Thursday, April 24, 2014

This week has been very busy at Ramsay.  We've been blessed with sunny days, still on the cool side, and much work has been done to get the property all dressed up and ready for spring and summer.  Patsy, Heather and Louis, landscapers extraordinaire, have been working steadily on planting new flowers in the borders and planters, weeding and mulching as they go. The urns on the gate posts are brimming with bright blossoms, as are the urns at the parterre garden and the large urn in the ellipse.

 

 

The painters were here yesterday and today, scraping, cleaning and painting the fence along Farm Lane.

The mowing crew was here today, and all the lawn areas are freshly mowed and emerald green.  There are trees blossoming around every corner--truly beautiful.

The Grelen tree-planting crew was on site yesterday, moving one of the trees along the main driveway.

Stephen has been busy helping with landscaping, coordinating all the work underway, keeping all the equipment running, and many other tasks.  

The chickens are adapting well to their new home, having been here now for a week.  They spend more time in the "run" part of the coop rather than inside the upstairs part, having become better accustomed to the noises and traffic here on the farm.  They respond to my voice now, and are often waiting at the door of the coop when I get there to check on their feed and water.

I volunteer at the Crozet Library on Wednesday mornings, and yesterday, I found a wonderful brand new book called "The Chicken Whisperer's Guide to Keeping Chickens."  It is very helpful, and complements two books I had ordered a couple of weeks ago on chicken care--one on how to have a beautiful and chicken-friendly garden, and also the "Storey's Guide to Keeping Chickens," both of which arrived in the mail yesterday.  We have no eggs yet, but one of the books says that most hens must be between 20 and 24 weeks of age to begin laying, and these hens are now 21 weeks, so it probably won't be long now.