Wow, I have neglected this blog, my last post here was in October!
Just a little update with mostly the chickens and a bit of the garden. (cell phones shots so not the best quality)
Brad added the nesting box just before they started laying, using wood from an old barn door. It has chew marks on it from years of some animal, possibly a horse, nibbling or rubbing against it, adds character! 
The box is on a slight slant and when you open the front latched door to collect eggs, they have rolled to the edge. That way the chickens don't get tempted to continue to sit on them, not that is has stopped them from going broody and sitting any way.
This morning when I went to collect eggs, I found that Violet, who has gone a bit broody in the last few days, with her head underneath the divider and resting it on her egg. I stroked her head and she fell asleep! 
Rosie the Rhode Island Red was first to start laying in December and the only brown egg layer. Her first 7 eggs were all broken because she refused to go into the nest box, she was laying from the roost about a foot high so, plop, they all broke. We provided a cardboard box for a few days that she did use, edging it closer to the nest box each day and eventually she used the nest box & we got intact eggs. She still reverts sometimes, they are not too bright!
We are now getting 5 eggs a day, our favorite is the green ones we started getting about 5 weeks ago from Poppy the Ameraucana. Just got this egg holder (on the right) for the kitchen counter so we can keep track of which eggs are the oldest.
They had been free-ranging for a while and we loved watching them but anyone that has chickens knows what happens to the garden with them on the loose. They made dust bowls everywhere, got into the veggie beds and kicked up dirt and bark in all directions. They also loved coming up on the patio and hanging out together at the slider door and looking inside, checking us out! They left nasty messes all over the patio of course. I was hosing the patio and deck down every day.
So a few weeks ago Brad built a larger extended run. We let them out into the garden maybe two-three times a week for a couple of hours in the late afternoon but this run size seems to work well.
My grandson brings them weed greens so they follow him when he walks by.
And now just a few garden shots.
Daughter of Stars
The cute iris confusa 'Chengdu'.
Osteospermum ecklonis Zion™ Copper Amethyst, just an awesome color. It's in a pot on my deck.
Busy working and sewing lately, it was a nice evening for garden shots and chicken watching.
Salvia 'Amistad'
Salvia coerulea 'Costa Rica Blue'
Ramona
Clematis 'Moonfleet'
Digiplexis, I have several of them, as long as I clip the old bloom stalks, they just keep cranking out new ones. A favorite plant!
Abutilon 'Apollo', nice large plant and blooms.
Rosa 'Summer Song'. I named my Etsy shop after it.
Plumbago 'Royal Cape'
Ground Morning Glory (Convolvulus mauritanicus) spilling out of the raised veggie beds
Some container plantings, petunia combos
A bright Gerbera Daisy with coleus 'Trailing Rose', which I am now allowing to develop blooms, I have been pinching them all summer to get it nice and full.
Alocasia odora that I got last year from from caladiums4less. I plan to split half of it and plant it in the ground, in a gopher cage though so they don't make a meal of it. It should get much bigger in the ground.
Chickens in the garden
They love the grapes!
Sun setting on canna leaves, and glowing beyond the grape arbor
Lots of pretty blooms today. Names of the rose on the images.
Jacob's Robe with Arabella clematis
And the not so pretty, heat fried blooms on Crepuscule but I thought it made a neat shot with the newer bloom and the knot and texture of the fence.
Some pretty grape clusters on the wooden arbor.
Gaillardia 'Fanfare Blaze' is a great drought tolerant plant with a long bloom period.
Pelargonium 'Concolor Lace'
Agastache 'Purple Haze'
Caryopteris Hint of Gold
The dogs were barking along the back fence, I thought it was the neighbor working in his yard, no, it was deer eating the fallen apples.
The girls are getting big, the three oldest are 11 weeks old, the two youngest, 8 weeks.
Lily, the Speckled Sussex
Daphe likes sitting at the top of the ladder at the coop door.
Poppy seems to be the dominant one, her feathers are so pretty.
I gave all the chickens flower names but this one my hubby named INCENTIVE... Actually, it keeps him from banging his head on the downspout.
Been a while since I have had a chance to get some photos posted. In-laws have been here 2 weeks and they have been a great help in the garden, my father-in-law was out every day fixing bender boards along the pathways and scraping the crushed granite paths clear of weeds and leveling them and helping hubby with the finishing touches on the coop. Below he is working on an area that we will be making into a small patio by adding used bricks to, if they weren't leaving tomorrow, he probably would have it all laid by the end of the week! He just can't sit still. The planter box to the left of him will be for strawberries and herbs, to be planted next year.
My mother-in-law clipped spent rose and other blooms every day, watered the pots and enjoyed puttering around the garden. And they are both in their early 80"s! They have a large vegetable garden at home so they are used to the daily activity, keeps them young!
The 6 week old and 3 week old chicks went out into the coop last Monday and they really seem to enjoy the run. I bring them bug treats from the garden and they greet me at the gate every time I approach.
I found this corrugated metal chicken at a local nursery and hubby attached it to the coop door.
Here comes the gang! Lily is so funny, always stretching her neck to check things out!
The two littlest are last to step out
Kasey takes keen interest in the girls, they only take a mild interest in the dogs.
A few garden shots:
I got some bark chips down in the new garden area, the amaranth self seeded everywhere and I pulled several but left these.
This golden South Africa rose looks lovely between the lavender Aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae 'Skyscraper') and the blue blooms of Vitex (Vitex agnus-castus 'Shoal Creek')
Crocosmia, this golden one named 'George Davison' and Russian sage in the first shot. The crocosmia was almost wiped out by a gopher last year but they are tenacious and obviously made a complete comeback!
Hard to tell in this shot but the grape on the left has reached over to the rose on the right and I have to duck to walk under it now.
Love the lush grape vine on the old wood arbor, this is the one that has clusters of grapes hanging everywhere.
Summer Song rose is planted next to it, see those grapes in the first shot?!
Tiger Woods and Salmon Star
Tradescant rose backed by a dark ninebark
Jeri Jennings rose with crocosmia
St. John's Wort (Hypericum Hypearls™ Madelon)
Rose critters
Leycesteria formosa Golden Lanterns with an orange crocosmia and Melianthus major
