Memory

Two of my early childhood memories had tiger lilies in them.  In one, we were visiting my Dad's family in West Virginia.  I was outside with my sister and I remember a wall or fence flanked by tiger lilies.  I was sunny and the bright orange was so vivid and just stuck in my mind.

I another memory, I was about 5 and we were living on Pine Grove street.  There was an empty field by the house and it was full of tiger lilies.  They seemed as tall as me, and the field was so full I was sure you couldn't walk through them.

The field, like the house is long-gone.  There is now a little shopping center and muffler-repair place where we lived.

Still, I cherish tiger lilies.  As they bloom in early summer, it takes me back to a time long gone, to places that do not exist anymore.

Nature Hates Me, Well Maybe...

I sometimes think Nature has it in for me.  I don't mean that Nature is waiting to drop a tree on my or summon up a tsunami.  Rather, Nature seems to throw me a bunch on unwanted and unneeded challenges,

Case in point - wayward robins.  Yep, this past stream we had an overly lonely robin that kept flying into our bedroom window or sitting on my gas grill and looking at its own reflection.  The incessant banging and the pile of dropping on my grill was a real pain.  I had to convince the robin to keep away from the windows.  How?  I pasted a picture of a fox on the bedroom window.  I guess the eyes looking back at the robin was enough to unnerve him.

As to the grill - I put one of those owl decoys on the grill.  No more robin issues.

Of course the Canadian geese have decided to use our yard as a diner and bathroom.  We were getting 30 to 60 geese wandering around.  At first it was a thrill to watch the young geese with their parents, but a quick walk into the yard (and the droppings) meant I would have to take more action.  We put a small plastic fence along the property line and a small wire fencing along the river bank to stop the geese from wandering onto the property.  So far, so good.

I still battle the knotweed at both the farmhouse and the river house.  We don't have a lot at the river house, but I have to stay on top of it.  At the farmhouse we have reached a stalemate.  It hasn't spread, but I just take out my trusty scythe and keep it in check.

That being said, nature decided to fight back.  I was weeding the plants by the river bank.  One week later I developed a severe rash on my arms and legs.

Poison ivy maybe?

Nope - we think it was wild parsnip.  It has been over a month since I was weeding.  The swelling and rash is gone, but I still get itchy when I get too hot.  A real bummer as I like to be out in the sun.

I still keep weeding, cutting, pulling and scaring off the weeds and annoying varmints.  The battle continues.

I still like Nature a lot.  I just wish Nature would cut me a little slack...

Favorites

There are those plants whose coming I really look forward to.  We have a dogwood tree at the river house.  The previous two winters have been so cold that the flower blossoms did not make it.  This past winter was quite mild, and the dogwood blossoms made it through the winter.

Why do I like them?  We had dogwoods trees in the yard when I was growing up.  The blossoms always seems so fragile.  In the fall we would have red berries to add color to the other autumn colors.  After college I lived in the mid-Atlantic states and the dogwood and red bud trees would grow native as under-story trees, adding the first hints of color in the Spring.

My other favorites are trillium.  I would find them on sunny riverbanks on Otter Creek in Vermont and in the woods along quiet country roads.  I see them about here in the Finger Lakes.  Our river house has a few of them in one of the flower beds.

I look forward to seeing these old friends year after year.

Mallard

It is a fine, late December day.  The brilliant sun and mild temperatures meant that I could work in the workshop at the river house.

I have been working on a mallard decoy.  I watched the Canadian geese in the river for inspiration as I worked on the decoy.

I have spent a few hours here and there shaping the head and body.  The cork body was mostly shaped with a rasp, while I had to carve and sand the head.

After a few hours of hand sanding, I had the head ready to be fitted to the body.  I ground the head off a long deck screw and screwed it into the base of the head.

I glued in the tail board and screwed and glued the head.

Next step is a final sanding and then onto filling in the small voids in the cork body.

Given the coming cool weather, it will take some time before I can finish this project and get the decoy painted.

I need to figure out if I want to paint this as a drake or hen mallard . . .

Steelyard Scales

I was cleaning out the garage and came across a few items I bought years ago at an action.

I had picked up a few steelyard scales.  These were very popular for hundreds of years (they are also known as Roman scales).  The items to be weighed hangs below the fulcrum on one side, while you slide a counterweight across the long arm on the other side of the fulcrum.  They came in either a single range, or you could flip the scale over and hang from an alternate fulcrum to read on a different range.

I have 2 of the smaller scales.  These look to be made the same.  Neither has a mark.  You can weigh items from 10 to 50 lbs . . .

. . . or down from 0 to 10 lbs.

One scale has a little surface rust and uses cast hooks for the fulcrums . . .

. . . while the other had a black painted surface with rings for the fulcrums.

As you flip the scale over to use one range the arm is graduated for the lower scale . . .

 . . . and when you flip it over for the higher range it will be graduated for the higher range.

Surprisingly, these were accurate to within 1 notch.


I also have a larger one which can be used for much larger weights.  I still need to check this one out.

The wife has some packages she wants to mail out.  These would work great to help estimate the postage!

A Rare Sighting

I travel a lot.  I mean a lot.  This year I have been to Brazil twice, India four times, Australia, Germany, Belgium, all about the United States.  I get to see a lot of things, but nothing so rare and unexpected as what the wife and I saw this weekend.

We went for a walk on one our new favorite nature trails - the Seneca Meadows Nature Preserve.

There are miles of trails through reclaimed marsh and forests.  The preserve is a habitat for many waterfowl, hawks, birds, muskrat, beaver, reptiles and amphibians.  The trails are well surfaced and flat.  The woods and fields are quiet, except for the sounds of the birds.

As we got the the Blue Heron Trail, we were surprised by a pair of Sandhill Cranes.

They are not common here.  They migrate from Canada down the great plains.  This is not part of their flyway.  There has been a nest reported in the Montezuma Nature Preserve.  That is just a few miles away.  Maybe it was that pair.

Wow!  This is a sight I never expected.  What a treat!

The Edges

A quiet, calm morning.  The grass is mowed, and I had finished pushing back the weeds.  The dew covered the lawn and the plants in the yard.

Weeding is sometimes an indiscriminate battle.  You get a mower, trimmer or scythe out and just cut down everything.  Sometimes I am more careful.  Keep some plants, like daisies or a  few of the dame's rockets.  Leave ferns, but take out the chicory and thistles.

I don't always stop and look at the wonders of the wildflowers.

Maybe I should stop and look at the wildflowers more often.  I was glad I did this morning. . .

Here is the Heron

Most of the painting on the great blue heron is done.

The body was painted with 2 coats of white primer.  The neck is colored tan, with the main body in grey.  The yellow bill and black cap and shoulders finished the trim colors.  I have a little touch up to do (including the eyes).  I need to let the current paint to dry before I finish the touch-up work.

What do you think?

Mayflies

Most mornings as I walk out to my garage I am greeted by a variety of visitors.  The large light on the garage attracts a cast of nighttime wanderers who decide to land on my garage doors.

Yes, it is May, and I am visited by mayflies.

I get a number of varieties depending on the time of year.  Sadly, I don't remember the types and classifications any more (I was better at recognizing them when I was actively fly fishing for trout).

Not be be left out, we also get an occasional caddisfly.  Both the mayflies and caddisflies live in the creek.

When I come home at night the visitors are gone.  Did they leave to mate?  Food for birds?  A small mystery to ponder.

Grumble, Grumble

It's that time of season.  The warm weather has given the plants a much needed boost after the bitter cold this past winter.

What does this mean?

The knotweed is back!

No problem.   I grabbed the scythe, gave the blade a quick sharpen with a file, and mowed the knotweed down.

The battle begins . . .

Blue Heron Project

I have been working on a small project these last few months - a blue heron statue / carving.

I started with a good photo of a great blue heron.  From it, I sketched the outline of the heron (to full scale).

I transferred the outline to a large board.

I composed the heron in three parts - one being the basic body, neck and head with the other two identical wing and body parts.

Once cut out with a jigsaw, I had a general form of the great blue heron.

I screwed the wing sections on each side of the main body, and then drilled two holes in the base to support legs (the legs are simple 2 foot sections of rebar.

A little sanding, and I have a statue of a great blue heron to place by the water.  Next step - time to paint!

Lost and Found

I seem to spend all my weekends doing yard work.  I've been delinquent with my posts.  Having two homes means I have twice the yard work.  Mowing, trimming, raking, planting, etc.

I spent some time by our river house transplanting plants.  Daffodils and irises have been moved about.  As this property is new to us, I am not sure what else will come up.

The daffodils by the river house are in full bloom.

I was surprised to come across a large group of yellow trout lilies.  They are in a part of the yard that is kept more wild (i.e., not organized and difficult to mow).  These were a nice surprise.

The best yards are not just big expanses of lawn and turf.  They need quite spots where one can find unexpected groupings and a mix of plants and textures.

Back around the farm, Spring is coming later (the farm is at a higher altitude).  We even had snow flurries last weekend.  I did rake out the gardens, remove the plow blade and put on the mower deck, and trimmed a few plants.  The daffodils have not bloomed yet, though the tiger lilies and peonies are emerging.

Sadly, my one lone trillium hasn't emerged.  I keep watching for it, but I don't see any sign of it.

To my amazement, we have a large group of trilliums at the river house!

I lost one old friend, but found many more!

Postscipt:

This post was originally published on May 2nd.  Today (May 4th), I found that the single trillium at the farm house has indeed emerged.

I have been nurturing this plant for over 8 years.  They usually flower around Mother's Day.  I hope it will finally bloom!  Lost, but found again!

Possibly My Favorite Bird

I enjoy watching birds.  There is nothing more thrilling than seeing hawks and eagles.  Ducks and geese are always a favorite due to their variety, behavior and numbers.  The beautiful hummingbirds and dainty little songbirds are pleasant to watch.  Then there are the larger songbirds.  My favorite of these are the redwing blackbirds - the harbingers of Spring.

However, the American robin may be my favorite.  It was one of the first birds I could identify.  It is a common bird and can be found in backyards, fields and the woods.  It has a splash of color on its breast, but it is not too flashy.  They are always in the yard looking for worms.  They are not pushy or noisy.  They seem civil and quiet - like a good neighbor.  They are also a messenger of change.  It's call in the Spring lets me know that the winter snow is soon to depart.

I used to think that robins were fair weather friends, but I am always amazed to see them with the ice and snow around.   I remember a flock of them standing on the ice by the shore of Lake Champlain a few years ago.

I still like watching them.  They are amazing.

Yep - I think the American robin might be my favorite bird.

What is your favorite bird?

Remodeling

As I was going out to the barn to do some chores when I noticed something odd . . .

Yep.  The old bat box is still there (and as you might know it has never been used by the bats - they prefer the hay mow in the barn).

If you look carefully, you will notice that there is now a large hole in the front.  Something has decided to remodel this box.  Not sure what it is, but I will keep an eye out in the spring to see what may have moved in...

Cold - Hot - Cold

It is now 2 degF.  Just 3 days ago it was over 40 degF.  The snow from the previous week had melted revealing the sign of little mice and voles.

The thaw had the creek running fast and angry.  It guess it did not want to get wakened from its winter slumber.

As the cold came back yesterday, we got an inch of snow; covering signs of the varmints.  The creek is icing up quite quickly.

If you don't like the weather, just wait 5 minutes!

A Special Christmas Present

My nephew's son gave me a really fun present this year.  It was a Spyderco knife kit.

But . . .

. . . it is made from wood!  It is constructed exactly like other knives.

I 'sharpened' the blade using a sanding block, then inserted the pins into one side of the handle.

I then inserted the knife blade and the spring lock mechanism.

I added the other side of the handle . . .

. . . and had a fully functioning Spyderco knife!  The folding lock mechanism works like a charm.  I have to decide if I want to stain the handle.  Hmmm . . .

Uncle Tractor had fun with this project!