✈ Peacock Feathers ✈

Lately our peacock has been doing his spring ritual. He spends the morning trying to woo his mate. Only problem is, we don't have a female peacock !! 

So poor Pete just shakes his feathers for the chickens, who couldn't care less. Pete adopted us a few years ago, just wandering into the chicken coop area unannounced. We don't know if someone abandoned him, or if he got lost. So he just lives with our chickens now, bringing us enjoyment and hopefully bringing some peace in his life.

He looks amazing all spread out, but what I find interesting is the plumage he has in the rear. When his tail feathers are up, the display in the back is lovely as well! He has long strong grey feathers that hold up the tail, then a big tuft of cotton ball feathers, framed by his wings and some lovely gold feathers. Here are two pictures of what I'm talking about:

It was a bit breezy this morning, but he was giving it his all. I was impressed !!

His tail feathers will start shedding once the spring mating season is over. We collect the most in the later summer. He looks more comfortable when he isn't having to drag around all the feathers. The colors on the feathers are really lovely.

Does anyone else have a peacock? Share your stories in the comments.

☆ Romantic Treasury ☆

Today I found out that one of my etsy rose bouquets was selected by Mystic Wynd for a treasury !! Exiting news !! I think this treasury is really beautifully made, with the items all complimenting each other.

Please check out Mystic Wynd's shop, as well as the other shops featured in this lovely treasury. The treasury expires May 19th, but until then you can click here to see the treasury page yourself. Enjoy !!

✻ Garden Tilling ✻

Our garden is expanding this year, so a good tilling is in order. My dog, Kiwi, checked out the rototiller and gave approval for work to continue. 

We are a bit late starting the plants, but with a garden expansion project, and needed work on the rototiller, this is the best we could do this year. After some more rototilling work, we will make long rows for planting. Here is a bigger picture of the rototiller:

The garden already has 4 long rows, and with the expansion it will probably have 8 to 10 rows total. After making the rows, we need to plan irrigation. Last year we used soaker hoses and that provided good water all the way down the row. Water and a good hoe are the best tools I know of in the garden ! Here is a shot of the new section of the garden. 

Are you gardening this year? I hope it is a good season for everyone's plants.

♫ Sprout Update ♫

Spring is an amazing time ! The extra sunlight does wonders for us people and also for plants. My sweet potato plant has really changed since my last report three weeks ago. Drum roll please......

Here is what the plant looks like today !! I'm loving the light green leaves. The roots are filling the container and the plant is starting to look like it belongs outside. I will put it in a nice spot in the garden and see what develops. I've never grown sweet potatoes before, so the adventure continues. 

Does anyone have any advice on growing these in the garden? Please leave a comment and share if you know what I should expect later this summer.

♥ Found a Ring ♥

Today I got a chance to make someone's day. While shopping in a local grocery store, I was having trouble pushing my cart. Annoyed at first, I tried to spin the wheels, back the cart up, anything to make it cruise properly. Looking down at the wheels to try to detect the trouble, my eye spotted something sparkly. It was a ring !

The foreign object that had bothered my cart's wheel was actually a really pretty diamond ring. On closer inspection I saw that it had one large diamond in the center, then smaller diamonds on either side. Plus, there were a bunch of little gems, more diamonds and some ruby red stones. The ring looked so out of place sitting there on the floor.

The ring looked to be in fine shape. Who had lost it? No one around me was acting unusual, or searching frantically. Did the owner of the ring give up on trying to find it? How long had it been lost?

At the customer service desk I found answers. Just a few hours earlier a woman had reported her ring missing. She left a phone number and description of the ring, which matched perfectly. So I called the number and told her answering machine the good news. The store would hold the ring in a safe place until she could come in and claim it. I felt relieved.

Have you ever found something and been lucky enough to find the owner? I feel fortunate to have made someone's day, brought a smile, and re-united the pretty ring with the person it must have meant a lot to.