Dogs days of summer

The dogs days of summer tend to make everything run a little slower - including my blog updates. We picked the rest of the veggies yesterday (peppers, some carrots, the last cucumber and head of cabbage) along with a pile of parsley and basil. Then we mowed down the entire thing. This was not my best garden year. The weeds grew beyond my control. In addition, the tomatoes were hit hard by blight - never ripening just rotting on the vine.

The girls (and Stevie) are 17 weeks old now - quickly approaching laying age. Buff Orpingtons are supposed to start laying sometime around 24 weeks. Developed in the UK, they are a hardy bird that should continue to lay during the winter months. We still have many items to complete on the coop's "to-do" list in the next few weeks: insulate the walls, build the nest boxes, finish painting the west side, put board around the base (keep little critters out), and do something with Stevie. I wonder if the local pet adoption agency takes chickens.