Name: Kathleen Tenpas Wickwire Corners NY (Zone 5a)
If the beaver around here are smart, they will keep their heads down today - windy and cooling off. The other name for November's moon is Frost Moon. We still haven't had a killing freeze up here on the hill, although there have been some light frosts. I'm ok with that, but it will probably come to a screeching halt Sunday night.
I'm hoping the beavers pass us by this year, although Gary has noticed some recent activity. Sigh. We fight with these critters on a regular basis. I'd be happy to share with them if they would just leave our roads above water.
I want to live in a world where the chicken can cross the road without its motives being questioned.
We used to have beavers living in the swamp behind our house. The river moved and left a low pondy area in the middle of which the beavers had built a lodge. At first I did not believe they were actually beavers, which I considered to be northerners, and assumed the felled trees were the work of nutria. However once I saw a couple swimming in the river, there was no doubt. For us they were just amusing as it was unlikely that they could dam up the river. I do not know where they live now as the recent drought years have dried up their old home. I also miss the sound of all the frogs that lived there too.
Name: Mary The dry side of Oregon Be yourself, you can be no one else
Thanks for the new page, Kathleen. Beautiful picture of the fall leaves. Ours just turn yellow or brown. Most are on the ground now.
We have a storm blowing in from the Pacific, so will get some rain today. I still have yard work to do but am making some progress. The garlic, both mine and my neighbor's, is all planted, so now needs moisture and time. We won't see anything above ground until about mid March, unless my Chinese Pink sends up tops like it did last year. I attributed that to having just come from a warmer place. Now that I have grown that variety for a year, I think they might not do that again. Maybe.
My neighbors are away for a few days so I am doing dog, cat, goat and chicken chores. I keep the milk to use for bread making, measured and frozen in the proper amount. Chickens have been doing free range, so are not producing eggs. They also need a light in the chicken house to make them think it is spring.
Ack! Dark already and it is just 5PM. Can't get used to it getting so dark so early. I guess I will be grumbling about it the rest of the week and then I will finally get used to it.
There is a beaver pond off the highway where you turn to get to my "pig trail" road. The person who owned the land tried for a permit to dam the stream and was turned down, but the beavers took care of it for him. The beavers were relocated (hopefully humainly) when that road was paved, but the pond remains. People fish there and I love seeing the egrets and at times anhingas.
Each cloud has a silver lineing if only you look for it.
Lots of birds here every day eating on the seed spread out on a section of the driveway. Lots of morning doves especially. But many other types also. Like Blue Jay, Cardinal, various sparrows and the Juncos have already arrived.
Name: Mary The dry side of Oregon Be yourself, you can be no one else
Oops, forgot to toss out some scratch grains for the quail and Hungarian Partridges this morning... so thanks for the reminder.
We had one day when it snowed all day, not heavy, and with a lot of teeny dry flakes, but eventually enough to cover the ground. Our temperature stayed at 25 for all day, then the next day was warmer with some light rain and the snow was all gone by afternoon. Today is sunny, supposed to be a high of 47, and even warmer for the next couple of days. There is still plenty to do outside, so I'm glad the snowy weather only lasted one day. Nearly all of the leaves are down.
No quail here but I love to feed the backyard songbirds. The weather has been nice also. Of course getting colder at this time of year but still nice fall days.
Hurray and lots of Gold Stars for me. I am finished with my bulb planting.
Today I planted the last of my bulbs which was 312 'Blue Bird' crocus. I used the dig a trench method.
I have this area next to the hill in my backyard. I have potted roses in those pots that are there all the time and have been there for years. So I decided this would be a great place for crocus.
Dig trench were I wanted to plant them.
Put out bulbs.
I actually had a lot of bags. 13 bags of 24 each so that made 312.
Spread out bulbs and put them right side up. They don't grow upside down.
Put back soil, level and stomp down soil nice so that squirrels don't notice my planting bulbs!
Yesterday, I discovered that our local rodents chopped down a native willow tree that I was nurturing along. When it first popped up a few years ago, I tied a bright pink ribbon on it to protect it from the mower and it had grown to about 15 feet and was starting to fill out. Now just a gnawed off stump, no sign of any part of the tree itself. So sad. It was a scouler willow. Dang beavers!
I want to live in a world where the chicken can cross the road without its motives being questioned.
Not real sure. I've never had native willows pop up, but we've usually had livestock of some sort (and now don't) so perhaps they got eaten as saplings. I'm in wait-and-see-mode. Still not to happy with the beavers, though.
I want to live in a world where the chicken can cross the road without its motives being questioned.
Can't get used to it getting so dark so early. I guess I will be grumbling about it the rest of the week and then I will finally get used to it.
