Rainy afternoon

It is strange to me how quiet the house seems without Della. While she was still alive, she slept most of the time without making any perceptible noise. Nevertheless, it is too quiet now. I wonder how long it will be before I am used to it.

We see the orioles frequently. There are at least three males and several females. I have seen both male and female hummingbirds as well, but they are harder to photograph. The orioles park themselves by the grape jelly and chow down. The hummingbirds are more nervous.

Male oriole with jelly in his beak

A couple of weeks ago, I moved the chicken fence in so the grass around the outside of the run would have a chance to recover. I could see little nubs of grass trying to grow, but the girls kept eating it down. Last Thursday, I moved the fence back to where it had been. That was the best thing ever! The girls wasted no time reestablishing their dust bath in one of the raised beds and nibbling on the new grass.

Chickens grazing in the new grass and bathing in the raised bead

I was very excited to see the trillium that I transplanted last fall come back at double their previous number. They seem to like their new location beneath the fifth oak.

Trillium

Other flowers that are blooming include shooting star and blue flag (wild iris).

Shooting star

Blue flag

We are having a lovely gentle rain this afternoon. Just what we needed. We started planting the potatoes this morning at 10:00. We divided the chores up following our usual method: Terry digs the holes; Hilda cuts the seed potatoes, and I plant the chunks. The soil was perfect for planting, not too wet, not too dry. We finished at 11:15 just as we felt the first sprinkles. I was unconvinced that it was really going to rain because the last couple of times it started raining, it stopped just after we got everything put away. I intended to put drip lines on the cabbages and then put up the row cover to keep the bugs off. As I was trying to figure out which drip line went with what (labeling has been a perennial challenge which we apparently gave up on completely last fall), the rain became steady. This will give the potatoes a good start. I hope it keeps up all afternoon.

Cabbages and onions in the garden