Warm Enough to be Productive

This morning was cold and frosty, as usual.

But, we hit 50F!  It was warm enough to be comfortable working outside in the afternoon.

I worked in the garden first; spraying the fruit trees with dormant copper oil and then planting two bare root fig trees.  I have my fingers crossed since my previous luck with fig trees has been poor.  The first fig tree I planted (at Aspen Meadows) I lost to gophers and the second I lost to frost.  But, when we were at the nursery picking up the copper spray I couldn't resist.  The two trees are smaller than standard and cold hardy.  We are definitely too cold for Brown Turkey or Mission figs, which are the ones I am most familiar with from coastal Southern California.  The two I planted today (in wire gopher cages) are Chicago Hardy and Violette de Bordeaux.  Fingers crossed.

Did you notice how dirty Jackson was?  He was caked in mud and his boots were a muddy mess.  The velcro wasn't holding because there was too much mud.  I took him into the barn and washed off his boots and then gave him a good grooming, in the sun, at the tie rail.

Lucy came over to the fence and threw her head over.  I thought she was looking at Jackson but she caught my eye and gave me a nicker that clearly meant she wanted grooming and grazing time too.  Tomorrow, Lucy.  It will be your turn tomorrow.

Jackson was still dirty after his grooming.  His coat is stained with the mud but at least he's soft and the dirt clods are gone.  I even managed to get the dread locks out of his mane and tail (he wasn't thrilled about me pulling on his mane with the brush).  Massive amounts of ShowSheen barely made a dent.

It was back to jackets and beanie hats for evening chores.  I closed the hen house and then Brett noticed that Amelia was still out scratching under the trees.  When she realized her coop mates had gone in to bed, she flew up onto the fence top and then hopped up on the roof.  When she flew down into the hen area, I opened the hen house door and she scooted inside.

Time to put another log on the fire and put my feet up.