Uh Mom...there's a snapping turtle in the canoe

One of the many details of the aftermath of Calvin's Party was that a canoe and a kayak had been left, upside down, in the pond. No big deal, they would not sink and could be retrieved on a hot day. Like today.

Calvin and Mr. Attitude were doing just that, when Mr. Attitude interrupted my tomato planting. "Mom", he announced. "There's a big snapping turtle in the canoe! Come see it!"

Of course I grabbed the camera, thinking "bloggable moment!" But I also knew that the real question was "Mom, can you get that snapping turtle OUT of the canoe?"

Hmmm...yes...a medium size, but no less vicious snapper. The kids know that I regularly wrangle with snapping turtles as part of my job. Only this one was easy, it was not in the wrong part of a one-way net. All I had to do was grab it by the tail.

Of course, it protested. I held it long enough to take this photo, then I released it into the pond. On second thought, was that a good idea? We swim there...But I don't think it will be a problem...I hope...

I stayed to help bring in the kayak, and surprise! There was a large painted turtle in there! They must have liked the cave-like cover of overturned canoes.

Life is so darn sweet

We are all hung over here from lack of sleep last night. With Calvin's big celebration, having five friends over and going through a 24 pack of Mountain Dew and six Pepsi Throwbacks, two Papa Murphy's pizzas including one Chicago stuffed, and one cheesecake, and hearing Calvin in the kitchen at 3 AM ("Where's the Kool Aid? We ran out of Mountain Dew!), and hearing everyone outside at 5 AM, even those of us who slept were a bit groggy this morning.

But, it was a huge success. I mean, what twelve year old boy would not want to stay up all night and run around at midnight with walkie talkies playing hide and seek in the woods? Sure, they had video games available, and they might have played them between 1 and 5 AM. But they also spent lots of time at the pond, running around in the woods from one tree fort to the next, and digging out a little ditch pond by the old railroad grade. That is to say, just being kids.

I am so happy we live here. It was a strange, convoluted road that led us to eventually end up here, but now the path makes sense. I would not want to be anywhere else, even though sometimes I wonder if this house will ever get done. Tonight it is raining and thundering, and this metal roof sounds nice over our heads. My tomatoes and peppers and eggplant have yet to be planted, but I may have lost them had I planted them two weeks ago. To everything there is a time and a purpose.

12

Cabin cleaned...check.
Wii moved over to cabin temporarily...check.
Big stereo system that's been sitting in the storage shed for years hooked up and running...check.
Mountain Dew and Pepsi Throwback in cooler...check.

Almost time to PARTY!

Calvin is twelve years old today. I know it's trite to say where does the time go, but wow...last year he was excited to sleep in the (then unoccupied) new house with a couple of friends. Now he's taking over the cabin for the night with an old friend and a couple new ones!

I am thankful to have him as my son, thankful that he has such a joyful curiosity about natural things and outright passion for baseball. I am thankful that we as a family can celebrate his big day and that he has good friends he can share it with.

volunteers

While I was weeding one of my garlic beds yesterday, I noticed some "weeds" I was not familiar with. They had finely divided leaves, and were fairly abundant among the garlic plants. Curious, I rubbed one and smelled it, as scent can often give a clue in plant identification. This plant had a pungent aroma of...dill!

I do recall having a dill plant or two in that bed last year, and not having any use for it since my pickling cucumbers did not fare well. I will keep all of these plants among the garlic; they won't hurt the garlic, which is growing very well, and when I harvest garlic, in a month or so, I can let the dill take over and not have to worry about having enough when it's time to make pickles.

Some of my best gardening is done when I'm not really trying. But I am putting in a good effort this weekend, and I hope to have a lot of beds planted this evening.

garden visitor

This picture was taken by the kids the other day. The nerve, to be so close to my garden beds in broad daylight! I think she may have even snacked on some lettuce or kale. Some kind of protection is definitely in order.

I spent the day hauling composted horse manure from a pile out towards the pond to the garden beds about 100 yards away, then working it in with the Mantis. I didn't get all of the beds ready for planting, but I'm getting close. It started raining about 3:30, which was a good quitting time. While I was hauling one load, I picked up a red bellied snake for the kids to see. It is temporarily residing in the former turtle-quarium. Temporarily is the operative word here. :)

the smell of rain and wood smoke

It's been a cool June so far, and tonight we are getting some much needed rain. I love the sound of rain on our metal roof; even though it is muted by insulation it is definitely heard. Because it is a cool and rainy night, we have a fire going in the wood stove. Yes, it's June. But the fire feels good.

This morning I ran, and ran some more. 4.6 miles altogether, although I admit I may have been walking some on the last half. That is the most distance I have run since I was at least in my twenties, and it felt great. I am so amazed at how far I've come; last summer the first time I ran I struggled to make it a quarter mile and back. Today my goal was to make it to a place I wrote about two years ago. I did, and I walked around a bit although it was hard to see the stream amidst all the undergrowth. Some day I'll walk in there and check out the 20 foot high rock wall on the south side of the stream.

I was hot and sweaty all during my run, but as soon as I got home I got the chills, so the rest of the day was mostly indoors; the garden can wait another day. I hope to run again tomorrow morning, but I will easily bow to weather-related excuses. Actually, I'm hoping it will rain all night. We need it.

More peacock sightings, and kid fun

This morning I heard the unmistakable sound of the peacock. It sounded like it was out by the road, across the creek. I looked as I was leaving for work, but I could not see it. But this afternoon, I saw it standing on the side of the road, not too far from where I first saw it a few weeks ago. Later in the evening, as we were heading for a rare evening out, we saw it again, this time about half a mile up our road. I had found out from a neighbor that some people in the area were looking for a lost peacock, so we decided to stop by their place and let them know we had seen it. I don't know these people too well, and driving into their place was like going into a mini zoo. Horses, domestic ducks with their own pond, rabbits, turkeys, guineas, and several other peafowl. I let the woman know about her wayward peacock, and she said she would "go get it". I wish I could have tagged along to see if and how she accomplished the task. I hope she did, and that the bird is safe and sound at home.

After the first peacock sighting, as I was approaching home I became aware of two kids running towards my car from the direction of the creek. It was Starflower and Mr. Attitude, soaked from head to toe and grinning ear to ear. They had spent the afternoon swimming and exploring the creek. Calvin was with them earlier, and they even brought the canoe over and had fun going through the culverts under the road. In previous summers the creek has gone largely unused, mostly because we already have the pond for swimming, but also because there is a fairly deep hole in the creek, and this is the first summer the kids are old enough that I feel comfortable with them swimming there on their own. It sounds like they had too much fun exploring the shallow riffles to even care about the deep area. It makes me feel so good about living here, that they have the chance to do some real KID EXPLORING. No nature deficit disorder here!

Welcome to June

What you see above are my basil plants. What's left of them anyway. We had frost the night before last. It's a good thing most of my garden beds remain unplanted!

The kids are celebrating their first full day off school today. Sometimes I wish I was a teacher.

The Contrariness of the Mad Gardener

The Garden, Before

The Garden, After

I received my Mantis tiller (seen in the front bed, left side of photo) via UPS Thursday evening. Friday from 10 AM-2 PM or so I was a tilling maniac. By my count from the photos, I tilled seventeen of my 21 4 x 8 raised beds. My verdict on the Mantis: Best piece of power equipment I have ever owned. It's light enough to lift in and out of the beds, powerful enough to work through most grass roots, and easy to handle. I don't know how I gardened without it.

The one thing the Mantis won't do is dig out boulders and carry them off to some new rock garden. I encountered a surprising number of rocks in the garden beds, ranging from golf ball size to too big for me to dig up.

But wait, there's more! In the photos above, you can see 21 raised garden beds. I have an additional 5 raised beds for potatoes that are not shown. I did an inventory of my tomato plants today, and decided I needed a minimum of 9 dedicated beds for tomatoes. The most I have ever planted was six beds, at eight plants per bed. That would put a squeeze on everything else I could plant, so...I'm adding four more raised beds. Insane. And I'll probably still plant some tomatoes in containers.

So what are all these tomatoes I'm planting? I had to take inventory this morning, since I hadn't kept track of just how many varieties I started and transplanted to pots. I have perhaps a record 21 tomato varieties, all open pollinated heirlooms, and 74+ plants. That's not counting the ones I did not transplant from their little starting cells. Here's the list; most are chosen for being under 80 days:

Stupice
Break o'Day
Sioux
Fireworks
Grandma Mary's Paste
Igegnoli Gigante
Polish Linguisa (paste)
Taxi (yellow, of course)
Rose
Mountain Princess (Baker Creek lists this at 48 days!!!)
Yellow Pear
Cuor di Bue
Principe Borghese (supposed to be great for drying)
Soldacki
Ropreco Paste
Ivory Egg
Black Cherry
Pantano Romanesco
Siletz
Glacier
Cosmonaut Volkov

On top of that, I have nine kinds of peppers and three eggplant varieties. Insanity, I tell ya!

By the way, none of these tomatoes were planted out today. It's supposed to freeze tonight. More insanity!

Won't you be my neighbor?

Today as I was taking the kids to school (actually 2 out of 3; Starflower has been waking up early and taking the bus) I saw something that made my heart sink: a "for sale" sign at the property just to the south of us. A family from a suburb of St. Paul owns the land, but we had not seen them around for a while. They were pretty good neighbors, up for an occasional weekend, some deer hunting, all in all pretty quiet.

Of course I am a bit curious as to the circumstances, but also worried about who might eventually buy the land. We have been blessed with good neighbors here, although the ones across the road are quirky but in a benign way. I would hate to see a weekend warrior come in, equipped with a bunch of ATV's intent on "mud bogging" the substantial wetland on the property. Or some careless deer hunters who just might be careless enough to put my family in danger. I'm not incriminating all deer hunters here; I'm just saying that is a possibility.

So I'm reaching out to anyone who reads this blog: Do you want 40 acres of peace and quiet, with magnificent white pines, just a short drive up I-35 from the Cities? Birding is great with the mix of white pines, aspens and shrub swamp. There is a trailer with electricity already on the place, and driveway with gate, so it's ready for you to come up and stay a weekend. If you look at the header photo, it is the land to the left. And the best part is, you would have great neighbors!!! :)

Seriously, I would like to see this property fall into the right hands. So if you're interested, my e-mail is on the sidebar.

that wonderful time of year

Some time I'll put it all in words...

Heeere's Granny!

Yep. I'm a step grandma now. But isn't he CUTE? I had a hard time believing this was my stepson's own child, the child of the boy whom I watched grow up since he was six or so. Wow.

Calvin, Mr. Attitude, and Starflower are thrilled as can be to be uncles and aunt. And they were happy to be reunited with the proud father, Tom, for a good game of catch and baseball. The newborn, of course, slept most of the time. I hear he's a night baby though. Ah the memories.

Mental health day off

Friday off to make it a four day weekend. Yeah! Lots of mental health recuperating and gardening to be done. Not to mention visiting STEP grandkids. :)

I'm a step grandma!

Jordan Patrick Sewell was born this afternoon to Tom and Abbi, my stepson and daughter in law. Six pounds 14 ounces, and apparently healthy! And the crew here is delighted to be uncles and aunt. I'm hoping to see some Facebook pictures before the night is over!

Wow. The G-word. I'm too young for this! Although I'm looking forward to holding a baby without assuming all the mom duties. :)

Okay, I actually read the link and my exact words on June 8, 2008 were: "They better wait to have kids until I'm good and ready!" :) Life is funny.

I'm getting a Mantis!

My enthusiasm for gardening has been waning lately. Mostly it has to do with the fact that it is physically difficult, and painful, to prepare all of my raised beds by the usual shoveling and hand hoeing methods. One day in the garden equals three days on heavy ibuprofen therapy. And a lot of my weeds are rhizome-running varieties, which are especially tenacious.

I started dreaming about mini-tillers some time last fall. But all of our money was going for getting the new house in livable condition, and I deferred my dream. I hand prepared a couple of beds this spring, and looked on with dread as the usual grasses crept in the others.

Finally this spring I decided I wasn't going to torture myself any further. I was going to get a mini tiller, and it was to be my Mother's Day present. But I'm so bad at shopping, or more precisely, at finally opening up my wallet and buying something. So this morning The Hermit started comparing mini tillers online, and before I knew it he said "I ordered a Mantis!" After comparing consumer reports online, he decided it was worth the money, and they have a 4 payment program, which helps a lot. Free 2-day shipping, it should be here by my planned day off on Friday!

Watch out, woman with power garden tools! :)

You'll never guess what my new yard bird is...(updated with photo)

...and I'm going to make you wait until the end of this post to reveal it. And you Facebook friends may have an unfair advantage. Sorry, I couldn't resist a quick status post. ;)

It's been a crazy week here. Started off with a flat tire on the way to work Monday morning, which of course ended up with me having to buy a new tire, which came today. I drove The Hermit's vehicle until now. Four Calvin baseball games (one of which is tomorrow), Calvin staying up until after midnight when the Twins game went 13 innings (they won, thanks to a walk off grand slam by another great Joe), lots of stuff going on at work, and to top it off, tonight's triple header of ball game, piano recital, and band concert. I got home after my bedtime.

At least I have been out on lakes at work, which is good. I like driving a boat around, looking at stuff, even if I have to somehow systematically record the presence of curlyleaf pondweed. Yesterday at lunch time I parked the boat on the shore of an island which I believe was Minnesota's first designated Scientific and Natural Area, because it hosts a great blue heron rookery. I practically grew up on that lake, so I know personally that the herons have been there at least close to 40 years, probably longer. Now it also hosts a bald eagle nest, and I saw one eagle bring a fish or something to the nest. There were warblers flitting about, mostly yellow rumped, but I heard a warbling vireo.

Today I learned an important lesson: Don't park your boat downwind of a flock of white pelicans. They must ferment those fish in their beaks for a LONG time!

Okay, on to the yard bird. The other day, I think it was a Tuesday if I remember right, I was driving home with the kids after one of Calvin's ball games, and a mile and a half away from our house I spotted something that made me do a double take. It turned out to be a preview of THE YARD BIRD. Fast forward to this morning. The Hermit tells me he heard a really loud, exotic sounding bird call from our woods that may have been the bird I had seen before. I walked out, heard nothing, and told him it may have been a yellow bellied sapsucker; after all they do get kind of sassy this time of year. Later today, when I got back from the lake and was checking my email at work, I had a note from The Hermit saying he had visual confirmation, and it was most definitely NOT a sapsucker.

It was a peacock. A real live, honest to God blue peacock. Right here in our woods. I only believed him because my preview bird happened to be a peacock, albeit a mile and a half away from here.

No photos yet; I happened to have the camera stashed in one of those obvious places that neither of us could remember. Camera found tonight, hope to get some early morning photographic evidence. I didn't arrive home until twilight, which is pretty late these days, but I was fortunate to get audio confirmation several times over. Those suckers are LOUD!

This is surreal. I would not be more surprised if I happened to see a manatee surfacing in our pool on Sand Creek. Or a flock of flamingoes foraging in the shallows of the pond.

Friday morning update:

woodpeckers know no boundaries

common loons

Marsh marigold

It is Spring in a big way, that week or two when everything bursts forth in green, the drab grays and tans of bare trees and dead grasses fade under new growth. It is the time while, as the everyday business of human life rushes forward, I just want to pause somewhere in a sunny meadow near a laughing brook and BE a part of this world that does not concern itself with human economies. I also see clearly, in stark contrast, the ideal life I want versus the present reality, lost in the details. But the renewal of spring gives me hope and courage to pursue that good life as I plant my garden and play the ancient music.

another osprey nest

A long time ago, in that dark season we call winter, which I don't want to think about now, while doing the Christmas Bird Count, I noticed a large nest atop a power line pole. I figured it was either an eagle or an osprey nest, and made a mental note to check it in the spring.

Today I was in the area, driving home from a short day's work pulling nets. I can hardly call it work when I'm getting paid to ride around in a boat on a nice day like today. Oh yeah, I had to help wrestle a muskie or two, but I saw lots of ducks, and some loons.

I decided to drive by the nest, if I could remember which road it was on. I happened to find the right road, and lo and behold Mrs. Osprey was peeking over the top at me!

This nest is a few miles from the Web cam nest, and probably a mile or more from the nearest big body of water. Apparently the osprey pair thought it was a good spot though. It's nice they picked the power pole closest to the road!