Wooly Bear Forecasting

You have heard the rule that you can predict the severity of the winter by looking at the amount of black coloring on the wooly bear caterpillar.  The rule is that the more black, the colder the winter.

Judging by the caterpillar I saw today, it looks like a warm winter.  We did have a warm summer and a rather mild fall.  Last year we had an appreciable snowfall on October 16th.  This year, we have had nothing.

What do you think?  What are your wooly bear caterpillars doing?

Red Newt

I was doing some late season yard work. We had another hard frost overnight.  It was very cool and breezy outside. I did the last mowing of the year, trimmed the arbor, and put away odds-and-ends.

I moved a few paving stones, and I uncovered 2 red newts.  They were sluggish in the cold of the morning.  I ran into the house to grab my cell phone to snap a few pictures. When I got back, there was still one newt.  After snapping a few photos, it scrambled off.  These were the first newts I have seen on the property.  What a thrill!

Catching Up!

It's been a while since I posted anything. Fall has been a busy time.  We went to Gettysburg last weekend.  We enjoy visiting the battlefields and taking in the history.

We escaped the heavy rains.  There was localized flooding.  The river was up quite a bit.  The creek finally had water in it.  The heavy rains knocked a lot of the leaves from the trees.

Yesterday, I raked the yard, filled the compost bins, and mowed the yard.  Most of the leaves are off the trees in our yard.  I expect all the leaves will be down in a few more weeks.

We had our first hard frost this morning.  It has hit the knotweed pretty hard.

Frost on the Deck Chairs

The day is beautiful.  Sunny, light winds, temperatures around 70 degF.  Enjoy!

Creek in Fall

Autumn Leaves on Spook Hill