September 24, 2007
I forgot the butterfly bush and lavender.
A.J., who visited Saturday, is learning that some trees have apples and some do not.
September 25, 2007
Saw Mother Doe and Spike under the apple tree. Spike is now as tall as his mother but much skinnier.
Tomatoes from the garden! Brandywines! Big! Delicious!
September 26, 2007
Every Fall, I buy a bale of hay and a bale of straw. The hay is for the goat or goats on cold winter nights. The straw is for berming the pump house and the outside water faucet. At the end of winter I will then use the straw for mulch. Sharon gave Annie some of the hay. She thought it was great, building a little burrow.
September 27, 2007
I’m in the Jail House Now. Went to Ashland this morning for a meeting. Was gone all day. Somehow, Cappy knew I was going. He watched me get ready, following me from room to room. Generally I can wait and he will become distracted. Not today. When I left he stood at the door and ... Cappy does not meow ... screamed. When I returned he saw me before I even entered the house. I stopped to lean down to pet him. He walked on by as if I wasn’t there. Several hours later, I was sitting in the living room when Cappy came in from outside. He saw me. It was like old times. He jumped up on the chair and kneaded my belly to be petted. I started to pet him and then ... he stopped, like he just remembered he was mad at me ... and jumped down and walked away. Give it time.
Sharon was down walking along the creek this afternoon. There is a place where there is a granite shelf, beneath a canopy of trees, and the creek tumbles by. Then she suddenly saw Manny and Manny saw her and he raced past, into the brush, up a tree. That’s how he says hello to people he knows. It is a little scary.
Brat is getting his summer-fall habit. Once he decides we are up he starts bellowing. Or, if you prefer, baaa-ing. He wants apples. We’ve got apples. He gets apples. Tomorrow it will be the same thing. If strangers are in the neighborhood, he is just as vocal but more frequent and maybe louder.
September 28, 2007
Cappy hasn’t quite forgiven me.
September 29, 2007
Daughter, The Younger, will be home for Thanksgiving! It rained yesterday and is supposed to rain tomorrow. I surveyed the estate today. Following summer, it looked somewhat unruly. I notified Landscaping. Today I mowed the grass. Looks kinda like a mowed hayfield in the Fall.
One bunch of turkeys came through this morning. I counted 24.
September 30, 2007
It rained today. The snowy white egrets are back! We know there are huge populations of them in northern California where they are used to control bugs, etc. We know there are a few on the Rogue River. Where do these come from? California? Or, with the Fall rains, do they leave the river and come into the fields? The fields have been irrigated all along. The egrets could have come a month or two ago. Why now?
On the way to town, turkey buzzards were working the carcass of a freshly killed skunk. The smell was powerful. We have heard that some owls are partial to young skunks. So that puts two on the list of critters not offended by skunk.
On the way to town we saw a jay in the empty osprey nest. Chest all puffed out. Like a six year old behind the wheel of mom’s car.
A.J., with her dad, has been visiting relatives in Seattle. Not yet three and she has more air travel than I had by the time I was twenty-one! We picked them up, let her dad off at his car, and brought A.J. here for her mom to pick up later. Tonight, there they were! All in Red Hat Club red hats, marching through the house, blowing on a flute, beating on the drum. The leader with the baton was A.J. She did a good job leading.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Landed in Oregon XIV
October 2, 2007
Did I include hibiscus and autumn sedum in the inventory?
October 3, 2007
We have had some rain and the surface of the ground is dark with moisture. Cappy went out this morning and was diligently hunting for dust. There was none. Finally he discovered the garage floor.
October 4, 2007
Sharon went to a Dogs for Deaf meeting yesterday. She was really impressed with the local program. Cappy uses his brother to offset his own hearing loss. Cappy is an elder brother and is thereby entitled by birth order to be a leader. He believes that. Manners, who sometimes complies, thinks his disadvantaged brother is a boor. Ah-ha! Cappy needs a dog-for-the-deaf cat!
October 6, 2007
Saturday morning. Thirty-four degrees. Frost warnings on the Internet for the Rogue Valley. December and January share the lowest average temperatures: 31 degrees.
I looked for windfalls for Brat. None. One of our large apple trees has early drops. The other is inclined to have no drops at all. Last year, deer were standing on their hind legs to pick apples from its lowest branches. I picked half a dozen for Brat.
He prefers white bread. I offered him some apples. He wasn’t interested until it seemed that that was all. I held back some bread scraps for desert.
I saved a slice of whole wheat bread for Annie. First thing this morning I saw her seeing me in the kitchen window. I hold the bread for her. For critters like Brat and Annie who do not have hands it is helpful to have the food held. In nature, without hands, they bite and pull. Same with turkeys. I have seen them try to stand on a windfall apple, trying to hold it down while trying to take a bite out of it.
Next I pull the filter from our small vacuum and shake it out. Need to do it 1-2 times a week. And I notice, nearby, walnuts are starting to fall from the tree. I gather sixteen, filling my shirt pockets. Feel windfall rich.
October 7, 2007
One of the truly neat and wholesome things in Rogue Valley is Seven Oaks Farm. This time of year they open their doors, put a few of their animals on display and sell from Fall produce. One can buy all kinds of large (and small) pumpkins. There are canned goods. How about a bunch of corn stalks for $ 5.00. The kids can pet the goats. There is a slapped together maze. A hot dog stand where one can also buy roasted corn. There is a real old log cabin. Free pony rides where the kids can ride in a saddle and the pony is led by a man. One sees lots and lots of families and lots of small kids. The activities are free. The produce is not.
We went last year with Jennie Lynn and A.J.. This year A.J. rode the pony. She got a horse painted on her cheek. Bought some pumpkins.
Which reminds me. The best we could do in my garden this year was a watermelon about the size of a softball. Do I dare put it along side the pumpkins we raised? Could a person carve such a thing?
The Fall colors are really just starting. Reds and yellows. The poison oak has a delicate egg shell red color.
Did I include hibiscus and autumn sedum in the inventory?
October 3, 2007
We have had some rain and the surface of the ground is dark with moisture. Cappy went out this morning and was diligently hunting for dust. There was none. Finally he discovered the garage floor.
October 4, 2007
Sharon went to a Dogs for Deaf meeting yesterday. She was really impressed with the local program. Cappy uses his brother to offset his own hearing loss. Cappy is an elder brother and is thereby entitled by birth order to be a leader. He believes that. Manners, who sometimes complies, thinks his disadvantaged brother is a boor. Ah-ha! Cappy needs a dog-for-the-deaf cat!
October 6, 2007
Saturday morning. Thirty-four degrees. Frost warnings on the Internet for the Rogue Valley. December and January share the lowest average temperatures: 31 degrees.
I looked for windfalls for Brat. None. One of our large apple trees has early drops. The other is inclined to have no drops at all. Last year, deer were standing on their hind legs to pick apples from its lowest branches. I picked half a dozen for Brat.
He prefers white bread. I offered him some apples. He wasn’t interested until it seemed that that was all. I held back some bread scraps for desert.
I saved a slice of whole wheat bread for Annie. First thing this morning I saw her seeing me in the kitchen window. I hold the bread for her. For critters like Brat and Annie who do not have hands it is helpful to have the food held. In nature, without hands, they bite and pull. Same with turkeys. I have seen them try to stand on a windfall apple, trying to hold it down while trying to take a bite out of it.
Next I pull the filter from our small vacuum and shake it out. Need to do it 1-2 times a week. And I notice, nearby, walnuts are starting to fall from the tree. I gather sixteen, filling my shirt pockets. Feel windfall rich.
October 7, 2007
One of the truly neat and wholesome things in Rogue Valley is Seven Oaks Farm. This time of year they open their doors, put a few of their animals on display and sell from Fall produce. One can buy all kinds of large (and small) pumpkins. There are canned goods. How about a bunch of corn stalks for $ 5.00. The kids can pet the goats. There is a slapped together maze. A hot dog stand where one can also buy roasted corn. There is a real old log cabin. Free pony rides where the kids can ride in a saddle and the pony is led by a man. One sees lots and lots of families and lots of small kids. The activities are free. The produce is not.
We went last year with Jennie Lynn and A.J.. This year A.J. rode the pony. She got a horse painted on her cheek. Bought some pumpkins.
Which reminds me. The best we could do in my garden this year was a watermelon about the size of a softball. Do I dare put it along side the pumpkins we raised? Could a person carve such a thing?
The Fall colors are really just starting. Reds and yellows. The poison oak has a delicate egg shell red color.
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