a newly discovered fourth

egg, that is. sly sprunt managed to lay a fourth at some point. while watering the plants today i accidentally startled her into standing up, and lo! four eggs in the nest. something should be happening right around the first of the month if it will happen at all. i’ve also been witnessing the sweet (yet utterly routine…) feeding ritual. sprocket will gorge on food and then perch unsteadily on the edge of the nest (ie second food bowl.) while sprocket hurks his whole body to come up with food (picture a cat fighting a hairball) sprunt simply tilts her little head up and waits. after she’s had her fill from his beak, sprocket preens her face feathers to remove any missed bits of food. it’s so parental yet spousal at the same time. they have been more quiet and still than i have ever seen, supremely focused.

meanwhile… i now have nine herbs, six veg, a strawberry and a rose bush to plant, in addition to the four packs of vegetable seeds. can’t wait. need more dirt. always more dirt. the first epic battle with weeds has been completed victoriously–now it’s just down to diligent guerrilla warfare. and i suppose some sort of imagining to raise several of the planters off the ground to achieve greater amounts of light for the many crowded plants as they grow taller. finally getting a good start to the backyard garden, much later than usual. especially for the seeds. ah well, if the early fall stays warm i’ll be able to keep growing. mmmm, dinner from the backyard.