Al finally finishes a meal

 Here's what the snakes were after in our garage--there was a robin's nest in the rafters, in spite of all the noise and confusion of opening and closing the door, starting up the riding mower, etc.  There were only two babies (maybe because of the snakes), but both made it to fledgling status, even with the installation guy working on the new garage door and opener directly beneath their nest.  This little guy hasn't yet made it out the window (we've been leaving it open so mama could come and go with beakfulls of worms), but it's only a matter of time before he figures it out and we get full use of the building again.

Today we were supposed to go to the Midwest Renewable Energy Fair in Custer, WI (about 2 hours from here) to meet an author Mom and I both like.  But neither of us felt too well this morning, and Janette wasn't feeling too perky either so we all decided to stay home and see if we felt better tomorrow, the last day of the fair.

After a very quiet morning, we felt up to working outside a bit in between rain showers.  I went out to the barn and worked some more on my temporary stalls, made out of a half-dozen used round pen panels I bought last year and a few tube gates I picked up this year.  I finished one stall and have the second ready except for its gate, so now I can FINALLY separate everyone while they eat.  Poor Al eats slower than anyone else and was always being robbed of the end of his meal.  But today he finally got the chance to eat in peace, in what will be Bella's stall (it's the biggest of the bunch).  He seemed to be happy with the arrangement. 

Mom finished trimming out the one raised bed we managed to get together this spring.  The two of us take longer to get things done, but we get there eventually.  We will only grow tomatoes and a couple of peppers this year, but that will be enough to keep up with for the time being.  Here is a picture of the finished product.  I'm not a pepper fan, so I forget which types of plants Mom bought, but the tomatoes are a combination of Early Girl, Early Cascade and Romas, with one plant each of grape and cherry tomatoes for my salads.  I've been eating a lot of those, since I'm trying to lose enough weight to be able to ride Bella without feeling guilty.  I wouldn't want my fat ass on my back if I were a horse!

Below is a picture of Mom's Turtle Garden, which sits between the house and the ramp to the deck.  At one end is a tub of Black Dragon and Rainbow Mix coleus plants, at the other the lilies of the valley that actually survived the trip from North Carolina.  These lilies were transplanted from a bed my grandmother originally planted in IL to Mom's place in Viroqua, then moved to NC and finally back up here.  Some of the most well-traveled plants I've ever met!  The variegated ground cover that's already creeping back into the right upper corner will have to be beaten back or it will overtake anything else in the bed.  I don't know what its actual name is, but I've heard it called "bishop's weed,"  "snow on the mountain top" and, our family favorite, "Grandma-from-Iowa ground cover."   Whatever it is, it's one of my favorites but Mom hates it.  It can be a tad invasive...