See? Fly Eyes!

Those giant heads are gettting heavier and bigger each day. I think it's time to tie them up. The Jays have been by a few times to check them out but I don't think the seeds are quite ready yet. Close but not quite.

The tree in the background is a crabapple tree. (Click on the pic to see the tree better.) The previous owners of the property planted it and never ever once pruned it. When we bought the place, the realtor told us it was a plum tree (it was in the dead of winter) so we expected plums. We thought it was strange that it took a VERY long time for the plums to ripen. And they were so SOUR!! Finally, we cut into one and found the apple seeds. It was a D'OH! moment. The second year, we gathered as many of the crabapples that we could reach and made crabapplee jelly. A gazillion pounds of crabapples and hours and hours of boiling, straining, etc gave us 14 jars of crabapple jelly. And red spots on my kitchen walls that I still have today. Tasty jelly but really not worth the effort. Now, we just let the birds get at them. Or, if anyone wants crabapples, you're welcome to them.

Fleece Pickings

Monday was fleece-picking day. I brought the picker outside and picked through close to 16 pounds of fleece in 5 hours. My "assistant" sorted and pull the clumps of fibre apart while I fed the bits into the picker. We had quite the production going. It was a perfect day - until the wind picked up in the afternoon. It's really not a great idea to pick when the wind is blowing. I have tuffs of fibre all over the yard and into the neighbour's yard as well. The awning that kept the sun off us, acted as a wind tunnel and funneled all the wind right through where I was working.

Today, I have to pay my assistant...we're off to see Pirates! Love Johnny Depp!