The wonder of blue birds...

Last night, an indigo bunting landed at the feeder, giving us ample time to grab the binoculars and get a gander at his amazing blue colors ranging from royal blue to iridescent turquoise--a true gem!

Hunter in the Garden

A few days ago I noticed a garter snake in the garden, out looking for breakfast. I think it was eyeballing that juicy snail clinging to the onion stalk. I welcome any predators I can get that will keep the pest numbers down.

Sunny At Last

After nearly three weeks of solid rain, the sun finally returned for good on July 5th. We enjoyed an entire day of breezy sunny skies. I aired out the house, caught up on accumulating laundry in the cellar, and reseeded the slug-devastated lettuce bed. John and I spent a few hours at the Cabin Garden hoeing the corn and squash, thinning beets, and pruning/staking the tomatoes. It looks like me might see some fruit from our labors in the near future--the tomatoes are forming!

While the wind whipped through the laundry, I mowed the backyard, regaining the upper hand on the soon-to-be hayfield. John made some headway with the chain saw on Big Bertha, lopping off another few feet. We will need to get that tree moved by winter or the highway department will be after me!

Here I am, on my second tractor lesson, tilling the new Cabin Garden this spring.

Rain, rain, go away!

I think it's time to grow gills. This constant rain and dismal grey is beginning to wear on me. Kudos to those inhabitants of the Pacific northwest. I don't know how they do it!

I've neglected the garden (not that there's much to do except weed), leaving the lettuce beds to the slugs and snails. We finally had a brief respite last evening. The sun actually shone! I grabbed my hoe and made a dash to the potatoes which needed some serious hilling. Then I tackled the greens. Bolting spinach and slug-chewed lettuce were on last night's menu. Our basil, well it's just throwing in the towel. The plants are yellowed and chewed by some critter. I may have to dash to the greenhouse and see if they still have some potted plants so I can start anew. Yet, Ocimum basilica (Genovese basil) really needs some hot temperatures and strong sun, so maybe I'd be wasting money. Same for the tomatoes--very lush green, but the flowers.....hmmm....

Bucky versus Bike

I've been foiled by weather much of this spring. My plans to start biking to work back in April have slipped all the way to June. To date, only two days of riding! I feel guilty when I have to drive, on yet another, rainy day. This week, my schedule changed, eliminating Mondays as a riding day since I'll be working the evening shift. Yup, another guilt trip. As I watch the price of gas climb, I tell myself I need to find a safe route for the entire way so I don't drive the first five miles (even that makes me feel guilty). An alternative route would add a few extra miles (not a bad thing), but I'd have to get my rear in gear much sooner! Half the battle is being organized the night before so I'm not running around gathering items and gear every morning. If I'm going to continue driving Bucky, I need get my carbon credits biking more!

What to do today

There's a steady rain plinking in the gutter, the birds are downright quiet, holed up under the tree boughs. I think Callie Lou has the right idea...take a nap, read a book, take a nap, read another book, snooze....

The Cabin Garden

Just in case we didn't have enough to manage, John and I recreated the Cabin Garden (or Garden #2) down in Eliot. This is where we planted everything that won't fit in our Maple Corner plots; crops like corn (which is up 3 inches), and more varieties of beans, brussel sprouts, excess potatoes, excess tomatoes, beets, etc. Note Bucky the Trucky backed up next to the garden. With no access to water, we hauled it and watered by hand. And the fence isn't to keep out just 4 legged varmits, but the 2 legged variety too! Yes, local neighbors think it's their free CSA, so we are hoping to deter them with the fence.
Check out John's snazzy new sun hat!

It's all about gardening...

Each morning, I take my coffee and perambulate around the gardens to see what has come up or flowered. Callie sniffs the borders, checking where last night's visiting skunks and raccoons passed by. We added more garden space (yes, less lawn to mow) but I haven't decided what to plant there yet. We're munching our way through the first crop of spinach and lettuce, with a few French Breakfast radishes thrown in. I have a few rogue potatoes I missed last fall, sprouting amidst the Swiss chard and lettuce. I may have to dig them up early before they shade out the smaller leafy green.

Stunning bird life

I saw him! Yesterday morning, high in the tree canopy, in the early morning sunshine peeking over the hilltop--the elusive scarlet tanager sang in the treetops! Now I'm on the prowl every day, listening and looking. I wish that photo was mine! Unfortunately, he was way too high up in the trees.

Other spottings: two Baltimore orioles, great crested flycatcher hopping about in the maple, and the catbirds have returned.

May Songsters

With the arrival of May, an entire crop of warblers and songsters have returned to the woods and fields. The musical song of the mysterious wood thrush echoes through the woodlands, camouflaged by the newly open leaves. The oven bird hops around the forest floor, then flits up into the trees as I walk down the street. Out at the cabin garden, a black and white warbler wheezed in the trees, and a field sparrow accompanied our gardening with a pretty song from the apple tree. Tonight, I heard the elusive scarlet tanager--one of the birds I need to see for my life list--but no sign of him. Each day the woods become denser as the leaves pop open even more.