Doesn't say much for English women.
Garden Photos of '09......#5
and i just checked my shipley bird guide and the audubon guide with no luck - i think jen has the best answer - still a weird name for a bird
good job Jen... and LOL Victor
lol.... that and bad teeth.... guess they use a lot of paper bags over there.
tit actually come from the french word petit that translate into small so I buy that
It is hard to see the TM's in the feeder, cuz I've noticed they take a seed then fly away with it, then come back - over and over. We've had TM's juncos, cardinals, sparrows, finches, bluejays, doves, woodpeckers ,and recently a few grackles this winter. It's right outside mom's window. She gets such pleasure from it.
I had a couple a male and female pileated and then last spring the city put a pipe line along the road by my house and they moved on if they dont come back this spring I am going to be so sad since they had been here since we arrived september of 2007 and now I miss them pecking in the woods they are such beautifull birds
now all I see are the downeys there is six of those that I have been feeding all winter they are cute but its not the same
i had a pair nest in an old oak several years ago when i was working from home - had a perfect view of them digging their nest in the tree all day - then they left and a small owl moved in - my wife worked with a doctor who is a serous birder so she invited him over - guy nearly broke down in tears when he saw the owl - don't ask what kind cause i'd have to go search - small one that like wet lands - the tree finally fell
we still have the pileated flying all over here - when i built our shed one who hang out there with me - guess the hammering was similar to a mating call - the woody would be maybe 15 feet away and low in the tree - wife got a kick out out of it said it was really the tool belt that attracted the woody :)
usually the male will make lots of holes and the female just checks them out and then she will finally pick one the male over at my place I counted 17 holes he made over the winter and she picked the best one it was kinda funny watching her inspect each one she would go inside come back out a few times would fly away come back and do it again and again and then after about six weeks of this she finally moved in and they had two babies that we didnt see till they came out and then the babies left and the parents stayed its like they sent them to college or something
that must have been something to see!! - we had the two adults although never saw the little ones but they were there with all the traffic going on - i hope the fisher cats did not get them - the fishers scarred away the wood ducks the last few years and i did see one climbing the tree the following year
we do have lots of fishers my neighbor lost her cat in november and the next day I saw a fisher in her yard he came to my place and he only visited for a few minutes when my dog saw him he s a jack well the fisher figured it would be easier to find a meal else where lol and he has not been back and I like it that way they are scary buggers
I have never seen a live one. I know we have them in Vt near us. I've seen them in old mounts, ugly things. Patti
I saw one in northern Michigan,didnt know what it was.
Saw a stuffed one in a museum a few days later.
Threy are visceous,like a Wolverine but longer legs and thinner body.
They are weasels.
Oh, I see many of those every day.
yup that they are but not regular one these things can weight up to 30 pounds and take down an 80 pound dog lol people around my place are really carefull with there kids the small one for sure I still keep an I on the girls and always have the dog with us when we are outside and since they dig and climb the fence really doesnt work
Wow, I didn't realize that they were so common there. They're here, but you don't see them very often.
This was the first (established) hellebore to open this year. It showed up on Sunday.
Hey Jo Ann, you know how we were talking about clay. Well, I thought of that conversation yesterday when I began digging a new spot for a plant. This bed was tilled and amended 2 or 3 times 6 or 7 years ago. Now I amend like crazy every time I plant something. I love the look of the two different colors of clay in this spot. That's the leaves of hellebore micha in the picture.
This message was edited Mar 3, 2009 5:33 AM
Redchic1, I was referring to all the two legged ones I see every day.
its the politicians again lol sticking their noses where the dont belong at one time in northern quebec they had a problem with skunk having rabbies and they decided to import the fishers to take care of the skunk never thinking that the fisher one would forever be around and ever worse would cross the river lol in the winter when frozen solid looking for food when the skunks disappeared and they got hungry can you imagine that they didnt remember that water freezes lol so now they are all over eastern ontario right in our backyards
yo boys its called food chain and since the wolves are so few the cayotes and the fishers now rull the woods lol again they dont think of food chain so now the city of ottawa pays hunters to trap and shot cayotes and fishers to keep them under control I have only seen one rabbit is 16 months and he was there one morning and then gone to be someone dinner
and then the politician say enviromentalist dont know anything well I think they should consult the local farmers before doing these things lol they know what is going on
Pretty shots, Shelly.
my last place was all clay so we had only about three weeks in the spring to do anything with building flower beds or digging of anykind because after that is was clay rock and we would have to run water for three days to make it soft enough to do anything with lol now I have another problem I live on the continental sheild lol so its all granite beautifull rocks so anything we do we have to import soil which is fine with me only dirt where I want it and the rest is all outcrops of beautifull huge rocks
so this spring I will clear all the dead leaves that came after the clean up last fall and expost all the beautifull rock in low areas I will add soil and plant hostas
This message was edited Mar 3, 2009 10:03 AM
Do you think I could rent a really big one that might like to eat venison? I am over run with rabbits too. The only prey for the rabbits here are the hawks and the cars and a the feral cats. When I had cats they occasionally got a baby, which I would save, even knowing that it would grow up to dine on my garden. Patti
Wow Shelly you really do have clay.
The blue clay is beautiful.
I wonder what color it fires to.Sometimes they melt at such a low temp , they are used for glaze and decoration.
Ge1836, are you heading west to dig some up and the throw a pot and then fire it? Once a mud player, always one. Patti
Here are my mixed cabbage sprouts---my tomatoes are also up---no penstemon yet.
Patti
There is no harder job than digging clay.
When I was a romantic purest I found clay in Victor NY and at Chimney Bluffs on Lake ontario
I dug 50 pounds of it for glaze decoration.
Spending 5 years at The School For American Craftsmen I learned those clays couldnt be made into pots that would be of any use.
If you have ever noticed early native indian pottery, it is not tightly fired so it will not ring when flicked, just thud.
Indians didnt have the technology to obtain the high temps needed to bring clay to maturity in a fireing.
Their pottery was for ceremonies and holding dried beans and corn.Their pots were made of native clay, thus my clay pots from the same nativ clay, wouldnt hold water either.
To think I was digging where centuries ago Indians were digging for clay to make their utilitarian vessels. It was a thrill.
I'm sure everyone isnt spell bound by this so I'll end it.
Should have dmailed ya Patti.
One last- - - - I did high fire a pot from the Victor clay and it completely melted and ruined a $100.00 kiln shelf.
*sigh*
I just want to see some bare ground. It will be weeks until I'll be able to see if the ice storm in December did irreparable damage to the gardens. When I think of all the day lilies we purchased and planted last season, I want to wipe away a few tears.
We aren't starting anything indoors this season. Last year we were only able to get a few plants to thrive. The rest were either over-watered, or the cats got them.
A bright spot, though .... my Christmas cactus should bloom by Easter! And, my amaryllis bloomed for Valentine's Day.
I love your passion. Yep, a true mud person. Patti
Lovely picture of the woods, with their rocks. It looks like the woods on our place. I have collected some fist sized smaller rocks to use to hold down iris plants when necessary.
Yay, Redchic's hellebore bloomed. The first of many, I'm sure.
Interesting about the clay. Too bad about the kiln being damaged.
Hey, Candyce, good to see you. Missed you.
Jo Ann, I love the interesting info. about the clay. I have no idea how decent it was,as far as clay goes, for the indians to make stuff out of it. However, they did make plenty of things out of it. I do know that what they made doesn't withstand the test of time as well as some of the clay in other places. they preferred the orange clay if possible, that thin layer that's evident just above the grey/blue clay in the picture, it seems to dry stronger. They also used it to dye clothes, if you get into that orange clay here and get it on your clothes..... they're permanent gardening clothes! And everybody here has some just like it! I agree about that digging it being a great workout.
Lol, thanks Victor and Jan!! Wahoo!!
Patti, that was funny, no matter which creature you're referring to!
Wow Scicci, you moved to the extremes. However, I think that your rock is prettier. You're sure right about the watering if you're going to plant. Sometimes I'll do that. for other times... I have a pick axe. :-/ Fortunately the clay is only that bad in the front yard as you go towards the back yard it dramatically changes to some of the fastest draining soil in these areas.
Great seedlings Robin.
Yes, Robin nice sprouts. Mine are still in the packages, but I think tomorrow will be the day they make it to the dirt. I made all the labels and have everything ready except me.
I planted 10 bare root roses in my GH in big pots, so I did play in the dirt. We had a little snow today, endless stream is still running under some ice, but the birds still like it. Patti
that looks like one packed greenhouse patti - saw you looking at the ferns :)
Fig leafing out. Still too small for me, of course.
Pitcher plant bud.
I always liked pitcher plants... never bought one though
Wha, Yes, the GH is pretty full, so I have moved on to the living room for seed starting. I have a couple of flats of cuttings in there now and 20 hippeastrum that getting ready to bloom. But tomorrow we are setting up a capillary watering system in the living room as we are off island a lot and my seedlings need water. I think it will work fine. I will report back. Some years I have taken them all off island when we took the truck on the steamship. Too stupid, but I didn't want to loose them.
I need those ferns for my soon to be dug bed that is going to feature those Japanese maples that you twisted my arm into buying. I need "shoes &socks" around them to dress them properly, then bulbs for next spring. I already ordered Hellebores for that bed too and some geraniums, hosta, primula and iris.
Today the cardinals went after the thistle seed for the first time ever.
Victor, Don't you wish. Patti
The cardinal looks rather calm about it.