A Very Special Chicken House

When you have a man who can build anything, and a woman who loves her chickens like her children, you are bound to have a chicken house that is very special. We almost had an insurrection on our hands when Tobi let out one chicken and several more made a dash for it. They aren't always kept inside, but the neighbors' dog, Bob was visiting and it seems that Bob is unclear on the concept that you don't eat Tobi's chickens. Tobi's dog, Skippy, always protects them when they are out.

I was going to say that we dropped by Tobi and Dan's house but since it is practically at the top of Sonoma Mountain, one does not simply drop by. It is a beautiful drive and we enjoyed the outing after our morning walk. OilMan wanted to visit Tobi's greenhouse and compare her tomato plants with his. He was pleased to say that his held up pretty well....We also got a dozen very fresh eggs....

For some reason, people who grow their own plants, especially tomatoes tend to wind up with far more tomatoes than they, or anybody else can reasonably eat. There are seed exchanges, tomato exchanges and bowls of zucchini or lemons with a sign on them saying, 'help yourself' all over town. We have more lemons than we can possibly eat right now, but so does everyone else!

We've had two beautiful warm sunny days that have almost lulled us into thinking that spring has finally arrived for good. but no such luck. Tomorrow another storm arrives. It is supposed to rain most of the week, ending with another atmospheric river. Unlike the southern part of the state which is experiencing a 'superbloom' of wildflowers attracting hoardes of people from all over, the rain here has produced a superbloom of grass which has grown so tall that the wildflowers can't compete. We saw a small patch of wild Douglas Iris* on our walk through the Sonoma Valley Park and one or two stands of lupin, but not the profusion of blooms we had last year post fire. We will probably be mowing twice this year to keep the grass down.

I'm bringing picnic food, a potato salad and a spinach salad to Dana and Jim's for dinner tonight... pretending that the clouds are not coming in. 

*extra