We got lots done this weekend.  Our started pond stopped draining, so my dh borrowed a friend's back hoe attachment and hooked it up to our tractor to dig out the pipe and fix it.  The tractor is newly acquired-we just got it on Friday.

The pond isn't done, so we are purposely letting it drain into a ditch which leads to the pond in our lower horse/cow pasture.  So, he dug it up and found that the 2 pipes were apart-about a foot apart.  So, he re-glued it and let it dry. 

Here they are bringing the pipe and other assorted materials back from the barn.  I don't know what they did to the pipe, but anyway, here's what they did next.  They glued it:

After the glue dried and Pat filled in the dirt back in, they happened upon an uninvited guest while putting tools away:

We didn't know what it was, but after looking it up, found that it was an Eastern Milk Snake.  Isn't it cool looking??  We released far away from the barn & house.

The new tractor sure came in handy for many things.  Pat was able to turn a huge pile of compost that has been sitting for 2 years and he brought me a bucketful of beautiful compost so I could put it in my flower garden alongside all the plants.  He also put a small pile of comport next to the veggie garden.  I was going to work in there today, but it's been raining all day-we surely needed it.  The grass was getting brown already.  Here's a couple pics of my flower garden.  It goes around two sides of the house.  Most of my perrenials haven't flowered yet, though:

Here's another angle:

I've been trying to get a good picture of the calf, but her mother won't let anyone near enough.  Every time we come close, she packs her little daughter off to go hide in the woods.  Guess I can't blame her, but I want a good pic of her calf0she is such a beautiful girl!  The kids named her Lindsey. 

Here's a picture of the hen with her 8 chicks.  It's not a great pic, but it'll do. 

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Posted by Anonymous

Your flowerbeds are beautiful! I love the rock you used as a border. Do you do anything special with your baby chicks to try to protect them from predators (i.e. snakes) or do you just let mama protect them in the coop with all the others? Will roosters hurt the baby chicks? We had one baby chick, but something got it in broad daylight. Probably a hawk or a snake, but wondered if the roosters could have done it. Good luck with your pond! How fun to have a pond!
Take Care.

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Posted by GoofyMamma

Thanks for visiting my blog. That snake is cool. Yet frightening all in the same breath lol. About the Jane Austen movies they are all great that I've seen so far. And my husband actually sat and watched them with me LOL. He's very confident in his manhood lol. Come back and visit any time.
Kim

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Posted by Glammon

Sorry about that! Thanks for the help.

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Posted by TChannel4

Thanks for stopping by my blog, and THANK YOU for the link. I put it in my favorite places.

Your homestead looks so peaceful,although I don't know if I could be so close to a snake, they terrify me.

God Bless,
Tammy

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Posted by countrygalu

I think milk snakes are very poisonous.But I am not for sure.But I would still be careful though if a snake is so called "not venomous" they still have a tiny bit a poison in there bite. The reson I know this is my brother is a snake fanatic and he gets a lot of books on that stuff. And my friend got bit by a non venomous snake and shortly after she had a stomach ache. Cute chickens and love your flower beds.

makayla

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