Super quick update!

So today is day 21 for a third of Phoebe's eggs - we had refreshed the eggs in the nest over three days after Phoebs started sitting on week-old eggs. We've checked her multiple times today, and it's difficult to resist the urge to kick her off the nest to see what's going on. I may have heard some pips at the last check, just over an hour ago, but it's difficult to tell as the other chickens are still in the same coop/stall. We should have moved Phoebe within a few days of her setting and then provided fresh eggs, but we'll call this a learning experience and hope for the best. We've got the brooder ready, with food for the chicks and some layer mash up higher for Phoebs, though if this doesn't work then she can eat chick starter along with her babes. At this point, we are too late to order chicks for meat (and the minimum order is 25 chicks) so if these chicks don't work out, then we won't be processing birds this year. I'm okay with that, since we have a bunch of other things going on (as per usual).

We're looking at staining and chinking the house this year, so we have a few appointments this week to get some rotten log ends fixed, get the propane unhooked, and get a quote for mediablasting (which is sandblasting on steriods). We looked in to stripping the old stain ourselves, but that would require pressure-washing the logs. To avoid getting water in the house, since we are living in it and our important possessions are in it, we would have to chink. But if we chink first and then apply the stripping compound and start pressure washing it off it will peel the stain under the chink as well, so it would ruin the brand new chinking job. We would much rather deal with particulate in the house than water, or redoing the chinking, so we'll see what a few different mediablasters have to say. So we've purchased the majority of the supplies for chinking, and we hope to get started soon.

Most of the garden is in, and we've been picking away at it over the last few weeks. Our peas, which went in first, are starting to come up. This is the most heartening part of this garden so far, as some of the peas I planted were seeds we saved from last year.  We also have carrots, beets, cabbages, and potatoes in. Today I planted the five pumpkins we started from seed. As I was planting them, I was on the phone with Dad (Happy Father's Day!!!) and he mentioned digging tires into the garden we had when I was growing up to encourage the pumpkins to grow, so I quickly tossed tires around three of the five pumpkins. As the idea is to keep them warmer, and our garden slopes down toward the south, I picked the three southernmost plants, and I'm leaving the two northern plants without the tires as a control group.

Zim's training is going great, he's clever and enthusiastic. Some days he gets too excited and it's a challenge to get him back on track and focused on me and what I'm asking him to do, but I am developing strategies to keep him engaged and on task.

Well, off to bed - I've got to be up a bit earlier than usual to check Phoebe before work.