Monthly Archives: October 2015

Keeping Warm

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I looked out my office window.  That’s when I saw her in the driveway.  I think she was catching some rays.  The asphalt makes a nice solar heat collector and the air was cool.

I went out to her with camera in hand.  She was patient as she posed for me.

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I tried to get a low-angle view.  My efforts failed to capture a usable image.

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I was hoping to get an image like the one above, which I captured six years ago.  It didn’t work for me this time.

I’m not sure why these two mantises look so different.  I tried to find some info online, but nothing helpful found.  Not that it much matters to me.  I’m more interested etymology than entomology.

In the Garden

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Not a lot happening in the garden these days, but the growing season is not yet over.  On Thursday, Sylvia said, “You’ve got to get a picture of this.”  I did.

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Can you see the three blossoms on these peas?  We are left wondering if we will pick peas in October.  Wouldn’t that be swell?

I turned around, took a step and a half to check out the kale.

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The kale is doing well.  This is our first year to grow it in the garden and are very pleased with what we’re seeing.  Oh, and eating too, of course.

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Isn’t that pretty?  When you’re served a meal with a kale garnish, do eat the kale?  I do.

Shortly after I captured those images, Sylvia moved in with cutters in hand.  She harvested some of the choice parts.  Some of that bounty she coated lightly with oil and sprinkled on a bit of sea salt with lime.  These went into the oven to become this:

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Word of Warning: You may find kale chips highly addictive.

Red Tail

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I recently shared my experience of seeing a red-tail hawk split in two.  Actually it was a pair.  I had been seeing red tail activity for some time when that happened.  Since then, I’ve seen the pair in close proximity to each other on several occasions.  The day after sighting the “split,” I saw the male fly while the female remained on the power pole.

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Look between her toes.  What is that?

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Looks like lunch to me.  What do you think?

I didn’t like having branches in the way so I moved to the front door.  The next day, I captured this image.

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When I tried to capture a second, sharper image, she flew away.  I was left with an empty frame.  Some days seem to be like that.

Who R U?

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High in the birch tree sat a bird.  It was not one of the normal cast of characters.  With my unaided eye, I could not identify the species.  Seven power binoculars didn’t help.  The camera, however, did.  I had to process the images a bit.

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I believe this is an American Kestrel (Sparrow Hawk).

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The swallow-like tail shows better in this shot.  When it flew, it looked a lot like a swallow, but larger.

It is obviously a member of the falcon family, but which?  Can anyone help with the identification?  Sharkey?

Color Me This

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Yesterday, our friend, Sharkey, posted some fall foliage colors on her blog.  The images are delightful.  Our secondary road is enough south of her that we are a few days behind in the color tour.

Nevertheless, it sent me to the front deck this morning.  That’s where I get a view of some of the first trees in the neighborhood to go through the transformation.  Here’s the wide view:

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Neighbor, Bob, Cut hay last week and Sylvia power washed the decks.  Their combine actions seemed to bring on rain.  It’s finally dry again.  Hay can dry and, if this weather holds, we can seal the decks.  Back to the color.

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It’s not much, but it’s the best we can do for now.  It’s scenes like these that bring joy and contentment to those that live in this house.

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To my eye, that red on the left looked brighter.  Oh well . . .

Yesterday’s Sighting

Last evening, as I was getting supper ready, my eye caught sight of the red-tail hawk sitting on a power pole.  He’s been a regular visitor recently.  This time, he looked especially great in the fading light.

I went to a window and slowly lifted the blinds.  My plan was to go for the camera next.  However, as I finished lifting those blinds, he dove from the pole toward the ground.  Prey?  He was half way to earth when the strangest thing happened.  He seemed to split in two with one side going right and the other left.  Yes, it was a pair of red tails.  From my vantage point they appeared as one until they split apart.

The hawks turned to fly in the same direction, side-by-side.  I wish you could have seen it too.

Making Hay

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Mowing the tall grass on the low ground

Mowing the tall grass on the low ground

The sun is shining and our neighbor is making hay on our low ground.  The photo is from last summer.  The only thing that’s changed is the garden, and this has been a different year for the garden.

Can you believe we picked peas in August?  Yes, we did!

Sylvia did two plantings of green beans.  It would have worked well if we hadn’t had bunny visitors. Nevertheless we were still picking green beans late in September.

Zucchini was poor this year.  Instead of an over abundance, we had barely enough for the summer.

Parsnips must have drowned in the wet spring time.  Fortunately, Sylvia froze some of last year’s harvest.  Parsnips went well with last night’s shepherd pie.

We should have an excellent asparagus harvest next year, Lord willing.  This summer, I blanched and froze some while Sylvia was with her dad.  When we tried it recently, we found it to be very good.

We are already thinking about next year’s garden.