, some mixed Verbena seed and more Mexican Petunias that were in the square bed...........

We trimmed up all our Crape Myrtles and bushes including this Wisteria and put the arbor here for it to run on.............

Remember the mystery plant? It spent the winter in the greenhouse and popped back out....

The Pond house beds are taking off........however the chickens are giving the Elephant Ears a good chewing....... :)

The Cannas don't appear to be in their diet thank goodness...............

I see Hubby and Max tilling in the garden but it's the Oleander by the bird bath that I want you to see........

It used to be in that dark spot under the glider. Yep, we moved it too. We think this little place is a good spot for a Hot Tub a little later this year..........our bones need one!

We also moved this Gardenia from the front yard to here. We had 4 out front but none on the back............

Remember when we went down to Cajun Country for the 7 mile yard sale? We bought 2 little Fig Trees in Lafayette at a flea market. They spent the winter growing in the greenhouse and we got them planted too...............a little chick protection had to be added....

On to the Veggies............A view of the garden

It's a good thing we LOVE onions and taters cause it looks like we are gonna have PLENTY !

English Peas too!

Three hills of Yellow Squash looking good.............

It may be another year of Peppers out the ying yang....................

Maters....Maters......Maters........AGAIN !!!! :)

Hubby added a Grape Arbor......

Scupinons and Muscadines that is...................

I thought I'd throw in a couple of pics from the Fish Fry awhile back. This Turkey Roaster pan is full of Bream (blue gill)and White Perch (crappie).................

I was going to make a Mississippi Mud Cake for desert but Hubby ask if I'd make my Bread Pudding with Whiskey/Vanilla Sauce so I did. You can use different breads, these were rolls I froze that we left over from Christmas Dinner.

Ready for the oven! I didn't take a finished picture but it was a hit! Two of the men guests SWORE they NEVER eat Bread Pudding but gobbled it up!! I guess it was the smell of the Whiskey?

Chick Update...............

Madame ( Octomom ) Willow decided yesterday to take the biddies for a stroll outside the coop!

One little Peep jumped back through the wire to investigate the water barrell...

They seem to move in 2 groups of 4. The 2 light colored ones are the 2 she hatched. They are a 4 days younger than the other 6..............

They mock everything she does! It is so cute!

I love to listen to her talk to them, she has a distress call and so do they!

Back in the coop, this one has learned to jump!

I'm betting the one to the left is a Rooster! Look at that chest poked out and it's ready to strut!

Here Chick Chicks!

They have gotten so brave that they run up and try to eat with the big Hens so I started putting them some separate.............

This morning she took them out again and ventured a little further......

We don't let her out unless we are out watching because we have Hawks around.....

I feel really Blessed to live on this farm and get to enjoy all the wonders of nature.....

Blessed to have a husband who enjoys flowers as much as I do and is so handy at building....

And Bless your Heart for stopping by to see it...

We have severe storms forcast for tonight and tomorrow so I hope to get around to visit everyone if the power stays on!

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND..............

" OCTOMOM WILLOW "

Good Morning Blogger Buddies!! First off, thanks for the e-mails wondering if I'm OK ?
Yes, I am, we have just been busy as bees from daylight to dark trying to build the beds for my courtyard and get them planted along with finishing the vegetable garden planting.
However the most exciting thing was the birth of our first baby chicks a week ago today!








If you remember........Madame Willow took a notion to become a Mom back in the last week of March..........

So I marked 4 eggs for her to sit on. The week before they were due to hatch, one got cracked.

So then there were 3. They were due to hatch on April 14th. On April 13th I went to gather the eggs and 1 of the marked ones was MISSING ! No sign of a shell or anything! We concluded that the only thing that could have gotten it was a snake! YUK! Poor Willow! She must have been so frightened!! :(

On April 14th...........we got 2 baby chicks! We decided to go to our local feed store and buy 6 more Rhode Island Red chicks for her to raise. That night we slipped them under her and she woke up the next day as Madame Willow, The Octomom !!!!!!!!

I haven't been able to get a shot of all 8 in a bunch yet but I hope you enjoy these........

We have her a separate place on the ground to raise them...............

They are so curious................

They came here knowing how to scratch & eat starter feed.............

They like to ride piggy-back too.............

She is just an AWESOME mom!

Willow tells them to run for cover as I'm too close for comfort.................

they are soooooooooo sweet...........

Here are 6, the other 2 are still up under her............

She looks like a big round Watermelon when she gets them all beneath her........

We are just having the most fun with our first chicks..........

I will do a later post on all our yard work! You won't believe what all we have done!

" BLESSED SPRING "

Aren't we blessed that after this long, cold, dreary Winter we have been blessed at last with Spring? We worked hard yesterday getting all the trees, bushes, garden and flowers fertilized in anticipation of a good rain last night and were blessed with 2 inches!!










As you know from my previous posts, I was hit with a wicked respiratory virus a few weeks ago that really laid me low. After taking antibiotics among other things, for ten days I could not get over it and just couldn't get my breath. I was full of congestion both in my lungs and sinus and the more I used the Neti Pot, the more mucus my body seemed to make. On Monday the 29th I went to my ENT doctor. He told me that I have developed severe adult Asthma brought on by this virus! I have since learned of 2 more people, 1 in Louisiana and 1 in Tennessee who have had the same diagnosis. He put me on 15 days of Prednisone steroids, Advair inhaler and Nasacourt spray. I am SO much better, I have my strength and energy back and THANK GOD I can breathe deep again! I go back on Monday and we will talk Asthma control......................

Needless to say, when you're down, you get time to read at least. I finished the 3 book Sarah Prine series and loved it. I'm now reading these 2 series of books. I'm real interested in knowing how to keep my health and doing it as naturally as possible so I'm reading about cleansing the body. The 2nd series is a Christian fiction series by Gary E. Parker set in the NC Highlands and I'm 1/2 through the 1st one and it is AWESOME !!!

This is a pic of the full moon coming up over the pond on March 30th...................

In the deep south, Good Friday is garden planting day....................it started out very foggy but cleared fast into a gorgeous day to plant!

Hubby had worked the day before getting the big garden ready.............

He put lots of barn manure in the soil.............

Then built two raised beds..............

We got Tomatoes planted in this one.................

The upper part of this one has several varieties of pepper plants. I put 6 tiny yellow squash at the end to get started, when they get bigger I will transplant to hills.................

This long row starts with onion sets, then red potatoes, then white potatoes...........
The open row to the left will be planted in okra later today.........

Just to the right of the 2nd raised bed there is a short row of english peas...

Spring has busted out big time around the farm....

The Pines are full of new pine cone buds...

The Spirea is showing out!

this Rose bed is JUMPING................

I think I counted 7 buds on my Joseph's Coat yesterday !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Empress Tree has been really pretty this year.............

The bumble bees love the blooms..................

These blooms will fall and HUGE leaves will take their place..................

Today will be spent cleaning out more beds, planting sweet potatoes and okra. Tomorrow we'll be getting ready for a family and friends gathering here on Saturday for a Fish Fry. We'll have fried Catfish and Blue Gill Bream caught out of our pond, coleslaw, FF and hush puppies. I have to figure out what to make for a desert and get that made tomorrow. I hope ALL of you have a wonderful weekend and are celebrating our blessed Spring..........................

Thanks for stopping by THE PORCH ......................

"AN ANIMAL CELEBRATION"

I got a e-mail with these pics and thought they were so cute I put them in a collage to share!!

Be sure to enlarge it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!