We've been having a fun time watching four groundhog babies grow up. I like watching them browse out back. When the sunlight hits them at the right angle, they look blond. What I can't decide is if it is two families combined or one Mother with four babies. Yes, they do dig holes around the property, and in the barn, and in the hay shed. Since we don't have horses right now the holes are less of a concern. If they start digging into the house, they're toast.
Last week my husband saw a doe browsing along the back edge of our side acre. She had a fawn with her and according to my husband, the fawn just attacked her for lunch. No "please" from the fawn and no "not now" from the Mom. I saw a doe nursing a fawn last month, along an interstate about five miles from our house. Apparently everything else stops until Junior gets fed.
We've had a little male House Wren doing a lot of singing near the back of the house. I started hearing strange sounds coming from the pellet stove exhaust so went outside and took a look. Sure enough, the pipe was plugged with twigs from the fir trees close by. Doing a little research, I found out that the male wren may build up to 8 rudimentary nests in his quarter acre homestead. The female will inspect the offered residences and once she chooses one, will start to fill it with softer material. I keep a net bag of dog hair, from the resident spoiled house pet, for the birds to use. Only the male sings and he is so cute, basic brown, sitting on the fence with his little tail flicking up and down. I've seen the female and I think she has taken up residence in the pellet stove exhaust but I'm not absolutely sure. I even bought some "freeze dried meal worms" to feed these little birds. Meal worms are suppose to be attractive to blue birds, indigo buntings, and other worm/suet eating birds.
The bird feeder has become a problem due to the persistence of a local raccoon. It's a medium size animal and I am loath to dispatch it at this point. It doesn't come into the dog's yard as far as I can tell. It can access the bird feeder by climbing the yard's fence on the outside and dumping the bird seed out. I quit putting out seed for quite a while but now that the wren may have a family to support, I've started putting out very small amounts of seed with a side of meal worms. Apparently I'm also feeding a family of Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks. We have Red Bellied Woodpeckers, Nuthatches, one of the white striped sparrows, and a few finches. All the Chickadees seem to have disappeared. I even had two eat from my hand during the winter. Of course, the feeder was empty, it was freezing out, the wind was blowing, and I was cement headed enough to stand there like a statue with seed in my hand pretending to be a bird feeder. The husband, standing inside, warm and content, found the scene charming if a bit goofy, since I wasn't wearing a coat.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Strange Summer in Findley Lake
I am not one to make a final pronouncement on global warming. I do believe that it is happening, as it has happened in the past. How much of it is man-made is hard to quantify but it stands to reason that we, as humans, have participated in the current warming. Whether modifying our energy and other habits can have an effect is up for grabs but worth trying.
That said, this has been one of weirdest Spring and early Summer weather I've seen in a while. March had some nice weather. April was so-so. May was cool and we had frosts more frequently that was pleasant. I'd put the chrysanthemum cuttings that I'd nursed all winter outdoors, figuring the weather was OK. Next think I knew, we were rushing out at bedtime to bring them back indoors. My big pot of Lemon Grass (an Asian seasoning used to a tropical climate) thinks it's gone to HELL. All winter it limped by on the enclosed front porch, extremely cool. We started putting it outside and then had to yank it back in. Then out, then in again. One of these days, it's just going to quit on me.
Yes, our last frost date is somewhere around June 15th so frost in May was to be expected. Unfortunately, the frost continued into early June. A walk around our property last week showed not a single apple on our three trees. Since they are in different locations with different exposures, the micro climate for each is different. I expected at least some apples but there were none.
On the good side, our energy costs have been very modest. The natural gas bill has dropped significantly for May and June. While temperatures were cool outside, the house was able to hold it's comfortable temperature with little need for the furnace. Ditto for the electric bill. Over the last few years, we have needed to install window A/C's in May because of the heat. We have now reached June 29th with no A/C's installed. I would say we had possibly two evenings where the temperature was above 70 degrees. Up until maybe last week, night temperatures outside were in the mid to upper 50's. We are starting to hit the low 60's consistently now. Every morning, the question has to be answered - shorts or long pants.
Tomorrow, Tuesday June 30th, the weather is suppose to be rainy and between 57 - 60 degrees. As I said, weird weather.
That said, this has been one of weirdest Spring and early Summer weather I've seen in a while. March had some nice weather. April was so-so. May was cool and we had frosts more frequently that was pleasant. I'd put the chrysanthemum cuttings that I'd nursed all winter outdoors, figuring the weather was OK. Next think I knew, we were rushing out at bedtime to bring them back indoors. My big pot of Lemon Grass (an Asian seasoning used to a tropical climate) thinks it's gone to HELL. All winter it limped by on the enclosed front porch, extremely cool. We started putting it outside and then had to yank it back in. Then out, then in again. One of these days, it's just going to quit on me.
Yes, our last frost date is somewhere around June 15th so frost in May was to be expected. Unfortunately, the frost continued into early June. A walk around our property last week showed not a single apple on our three trees. Since they are in different locations with different exposures, the micro climate for each is different. I expected at least some apples but there were none.
On the good side, our energy costs have been very modest. The natural gas bill has dropped significantly for May and June. While temperatures were cool outside, the house was able to hold it's comfortable temperature with little need for the furnace. Ditto for the electric bill. Over the last few years, we have needed to install window A/C's in May because of the heat. We have now reached June 29th with no A/C's installed. I would say we had possibly two evenings where the temperature was above 70 degrees. Up until maybe last week, night temperatures outside were in the mid to upper 50's. We are starting to hit the low 60's consistently now. Every morning, the question has to be answered - shorts or long pants.
Tomorrow, Tuesday June 30th, the weather is suppose to be rainy and between 57 - 60 degrees. As I said, weird weather.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
My Lava Lamp
Six years ago, I asked for a lava lamp for Christmas. Darling Husband, ever willing to accommodate my fancies, bought me my hearts desire, the blue one with purple blobs.
It was interesting for a short while but not practical. Then our lives became stressful due to health issues and we had to make our bedroom on the first floor in our family room. I brought down the lava lamp and we used it for a night light. What a wonderful stress reliever that turned out to be. Worries kept us up or woke us up at night and we could slowly push them away by watching the languid movement of purple blobs, up and down the lamp. They bumped and passed each other. Sometimes they coalesced into bigger blobs. Early in the evening, as the wax which made up the bobs warmed up, strands would stretch like tentacles from top to bottom. Always different and always the same.
Health issues resolved, bedroom was moved back upstairs, but the lava lamp now had a place in our lives much greater than either of us imagined. Even now, my husband turns it on most nights and will notice if we forget to turn it on. We are on our third bulb, ratcheted down to a 25 watt to save money. It still works the same. The blobs go up, the blobs go down, pretty purple in a sea of bright blue. Worries rise and worries fall, and we go back to sleep.
It was interesting for a short while but not practical. Then our lives became stressful due to health issues and we had to make our bedroom on the first floor in our family room. I brought down the lava lamp and we used it for a night light. What a wonderful stress reliever that turned out to be. Worries kept us up or woke us up at night and we could slowly push them away by watching the languid movement of purple blobs, up and down the lamp. They bumped and passed each other. Sometimes they coalesced into bigger blobs. Early in the evening, as the wax which made up the bobs warmed up, strands would stretch like tentacles from top to bottom. Always different and always the same.
Health issues resolved, bedroom was moved back upstairs, but the lava lamp now had a place in our lives much greater than either of us imagined. Even now, my husband turns it on most nights and will notice if we forget to turn it on. We are on our third bulb, ratcheted down to a 25 watt to save money. It still works the same. The blobs go up, the blobs go down, pretty purple in a sea of bright blue. Worries rise and worries fall, and we go back to sleep.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Turkey Sandwiches with Vidalia Onions
How can you beat turkey sandwiches? Giant Eagle whole grain sour dough bread, real mayo, grilled turkey breast (see yesterday's post), big slabs of raw vidalia onion, salt and pepper. Trying not to overeat but it's hard when something tastes that good.
Living in the Country and Technology
Since we live in a snow belt but formerly worked in Erie PA, where they get less snow than we do, I've always been proud to say that we ignore weather reports. Where we live, the weather is what you see out the window when you get up. When we were working and had to drive into Erie daily, a weather report was pretty meaningless. If you got up and there were two feet of snow, you started digging. The cars had extra cold weather clothes, towels or blankets, and flashlights. Weather reports here are frequently wrong, no matter how high tech the equipment so being prepared is a way of life.
Saying all that, yesterday our little digital outdoor thermometer went on the fritz. Since there is an outside sender and an inside receiver, both requiring batteries, we will have to replace both sets. Meanwhile, it burped out a temperature of 32 degrees last night so we hustled in the plants on the walk. Somehow, I just don't think it really was that cold. For one thing, when I stepped out at 11pm, I was comfortable. That would definitely not happen if it were freezing. We even check it to decide long pants or short, crew socks or cropped, jacket or short sleeves. I guess battery changing is in the plans for tonight.
Saying all that, yesterday our little digital outdoor thermometer went on the fritz. Since there is an outside sender and an inside receiver, both requiring batteries, we will have to replace both sets. Meanwhile, it burped out a temperature of 32 degrees last night so we hustled in the plants on the walk. Somehow, I just don't think it really was that cold. For one thing, when I stepped out at 11pm, I was comfortable. That would definitely not happen if it were freezing. We even check it to decide long pants or short, crew socks or cropped, jacket or short sleeves. I guess battery changing is in the plans for tonight.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Turkey Breast on the Grill
Today was a lovely Father's Day. Since I don't find my way into the kitchen much lately, I thought I'd stretch a little and cook supper.
Dinner was a small turkey breast from the freezer, purple potatoes, and mixed summer squash, all cooked on the charcoal grill. If you've never cooked a turkey breast straight out of the freezer, it is really a time saver. This one was nice and small, almost 3 pounds and just right for two people.
Rules for cooking a frozen turkey breast are basically 1/2 hour for each pound plus an extra 1/2 hour because it is frozen. After starting the charcoal, move it to the outer edges of the grill. In this case, I put the breast on a small rack over a shallow small pan that used to belong to an old toaster oven that died. Put about 1 cup water in the pan. I also made about 1/4 cup of flavoring - mostly soy sauce, a bit of lemon juice, chopped garlic, rosemary, and ginger. After the breast had cooked for about 1/2 hour, I was able to separate the skin from the meat and pour in the flavoring sauce.
After the turkey had cooked for over one hour, I added more charcoal. At that point the foil wrapped potatoes were put in, along with a cake tin of chunked zuchini, yellow squash, onions, garlic and thyme.
In another hour, the meat was done, as were the veggies. Supper was very tasty and we have enough left over for turkey sandwiches and another supper just like tonight. After an ice cream cone, chat with friends, and ride around the lake, we called it a thoroughly pleasant Father's Day.
Dinner was a small turkey breast from the freezer, purple potatoes, and mixed summer squash, all cooked on the charcoal grill. If you've never cooked a turkey breast straight out of the freezer, it is really a time saver. This one was nice and small, almost 3 pounds and just right for two people.
Rules for cooking a frozen turkey breast are basically 1/2 hour for each pound plus an extra 1/2 hour because it is frozen. After starting the charcoal, move it to the outer edges of the grill. In this case, I put the breast on a small rack over a shallow small pan that used to belong to an old toaster oven that died. Put about 1 cup water in the pan. I also made about 1/4 cup of flavoring - mostly soy sauce, a bit of lemon juice, chopped garlic, rosemary, and ginger. After the breast had cooked for about 1/2 hour, I was able to separate the skin from the meat and pour in the flavoring sauce.
After the turkey had cooked for over one hour, I added more charcoal. At that point the foil wrapped potatoes were put in, along with a cake tin of chunked zuchini, yellow squash, onions, garlic and thyme.
In another hour, the meat was done, as were the veggies. Supper was very tasty and we have enough left over for turkey sandwiches and another supper just like tonight. After an ice cream cone, chat with friends, and ride around the lake, we called it a thoroughly pleasant Father's Day.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Choppy Gray Day on Findley Lake
While the weather has been reasonably nice, it has also been unseasonably cool. This was brought home when the natural gas and electric bills arrived. Both were unusually low (what a welcomed surprise to our checkbook!). May saw temperatures at night in the 50's with an occasional night in the 40's. Days were in the 50's and 60's. As long as there is no wind, our house holds it temperature fairly well. With lights and computers running, we generate a fair of amount of heat so with moderate temperatures outside we stay comfortable. On cool days in May, we ran the pellet stove for a few hours. Neither the furnace, using natural gas, nor the pellet stove (which requires electricity to run) were used much and our utility bills reflected that.
Now it's the middle of June and we are still getting by with only screens in the windows. Sleeping temperatures have been refreshingly cool. Normally we install the A/C units in May but so far, we haven't even needed a window fan. It's so nice to not hear the ching ching ching of utility bills ratcheting up.
Today is a good example of this strange weather. Late in the evening and it is 60 degrees out and 73 degrees in our family room with just the TV, computers and light on. Today was gray, rainy, windy and Findley Lake had a chop on it. The big blue weed harvester could not operate because of the wind and chop. There was one teenager fishing on the end of a dock. Everyone else had the sense to just watch from indoors.
Now it's the middle of June and we are still getting by with only screens in the windows. Sleeping temperatures have been refreshingly cool. Normally we install the A/C units in May but so far, we haven't even needed a window fan. It's so nice to not hear the ching ching ching of utility bills ratcheting up.
Today is a good example of this strange weather. Late in the evening and it is 60 degrees out and 73 degrees in our family room with just the TV, computers and light on. Today was gray, rainy, windy and Findley Lake had a chop on it. The big blue weed harvester could not operate because of the wind and chop. There was one teenager fishing on the end of a dock. Everyone else had the sense to just watch from indoors.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
