Austin Lake

As I was sharing my pictures of the chicken coop with my friend, she asked for my blog address.  To which I realized I have never explained why it's called "Austin Lake Gardening."  We live on an over-sized pond which is named Austin Lake, and blog name choices were very limited.  I'm proud of our little lake, it attracts awesome waterfowl and gives us a beautiful view.  After this month's rain it's higher than it's ever been, I hope it can stay up for a couple years. 

We have a family of Sandhill cranes that have lived here every summer, along with a pair of Mute Swans, and many Canadian Geese and Mallards.   Occasionally we will see Herons and other birds, and there is an Eagle in the area who has stopped by a couple times.  His name is Dark Wing Bright Beak. 

It's a pretty beautiful place to live.  The spring and summer make up for the long, dreary winter.  

 

A New Growing Year and A New Adventure

After last summer's dismal garden, I am so excited to get started for 2013!  Last year at this time most all the trees were budded, the flowers were out, and I had vegetables planted.  This year, we have had snow and rain every other day.  It snowed AND rained this morning.  That was special.  I'm not adding beds this year, but I am adding something even more special.  Husband finally said yes to Chickens.  The coop is started and I'm hopefully getting 6 chicks next week!   I don't think anyone's ever been more excited about chickens than I am this last month.  Actually, there may be people with no food in Africa who received chickens as a food source.  They are probably a little more excited than I am.  But not much.  And their coop is not going to be as awesome as mine.

 
I also want to include some pictures of last fall's garden so I have inspiration to get to work.  Flowers and spring go well together, and I got some good shots of pretty flowers last summer.