june 2008 phenological report

phenological events

June 2008

1st - Blackberry flower sets
2nd - planted corn
Hellgrammites pupate
3rd - planted beans
scarlet tanager
4th - cahills hatch
red belly snake
gypsy moth caterpillars
numerous
eastern milk snake
5th - flax germinates
9th - wax wings build in oak
11th - corn germinates
14th - second plant beans
15th - whitetail fawn
24th - elder in bloom
viper bugloss, butter&eggs
27th- gypsy moth pupate

walk with me wednesday, watching for waxwings

The cedar waxwings are one of the last birds to build a nest around the riverrim. They dine on fruits and insects, so they raise their young in time to coincide with the bounty that mid summer provides. They sometimes nest in colonies. My husband has noticed that there are two nests in our oak tree near the river. We go walking in the early evening to look for more.

We notice the elderflower, the butter and eggs, and the viper's bugloss starting to bloom. We meet this years fawn...

it is curious, and lags behind it's mother to get a closer look at us, but not too close...fright gets the best of it, (as well it should!) and it runs to catch up with the others.

The sun is starting to slide down the other side of the mountain, early evening is an active time. The birds are busy getting a meal. They gather together to roost, and sing the sun down. We don't see any waxwings, but we do see frogs...

finally, just as the light is fading, we see one. I love the mask they wear. The waxwing is on the right...their moss lined nest is hidden...can you see it on the left of the photograph?

new cria

On Friday, late afternoon,I had a chance to go down river and see a cria who was just one week old. For those who are not familiar with the word, a cria (cree-ah) is a baby Alpaca.

Meet Isabella...(KIMBERLEE'S RC (RIVER COUNTRY) ISABELLA ). She belongs to my friend Louise of Kuhn's River Country Alpacas and they are very happy to welcome her to their world (er- herd).

Here is photo of Isabella with her mama.

The proud mama's name is Kimberlee. There was also another family member nearby...

this is her step sister, Sassy... They are all members of the biological family known as Camelidae.

Isabella is a real cutie. She makes funny little noises. Her vocalizations seem to be a combination of mewing and baaing with a sort of humming that would change in pitch from time to time. If you have ever played the kazoo, or comb & paper, it sounds a bit like that. I wondered what she was saying in Alpaca language.

I have never met a baby alpaca. For someone who is so small, she made a big impression on me. Isn't her color grand? I dream about the nice rich and luxurious fleece she will produce, resilient and strong....having a natural silky luster...with a nice long staple, maybe an excellent crimp and maybe possessing a micron count of say 21-22....that can be spun either worsted or woolen..that can be knit or woven ...having a soft handle...

In a word, it is what we spinners like to refer to as- YUMMY.

trying not to loose

This time of year the garden gets invaded. It is amazing to see how many life forms want a piece of it. It is a battle trying to raise things, and protect them from the many forces of destruction. I don't like to interfere too much...I like to let nature take her course and decide what will be-- most times. But enough is enough.

I've had to plant my corn and beans twice this year. The chipmunks have stolen the first planting...leaving me with 3 bean plants and about a dozen corn plants. The only method that works for me is to cover the seed with my clay pots until they germinate and set leaf. I check the plants and uncover them when I am out working in the garden. Once they are about 2 inches high, they no longer interest the chipmunks, and I can remove the pots.

Most of my methods involve hand removal of a pest. The gypsy moth caterpillars are almost as big as my fingers, and I have to wear gloves to remove them- ugh. I try to erect barriers in those places that I cannot reach. They are very bad this year, mostly defoliating my largest oaks. The loss of sunlight on the leaves is costly, serious...and sad.

The striped cucumber beetle has arrived and is busy in my potato patch. It is not so much the damage they do (chewing the leaves), my squash is infected with the bacterial virus that they spread. Hand removal works best with these also. The best time to catch them is when they are- ahem- engaged.

If I hold a small bucket of soapy water beneath them, I can shake the leaf they are on,and they fall right in. It is also a good time to check the underside of the leaves for eggs of potato beatles and eliminate the next generation.

Is it worth all this effort? The constant vigilance... ...sometimes one gets weary of the battle...but I think of the harvest.

passing through

I've been working with a Rambouillet/Karakul sample that I received from Cathy, ah...I don't remember when. (I really need to start taking better notes.) It was already washed, so I just teased it out.

Spun on the Ashford Traditional..supported long draw....forgot to check the ratio. I was curious to find out the yardage of my singles.

Wound off onto the nod (which seemed to take for-evv-vah)!

but wound up to be eight-hundred and something or other yards of thread that passed through between my thumb and index fingers.

...and weighed in at a little over 5 ounces.

I kept a sample for my notebook. These little cards and envelopes are great for slipping a lock and a bit of spun yarn into....along with my incomplete notes on the reverse side.

no mow and an F.O.

I live in a green world, it is a green time, full of growth. Chlorophyll surrounds me.

The grass is now knee deep. If I lived in the suburbs, the neighbors would not like it. They would leave notes on my door, with phone numbers for a lawn service. Around here, I let grow. No smell of fresh mown grass, just sweet and wild smells. Of earthy goodness, clovers, wild rose, ox eye daisy and buttercups etc. Green smells. Sunlight and rain smells, dew in the morning smells. I like it, and I feel a bit rebellious letting it go. Besides, I cannot start the mower.

The razor shell socks are finished. They hold for me all the different flecks of green, the flecks of chlorophyllose magic that glimmers through the leaves and grasses.

And they feel good.

And they even turned a few heads...

Oh, and the species pictured in the biodiversity post are: scarlet tanager, hellgrammite, cahill- or mayfly...and the snake is most likely a redbelly, I'm guessing because I didn't see his head, nor did I flip him over to view his belly. He was very small so at first I thought he was a worm snake. Here is another photo that shows his markings a bit better.

vicarious

I was going to post today, but then I realized that Valerie is back from her trip... You should go here and see what she made, it is beautiful. I spent most of my free time this morning with my coffee, viewing the photos from her Penland trip. Dreaming.

biodiversity along the riverrim

biodiversity (now that is a word to ponder the meaning of!) is important...over the past few days, these (and many other) different species have been noted along the riverrim.

some are considered beautiful, others are not.

there are good creatures, and oh, shall we say, undesirable creatures...and just like in the real world, they duke it out in the garden. Right now there is a battle going on between the Lovage and a red Astillbee...I try to look the other way and let them settle it peacefully if they can. Sometimes, I need to step in and protect the underdog....

This year, the flea beetles have been doing a number on the potatoes...

but I have noticed that several small toads have moved into the patch, feasting on the flea beetles...I am reminded to take the good as well as the bad.

Anyone care to take a guess at the names of the species in the photo's above?

To read more about biodiversity and what it means...here is a good link.

spinning peeps

I just finished spinning up another Shetland sample from Cathy. This one was labeled "Peeps". Since I know that Leigh has been keeping such good notes about her Shetland samples in her notebook, I suggest that you stop by and look at her entry about "Peeps". She was spinning it last September. She has an image of the actual fleece sample. (By the time Peeps got to me, the sample was already processed into roving.) While you are over there, take a look at the gorgeous sweater she is making up from her samples. It is fun for me to look at it and imagine "Peeps" is in that sweater, somewhere.

I spun "Peeps" with a supported longdraw style, on the good ole Ashford Traddy. I wound up with a lot of these slubs...which I imagine to be smaller pieces of the undercoat that build up between my fingers. Try as I might, I cannot seem to spin in longdraw style without accumulating slubs.

No matter, they picked out easily enough, but the floor was littered with them by the time I finished. The notes are tagged...

I wound up with an ounce of 16wpi/ woolen....and have now completed 3 of the samples.

a meme

Elizabeth of Trailingyarn tagged me, and she wants to know...

What was I doing 10 years ago?

Ten years ago, I was pretty much doing the same things I am now....but differently. The years buy experience, knowledge, and skill. They spend physical strength, (ahem) physical appearances (ten more wrinkles?, ten more lbs?), and a certain amount of innocence. There are "trade offs" for the time. If I do it right, I am graceful and growth comes slowly and easily. I am not the same person I was ten years ago, and yet I am. On the inside, on the outside... Life, and the years it affords, change a person..Sometimes in an instant, this I have learned....so we adapt, adjust ...reconcile, expand and grow.

What are 5 things on your TO DO list.

Which To Do list would you like to see? I keep several. (indoors, outdoors, desk work, projects etc.) I like to keep lists, they keep me focused. I'll show you my "Garden List"

1. Make Pea Trellis
2. Plant corn beans and squash.
3. Mulch paths
4. Pick and process rhubarb
5. Spread compost on Asparagus bed.

Snacks I enjoy

1. Sunflower seeds
2. Peanut butter & apples
3. Giardiniera
4. Utz
5. grapes

Things I would do if I were a billionaire

If I were a billionaire I would put someone else in charge of my money. I don't have -and never have had- enough to know how to manage, or what to do with large amounts of it. I like to think if I were a billionaire my life would be easier. As my seventh grade teacher once told me, "They say money cannot buy happiness, but I would love the opportunity to prove that saying wrong."

5 Places I have lived

In a city.
In suburbia.
Beside a lake.
Beside a bay.
In the country, along the river's rim.

Any peeps who want to play, please consider yourself tagged!