Turkey dinner anyone?

Nice weather returned this week with high's back into the 60's.

This mom and her two baby turkeys have spent their summer away from the flock and in our yard. Don finally got a picture of them. As you can see (click on the picture) they are just learning how to scratch the ground to forage. They clumsily scratch and actually cover up more seed than they find, but hey, who's keeping track?

After they're done feeding, they go to the dirt pile and dust themselves, which is hilarious to watch. You can barely see them with all the dirt flying. Then they'll just law down in the grass and take a siesta in the shade if it's hot, and in the sun if it's cool.

We've named the babies Flopper, and what else, Scratcher. Once likes to flop on the ground to eat, and the other one gets carried away scratching looking for food.

One day I looked out and there must have been 30 turkeys in my yard, and I know who to blame for squealing! You can only see a few of them in the picture, by the time I got out to take the shot, many had retreated into the woods.

Unfortunately, I couldn't pick out mom and her babies, and it was shortly after this they rejoined the flock.

All I've got to say is, Turkey season opens soon, so they better take cover. I'm actually glad the family left, because if the babies showed up without mom, I'd know she was going to be someone's dinner . . . how awful would that be!?!

The draught is taking a toll

First week of September turned very hot with highs in the mid 90's.

Still very little rain, our neighbor's pond that's damed is dry, so no more water in Mill Pond Creek. I have no idea where the animals are finding water to drink. After an entire summer of trying to keep the lower half of the yard watered, Don and I have decided to put in sprinklers.

It's not just the price that gave us pause, but the damage it's going to do to our entire yard. They will have to run the ditch witch from the front of the house where the water supply is, to the lower yard. This means they will not only bring up rocks, but will cut existing water pipes.

So, since they're making such a mess, we decided to put sprinklers in the back flowerbeds as well, so even the back will be torn up. I can't tell you how much I am NOT looking forward to this process.

Gorgeous Day!

After some MUCH needed rain on Monday and Wednesday, 2 inches in total, we actually had a COLD front move through bringing highs only in the 60's. Wow, what a difference a week makes!

Once again I took advantage of the nice weather:

• Sprayed trees and shrubs with an organic mixture for bugs and fungus
• Cleaned all the fountains, again
• Mowed Tiers E 2 & 3
• Raked upper yard from yesterdays mowing

Had dinner on the deck to take advantage of the weather and to look at the results of all our hard work. The only good thing I can say about the draught we are going through this summer is, no mosquitos . . . yeah!

After dinner I walked the yard to look the flowerbeds over and noticed how pretty the decorative grass was with the sun hitting it, so I snapped a picture.

Getting "close" to finishing -

After a week of nice weather, of course the high temps returned, and this week it's been in the high 90's with high humidity.

I mowed and raked on Friday so Don and I could plant this weekend. We ended up getting 12 Happy Trails Daylilies and 1 Highbush Blueberry in on Saturday, and 2 more Highbush Blueberries planted on Sunday.

Then the real fun began, as we moved the last of the 5 cu yd mulch pile into the BFB (back flower bed). Once we'd moved the mulch, we moved the last of the rocks that were left over from the patio being built. These were the largest of the rocks, and could only be rolled and shoved into place.

We even went to Pro Landscape Supply and bought 6 granite stepping stones to put in the flowerbeds. Three lead to one set of birdfeeders, and three lead to the other set of birdfeeders. We would have needed seven, but we used a granite rock the excavator couldn't get out of the ground as a stepping stone. Boy are we going to feel the pain tomorrow!

This flowerbed runs from East to West across more than half of the backyard. You cannot imagine how many leaves pile into this bed in the fall.

What's really sad is, the thing we're most excited about is the fact we can use the top of our driveway again!

I'm making progress . . .

Cold front came through and cooled us down, temps stayed in the high 70's for a week!

I definitely took advantage of the cooler temps and weeded, which had gotten out of control while I was on vacation. It took me a week, but I got most of the weeds in the flower beds as well as the deadheading done.

Also this past week we had quite the bird event. The baby Goldfinches were brought to the feeders; there must be 20 to 30 babies in my yard and trees. They are so sweet and not timid at all, you can walk right up to them and look them in the eyes. You can't imagine how much noise that many baby finches can make all wanting to be feed at the same time.

One morning I looked out the front window, and I had 3 Bluejays sitting on the rim on FFB#3's birdbath, with 1 in the water taking a bath. As I watched, each one would wait patiently for the other to finish bathing, then take it's turn. Afterward, each one would fly off to sit in the tree branches to shake of excess water, before flying away, how precious.

This is the second year my Turtlehead flowers have been in the

ground and they're looking quite pretty. I think I'm going to start planting smaller flowers among the larger perennials.

While this flowerbed is a very pleasant place to sit, and I'm really glad I put it in, it's really challenging to keep weeded!

Wow, am I feeling spoiled!

As predicted, the warm front has moved in, high of 90.

I was out watering this morning when an UPS truck backed up the driveway and left a package by the garage door. I took it in the house so Don and I could open it, and to our surprise, inside was a very pretty yellow rose bush, sent to us by my father. Yellow is not only my favorite color, but is also my favorite colored rose. You could not tell it was delivered, it looked instead like we had just picked it up from the nursery.

I promptly watered it and set it in the sun, then Don took a picture of the flowers with Punkin and I on the deck beside it. We'll enjoy it in the basket for a while, then I'll probably plant it in a real pretty spot in the garden this fall. I did this a lot when we lived at the Couture home, and they do great in the garden.

Then after lunch we took Punkin on a walk down to the mailbox, and found there was an anniversary card from Don's parents, with a check for dinner out. Wow, I'm feeling pretty spoiled about now!!

Also during the walk down to the mailbox, we ran into our turkey family (mom and the two young-uns), this time they were hanging out by the dried up vernal pond. Later on I saw mom sitting in the loam pile, something she has absolutely fallen in love with. I wonder how much longer the twins will be with her?

More mowing before the hot front moves in -

A nice morning gave way to increasing clouds along with higher humidity, high of 85.

Don and I went out to mow after lunch and the first thing I ran into was more frogs, this time a Wood Frog, which live in the grass, go figure why they're named "wood" frog. So, since I talked about the Leopard Frogs, I decided it wasn't fair not to talk about the Wood Frogs.

Wood frogs have a very different song than leopard frogs, and I find them more in the grass by the tree margins, rather than in, or by, the wetlands or ponds. They seem to be less prolific than leopard frogs, or are just smarter at staying out of the way of mowers.

Usually by this time of year I'm stopping the mower 4 to 5 times a mowing session to move either a leopard or wood frog. Sadly however, that number is down to 2 to 3 times per mowing session this year. I'm guessing because of the drought, frog numbers are down.

My favorite "sounding" frog is the Spring Peeper. They start singing early in the spring and continue through May and sometimes into June. They start up at dusk and sing until at least 2AM. In fact, their chorus can be so deafening, if you have the windows open it's hard to get to sleep.

Spring peepers are nocturnal and in cold weather like ours they will hibernate under logs or loose bark. They belong to a family known as "Chorus Frogs" and their distinct call is a sign that spring is underway.