Update

 Wish me luck! I'm trying Flickr for my photos. Googles' Picassa Web album dropped all my pictures after June, and will not save any photos in new folders. I've managed to get a few to stick by putting them in pre-June folders, but it's kind of a pain to search through when I've been using it as a timeline for my plants and chickens. =/
 So, getting started again, here are my baby trees:

 Or not.
 Blogger doesn't want to see my links to Flickr. (yes, my photos are public.) So, now I'm trying Photobucket. I'm already hating the extra-loud ads. And Photobucket doesn't download my photos in order, either. Hummm. Give me a sec to re-arrange them.

 Or not.
 This is *very* frustrating. They've doubled my photos, and will not go into any sort of order.  I'm open to suggestions for photo-sharing websites. 
 PLEASE.

 I've fixed the doubling but, Blogger refuses to see Photobucket either. I think I may quit Blogger and move this blog elsewhere.

 Sorry, I'm giving up for tonight.

Some (More) Fruit Trees

Well, it looks like I won't get any plums this year. They did bloom right on time, but it was a bit cool outside when they did. So, the bees didn't come to pollenate. =(

But, the new apple tree *is* making apples.

It's a multi-grafted espalier. Five out of six varieties are trying to make apples!

I saw something odd on the new cherry trees.

I thought that they were bugs. (And I was *horrified*!)

After asking a few friends, and exhaustive web searching, I learned that those red things on my cherry trees are *normal*. They're called extrafloral nectaries, and they are designed to attract beneficial insects. Whew!

Birds and the Bees

Last day at home, sunshine and freedom.

Wait, what's this?

The chicks hens have gone off to their new home.

See the two small ones at the bottom right? My girlfriend bought them the same day I got my girls! They must be younger, but by how much? There's also a black frizzle in there, her other hens in the other coop pick on her.

My other "girls" were on display at The Discovery Museum.

This is just before the event started, we had plenty of kids, and quite a few adults enjoying the display.

I left a gap for the day... Interesting to see how they tried to fill it.

Sorry!

 I've been told that my pictures aren't showing up. I'm trying to get that fixed. =(
Apparently, Google's "Picassa Web Album" has decided that I don't really want to save pictures anymore, and has dropped everything after April 7th.
 I'll have to go find the pictures in my computer, figure out which ones I had posted, upload them again, and repost them. It's going to take me a little awhile.

Trees and Chicks

Perching is fun!

I sure look like a little hen now!

UPDATE: The following photos are just gone. Google seems to have deleted the entire album that they were in. I've found a few in the computer, and I'll replace them here as soon as I sort out which is which, and take take new pictures of the missing Honeyberries.

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE: I found and fixed the photos. But I need to find a better place to store my pictures, as Google just doesn't want to work for me anymore. Ideas? Anyone?

On Thursday, my Honeyberries arrived! All by themselves... I wonder where my trees are?

This is the first one that I pulled out. So. Very. Small. This first one is "Cinderella" It says "compact grower". But wow, this one is small. Maybe it's a dwarf plant? While it has a few buds, it only has a few tiny leaves. The moss is neat though. =/

Starting to look better. This is "Blue Moon".

This one is "Berry Blue" Looking like a few might live. =)

"Blue Belle"

"Blue Velvet"

Here is "Borealis". It also looks like it may be a dwarf, like the Cinderella. Though this one seems to have a lot more buds and branches. We'll see how they do!

So, I see about a 50/50 survival. Three of them look fine, two of them look iffy, and one is just sad.
They're going to wait here, until I get them planted.

Oh, and thanks for the junk mail, Stark Bros. Does anybody need Allegra? I've got a couple for ya'. I'm going to keep the 5-Hour Energys, I need the little bottles to hold fuel for my Penny Stove.

Oh, here they are, just a day behind the honeyberries, my Cherry trees are here! Small box for such big promises!

Oh, good. More junk mail. Allegra anyone? Anyone? *sigh* Wait a sec while I pour the 5-hour energy down the drain.

Cherry tree trunks, one is much larger than advertised, and one is, of course, smaller than it's supposed to be. (I ordered the Semi-Dwarf "Supreme" version of each. "Supreme" means it's supposed to be 5/8 or larger in diameter. Stella is only 1/2 inch.)

We interrupt this plant post to bring you "Chicken Shadow Theatre".

Since I'm going to be working outside today, I thought the girls might enjoy some sunshine.

Before you scold me, it was 70 degrees today. They were only outside for 10-15 minutes, just long enough to clean out their pool. They loved it.

Back to the trees. Here is my wall before trees.

This is the big one, the Royalton. It's probably the best of the bunch, and one I only bought to round off my order. (A little OCD? I had to have 4. Because 3 just wouldn't do.)

And this one I wouldn't have picked, if I was shopping at a store. I just see problems down the road with this graft. This is the Starkrimson. You'd think that they'd take better care of trees that they name after themselves.

The roots aren't right either, the main one is twisted around itself, like it was pot-bound in a very small pot. It's hard to see in the photos, but if you look up, at the bottom of the image, you can see the root going down the left side, and around the bottom. The next shot is under the tree, the root starts below, where the two roots split, and curls around, under, and goes off across the bottom. I think I may want to cut this one off. Though it is kinda the main root. I'm open for comments and suggestions.

Finally, here is the "after" shot. I put a honeyberry in each pot, and I will probably put the other two in the pots with the plums later today.

In order they are; Royalton with Blue Velvet, Starkrimson with Blue Belle, Blackgold with Berry Blue, and Stella with Blue Moon.

Chick Update (#4)

I'm starting to see tiny combs! 

Hello! My name is "Soup"!

The girls have discovered that they like perching on the edge of the pool. I'm not sure if I want to discourage that, (to keep my floor cleaner.) or let them perch because it's good for their little feet.

I thought about poking holes in the pool, and putting dowels across for them to stand on. But this seems like a lot less work. (Safer for my fingers, too!) And, where would I put them while I was doing it? (Little chirping mass in the bathtub? Because a pool full of chicks under the table isn't crazy enough?)

Don't mind the mess, I took this video before pool cleaning.

Chick Update (#3)

During chicken class, the instructor said we should start with 24-hour or almost 24-hour light, and gradually decrease the daylight until it's time for them to go outside. The idea being that they will then be older, and stimulated by the increased light outside, to lay eggs. So last night, I set up another light fixture for the girls.

It's a little awkward, because I had to pull the pool out from under the table. Now it's in the middle of the kitchen floor.

I've set the two lamps up with two timers, so when one goes off, the other goes on.

They seem to like it. While it was on, they were the quietest, most sleepy babies.

They look very silly, sleeping with their little necks stretched out like that.

He also said that I should be reducing the temperature each week, so I raised the lights a bit. Though I don't have a thermometer.

Also, I'm sorry that my Picasa Web Album is being pissy about the videos that I took. (Sleep chirping is cute.) They won't upload right, and I'm being offered the chance to download a new program to "make uploading videos easier!" There was no problem with uploading videos *before* photos at Google+ had a new product for me. -_-