Decorating the house! The kitchen is pretty much done, with a new paint job on the walls, cupboards, trim, and dining chairs, and a few new accessories (rug and seat cushions). The hall and stairs are also nearly finished with new paint on the walls and trim, and soon a new curtain; and the bathroom is also nearly finished. The most neglected room in the house, it now has new trim, new splashback, a paint job, and a new built in sink cabinet; while it still needs a bit more work, it looks ten times better.
We had another chicken casualty last week: Blondie passed away after a brief illness. We don't know what it was, but it happened quickly, unlike Shirley who was unwell for several months. And on top of it, our dog has a bad case of the fleas and is going senile (she's 14 now). Animal woes...
Finally we're getting some red tomatoes, but I doubt we'll get many from the outdoor plants; though they have lots of fruit, the season is coming to a close and it's not likely they have time to ripen. The greenhouse plants have fewer fruits, but I'm confident they'll ripen eventually as there's no real risk of frost. We've also harvested several greenhouse cucumbers, with several more growing, and all the pepper plants have little fruits forming (also in the greenhouse). While the zuccini plants are beautiful and big leaved, the fruits are either not being pollinated, or are being eaten by something (or both); I'm so sad.
The kale, however, is performing spectacularly, and will probably continue well into winter. It's a tasty plant, too. I keep planting winter lettuce seeds, and they keep getting destroyed, by both slugs and chickens: I can't win! I fenced the bed off, but the chickens have broken into it at least three times, and what they haven't scratched up, the slugs have mown down. I need to rethink my winter greens strategy.
