Taking A Bite Out Of Crime

When putting up a bird feeder, protection is very important (especially in areas with a lot of wildlife traffic, like my yard). Sometimes you even need to take it a step further and match the degree of protection to the type of food presented....
....or you may become the victim of a crime!

Well, a crime with a certain "cuteness factor" :)

Submitted to Friday Ark.

Current Events

I'd like to interrupt my 2009 veggie review to celebrate winter, at a time when most folks are sick of it. I'm planning out this year's planters, but for now they rest...

...unlike my furry friends here. I have grey and black squirrels up here, but none of the big red version we had in Indiana. (Click on the link to be schooled like I was when I read that these two are "Eastern Grey Squirrels", and the red ones are "Fox Squirrels". I'd always thought they were color variations of the same creature since they look so similar...huh.)

I'm organizing my seeds to gear up for wintersowing , and even acquiring new ones like this assortment from an awesome garden blogger's seed swap-initiated by Monica.
Look how many packets I had to choose from!

The kitties are pretty much in "hibernation mode".....

....but the wild birds don't have that luxury. I'm fortunate to host so many doves....

...they're just lovely!

Spring may be on the way, and I'll be happy to get back in the garden. But there is a calm and beauty to the clean white winter landscape that I'm actually going to miss. Really! :)

Odds and Ends From Last Summer

With the current conditions of wind chills in the -20's and 14" of snow on the ground, I've decided to rescue an orphan post from early last summer. This poor Eastern Tiger Swallowtail looks as though it's been caught in a storm as well, albeit not a blizzard.

This image doesn't adequately demonstrate the full scope of the problem, but I need a "rescue from fescue"! Some varieties of blue fescue grass behave very well, but this one was purchased by mail at Michigan Bulb where often the actual nitty-gritty variety of a cultivar isn't specified. Ah well, live & learn & shop more carefully!

I did manage to trim off the seed heads before it got any more out of control, but next year a big makeover is in the works (FYI-This grass will go to seed more than once a year sometimes!)

*Sigh* This was the last of the shiitakes, but I can't complain-this log has been producing since 2005! Guess it's time to contact my friends at Field and Forest Products for more spawn plugs to innoculate some new logs.
Last summer was very creature-heavy, with lots of traffic from skunks, squirrels, and these guys...

...Mr.Raccoon decides to move in closer...

....much to Gizmo's delight...
.....okay, maybe not!
The leaf rollers were pretty busy...
...luckily the milkweed plants were, too. Great news for my Monarch Butterfly caterpillars!

This cute little beach pea pops up here and there all over my yard, never getting too aggressive or unmanageable.

However this creature looks as though she certainly could become aggressive! This is a Common Snapping Turtle, and she startled me when I noticed her at my shoreline (apparently watching me). These images were taken at the time of year when snappers come ashore to lay eggs, but usually after dark. Was she waiting for me to get out of her way?
Guess so! (See her by the tree, swimming away?) Sorry ma'am, please feel free to come back later! (I think they usually return to the same spot every year to lay eggs, so I imagine she did. I have found shells dug up by predators in the yard before, as well as baby turtles trying to find their way back to the water. Fun stuff!)

I am very blessed to have an abundance of froggies in my yard, and last year was no exception. This is a Spring Peeper, isn't he cute?

Canadian geese goslings are cute too, as long as they stay out of my yard! The parents are very aggressive when protecting them, and they tend to try and take over. Definately not the kind of birds I seek to attract when I put out feeders!

That's right....move along....nothing to see here! Now this combo could never get old! Pink lupine and ostrich fern....

....I like this volunteer columbine by the wagon wheel, too.

Plenty of "chive talkin' " going on last year, too (you have no idea how long I've wanted to use that! :)

Hey! Volunteer sedum (not sure exactly which one), nothing wrong with extras!

This area is pretty "weedy", but I like it anyway...

....marsh marigold gets pretty leggy in this spot...

....Canada Anemone mixes nicely with spurge, IMO. Another frequent visitor this year, I saw a garter snake at least once a week all season.

My pal, the Red Squirrel, was bolder than usual (Or I just happened to catch him in the act).

Of course Jack-in-the-Pulpit is always a welcome sight...

....along with his garden mate Yellow Ladyslipper .

Red here doesn't look too impressed, though....

....maybe he had the same kind of luck I did with the "digital revolution"!

Now, if deer could transmit digital signal, I'd be all set! They were near my yard.....

....in my yard.....

.....seemingly around every corner! All season!And very un-apologetic about it! Naturally, they brought their appetites too :(
Another pest last summer was the emerald ash borer, and this odd purple thing was visible at the roadside all over the place. Of course, I had to stop and investigate...

....yep, it's an ash borer trap. Thankfully, I didn't hear that they actually found any in my area, but I'm guessing it's only a matter of time. Ah well, all good things must be challenged (or come to an end)... ....like this post!

Now back to our regularly scheduled winter!

Fall is a Season of Change

These autumnal changes are widespread and not all of them good. Plants are "dying" (most of them sleeping, really), temps are dropping, and many creatures are preparing for hibernation or the challenges that winter brings. I'm dealing with some hard times myself, which have kept me away from my blog. When I can post, it's utilizing dialup which is excruciatingly slow for uploading images. For instance, I swore I'd uploaded four images for this post...only "Alvin" here made it through. But I'm an optimist, doggone it....so Blogger can challenge me, life can frustrate me, and haters can kick me in the head when I'm on the ground-I don't care! The Lord made all these days, better or worse...and you can't keep a good woman down! So bring in the funk, and I'll belt out my noise! Woot woot! :)


"Whenever evil befalls us we can think how we can turn it into good, so that we may take occasion from a bitter root to raise perhaps many beautiful flowers." Goodness will always prevail- Ralph Waldo Emerson