Milan

 I never posted about our quick visit to a cathedral in Milan.  When we took the train from Turin to Zurich, we had a brief stopover in Milan.  I do mean brief - it was only about an hour between trains, so we had to pick something near the train station.  This cathedral was built in the 1950s, and it is not Milan's main cathedral, but it was beautiful.

We only had to walk a few blocks to get to it, and it was nearly empty, so I was able to wander around everywhere and light candles and pray.

There were stained glass windows of saints throughout.

This mosaic was really beautiful.  It's another one of St John Bosco.  There were several large mosaics in the church.

Moving Day

 The chicks are getting bigger, and the shed brooder was getting too crowded.

the turken, two meat birds, and one mystic rock

So, today, Lydia and I moved the chicks to the coop.

They were loving it!  There are little crickets and spiders in there, and the chicks were having a great time finding and eating them.

They also liked exploring the clump of grass I put in for them, and dust bathing in the ashes Lydia prepared.

So now there are 37 chicks in the chicken coop.  I will end up letting them in the first yard during the day, but not yet.  It will probably be in a couple of days, after they get well acclimated to the space and could use some outdoor time.

Update on the Chicks

 The chicks have grown a ton.  We have 37 total, 20 of which are meat birds.  They are the little yellow ones, and are about a week younger than the others.

They are obviously still in the shop, and will be for probably another week or two.  Nathaniel caught the raccoon last night, and we have been readying the coop for the new flock.  I want to make sure it is secure and ready before risking my baby chickens!

They all run to one side of the pen when I come in, but they do have plenty of room.

The Circus!

Yesterday, we got to go to a circus in a circus tent.  I had a blast, of course.  It was Emry's first circus, and Gyunay hadn't been to one in many years.  The boys were fascinated.

Emry said, "You have to do a circus pose for the circus!"

They had a very good juggling act, and I got to see something I've never seen in person before.  Lady Beast preformed Houdini's straightjacket escape while suspended from her feet.  It was pretty cool.

 

Yard Update

 So the septic system is installed.  It tore up more of the yard than I expected, but they smoothed it out nicely.  They will come back to finish grading after it rains a couple of times.

As you can see, my Mexican sunflower and tomato bed survived, but just barely.  They scraped right up against the blocks to that garden.

The green there is the remains of the herb circle that has been there since we moved in.  We had Malachi and Elijah remove the bricks, so when they do the final grading, it will just be part of the yard.

Now this area is going to be my new garden next spring.  I have to remove the rest of the vegetation around the edges, and I'm going to seed it with clover and buckwheat for a cover crop.  

Out front, the tanks are barely visible.  The pipe carrying the treated water runs underground until emptying into the small pond.

In other news, the chicks are doing great:

And Emry wanted his picture taken with Acorn:

July Harvest Totals

 Our July harvest totals are very pathetic.  All of our hens were eaten by raccoons, as well as our Rooster Sam.  The garden has suffered from heavy deer and squirrel nibbles.  Still, there were a few things to list:

Cabbage, Hitton - 1

Eggs - 34

Garlic - 31 bulbs

Jalapenos - 3

Potatoes - 8 oz (These were volunteers.  I didn't plant potatoes this spring.)

Radish - 1

Tomatoes - 2 (Kentucky breakfast tomatoes)

Plus, some cherry tomatoes and lots of herbs - basil, cilantro, mint, oregano, sage, and thyme.  I could harvest some nepitilla, too, but I haven't decided how to use it yet.  (I got the plant from June.  It's an Italian herb, and it's growing well out front.)

In happier news, our meat chicks arrived yesterday, and they are well settled in with the other chicks:

The light yellow puff balls are the meat birds.  The chicks are doing great.  We have 20 meat chicks and 18 layer chicks, some of which may be roosters.  We did lose 2 chicks, one rainbow and one turken.