End Of The Season
Three little squrrels sleeping in our walnut tree.
This is the same tree that I wrote about previously when I said it felt like the squirrels were throwing walnuts at me. I looked up at the tree when I first went outside today and I thought I saw a couple of nests. Squirrels nest look much like a birds only larger. I went back in to get my phone so I could zoom in on the nests and to my surprise all three were squirrels sleeping on the branches. Not one nest in the tree.
All three squirrels sleeping soundly in the tree. The ornery things that throw walnuts at me every fall and tease my dogs all year long. We have a tornado warning siren that goes off every Friday to test that it is working properly. It went off as I was trying to get some photos and I thought I had missed my opportunity, but no. They slept right through it. I went back in to let the dogs out and get somethings to do a little yard work and they still slept.
At the back of the fenced yard is a climbing rose. When I went out with the dogs I saw this and had to share it. It is so rare to see a rose on any of my rose vines this late in the year. If you look at the bottom right of this photo youwill see a tree stump and what is left of the hulls of several walnuts. Those same ornery squirrels sit here and chew the hulls off of the walnuts before they carry them off to store for winter. They make sure the dogs see them chattering to get their attention.
When we first moved here we had a very freindly squrrel that would get almost close enough to touch. He would chatter at us and we would put stuff out for him to eat. He lived here long enough that his fur started turning gray. That last time we saw him he looked silver from head to toe. The following year he was no long here. I suppose he didn’t make it through winter that year, but he lived longer than I think most squirrels do. I miss him, but these three newer squrrels are quite amusing and maybe they will be more friendly in time.
I spent a little time clearing out some of the tomato stems out of the raised beds. It was about to storm so I had to quit and go back in the house. I will do a little bit every day it’s not raining and have it cleared by the end of this month. If the weather doesn’t turn too cold I will rake up some of the leaves to cover the raised beds and to finish filling our compost bin. That is how we keep the soil in good shape for for planting each year.
While I was working I checked the red lettuce that I had left in the garden, to go to seed. It is finally getting close but still not quite there. I am hoping to have enough seed to plant more than usual next year. I have collected seeds from the bell peppers already. Tomorrow is another day, so weather permitting I will get a little more done then.
Find Our Recipes: How We Use What We Grow
Using what grow
Scroll down until you see this page list on the right side. The “Everyday Life” page will show some of what we do with what we grow and a few recipes. Several recipes are listed under that page. More will be added through the winter as we use things we have stored or preserved.
If you have Questions or a recipe you would like us to add, leave a message in the comments.
Christine
The Voice Of The Wind In The Trees Above – My Prayer Garden
One’s Weed Is Another’s Flower
Daisies will always remind me of my Dad.
When I was a child my Dad often called me Daisy Mae. I cannot tell you how many times I heard him say “Put your shoes on Daisy Mae”. I hated wearing shoes (still do) and every time he turned his back; I would kick them off. For those of you too young to remember, Daisy Mae was a cartoon character in the Sunday Newspaper who was always barefoot.
My Dad also sang all the time when I was young. His song for me was “Daisy Bell (Bicycle Built for Two). For that reason, daisies have always had a special meaning for me. The field of flowers where I got stung by a bee when I was around three years old (in my Yellow House stories) had wild daisies. Many of the places I lived growing up had wild daisies or at least something that resembled daisies. I often picked them and braided them together to make a crown to wear on my head, which only made Dad call me Daisy even more.
Throughout the years I have collected a variety of things with Daisies on them. If you walk through my house, you will see a variety of daisy reminders. Outside is another matter. I have tried planting them but for some reason the only last a few years. Several times it was due to having repairs done on the house and they got trampled on and supplies laid on them when we had new siding put on. Other times one of the dogs dug them up.
I gave up trying to plant Daisies after a while. I thought about planting them again this spring, but we got sidetracked with rebuilding our back porch. One day this spring while out helping with the porch and working in the raised beds I noticed some blooms growing among the weeds where we stack our firewood. They looked like little miniature Daisies. I picked some for a vase in my kitchen every so often until I stopped seeing them.
Yesterday when I was outside just enjoying the wind blowing through the trees in what I think of as perfect weather, I noticed they were back. This time they came up between our fence and our neighbors. I took pictures this time but did not pick any. I left them because I liked the way they looked along the fence. Daisies will always remind me of my Dad. I like seeing them when I walk out back each day and I will probably plant some in the front next spring along with the cone flowers that look so much like pink Daisies to me.
As I started writing this, I thought I should use my app PlantNet, and find out what exactly they are. It turns out they are Michaelmass Daisies. So, I have my daisies outside after all.
More Autumn Color Changes From our Back Yard
What a difference a week makes. Last week this tree was dropping walnuts all over. It seemed like it was throwing them at me. It was hard to keep up with throwing them out of the fenced area where the dogs play. One of my friends mentioned that walnuts are toxic to dogs so I researched it and according to PetMD and several other sources, black walnuts, which these are, cause several health risks in dogs.
By yesterday the leaves had all turned colors. Last night it rained pretty hard and this morning most of those leaves are on the ground. The leaves of all the different trees change color and drop their leaves at different times, this time of year we have quite a variety of colors. Soon there will be no more green leaves and a month from now almost all the leaves will be on the ground.
The Beauty of Autumn Colors From Our Back Yard
Sometimes you just need to take a walk through your own back yard.
You don’t always have to go on a trip to find beauty in nature. Sometimes you just need to take a walk through your own back yard. Since I did not need to clear out my raised bed gardens yet, I decided to take a walk through the back yard. We have three lots back behind the house, the sheds and the garage. I enjoy being outside when the weather is so beautiful. At 75 degrees and a gentle breeze it is simply perfect for me. So many changes with the onset of Autumn. The change in colors and the leaves falling everywhere. Our cherry trees have already lost all their leaves and look a bit wintery already but the leaves on the other trees appear to be taking turns changing and shedding leaves just a few at a time.
Warm Fall Means An Extended Gardening Season
We are just having an extended growing season with beautiful weather.
Today when I went outside it was with the intention of clearing out my vegetable garden beds. I usually do that this time of year, but they were not ready for it this time. The bell peppers are still growing as shown in the first picture top left. The next picture shows that these pepper plants are still getting blooms. I had picked every pepper on them when we had our frost warning. Now besides this pepper that is about ready to pick there are several babies of various sizes on these plants.
Next, I checked on the tomatoes and, as you can see, there are more tomatoes since I picked them last. The one in the picture is the largest that I could see, but there were several of them. We are just having an extended growing season with beautiful weather. Same thing with my red lettuce. I left just one to go to seed for next year. Today it finally bloomed, which means it will go to seed soon. Usually I would have had my seeds and cleared this bed.
Last but not least, my peppermint garden. I started pulling up all the old stems a couple weeks ago, finishing the end of last week. I have Irises growing in the back, which bloom before the mint gets very tall in the spring. The blooms are lavender and have beautiful large blooms. One of my cousins donated them when we first moved here. They have spread all down the side of the house and I have thinned and shared bulbs with several people since then. This time of year, after the mint is thinned out, new growth starts and is perfect for harvesting and drying for tea in the winter. Since I don’t have to clear my garden beds yet, I may start on that this week.
How to Stuff a Scarecrow to Last Through Rain & Snow
All Weather Scarecrow
I my early days of doing scarecrows, I stuffed them with straw. Where we live it rains several days in October. Occasionally it snows at least once by the end of the month. My scarecrows were smelly and starting to rot by the first of November. Often the clothes were not worth keeping more than a year or two. Last year I decided to try something different.
I was cleaning out my craft stuff and deciding what I want to use for that season. I have always crocheted and knitted a lot. Several years ago, I discovered that I could crochet with plastic grocery bags. I made a play rug for my youngest son for him to use with his cars and monster trucks. It looked like parking lots or tracks and he loved it. I also made beach bags and reusable grocery totes. I have always been big on recycling. I had saved a great deal of bags and my arthritis in my hands was making it hard to crochet the plastic. So, I was trying to decide how much I might use soon and if I should store the rest in my shed.
Suddenly I remembered stuffing an outside cushion with it so I could leave it out on rainy days. I dawned on me that it should work with my scarecrow. I started with a pair of jeans my son had outgrown. He had a growth spurt, suddenly taller than me. I put some big rubber bands on the ankles so the bags would not fall out and stuffed legs full and then the top part. I arranged the legs where I want hi to sit and got some old boots to stuff the ankles into, hiding the rubber banded area.
Next, I started the second step. I placed a large flannel shirt where I wanted it to sit on the pants and stuffed the body up to the sleeves, so it was full enough to sit up. I stuffed half of the sleeves from inside the neck then finished filling up the body enough that the neck hole stayed open. Finally, I stuffed the sleeves the rest of the way from the wrist opening so it was easy to place the arms the way I wanted them, bending a little at the elbow. I took a pair of work gloves and stuffed on bag in each. I buttoned the sleeve openings so the bags would not come out too easily and pull the gloves up over the wrists.
Final touch was to place a pumpkin on the neck opening, I used and old decorative pumpkin that we revived a few years before by painting it silver with splatters of black. Arrange his arms and legs however you want them and add a hat. I used and old gardening hat that was easiest to find this year, but I will probably hunt threw all the old stuff from years of drama club and see if I can find a straw hat. The best thing about this scarecrow is nothing purchased, just old stuff I would have been donating soon and it held up so well in the rain and a light snow, that I was able to re-use everything this year.
If you have any tips you have uses to create your own scarecrow, please share in the comments below and also share a picture if you have one.
Return of the “Square Crow” (Scarecrow)
Spooky new residents on our front porch.
I gave in and decided to do just a little bit of decorating for the season. I did not expect any kids to stop by here partially due to the pandemic, but also the kids in the neighborhood have all grown up, so we have only seen maybe four or five groups of kids stop by the last couple years. Then I saw the newest neighbors outside with little kids. Two neighbors across the street. They put pumpkins on the porch, and I thought that was like us when our kids were that little. They need a safe place to stop on Halloween. I am thinking about printing out something to tell where the Trunk or Treats are this year so they will know the best safe places to take the kids.
So…I dug through my shed where I put the bigger stuff from last year. I found a couple of straw brooms and got all the stuff for my scarecrow and started setting him up. I will have to finish stuffing him and find his gloves. I think he could use a straw hat too, but it got dark before I finished. He doesn’t look to bad though, for not being finished. My youngest son got home from work and noticed I had started. He had a couple things to add, but he said to wait on setting them out, because it was supposed to rain. So that was it for today.
My son went to his church where he plays drums. When he came in, he sounded all excited and said, “Mom you gotta see this”. So I went out to see what he had discovered. Low and behold a huge spider had set up resident above our scarecrow. My son wanted pictures, so I grabbed my phone. While we were taking pictures, so we could look it up and see what kind it was, it started chomping on its prey. That was when he decided to get some videos and super close. Hope you are not to squeamish when you see a spider but remember this is just a natural way of pest control. And a funny coincidence since I just started setting out a few of the decorations for the season.
I did some research to find out what kind of spider this is. The best information I could find shows it to be a Brown Widow. A few other sites also daid it was a brown widow, but this is the one that seemed to have the best information. Please post in the comments if you find a better source.
https://bugguide.net/node/view/23403