Aux Birds

This

Went out yesterday to take a picture of the seven-point buck Alan got opening day....which by the way will be processed here this evening, a job which I dread, but which must be done.

Plus this
equals a big deer in anybody's woods

I got carried away. The deer was in the shed. Not on the top of the heifer pasture hill. Not in the heifer pasture woods.

Not in the lane. Not down by the creek.

Nope, but I still went to all those places and the birds went with me. Song Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos down by the buildings. Pileated Woodpeckers right behind the hop house.... Of all things a low-flying plane spooked one out over me at the top of the hill.....how odd to look up to see the chicken-like bird flying right below the plane.

There were Robins in the woods. A flock of Cardinals. Tufted Titmice galore. We have never had so many before this year. Chickadees. Gold Finches, White-thoated Sparrows tentatively whistling "Old Sam Peabody...." A Red-Tailed Hawk that kept just out of good camera range, but didn't deign to actually fly away. Always the Carolina Wrens.

 Crows and a flock of Canada Geese that flew right over me. I was so glad I didn't take a step forward in their wake. The oak leaves at my feet rattled as if there was hail. But it wasn't hail. At least they missed.

Red-bellied Woodpecker. Some Downies. Blue Jays. A Corvid-like something or other I could not identify, though it called and called and called. Not a Fish Crow. Not a Raven. Not any jay that I know. I wonder what it was.

There were Grey Squirrels, every single one masquerading as a nineteen-point, nine-hundred-pound, White-tailed buck. Squirrels are stinkers.

Can you imagine how they must sit in their dreys and snicker at the end of each cold November day? "Hah, I had a guy practically falling out of his tree stand over me today. I just hop-hop-hopped slowly through the leaves right under him. He was so excited he nearly choked himself with his gun sling trying to bring it around to shoot. Then I spoiled his day by chattering at him and warning every deer for miles. I almost fell out of the tree laughing."

Yeah, the squirrels all do it and even when you KNOW it is a squirrel, and you SEE that is a squirrel, it still sounds more like a deer than a deer does.

Anyhow, it was quite a walk, all unintended. And if I forgotten any of you friendly local winter birds I apologize....next time I need to take a pen and paper for my list. 

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Sunday Stills....Shallow DOF

For more Sunday Stills.......

Opening Day South

Be careful out there! There are a lot more people in the woods and fields than on a normal fall morning. Some of them are not exactly woodsmen, but hopefully no one will squeeze the trigger until there is an actual deer in their sights.

Beautiful day for it though. Cold, frosty, with a peach and gold and green and blue sunrise just now flowing over the horizon like cool, bright water in an exotic fruit drink. Mango anyone?

Birds aren't up yet, so I don't know first bird for the day...oops, there it is, a Chickadee peeping on the feeder......but a Bald Eagle visited right behind the house yesterday.

And of course when I was creeping up the lawn trying to get some good shots, some power company tree trimmers walked right up behind me to ask it they could cut some box elders....I am always glad when they are polite enough to ask before hacking down trees. Plus delighted to tell them that they could cut as many box elders as they wanted to. What are the odds though?

Their timing stank to say the least.

There were Crows earlier. Lots of Crows. Red-tailed hawks, what I thought was a Harrier, (no pics of the latter) plus the normal cast of characters at the feeders, which they now empty in a day or less.

It's supposed to snow tomorrow night. Guess everything is on the move.

And, as always on this special holiday for Upstate NY deer hunters, the Youpers.... Second Week of Deer Camp



.

First Snow

Fell all unwelcome and unwanted, last night into this morning. I worried, as mothers will, because our boy was on the road from Washington DC, in a Camaro, in the dark of the night. 

Woke very early, long before the daylight, and padded outdoors in my bare feet, flashlight in hand.

Camaro in the driveway?

Yes, there is. 

And back to sleep until dawn's early light. Resting peacefully.

Boycott American Women

Just  call me immature and unchaste and all that

 The comment below showed up overnight on my handy-dandy photo blog, which I use upon occasion to dump photos that are too good not too keep, but too numerous to save forever on my computer.


I am an American man, and I have decided to boycott American women. In a nutshell, American women are the most likely to cheat on you, to divorce you, to get fat, to steal half of your money in the divorce courts, don’t know how to cook or clean, don’t want to have children, etc. Therefore, what intelligent man would want to get involved with American women?

American women are generally immature, selfish, extremely arrogant and self-centered, mentally unstable, irresponsible, and highly unchaste. The behavior of most American women is utterly disgusting, to say the least.

This blog is my attempt to explain why I feel American women are inferior to foreign women (non-American women), and why American men should boycott American women, and date/marry only foreign (non-American) women.

BOYCOTT AMERICAN WOMEN!

Do you suppose this is spam? Do you think he knows that I am an American woman? Should I boycott myself? Should I click that link?

Nah, I don't feel like catching anything he is spreading.

But I feel all fat and cheaty now. And unstable. Arrogant, and self-centered.....Yeah, that too.

I guess he told me! 

Anyhow, I will leave it there for today as a source of sneering laughter and satire, and then he is going to get his sorry, insulting, ignorant fanny deleted. Yep. Click.

Recall and Equine Edjamucation

All our computer charger cords were recalled....every single one in the house. Here is the link to check yours. 

Seen on the highway in front of the house, on the bridge in town, and over by the fairgrounds....not by me, alas, or there would be pictures....

An Amish horse, hooked to a wagon, with another horse tied to the tailgate, hooked to yet another wagon....like a tandem with a horse in the middle.

 Guess the rig held up traffic on the bridge for ages, as the rear horse was not excited about following the front horse and wagon.

I assume the guy was attempting to train the horse on the rear cart to travel in traffic and pull something behind him.

At any rate he tied him up to the new posts in front of the fairgrounds entrance and went down to the river to get him some water. 

You just never know what you will see in small town, Upstate NY.

Huntin' season south opens this weekend BTW. I generally share a link to the state's laws on trespassing for all the folks who think that little bit of paper is a license to trot through pasture and cornfields willy-nilly.

And here it is.

Thanks for your Service

One of my favorite veterans

Garlic Quest

High headed Amish horse

It's getting late to plant garlic here and we were getting desperate for some sets. 

The boss called about everywhere he could think of and didn't find so much as a clove until he called an orchard....not too far from here, but not "our" orchard...and found that they had a few pounds left.

We made plans to stop along the way at "the garlic lady" because they have the best we have ever grown. However usually she is sold out by this time of year.

We hit it lucky both places. At the garlic lady we bought some huge bulbs of the mild, sweet kind we love.

At the orchard we bought some rather small Russian garlic and some really nice squash and got to talk to the owner for a bit. 

He is perhaps the most traveled person I have ever met. A highly trained orchardist and farmer he has traveled the world for decades sharing his knowledge. He was kind enough to share a few tales with us today, which was a lot of fum.

We heard about Nepal and Lebanon and Israel. And Liberia, Egypt, Kazakhstan and other places I can't bring to mind. We heard about customs, food and drink, ideas, planes, and how small the world has become.

He kept telling me that I need to ramble, to travel, to get out and see. And I kept thinking, no....thank you, but no...I am thrilled to listen, to read, to learn, but I haven't worn out the USA yet in my mind...I think I'll stay. 

But thanks. It was fun. And we will enjoy the squash and plant most of the garlic....some of those giant cloves are going to get eaten this fall....it is too good to resist.

Monday

Anybody know what this plant is?

Rose hips

Deer on the lawn

Sunday Stills...the 1940s

Putting the cows up the hill

Contemplating whether to cut these up into firewood or build some planters for the wife

For this challenge I found a 1948 model husband. I actually found him way back in the 80s but he is pretty well preserved. As you can see there is quite a lot of wear left on the tread. 

For more Sunday Stills......

Git along little dogie....or Bama Breeze as the case may be

That was Not

The sound of a tool chest falling down the stairs.

No, it was the sound of every single pan, cookie sheet, and broiler....and rack....and kettle....and every other heavy metal object stored there falling out of the cupboard under the microwave and cascading around my feet when I reached up to turn up the heat this early morning.

If that is any indication of the way the day is going to go I think I had better go back to bed. 

I will apologize to any who may have been awakened, although I am not guilty of piling them in there like that.

I blame November.

Circles

So many years ago...the shop is closed now I guess...but I used to buy herb plants and bring them home. They have been moved so many times to so many different gardens over the years, perhaps the best traveled mint in town. There used to be many more kinds, but alas, they have perished from winters and oats and such.

I lost the Apple Mint last winter, so cold, so cold....and the Thyme, but that is always chancy.



When it was decided to drop the big Honey Locust...which hasn't happened yet...I moved the tiny remaining Orange Mint plant and a Chocolate Mint Liz bought last year to new beds near the house.

They liked their new beds and have flourished. And in the interests of potential income next spring I have been cutting and rooting and potting. They take to it like bunnies, multiplying happily on windowsills and upstairs in the big windows there.

I have discovered that the plastic tool trays out of old tool boxes from garage sales are perfect for small plant pots. Nice handles, and you can fill them with water and keep thirsty plants comfy. Quite a few plants fit in each.

Today I picked a bunch more of all three mints...I have a tiny Peppermint too...and put more to root, and more in pots, and more upstairs. To root them in water, one must strip off the lower leaves. These get washed and dried on a paper plate for cooking later...or at least the Orange Mint does...great seasoning for meats and sauces.

 I ordered a package of Apple Mint seeds on Amazon today, with rewards I get for taking surveys....feels like a circle to me.

Ticked Off

Tufted Titmouse scolding me for intruding on the wild

No, no, not by the election. There were no real surprises there. 

Nope, it's the darned ticks that irk me. When we were kids we could roll around in the grass all day playing French Foreign Legion, which was a biggie for us....

Or cowboys and Indians, stage coach driver, combat, or any of those things, which we did a lot. (And by the way we played with every imaginable kind of toy weapon....we had a veritable arsenal, plus "real" dummy training rifles out of dad's shop, and all of us still grew up to be responsible tax paying citizens. And yes I was a tomboy and had my own set of plastic grenades, dummy rifle, and all. I was good at football too but too blind and slow to be much use at baseball.)

And yet I never even saw a tick until I worked in an animal hospital in my teens and  a brown dog tick came in on a dog. It caused much consternation among the staff who had never seen one either.

What is up with this? I don't believe for a minute that it is the alleged warmer weather. Ticks don't care how cold it gets, although I once thought they did. Nope, they live in very cold places and come through the harshest winters happy as clams....which by the way are much nicer than ticks, not to mention very tasty.

White-throated Sparrow wondering about the commotion

One might point the finger in a few possible directions. We use vastly fewer pesticides today than we did then. Municipalities routinely conducted spraying for mosquitoes and black flies back then. They wouldn't dare today. This is, of course a good thing in many ways, but there are always unexpected consequences.

And all kinds of critters change their ranges constantly. Didn't they teach us in school that nature abhors a vacuum? If there is a market for the product provided by a bird, animal, or loathsome parasite, it will be filled.

 Or something for them to eat....if you build it they will come. No cardinals to brighten your landscape? Wait a decade or so. No bloodthirsty pests wanting to kill you if you step outdoors? Ditto.

Not to mention, the ticks causing the problems are deer ticks and there are a LOT more deer now than then. I won't tell you what I saw along those lines up in the fields yesterday, but let's just say that they outnumber the cows.....(Alan, send your mama a text if you want the details.)

Anyhow, I helped the boss put the cows up in their field when he went out for wood, and then followed his path up to the T-Field, where he is cutting that wood. 

I am absolutely psychotic about ticks and was constantly careful to choose my path so as not to brush against brush. 

Or twigs. 

Or grass.

I wore high rubber boots.

And still, as I sat editing the photos I took after pishing up a sweet little feeding flock up in the old cow pasture, a deer tick crawled down my arm.

Dagnabbit, I feel sorry for kids growing up today who could never play out in the woods like we did.

Another creature, which is much more common than when we were kids
And much more welcome too.

Voting

Was interesting this year. After weeks of endless robocalls, so many that even the ones from candidates we believe in became annoying, it was time to go the polls. 

First thing we saw was a van parked right up against the polling limit sign and a lady stopping all the traffic to hand out business cards for someone who is running a write in campaign for sheriff. Um, thanks, but no thanks.

Then we went inside to be greeted by our friendly poll watchers. In our town voter ID consists of hi, how are you, whatcha been doing? from people you have known for decades. We signed in, received our ballots and went to the "privacy" screens to make our choices.

First thing I noticed was that the pen didn't write. Okey dokey, that was easily fixed. Then I noticed that the magic ink bled through the ballot making marks on both sides.

Once again, no problem. There were no candidates on the opposing side. This could be an issue if the ballot was laid out differently I suspect.

Anyhow......

We ran them puppies through the scanner, then stopped to talk about grandbabies and weather and cows on our way out, and came on home, proud and happy to have exercised our right to participate in this important rite.

Voting, it's the right thing to do.

I Can Haz Dis?

If it fitz it's mine, right?

Thanks, Uncle Alan, I can already play Frere Jacques

One Goose

November stepped up to be counted this weekend, letting us know that he's  ready to rumble. Cold winds blew across the land and down the valley, so vigorous that a Red-tailed Hawk sat on the "breeze" over the heifer barn, as still as a hovering Kestrel, for as long as it took me to hang out half the laundry.

Extra clothespins, please.

He was an amazing sight, maybe thirty feet over the roof, feathers pressed hard against his body as he hovered in place, all his colors lit brightly by the late, low light. As I hung the last towel, he side slipped over the horizon, to take his hunting elsewhere.

 I was glad to have seen him there, marking the strength of the wind.

It found every chink in the house, and as always in an old farm house like this one, there were plenty of chinks.

Last night it was so cold I left the heat turned up for Peggy. Normally we never do that, just turn it way down and pile on the blankets, but it was too cold to sit in the kitchen, and thus too cold, in my mind at least, for the little one.

Uncle Alan bought her some funny tummy time toys, which were sure good for some laughs. One is a piano thingy with toys dangling from a hoop. The baby plays the piano by lying on their back kicking a big plastic keyboard with their feet. It took her about three seconds to figure out how to make it go, and then she gave it one heck of a workout. We all sat around watching her thump the heck out of it and talk to the dangly toys for a good long time.

I got up grumpy today though. After nearly a week at home our boy is off to the nation's capitol again today and probably won't get home for several weeks....that is enough for a good grump right there, and there were plenty of other little grouchy things to keep me frowning too. 

And then, instead of coming in for breakfast Daisy took off for the heifer barn where the hens are....and the kids moved the turkey tractor inside yesterday, so they are there too. I ran out in my bare feet to call her back before she got into serious trouble and there he was.

Flying west all alone, calling sadly to the sky. One lone Canada Goose, with the sunrise lighting his feathers from below, turning him to molten gold and silver, and all the colors of the morning.

Country life. You just can't beat it.

Sunday Stills....Fall Foliage

The asparagus is still pretty showy

Only a few leaves left on the trees here....

For more Sunday Stills....