Rough Landing

I was awakened from an unintended nap this afternoon by a large crash and the sound of breaking glass. 

It was a very rough landing for this roughed grouse.

Jim Dandy

I had a visitor in Biscuit Hollow this weekend.  They said their name was Jim.  Jim Dandy.  Well, that was just fine with me.

Fall Foliage 2012

 Perhaps because of the dry weather, fall colors showed up early this year it seemed.  By the time these first pictures were taken on 9/27, the red maple near the pond that is usually so brilliant had already dropped its leaves.  Again, perhaps because of the dry weather.  I hope it's not dying.

 As the fall progressed, the colors did not disappoint.

 Now at the end of October, the maples have dropped their leaves and it's time for the oaks to display their beauty.

Fence Mending

 Adam had announced several weeks before that on this date, he would be painting his fence.   Things had been hectic for us and we had not been able to plan ahead for a trip to Joppa.  But at 5AM, we left and called an hour out to warn them of our arrival.  Under watchful eyes, we soon got started.

 And with proper instruction from Elena, I improved my fence painting skills.

 Adam and I had fun working together.

 And Rachel had a chance to help.

 We were finished enough before dark to admire our work.

 And even had time for some play with the kids before we left.

It would have been a perfect trip if not for a blow-out on I15 at 11PM just before arriving home.

Mums the Word

Wow.  This is the first post since April!  So I guess "mum" really was the word.  Well, we have been busy and I will try to fill in the blanks as time allows this fall and winter.  Probably as much in sequential order as possible.

For now, this old golf cart (that came with my first golf clubs bought at a yard sale in Ithaca while in college) was repurposed to hold flower pots.  And a hollow piece of firewood works well too.  

Dean's Company

 Dean thought he needed company in the Archer's Den so he carved a companion.

Turkey Calls

 I tried my luck hunting turkeys this year.  I don't know if I was a good turkey caller or not.  I certainly was not successful.

 But who needs turkey calls when they make house calls?

Queen Anne's Lace

I wish I had a cash market for Queen Anne's Lace.  A common name for this is wild carrot and the roots actually taste a "little" like carrot.  Maybe the organic market would eat it up.

Walking Sticks

 I have been thinking about carving some walking sticks.  But then this one showed up on my garage siding.  Certainly an odd looking creature that you don't see very often.

Getting Antsy

I hadn't checked the trail camera since the April 22 snowstorm and I was getting antsy about what images it may have.  Plus, I suspected the batteries were probably dead.

 One of the neat things about trail cameras is that they always have a story to tell.  And this was going to be one of the better stories.  Here, we can see just 4 hours later, the snow has melted quite a bit.  But you can still see my ski tracks.

 And three days later, not a trace of snow.

 Notice how a week later how much things have greened up and the dandelions are in bloom.

 Even more lush a few days later  as this hungry bear wonders by.

And five days later, even more lush as a different bear browses.

This young buck is finding a nice meal.  

As is this turkey.

And now the autumn olive and honey suckle shrubs are in full bloom.  If only the camera could capture the aroma.

An interesting back story here is when I went to retrieve the SD card from the camera, the camera was covered with ants.  My efforts to brush them off were futile so I retrieved the whole camera and brought it back to camp.  I soon realized the camera itself was infested and I could see ants inside the lens!  Oh, the batteries were still good.  But the 2 gig card was filled with almost 3,000 pictures and had shut down.  Apparently, the ants invaded the camera on the 14th and their movement inside the lens caused the camera to trigger every few minutes for the next several days.  But I still had pictures of deer, turkey, and bear mixed in.

It took a few days to get all the ants out of the camera and it is now back in service.

Late Spring Snow Storm

Hard to believe, but yet, not unheard of.  Five to seven inches of wet heavy snow fell on this date, reminding us at once of the beauty and the beast that is our weather.

Lower logging road.

The "park".

Christmas tree plantation.

Downed branches.  There were many.

Burnt from falling across electric line.  No power outage though.

And we played.  Jann hurried over after work and she finally got to use her new skis.

Christmas Tree Planting 2012

The tree planting is done for another year.  I planted 200 blue spruce this year.  But almost all of them were used to fill in the mortality I suffered from the drought last summer.

Angry Birds

While planting christmas trees today, I was entertained by this pair of bluebirds.

They were defending their nesting box against tree swallows who also thought it would be a nice place to live.