Actually,the garden is right in front of the barn door, and the chickies have free range in parts of the garden and get water there in some of the planter bases. But I do containers and raised beds for the most part. I fenced the chickies our of the raised beds where tomatos are grown. The bunnies managed to get in..... but at least did not eat tomatos. The chickies learned to pull down the cucumber plants to get at the fruit, but I have had enough to eat and did make a few pickles as well. They peck the lower egg plants and spaghetti squash. I think they help with the local infestation of grasshoppers.

Oh that is so sweet! Nice to see something other than just a plain rock on hives. Cute!!

Loooove your butterfly Jim!!! Oh, Pelicanhead that is a fantastic honeybee shot!!! How in the heck is did you get yours to stay so still! My photos are terrible! I can never get my honeybees to stay still enough!!! Marina, at least we can enjoy the photo for its gorgeous lighting and beauty and it's a great insect shot as well! The details of Lyda's petals and buds, and the veining of the leaves is very striking! The insect is a wasp. You can see the nice sharp detail of its abdomen and the ridging that segments it. It's cool too, Marina! Honeybees have a very smooth oval outline to their abdomen, it always must have fuzziness and there's no ridging/indentations. The healthier and older the bee, the more glossy highlights you will see in the fuzzy fur. Lol, Ingrida, you can shake a honeybee anytime! They are very shy and will just fly away!! I constantly am aggravating honeybees with my misaim with Eluane's frisbee. I even have to untangle my frisbee from the Russian sage which is loaded with honeybees. The only time they will sting is if you wrap your fingers around it or try to squash it with your bare hands, lol! Not so with yellowjackets! I have heard of horror stories about yellowjackets doing a chasedown, haha!

A lot more came home than just the Brunello! there's half the apple fritter, half the duck, and half the salmon in our fridge! Next time, I'm having one and a half courses. The food was SO rich. (wonderful, but almost too wonderful iykwim). Cathy, I did have trouble deciding. It's a short menu and I wanted everything!! Fortunately the recommendation of the duck from a complete stranger in the lounge before diner made up my mind for me on the entree! Tricia, I think you and DH would love the place! It is just off Exit 70 next door to the Florence Griswold Museum. I think it's my new favorite local restaurant (those honors used to belong to The Up River in Westerly before the floods and they closed it). Unfortunately Bee and Thistle doesn't suit my budget for a regular hang-out, but wow! saving my pennies to go back. The menu changes regularly but the chef is awesome. They do have a chef's selection on Wednesdays- three courses for $28 - that would be easier on the pocketbook - but we definitely splurged for my birthday.