There's Still Work To Do

I  picked up Little Lynda from school and we headed over to Butte City to meet Paula and pick apples.  We got a nice box full.  I brought Paula some butternut squash, her's didn't germinate. I had to include a picture of Paula...she's training for the Nike marathon and took a nose-dive a couple days ago and ended up taking a ride in the ambulance...but except for the 2 black eyes, she's looking pretty good and till running! Lynda and I took the long way back home and stopped and picked more figs and noted where there are some prickly pears and persimmons...we'll be back.  I'm going to take a drive tomorrow and get a bucket of black walnuts and a couple quarts of rose hips.

I went out and picked lots of peppers, squash, chard and tomatoes from my garden...the jalapenos are roasting in the oven and I'm making a jam out of 6 pluots, a pear, an apple and a handful of figs...hope it turns out.  I will can apple pie filling and make more applesauce later today.  I froze 5 packages of the chard.

I've been having problems with a ballsy raccoon and I believe he made off with one of my chickens: a Bahama and I'm really pissed....so I went on CraigsList and found a rooster...hoping he'd protect the hens and keep them rounded up...I know he couldn't fight off a raccoon, but he could make a bunch of racket and then I'd have the opportunity to shoot him...any way the rooster was pretty good looking...really wild and flighty and he lasted less than 15 minutes in my fenced off garden: he flew the coop and last time I saw him he was heading South....now what?  He didn't even have a chance to meet the *girls*.