Final day of holiday, woke to smoke in the air . . .

Sunny and nice, a little warmer today with a high of 80 and a morning low of 57.

When I went out to feed the birds first thing in the morning, I had to put a jacket on it was so chilly. At the time the sky was a deep blue, but it didn't take long until smoke started filtering through the woods from the East. Obviously there's a brush fire some where in the vicinity. I was afraid of this, I knew it was just a matter of time before we had one, it's been so dry.

I spent the entire day watering something, as the smoke continued. I just found out there are 60 different wild fires burning out of control in Quebec. So far, 160 acres have been burnt by noon, while New England is being covered with smoke, some places visibility is down to 3 miles. The fires started because of dry conditions and lightening strikes, 400 people had to be evacuated. Manitoba and NH have gone to Quebec to help fight the fires. Unless we start getting rain, this will be duplicated all across the region. This is the reason I got my property logged, to get rid of the brush and dead trees.

On the bright side, all the Mountain Laurels are in bloom, so I took a bunch of pictures. To the left is a VERY old Mountain laurel, it's over 10' tall and about 5' wide, it's white. We have 3 of this size on the property.

To the right is a picture of a group down by Mill Pond Stream, also white. We have very few of the pink, why I don't know.

The second picture on the left is an up close view of some of the Laurels by the shed. I wish they had a fragrance, but the don't. On second thought, we have so many of them, it would probably be over-powering :-).

Another gorgeous day for Memorial Day weekend -

Sunny, low humidity with a high of 78.

While I'm really enjoying the low humidity, I'm afraid it's a killer when it comes to trying to keep everything watered. Boy is everything dry, we need rain badly, everything is showing stress, even the grass I'm watering daily.

After watering in the morning, I set sprinklers all day long along the East side of the driveway, which has no in ground sprinklers. While I watered, Don helped me fertilize the upper yard. Because of the hills I can't see where I've been, so Don helps guide me.

After fertilizing I mowed the West side of the driveway, which finally completed the mowing for the weekend, which I had anticipated would get finished Friday. That is, before sticking my finger in front of the power trimmer, dah! After mowing it was pretty much an uneventful day, just lots of sitting on the deck to enjoy the fruits of our hard labor.

At suppertime we went out to start the BBQer to see if we had any unwanted bird nests, thankfully none yet, when Don noticed something blooming on the either side of the duck pond. I didn't want to go over there since I had just gotten out of the shower, so Don went, and saw the prettiest Mtn Laurel in bloom. He came back to get the camera and took a picture for me. To the left you can see what a full head of blooms it had. We are very fortunate to have many Mountain Laurels on the property, some white and some pink. Obviously they must like moisture and shade if they like our yard.

I took another picture of one of my Elf Mountain Laurels which is just prolific right now. It's the most beautiful baby pink, very delicate and pleasing to the eye! I have three Elf Laurels, two pink and one white, the white isn't blooming as well, maybe next year will be it's turn.

The semi-official start of summer, Memorial Day Weekend - we opened our pool for business too!

It was a little more humid today with a high of 79. Gorgeous morning though, I sat on the deck in-between setting sprinklers for FB's 6A, 7 & 8.

We started the fountain for the birds today, so it's official, summer has started! Birds love the sound of running water, and the finches like to land on top of the frog heads to get a drink from the stream coming out of their mouths.

We learned something new today about our Ruby-throated hummingbird. When I went to fill the watering can from the house faucet, the hummingbird would come and chip at me, then get a drink of juice, which is right by the faucet. He did this every single time, until Don figured it out, the hummingbird was trying to establish dominance of the feeding station. We've seen two males at the feeder fight, one of which is the alpha. Just wait til the female gets off the nest though, guess who will own the feeder then?

For the very first time we saw a Rufous Sided Towhee, it was on the ridge of the backhill eating under the small pine trees. He must have stayed to eat for at least half an hour, I have no idea however, what he was eating, but he sure was pretty. Every time we go to sit on the deck we take our binoculars and bird book, it makes identifying birds easier.

The Jacob Ladder's are in bloom. About the time they bloom we get a bad thunderstorm and down pour, so we must be about due. They're so fragile it usually beats them down, poor things. I should try finding something that would stake them . . . . If you click on the picture, you will see the hummingbird feeder in the background.

After lunch I finished trimming the upper yard, which is what I was trying to do yesterday, when I cut my finger and had to go to the ER. After trimming I raked, then mowed the East side of the lower yard. I had just finished mowing and was raking when a small cloud burst went over. It did nothing for the flowers or grass, it just got everything wet enough I couldn't mow anymore.

Oh well, I'd probably abused my finger enough on the first day of back to gardening.

I've "suffered" a set back in my planting schedule;

Sunny and nice, beautiful light breeze with a high of 77. Wow, has this been a wonderful spring, except for a few hot days thrown in, it's been off the charts. The down side is, it's really dry, we are way behind in precip totals to date.

I did my usual routine of watering in the morning. Then after lunch, I went out to finish the raking and trimming of the upper yard before I began mowing the lower yard. I didn't get very far however, maybe 10 minutes into the trim job, when I stupidly put my left hand in front of the power trimmer and just about cut the end of my ring finger off. The trimmer blade was lodged in the bone and I couldn't get it off, so I ran to the house to get Don to remove it. Not to be gross or anything, but I pretty much spotted up the front step with blood splatter.

Don rushed me to the ER and I spent the rest of they day getting x-rays and stitches. The good news is, I didn't chip, cut, or compress a bone, or cut a nerve ending that may have required surgery. The bad news is, they put stitches in the finger nail, yuck, and finger, and I now have this huge bandage on the finger, which makes it tough to get any gardening done, or to type this blog . . .

Not to be deterred, I am going to try and finish the trimming, raking, and mowing tomorrow; the biggest problem will be getting Don to let me.

After the ER we went for ice cream, yum! Moral of the story, don't stick your fingers in front of sharp objects, dah!

It is starting to look and feel like summer -

Sunny and nice with a high of 79, a few clouds in the sky but not humid.

Unfortunately, the low front I was anxiously anticipating only brought a small amount of rain last night, so I spent half the morning watering. Then about 10:30 I was off to buy lawn products at John Deere Landscaping, and was I in for a rude awakening. As it turns out, the Manchester branch has a "good 'ole boys" network going. I waited 20 minutes while the manager helped other men who came in after me. I was stunned, he wouldn't even make eye contact with me. The put down was very uncomfortable, so I decided to leave, rather start an argument.

However, not heeding my own advice, while running a different errand I decided I wasn't about to let someone refuse to acknowledge me or help me because of my gender. So I went back, forced the manager to wait on me, and got the number of the branch manager. I'm hoping by calling someone higher in the "food chain", the next person may not have to go through the degradation I felt. If it weren't for the fact Lesco has an awesome product, I wouldn't go back. John Deere does have another location in Nashua, I may try there, but I hate the thought of giving in to pressure.

Oh well, enough on that subject. After I got home I mowed the upper yard taking half strips at a time. I did get half the yard raked and the back sidewalk trimmed before the blackflies chased me in, I'll finish raking and trimming tomorrow.

I hate to say it, but the yard really needs fertilizer, and because I waited a bit too long, the grass by the pond is getting a fungus. Now that I finally have the fertilizer, I'm hoping to get it applied either today or tomorrow.

I'm running out of shoes!

It's even worse today, with a high of 95, trees, grass, shrubs; all are showing a bit of heat stress today. A low is coming through this afternoon and evening, so we may get some rain and high winds. I'll definitely take the rain, we are really in for it I fear this year.

Once again I was watering all morning. While I was watering the shade flowerbed on the back side of the house, I heard this peeping noise. I looked up expecting to see a chipmunk, but instead I saw our Ruby-throated Hummingbird hovering about 2' from me and it's feeder. I decided to stand real still to see what it would do, and low and behold it came in for a long drink of juice. I could see it's little feet really well, and could actually see it's wings beating. I could tell it was a male, because he had a gorgeous ruby colored throat. After his drink, he went on his way, looking for more flowers, he loves the azaleas.

When I was carrying a watering can down to the newly planted Washington Hawthorn, I ran into a red squirrel that had just jumped onto the BFB birdbath. Again, I decided to come to a halt and stand perfectly still. He continued getting his drink, actually several drinks, while keeping an eye on me. Once he was done he left to go maraud the woods for more seed. Don and I both agree, red squirrels are so darn cute with their big brown eyes and white eyeliner.

Last but not least, the squirrels are getting very devious about trying to storm the birdfeeders. This morning when I went out to water flowers, I found a siege machine laying under the tray feeding station. It had been left behind by the squirrels after a failed attempt to scale the ramparts, we quiver at the thought of what's coming next ;-).

Yikes, the other shoe fell!

Hot with a high of 90 degrees, yuck!

I got up early to get all my watering done before it got hot, then I had to go to work for the day :-(
Since my workroom has no windows, I can't really say what went on in my yard today, but . . .

What I can say is, I could hardly see out of my left eye all day because of the swelling. Yesterday while we were planting trees, I got stung in the morning above my left eye by a bee, and later in the afternoon around 4:ish when the blackflies came out, two got me on the inside corner of the same eye. I knew when I went to bed my eye was swelling, but didn't really think too much more about it . . .

Until morning when I woke and my vision was blurry and my eye felt tight. When I looked in the mirror I saw the swelling was even worse at the inside corner of my eye. Oh well, I wouldn't be the first New Englander with a swollen face after gardening. From Mother's Day to Father's Day, blackflies come with the territory.

Sunny and warm and we still got 3 trees planted!

Sunny and warm with a high of 84.

Because of the warmth, Don wanted to start planting in the morning, something we usually don't do because the grass is still wet from the sprinklers running. It went so well that by 12:30 we had planted two apple trees, a McIntosh and a Cortland.

LEFT:
Cortland

RIGHT: McIntosh

Feeling emboldened, after lunch we went out to plant the peach tree, and that's when the good streak ended. We hit the rock shelf in the first hole we dug, and there's no way you can get through a rock shelf. The builder dynamited the pad we live on to clear the land, and since Don and I don't have access to dynamite, we decided to move the hole.

In the second hole we dug we hit a large rock, and after finding the edges of it, we knew it was going to be too big to lift out of the hole, even if we did get it dislodged. So it was onto trying to dig a third hole, the catch being, trying to find a place that would work with the other fruit trees and previous landscaping.

I guess the third time is the charm, because we hit rocks small enough that could be removed, and finally got the peach tree planted. It was now 4PM, and the peach tree had taken longer than the two apple trees put together. We still had to clean up and put tools away, so it wasn't until 5PM we were in the house and getting cleaned up.

Now onto the really big news of the day:

• Our hummingbird came back today for the first time this season.
• I saw the Bobcat in the woods; it was about 4' off the ground in a tree when it leaped onto the forest floor to catch it's prey. It all went so fast I have no idea what, or even if, it caught anything.
  
• I was in the house when I heard something large land on our back hill. At first I thought one of our wild turkeys was trying to take a dirt bath. But upon closer examination, I saw it was our Red-tailed Hawk, it had pounced on the back hill trying to catch a chipmunk. Afterward he just sat there a minute, trying to figure out how he'd missed his prey.
• Last but not least, I found out why my Coreopsis isn't blooming, the chipmunks are eating the buds off. I'm going to have to find a pepper spray I can use that won't be appealing to their palette. Because another thing I noticed, we have baby chipmunks everywhere!
  

Absolute gorgeous day;

A little cloudy in the morning giving way to sunny skies in the afternoon, high of 77 with low humidity.

Boy are we excited; for the very first time we spotted an Indigo Bunting at our quad feeding station. It was here for about 10 minutes hitting various feeders. To say the contrast between the indigo blue and bright yellow of the finches beside it was striking, is an understatement. It's hard to believe nature could come up with something so intensely brilliant in color.

Once again, I spent the entire morning watering flowerbeds and pots (I really don't mind ;-).

Then after lunch, Don and I started clearing an area in the tree margins by our pond. Wow, this was hard, hot, dirty ,work. The area was filled with wild raspberries that were taking over and making it very difficult for anything else to grow. Someday I am going to reclaim the pond area, and turn it into a fairly nice water feature "we" can enjoy, as well as the frogs and ducks.

Speaking of frogs, while I was out there I spotted two large Green Frogs (BTW, that's their name, Green Frog) I almost stepped on before they jumped into the water. The time of the male frogs picking corners of the pond and croaking their best croak (these frogs sound like ducks) to woo the females is over, and the fruits of their croaking is here. Every time I mow, I have to be extra vigilant so I don't mow their babies, which are everywhere! Sometimes the babies are so stubborn, I have to turn off the mower, pick them up,and move them to safety.

Once the area was cleared enough for planting, we moved a Washington Hawthorn Dawn had given me as an Arbor Day gift. It came two springs ago as a bare root sprig, and has grown to over 4 feet tall. It's going to be a beautiful tree one day and is going to fill this area wonderfully.

When the tree is mature it will be approximately 25' tall by 20' wide. It gets white flowers in the spring, which turn into edible red fruit by late summer. It turns a beautiful orange and red in autumn, and is rated very high by the Arbor Day Foundation for bird sanctuaries. I hope our birds appreciate us . . .

The start of replanting and looking forward -

Partly sunny with a high of 78 - it was a gorgeous day.

The Weigela's are now in bloom in both the front and back yards; and with both the Weigelas and the Lilacs in full- bloom, the fragrance is almost over powering, seriously, it is!

In the morning Don and I removed the tin from around the trees and painted the damaged areas with pruning sealer. The tar in the quart containers does a better job of covering, so with the remaining two quarts I'm going to go back over the trees on which I used the spray.

We will be cleaning up the forest floor for the remainder of the season. Then we plan on renting a large chipper this fall and running the brush through it; I'll use the chips on the banks to the North and West side of our house . . . everything recycled!

After lunch we moved the Kieffer Pear tree we just planted last weekend, to a new location. It now sits in the backyard by the patio, and we planted an Autumn Flowering Cherry tree in it's place. The pear tree was planted where the frontyard slopes away, and after rains it drains there, so we planted something better suited about 1/3 above ground level. It's the tree I said in an earlier blog I just had to plant sometime, it just came earlier than I expected.

LEFT PICTURE: The tree in front is the Autumn Flowering Cherry tree we planted, someday it will get 25' tall and 20' wide. It flowers in both the spring and fall, hence how it got it's name. The tree in the background is a Sugar Maple we planted 4 1/2 years ago, it grows about 10" a year, not bad for a hardwood tree.

My Elf Mountain Laurels are also blooming, they are a dwarf variety that only get 3 to 4 feet tall. Next year I'll be planting the large Mountain Laurels in the forest, with most of those ranging between 6 and 8 feet tall when mature.

After a full day of hitting it in the yard, we were more than ready to soak in the tub and go to bed early.

Everything looks better in morning light -

A little warm but a beautiful day with a high of 84.

We're a little less depressed today, especially since the machines that are highlighted on TV shows such as, Axe Men, aren't logging our property today. We decided to plant some trees where we lost others. This year we're putting in sun loving trees only, next year we'll add some shade loving trees and shrubs to the forest. We're determined to make the property prettier than ever - at the very least, all the hard work will take our minds off of the loss, and force us to look forward.

We bought 4 - 15 gallon Sugar Maples, all of which range between 10 and 12 feet tall. Then we also bought 2 - 15 gallon Red Maples which are 10 feet tall. The 2 Red Maples are going to replace the 90' White Pine trees we lost on the West ridge. The 4 Sugar Maples are being planted in different locations on the property where areas were opened up to the sun. You can see 5 of the Maples in the picture above, the 6th is in the back up the hill.

The loggers finished up this morning, so after lunch I went out and sprayed 7 cans of tree pruning sealer on all the damaged trees in the hopes of saving them. I got most of the east side of the property done, and tomorrow we are getting 4 quarts of pruning sealer in we special ordered at our Ace Hardware store. Tomorrow we'll paint the rest of the trees, as well as take off the protective sheets of galvanized tin. I can't tell you how upset Don and I will be if more trees die because of the logging process.

LEFT PICTURE: We were on our way to Ace Hardware when look what we saw on our neighbor's future driveway, (which is how the loggers gained access to our property). Those are my trees! And the sad part is, there was another pile just like them at the loggers staging area. It really does take you back . . . .

After spraying the trees with sealant, it was time to get back to yard maintenance. So I mowed the upper yard and could only take half strips, what else, due to the length and density. Hard to believe, but it's about time to fertilize again, which in our area is about every 2 months.

Rainy and dreary, it matches our mood -

It rained during the night, we got around .75 inches of rain. It's suppose to rain a little more today, then clear off.

Don and I got up at 6AM to wrap the galvanized tin around the remaining trees we could protect before they started work on the west side of the property. This was not an easy job in the rain, but by 8AM we were done. Then we went up the road to take a picture of the staging areas. Because of the dark, rainy day, my pictures did not come out well.

The picture to the right is of one of the trees we tried to protect. It's a fairly good sized hard maple, we'll see if it did any good. You can see trees lying on the ground beside it that have to be hauled out. The piece of equipment that does the most damage to the trees is the skid loader.

The picture above to the left, shows the width of the path they have to clear of trees so their large logging equipment can get through. That path used to have big and little trees, now all gone . . .

The 2nd picture to the right is of our neighbors future driveway that the loggers used to get to our property. Pictured is the skid loader and "the beast" parked for the night. They started work again this morning about 9AM.

The last picture is of the staging area where they load the "logs" (that were trees) onto the logging truck. Here they will also chip the unusable pieces into a semi-trailer. I think that's what the large orange machine may be between the truck and logs.

About 11AM their skid loader got stuck, and the backhoe had to get it out. After they finished taking the trees out, the backhoe came through and tried to clean up the ruts. They did a really nice job in the yard by the logging road, but some areas of the woods are still pretty rutted. Especially where Turkey Run leaves the Duck Pond to circle around our east hill, only to empty in the lower wetlands by the street.

Because we have lost so many trees, we believe it is going to be necessary to replant some of the woods. As I mentioned before, we have to buy a forestry management book to figure this all out. It's a little daunting to say the least, not to mention a ton of money.

I thought about giving up and buying a little home in Texas near Dawn and Andy, but Don says he's not quite ready to move. So it's figure out how to make the property prettier again, so we can continue to enjoy living here.

On the bright side, we received another .25 inches of rain, so all total I think we are going to end up with 1" of rain. It was badly needed.

"They're here" . . . Lunber Jack Logging!

It's cloudy today, and humid, with a high of 67. We're supposed to get rain tomorrow.

When I glanced out the front door look who I saw had stopped in for a snack. We have chipmunks everywhere! I have 1 living on the west side of the house foundation, 1 living in FB#1 in the rock wall, 1 living under the deck, and a really friendly chipmunk who lives under one of the finch feeders at the edge of the woods. He just stands under the feeder by his hole and looks at us. We're going to start taking peanuts out with us every morning and see if we can get him to eat out of our hand.

We had a population explosion when I was scattering seed for them under the feeders. I have since stopped, so many of the multitudes scattered, thank goodness.

Guess who also stopped in this morning, my loggers, ugh! First they marked the trees that need to be taken out from the February storm damage. Then to my dismay, they marked the trees that have to be taken out, in order for them to get their large machinery in and out.

Oh my . . . Don and I did not comprehend what having "loggers" all entailed. First there's the trees we lost because of the large equipment that had to get through. Then there's the trees we will loose because they tore too much bark off of them, and then there's the trees they accidentally took down. All in all, I would say we easily lost another 15 good trees we didn't need to loose, and TONS of little trees that would have replaced the downed trees, but they're gone too.

The picture to the left is of a LARGE back hoe they brought in to gather trees so the skid loader could grab the trees for hauling to the staging area.

I mowed the yard all afternoon to try and take my mind of the devastation to the property. After they left and Don finished up at work, we went to Lowes to buy 8" x 4' pre-formed, galvanized tin heating pipe pieces, and annealed wire.

We are a bit concerned to say the least. We think we will have to buy several 35 gallon hard maples to replant the forest. We are going to get a book on forestry techniques in order to maintain a good, healthy forest in the future.

I have no idea what the beast pictured to the right is called. It's about two stories tall, and the round silver thing in the picture is the blade. It has just cut a tree and it's huge claws that were holding it while being cut are placing the tree on the ground. You would not believe the ruts this machine's track leaves.

The guys working have been really nice, and do seem to care, it's just Don and I did not comprehend the magnitude of what we had signed on for.

The picture to the left is of a skid loader. After the trees have been cut down by chainsaw or mechanical methods, it drags the trees to a staging area. Here they cut the trees into manageable lengths to be loaded onto the logging truck, or to be run through the chipper and blown into semi trailers. You are only seeing half of the machine in this picture.

And anyone who knows me well, know how much I love trees. It's like a passion with me, and is why I moved to NH. I need to try and stay positive and believe with time, a lot of hard work, and yet more money, the property will be even better than before.

It's really getting dry, we need rain -

Another sunny day with a high of 76. I'd say gorgeous, but we are really starting to get dry, so rain would have been nice. Oh well, it was nice out, and I know I shouldn't complain. I spent another morning watering, and will do so again tomorrow morning. Next chance of rain is Wednesday . . .

I'm trying to decide what to do about my Bradford Flowering Pear tree, it's a hybrid from China. It's in FB#1, and is starting to concern me. It's supposed to get 30' tall and 20' wide, which is a little big for it's area . . . oops! I think I'm going to get a book on tree trimming and try to get it under control. If trimming doesn't work, it's either grub it out, or grab what root ball we can and cut it back severely, then replant it and see if it makes it. We'll see . . . .

In the meantime, Don and I can't seem to make up our minds where to plant all the fruit trees. About the time we think we've decided, we change our minds and start playing musical chairs with the trees again. I'm running out of planting time on the "fruits", so I'm going to have to make a decision and live with it I think.

I took a picture of a Korean Lilac in bloom in FB#1. It seems to do the best of all my lilacs. I think they like more moisture and shade than the nursery tells you. When you click on the picture, the shrub in bloom beside it is my Variegated Weigala, isn't it pretty? The two shrubs planted together complement each other quite well.

2010 has been the best Spring I've ever seen for NE!

Yet another gorgeous day; deep blue skies with a light breeze and low humidity. I think this spring is going to go down as one of our best ever. Ended the day with a high of 72.

Another shot from the deck looking up from my chair, this time looking towards the East. A few clouds in the sky today, just enough to add interest to the photo. When you click on the picture to enlarge it, the two large trees are; on the left is a Hickory, and on the right is an Oak. Between the acorns and hickory nuts, the squirrels are quite happy. We think the squirrels and birds rate our resort a 4 star.

Unfortunately, bears love hickory nuts too, and because we also have wild raspberries on the property, it's no wonder they come down to visit us. I can't wait to see how they like the blackberries, strawberries, blueberries, and apples, yikes!!! Will there be anything left for me?

I spent the entire morning watering flowerbeds. Then after lunch, Don and I spent the afternoon trying to get a fruit tree planted. We finally got it in the ground around 3:30, so it was really too late to start another planting project. I have to tell you, planting trees in NH, when you live on a rock shelf, takes on a whole new meaning.

After planting, I sprayed my fruit trees and shrubs with Organicide, which is an organic spray (organic because of my birds) for insects and fungus. Growing fruit is going to take a learning curve on my part, because it's all new to me. The fussiest tree by far is going to be the peach tree. It's why I knew I needed to find a fruit spray, it was already getting leaf curl.

Mmmm, does that smell good!

Another gorgeous day in NE, a tad windy, but it keeps the blackflies away, so I'll take it. We ended the day with a high of 69.

The Korean Lilacs are in bloom and smell oh, so good! My Herbert Azaleas are also in bloom, as well as the Cottoneasters; together they made for a really pretty picture. This flowerbed is on the backside of the house on the east side of the deck.

The Sugar and Spice Foam flowers are in bloom and the Heartleaf Brunnera are just finishing up. This flowerbed is on the west side of the deck. Both are shade gardens, so it was fun planting something different for a change.

After lunch Don and I walked the property, then we went in to look up our fruit trees on the internet. We wanted to get a better idea of how they will look when in bloom, and what their shape/structure will be when fully grown. Once we decided where they would be planted, we read about any special planting locations or soil modification requirements.

Then it was off to nurseries and a "Good" home builder/hardware store. We now have 18 6' hardwood stakes, medium grade green wire, 10" rubber hoses, shrub and tree planting mix, organic fruit spray, and coco shell mulch. The only thing left is to plant!

Once we got home and unloaded the car, it was time to start dinner and read my gardening book, which is all about fruit trees and shrubs. So it was back to the deck to relax while I read and listened to the birds. The backyard has come a long way, but as Don says, we've spent an exorbitant amount of money, time, and labor on it.

Gotcha . . .

Cloudy and threatening rain. We could use the moisture, it all seems to be going south of us this year.

The birds always act like it's going to be their last meal when it's raining. So, since it rained last night and is threatening to rain again today, look who stopped in for a bite to eat.

You'll have to click on the picture twice to see them, but there are 3 Rose-breated Grosebeaks in the picture. A male and female on the cardinal feeder, and a female on the tower feeder. Grosebeaks love sunflowers and safflower, and they prefer to eat from trays like Cardinals. Of course the brilliant red, white, and black, Grosebeak is the male.

In the end, the sun broke through about 4Pm and that was the end of any hopes of getting more rain. The temp rose quickly once the sun came out and we ended up with a high of 68.

Cooper's Hawk, fast, strong, and uncommon -

Gorgeous day with deep blue skies, zero clouds, with a high of 68. The picture to the left was taken looking up while sitting in my chair on the deck. This shot is looking Northwest.

Don and I were looking out the kitchen window and look what flew to the peanut trays and landed. It's a Cooper's Hawk, and it's like he's saying, "in your face" to the Bluejays, whom he/she consistently hunts as prey. We've seen him chase our jays into trees and shrubs trying to catch them, which is quite a feat considering how fast and strong the Bluejays are.

Last year a Cooper's Hawk caught a Mourning Dove, but we were able to open the sliding door and scare it so it dropped the Dove on our deck. The Dove was missing several tail feathers, and refused to leave the safety of our deck for several hours, but did live through the experience. Still, the Doves keep coming and sunning themselves on the bank, it amazes me the Hawk hasn't caught more.

If you click on the picture a couple of times it really zooms in so you can see him better.

Someday maybe we'll get a picture of our Red Tailed Hawk with a kill, now he's BIG! He goes after the squirrels and chipmunks, and you can always tell when he's present, because you won't see a thing moving in the yard, not bird or rodent.

We also have Pigeon Hawks and Red Shouldered Hawks . . . man, do we live in a tough neighborhood or what?!?

After lunch I mowed the upper yard, trimmed around the sidewalks, trees, and flowerbeds, and raked the yard. Again, grass was long, (it's only been 4 days), and even though I only took half strips while mowing, I still had to rake, ugh!

While we were eating dinner and looking out the back windows, our turkey came to visit, and we both thought, man does he look dirty. Then sure enough, over to the dirt pile he goes for another dirt bath. He must be taking 2 to 3 dirt baths a day. I kind of got a picture this time, I had to take it through two panes of glass because the sliding door was open, so it's not real clear. But if you click on the picture twice it will help. You would not believe the amount of dirt he can sling, any guesses why he does it?

I knew it was getting dry . . .

Cloudy all day with a high of 55. We had a 40% chance of rain but it never materialized. Too bad to, because the half inch we received a few days ago wasn't near enough. We are having a dry spring after having a mild winter, I fear what this summer is going to be like.

The other day I looked out the kitchen window and all I saw was dirt flying and wings beating the air. Terrified the fox or bobcat was attacking one of our wild turkeys, I ran to the sliding door to break up the attack. But to my surprise, I found out the turkey was taking a dirt bath, and I'd interrupted his spa day. I admit, I felt rather foolish, but what would you think?

Then this morning I was upstairs and it was happening again, and I must admit, it startled me for just a moment, until I realized it was that darn turkey taking another dirt bath. So I ran downstairs, grabbed the camera to get a picture, and what happens? My memory card is missing from my digital camera and I missed the shot. Darn it all, and I would have gotten the picture too. Oh well, I guess someone is trying to tell me the back hill is getting a bit dry?

On a different note, about noon I was out trimming the grass around the sidewalks and trees when our next door neighbor who owns the hill behind us, and the property beside us, stopped in. He'd brought his logger with him and the three of us walked our property. Steve graciously offered to let the logger drag our trees across his property to the top of the hill, and have them chipped/shredded there.

In the end, we've decided to go with the logging company because of the minimal impact to the yard, instead of with Jeff, whom I originally signed the contract with. So, one way or another, I should have my trees gone and out of here by next week. I have to admit I'm a bit apprehensive, because now I'm worried about the underbrush, i.e., baby pine trees, mountain laurel, wildflowers, etc. These are going to be large machines coming in here.

These pictures were taken the day after the Hurricane winds hit us in February. Several White Pines and Hemlocks were upended and snapped off, causing damage to other trees.

And finally, late this afternoon I got slow release fertilizer worked into the lower half of the FFB. I'm now all done with that gardening chore till next spring. YEAH! Do the dance!!

Look out, it's another freeze warning, Ack!

They were calling for freeze warnings in the mountains and low lying valleys. Some places were expected to dip as low as 28 degrees. We set alarms for 1AM and 3:30AM to see what the temps were. We almost got up at 3:30 when it was 35 degrees to start throwing sheets over what we could, and to move the pots and fruit trees into the garage. But because the effort would be so daunting, we decided to play the "wait and see game". At 5:30AM it got down to 33.7, whew, dodged another one. The day ended up getting to a high of 60 degrees with beautiful blue skies.

Don and I went to Bedford Fields to get the gas tank filled with propane for the mosquito whacker, and Anita was saying it took them 2.5 hours to get everything covered with frost sheets the night before . . . now that's daunting!

BTW, remember that tree I thought I'd killed? I guess it's a late bloomer, because it's just now leafing out. I have to admit, I didn't know what I could have done to kill it, but who else to blame? When I went to the nurseries, all of their Green Mountain Maples were about in the same phase as mine, but I wasn't going to believe mine had made it until I saw the leaves with my own eyes. Don keeps asking if I'm now willing to admit it's okay, and I grudgingly admit, I think it made it through the winter. But I just don't remember it being this late before, so I'm going to keep an eye on it, and will note when it leafs again next year.

After lunch I mowed all of the lower yard plus the East side of the upper yard, which is approximately 40,000 square feet of grass. Once again the grass was so long I could only take half strips, so it took about 3 hours using a push mower. I tell everyone it's more fun than going to the gym!

Happy Birthday to me -

Sunny, but extremely windy with a high of 57.

Bedford Fields delivered my Galaxy Magnolia Don bought me for my birthday at about 8:30. Unfortunately, this bad boy is in a 15 gallon container, so that translates to hours of picking and digging in the rock shelf we live on. It's going up by the patio, someday he'll bring shade to the backyard and patio area.

The Bluejays love to fly between the trees and sit in them while waiting for their turn at the peanut trays. The birds are going to go crazy over the fruit trees, which I planted just as much for them as for myself.

I think "all" of the wildlife is going to love our fruit; blueberries, blackberries, black-raspberries, strawberries, . . . in fact, I wonder if there will be anything leftover for Don and I?

Happy Mother's Day -

Sunny, but raw and windy with a high of 51.

Don took me out for breakfast, then he graciously took me to a bunch of nurseries for Mother's Day. On our way out, look what we happened to see on our pond . . . Mrs. Mallard asleep, standing on a rock in the pond with her head tucked into her back feathers. We didn't even wake her when we took the picture! How sweet, this is the longest the honeymooners have ever stayed, maybe they'll actually nest here this year.

Now, onto our first stop of our Tour d' Nursery, Bedford Fields, where I found a 15 gallon Galaxy Magnolia tree, which gets 40' tall with a 25' diameter. I've always wanted a Magnolia tree, so Don bought me one for my birthday. It was too large for the car so we're having it delivered Monday. I did leave however, with a 3 gallon black-raspberry shrub to add to my fruit hedge.

Next stop was Amherst Nursery where we talked to the most knowledgeable nurseryman who was willing to take the time to talk, despite the Mother's Day crowd. While he didn't have the tree I was looking for, I will remember him next time I want nursery stock!

Onward we drove to Ponemah Farms Nursery, where I found the most beautiful, unique looking trees I've ever seen. Plus, their trees were bigger for the money. I will definitely be back here next year for an Autumn Flowering Cherry tree I've decided I just have to have. In the meantime, I bought 2 Lowbush Blueberry plants I hadn't found at any other nursery, yeah!

The next nursery was a little further away in Milford, but the Agway is always worth a trip, and this year they did not disappoint! I finally found my self-pollinating pear tree, its' a 10 gallon European Pear called Kieffer Dwarf, and sounds really good for eating from the tree and for canning. We were able to get this tree in the car, but I had to hold it in the back while resting the trunk on my knee.

(While checking out at the Agway, they handed me a basketful of flower seed packets and said I could choose one for free for Mother's Day, awe, how sweet. I chose blue Forget Me-Nots for my Forest Flower Bed, which is a shade garden.)

Feeling emboldened now, back to Bedford Fields we went to buy a 10 gallon Santa Rosa Plum tree. Only trouble is, we couldn't get it in the car, so we had to run home, empty the car, and come back.

In the left picture: tree on the right is the Santa Rosa Plum tree and the tree on the right is the Keiffer Pear tree. In the right picture: the tree on the left is the Cortland Apple tree, the tree in the middle is the Elberta Peach tree, and the tree on the right is the McIntosh Apple tree.

And to think, the BFB (Back Flower Bed), was "supposed" to be small and easy this year, ha! I just counted up the tally for this year's planting season, and it is as follows: 30 plants in the back, 3 new ones for the FFB, and 6 trees, good grief, someone got carried away :-).

Rainy days are meant for walk-abouts . . .

We are finally getting some badly needed rain, the yard was starting to dry out and I was having problems keeping up with the watering. Throughout the day we had a slow steady rain (the best kind) for a total of 1/2 inch of precip with a high of 54.

Early in the afternoon I looked out Don's office window and saw the ducks had left the pond and were on a walk-about. If you click on the pictures you will see Mr Mallard on the left, and Mrs. Mallard on the right, at this point they have probably walked 50 yards.

I kept watching them as they went down the West side of the house and into my FFB, the very one I was just working in yesterday. At this point they have walked another 25 yards. I think they were going to go down the hill and into Bear Creek, but saw us taking pictures and flew back to "their" pond. I did get another picture of them in the Forest Flowerbed before they flew. If you click on the picture, you can clearly see Mrs Mallard thinking about going down the hill, with Mr Mallard hiding behind one of my flowers along for the ride, I mean walk. (He follows her everywhere.)

I should have gone to Bedford Fields to buy some trees "today", because you get 15% off when it's raining, but it's just not as much fun! Instead, Don and I went to see Iron Man II at the Imax.

I'm in the home stretch now -

I just know we're going to pay for all these nice days, (the other shoe just has to drop), gorgeous yet again with a high of 69, wow!

I worked slow release fertilizer into the FFB (Forest Flower Bed) and got a little more than half the flowers done. After working the fertilizer in I spread slug bait. I hate too, because I worry about my Eastern Red-spotted Newts getting into it, so I only put it around the Hostas.

Unfortunately, something else is in love with my Hostas other than slugs, last year "it/they" ate the backs off of half of them. Of course Hosta leaves must look like a garden salad to rabbits, porcupines, or deer, it's hard to say which is the culprit. I'm going to try pepper spray and moth balls, I'll let you know if I stop them, better yet, if I catch them I'll report who was doing the dastardly deeds.

I only have 23 more to go in this flowerbed and I'm done for the year . . . ! Then it's just trying to keep up with the watering, and getting the new plants in the ground.

BTW, isn't my Newt just the cutest thing, they live under rocks and when you disturb them, they just slowly crawl away. The newt is a common salamander of eastern North America. Eastern newts dwell in wet forests with small lakes or ponds. I guess their skin secretes a poisonous substance when the newt is threatened or injured. They have a lifespan of 12 to 15 years in the wild, and may grow to 5 inches in length. Since I am surrounded by wetlands and creeks, I have them everywhere!

It's time to call the bailers . . .

I know I'm going to start sounding like a broken record, but another beautiful day, high of 75 with low humidity.

The Sugar Tyme Crabapple tree has finished blooming but the Poukhanese Azaleas are still going strong. They are one of my favorite flowers, they never disappoint. While the Goldmound Spirea set off their beautiful lavender blooms, the houses white bays are the perfect backdrop. Quite often I'll come around the corner and catch Goldfinches getting a drink in the birdbath. I think FB#3 is probably my favorite flowerbed.

I so miss my two 90' White Pine trees. In the picture to the right taken last summer, you can see their trunks on the hill. Not only did I loose the shade from the large Birch tree that grew between them, but now I don't have the shade from my pine trees either. FB#3 used to be a shade garden, now it's in sun for more than half the day, we'll see how the plants adapt. On a happier note, I never noticed till now how much the Sugar Tyme Crabapple tree has grown, cool :-).

In the afternoon I mowed the upper yard, if you can call it that. It was so long it was like cutting Timothy Grass in preparation for bailing hay. I could only mow half strips, so it took twice as long (like 3 hours long).

Boy oh boy did the weeds get away from me in the grass last year, I'll be trying to get the weeds killed all summer. Not only that, but the wild grasses are getting carried away as well. I think I'll have to Round Up the grass because I'm not sure Weed-be-Gone will kill it. Then I'll have to add dirt and grass seed, and I just hate trying to mow around dirt with baby grass coming in . . . oh well, what ya gonna do.

Jeff stopped by with the contract for removing the trees from February 10's winter hurricane. He's hoping he can start the job February 14, work the weekend, and finish up on Monday, we'll see. I'm a bit nervous about having all the trees taken down and how the yard is going to react, not to mention the Mountain Laurel that grows in the woods. I'll be sure to take pictures of the process, whether I share them or not is another matter, it may be too depressing.