~
Wednesday, October 31, 2007 8:30 a.m.
44 degrees, windy, partly sunny
It is the last day of October, but already the sky has
taken on
the burnished metallic look of November. Clouds are slaty
and
even the patches of blue have a silvery cast. Golden
aspen leaves
frame the pewter stems of bare maple and beech trees, and
the dew
puts a bright polish on everything earthward. A large
flock of goldfinches
flies willy-nilly, probably looking for the missing
birdbath. Their bright summer
plumage has faded to dull buff, but they still display
the merry airborne antics
that set them apart from other species. Yesterday we
walked to an old farm
pond that at last visit was nearly empty. The cart track
we followed to the site
was too wet to walk on, so we trudged through the hay
fields, which were also
pretty squishy. The pond is overflowing with rainwater,
and the mud around it
was untracked until the dogs left theirs. The area was
devoid of any animal sign,
which was very unusual. We could see long blades of grass
waving underwater,
but the muskrat trails had been eradicated, and no frogs
or mudpuppies skittered
from the banks at our approach. I wonder how long it will
take for critters to dis-
cover that the pond has been renewed. Last night there
was one of the prettiest
sunsets I have seen in a long time, viewed from my car
window as I drove home
from work. All of the bright pinks and oranges had
softened into lilac and soft
mauve by the time I pulled into the yard. Coyotes were
nearby and quite noisy,
keeping up their ruckus off and on for a couple of hours,
so we admired the
purple hour from the comfort of our front step. We will
see some lovely
warm weather today, the calm before bluster moves in
tomorrow.
Snow ? Perhaps !
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Tuesday, October 30, 2007 8:30 a.m.
45 degrees, breezy, mostly sunny
It was another frosty morning but the crystals have
melted in the sun;
already it is warmer than yesterday’s high temp of
forty-four. I got pop-
sicle toes last night on the drive home from work until
the car heater kicked in,
forcing me into the realization that the sandals should
probably go on the back
shelf and my winter clogs come to the fore. Time for thin
summer socks to be
traded for fluffy Smartwools and dig out the hats and
gloves for good measure.
We will surely have a few more warm days before winter’s
icy breath blows in
an entirely different landscape, but it never hurts to be
prepared. Wildlife is scarce
this morning. It has been a week or more since we have
seen any turkeys; they must
be staying in the deep woods, gorging themselves on
beechnuts, butternuts, and wild
apples. We have spooked many partridges from cover on
every walk we take, the
loud flurry of wings always startling and unexpected.
Ravens have gone back into
the forest, and only a couple of crows remain of the huge
flock that was in resid-
ence all summer. Deer finally wised up and have been
lying low, and coyotes
have been silent for quite a while. This is a quiet time
of year, not just in
the natural world, but there is a wonderful lull between
ATV and
snowmobile seasons, peace and quiet like in the old days.
Enjoy your day,
Daisy
~
Monday, October 29, 2007 8:30 a.m.
34 degrees, calm, partly sunny
Thick frost covers every square inch of our view this
morning;
with a low temp of 22 degrees, this is the killing frost
we have been
waiting for. Now we can cut stalks of brussels sprouts
and pick them off,
tedious work but worth the effort. We will be able to
till the gardens and
plant winter rye where needed, and call it quits for
another long growing
season, longer than usual this year. We put the birdbath
into storage for
the winter, but I am certain it would contain a solid
disc of ice were it
left in place last night. Juncos peck their way through
frozen duff, fling-
ing leaves asunder in search of tasty morsels, and blue
jays are working
the last sunflower seeds loose from the plants left
standing in the garden.
I am sure enough seeds have fallen to earth to provide
early blossoms
next summer, planted by birds and nourished by Mother
Earth. An age-
old cycle is playing itself over and over, continuity in
the face of world
chaos; as long as there is the possibility of sunflowers
abloom, all is well.
Have a wonderful day,
Daisy
~
~
Sunday, October 28, 2007 9:30 a.m.
34 degrees, windy, mostly sunny
Colorful leaves were frozen into the birdbath water this
morning,
and several goldfinches were disappointed when they
perched for
a drink. Our cat, who climbs right up onto the rim to
enjoy lapping
up fresh rainwater, batted at the surface a few times
before giving up
and leaping away into the hedge. Although there was ice
there and in
the ditch puddles, there was no frost visible anywhere;
with a low temp-
erature of 30 degrees, there simply may have not been
enough dew in the
area to form crystals. A hard freeze is expected for
tonight, so I will pick a
week’s worth of lettuce and spinach, clean it up and
enjoy it while it lasts,
savoring what may be the last truly fresh greens of the
season. When the
dahlias and gladioli finally get hit with frigid air,
they will soon be ready
to dig for winter storage. If harvested too soon, they
will not have had
a chance to store the starchy nutrients needed for big
beautiful blooms
next summer. Our perennial bulbs could benefit from
division as well,
but I doubt there will be time for that; we have
literally thousands of
bulbs all over the property, and finishing such a task
seems unlikely
at this late date. I looks to be a chilly day, so dress
in layers
for outdoor activities, complete with hat and gloves.
Enjoy your day,
Daisy
~
Saturday, October 27, 2007 9:30 a.m.
52 degrees, breezy, overcast, raining
Rain is streaming down at a slight angle, wind-driven and
pencil-straight. There is no meandering of the flow, no
side-
trips as it is buffeted by playful gusts: no ! The breeze
is con-
stant, as is the trajectory of the drops, cold wet
missiles dropped by
______ (insert the deity of your choice here; Zeus
springs instantly to
mind followed by Chac as a close second, and let’s
not forget the tra-
ditional Judeo-Christian Big Guy.) Whichever you choose,
we all must
agree that it is a huge blessing to have this rain
bestowed upon the
land to fill the aquifer that was so sorely depleted over
the summer.
There is some flooding, similar to what we see during the
spring
thaw, but in the long run it is wonderful not to worry
about our
water source with the long cold season knocking at our
door.
Enjoy your day,
Daisy
~
Friday, October 26, 2007 7:45 a.m.
42 degrees, breezy, mostly sunny
I just came back into the house with the dog after we
chased down
the moon, a huge luminous pale orb slowly sinking behind
the balsam
fir forest to the northwest. I also had the pleasure of
watching it rise late
yesterday afternoon, from the not-so-swell location of a
grocery store
parking lot, where I seemed to be the only person
enjoying the view amid
all the end-of-the-week bustle. It is a breezy morning
with a decided nip
in the air, but as the moon fell the sun rose, and it
looks like it will be a
beautiful day for the most part. We had expected frost
last night, so I
picked all the rest of our peppers and a pail full of
tomatoes that looks
like they might eventually ripen, but the overnight low
was 39 degrees.
We still haven’t had a killing frost up here, and I
believe this is the latest
date I have ever harvested peppers from the garden. The
first year we
lived here, there was a huge snowstorm on October 24th,
and Snow
Ridge was open for skiing that weekend. The snow we
received then
stayed in the shady parts of the forest well into the
first week of May;
what a welcome to the North Country ! We will probably
see some rain
tonight, so I reckon we will scurry around to pick up
leaf piles and
start to clean out the flower beds while the weather is
on our side.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Thursday, October 25, 2007 8:15 a.m.
43 degrees, breezy, mostly sunny
The tops of valley trees poke through low-lying fog, like
the setting
for a sword-and-sorcery film. At any moment, it seems
possible that
a dragon may fly up from the mysterious mist;
‘twould be a friendly beast,
in keeping with the nature of all North Country critters.
Ah, nothing like a
little flight of fancy to begin a beautiful October day!
We need to soak in as
much of this lovely sunshine as possible, as it may be
scarce during the next
few days. Although the official full moon doesn’t
occur until tomorrow night,
viewing conditions will be nearly perfect tonight as long
as we remember to
bundle up. Look for it to rise at about 5:30 EST; it will
be the largest full
moon of the year. To find out more, go to http://spaceweather.com.
We
walked up the Smith Road yesterday afternoon and I
gathered a few
random wildflowers on the return trip, enough for a
pretty spectacular
late October bouquet. Purple knapweed flourishes along
the roadside,
and I found a few pure white yarrow blossoms as well.
Goldenrod, queen
anne’s lace, and red clover filled my fist, and some
low red-leafed weed
complemented the blossoms as background foliage. We hit
the jackpot
when we walked the perimeter of the west meadow; snuggled
up close
to our lunchwagon (an old VW bus) were several blackeyed
susans
still fresh as tomorrow. Some garden flowers remain
bright, dahlias
and mums notably, but to find such a wondrous array of
wildflowers
this late in the season is remarkable. What grows along
your path ?
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Wednesday, October 24, 2007 9:30 a.m.
44 degrees, calm, cloudy
I have to believe that our water tables are back to their
normal levels
after the season’s long dry spell. We have had a
whole bunch of rain the
past two weeks, with yesterday’s deluge putting many
creeks and drainage
ditches up over their normal boundaries. I passed a flock
of mallard ducks
floating in the middle of a corn-stubble field down on
the flats, as much at
home as if on a natural pond. The Sugar River raged under
the bridge on
route 12D, a big change from being so dry all summer that
one could cross
it without getting wet feet. This broad stream disappears
underground for a
while before joining the Black River. Meanwhile, streams
still run swift here on
Tug Hill even though the rain stopped last night. Horsey
Creek roars down
to the big gorge, and later we will check out the flow
there to see if our little
stone dam has stood fast against the torrent. I think the
rain is gone for a
while, and pleasantly chilly October air will grace us
for a couple of days.
Enjoy your day,
Daisy
~
Tuesday, October 23, 2007 9:00 a.m.
57 degrees, windy, foggy, raining
What a nice counterpoint this wet foggy deluge is to
yesterday’s
hot sunshine ! The contrast couldn’t be more stark,
a true 180 degree
shift in the weather. We stepped out for a walk late last
night and a balmy
south wind nearly swept me off my feet; I envisioned our
little dog flying like
a kite at the end of his leash, the wind was that stiff.
Dry maple leaves skittered
across the pavement, a tuneless staccato clatter like a
box of bbs spilled on a tile
floor. Leaves are coming down this morning as well,
loosened by the gusts and
hitching a ride on raindrops. This may very well be the
end of our superb color-
ful autumn display, the likes of which I had never seen
in all my long years of
enjoying fall foliage. Yesterday we pulled carrots, two
wheelbarrows heaped
full with deep orange roots. They slid out of the ground
as if greased, and the
green tops sliced away easily. Meticulous thinning over
the summer produced
carrots of not only exceptional girth, but length as well.
Many of them are a foot
long, and as big around at the top as a mayonnaise jar
lid. We roasted some for
dinner with olive oil, herbs and whole cloves of garlic,
an experiment that will cer-
tainly be repeated many times this winter. Brussels
sprouts are developing nice
firm little heads; we had just about given up on this
crop, but since rain arrived
earlier in the month they sprang to life, putting out
nuggets so fast we can almost
see them grow. We can leave them in the garden until the
very last minute, as
cold weather makes them sweeter. Preparing them for the
freezer is a labor-
intensive task, but they are a most welcome addition to a
midwinter feast, an
apt vehicle for butter or cheese. I have a friend who
won’t eat any vegetable
except for potatoes; what a pity! The sweet crunch of
corn, crusty roasted
carrots, snappy green beans with basil, brussels sprouts
smothered in
cheddar sauce, the pop of sweet peas kissed by butter,
tender red
cabbage sautéed with cranberries, and oh ! the onions !
I couldn’t
last a day without onions. Don’t forget your veggies
!
At least five a day,
Daisy
~
Monday, October 22, 2007 8:00 a.m.
60 degrees, calm, sunny
Mere words cannot describe the luminous glow emanating
from the
golden aspen and birch leaves kissed by the morning sun.
The breeze
is absent this morning, and the still-shot of burnished
foliage set against
a cloudless deep blue sky will remain imprinted on my
mind’s eye for a
long time. A massive smudge of starlings just streamed
across the sky from
east to west, not pausing along the way as is their
custom, they have some-
where to be and are working against a deadline. I
haven’t yet seen our
dozen local blackbirds that overwinter; perhaps we
won’t be blessed
with their friendly greetings this year. Maybe I should
put up a little
sign in the big maple where they usually hang out:
Branch for rent, yours for a song...
Enjoy this lovely day,
Daisy
~
Sunday, October 21, 2007 9:00 a.m.
58 degrees, windy, sunny
What a fabulous morning ! We have an excellent view of
the
Adirondack mountains against a haze-free blue sky, and
the trees
in the foreground sway and ruffle their leaves merrily in
a strong south
wind. The weather is to remain fine for at least two days
before morphing
into more traditional autumn conditions. Yesterday we
went to Syracuse,
and the colors along route 46 and the thruway had us
rubbernecking like
tourists in our own state, slack-jawed with awe, ogling
an unbelievable ar-
ray of bright hues of every shade and intensity. We are
headed south again
today, off the Hill which has become filled with hunters
from both here and
away, leaving us a bit uncomfortable hiking or
biking too far off the beaten
path in our neighborhood. We have had several near-misses
over the years,
with bullets even striking into the dirt of our front
yard as we work outdoors.
A high speed rifle will send its little missile over a
mile, and it is not irresponsi-
bility that makes for accidental damage so much as sheer
bad luck. Even when
all of the safety rules are followed, a missed shot can
travel quite a distance. So
for all our orange vests, loud conversations, and
attention to our surroundings,
we seldom venture out on Tug Hill the first weekend of
rifle season.
Have a wonderful day,
wherever you are,
Daisy
~
Saturday, October 20, 2007 7:30 a.m.
54 degrees, calm, mostly cloudy
We are experiencing the calm after a storm this morning.
It rained really
hard yesterday afternoon, over three inches in our
estimation. I am astounded
that more leaves didn’t come down in the tumult, as
the wind was fierce along
with the steady downpour. In the middle of all the action,
a single song sparrow
was frolicking in the birdbath, splashing and flinging
water and leaves about as if
it were the middle of a sunny day and he were seeking
cool relief. When the rain
was over, we walked for a bit in the still night air; I
could hear the water roaring
down the gorge across the road for the first time since
the thaw last spring. We
took advantage of yesterday’s fine morning weather
to finish cutting some pine
slabs for kindling. Now the buzzsaw is stored away for
several years; I can fin-
ally blow the sawdust from my workboots and spiff them up
for winter with a
good application of beeswax and lanolin, worked it into
the seams to keep out
snow and slush. I had to wait to do this annual task, or
my boots would have
looked like breaded chicken cutlets with sawdust stuck to
the Sno-seal. We
picked concord grapes before the rain started, covered
them with water and
brought them to a slow simmer until the skins popped. The
sweet fruity steam
mingled with the fragrance of baked beans and smoked
sausage, for an unfor-
gettable olfactory treat. The grapey slurry will rest in
the stainless steel kettle
until tomorrow morning, when the juice will be strained,
sugar added, and
then it will be left to ferment into wine. I have never
made wine from grapes
before, and await the results with great interest. This
year’s batch of raspberry
wine turned out very nice, a bit dry with a sweet
aftertaste of fresh berries, just
enough kick to be medicinal without needing a warning
label. I usually make jelly
from our grapes, but there were so many of them this
season, more than enough
for a couple of gallons of wine; lets hope 2007 will go
down as a good vintage year.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Friday, October 19, 2007 8:00 a.m.
64 degrees, breezy, partly sunny
A big storm front lurks in the western part of our state,
but for now we are
experiencing a fairly balmy morning. Sitting on the back
porch with our coffee
is no longer an option, as yesterday we enclosed the
space and filled it to the top
with firewood. Since we added festival seating (some
would call them back steps)
we can hang out there until the snow flies, but it
isn’t as cushy as the canvas chairs
that now sit folded up in a corner of the kitchen, ready
to arrange around the kitchen
range on cold mornings. When the morning ritual shifts
from sitting in sunshine enjoy-
ing birdsong and scented breezes to hanging out around
the stove listening to NPR
and watching things (leaves, twigs, rain and snow) fly by
the window, backlit by
the yard lights, we know summer is officially done for
the year. This morning we
admired a flock of goldfinches who stopped by the
birdbath for a long drink, and
the ever-present turkeys strutted their stuff along the
edges of the potato patch.
They have been nibbling away at cull potatoes left on the
dirt, and hopefully
have pecked up some of those pesky potato bugs as well.
We have had
a recent invasion of ladybugs; while we piled wood
yesterday, we were
surrounded by them, landing on us in droves. I finally
tied a scarf over
my head babushka-style to keep them out of my ears. They
were all
over the ceiling when we came in for lunch, and lined up
at the peri-
meter of every east-facing window and door in the
building. House-
flies haven’t been too bad so far, not up here
anyway; at my work-
place they are a nuisance, sneaking in whenever a
customer opens
the door. Before we renovated and insulated this place,
we would
kill hundreds of flies a day at this time of year. Yuck,
glad that’s
over ! The wind is picking up, so we had better head out
to
finish up the outdoor work before the storm arrives.
Enjoy your day,
Daisy
~
Thursday, October 18, 2007 8:00 a.m.
46 degrees, calm, foggy
Fog is taking its own sweet time lifting this morning,
giving us little tastes of
sunshine before settling back to the ground with an
almost audible thud. I imagine
that when it finally burns off, it will be a pretty
spectacular day, similar to Tuesday,
which was one of the prettiest autumn days we have ever
seen on Gomer Hill. We
enjoyed a pleasant trip to Rochester yesterday, taking
the direct route along the
thruway for most of it. Leaves are about 25% changed in
the southern tier, with
weeping willows adding a nice change in texture that we
don’t see up here. We
passed a vast field of sunflowers, bowed heads ripe with
seeds. I wonder if they
run them through a combine to separate the seeds from the
heads. Long ago we
used to tip an old bicycle upside down, and one person
would turn the pedals
while the other held the seedhead up against the spokes,
which would flail the
seeds out. Pretty simple, but now that I think about it,
not all that safe; still,
no fingers were lost. We arrived home after dark, but
could appreciate a
very pretty sunset through the rear view mirror as we
approached Rome.
We are losing nearly three minutes of daylight every day
as we gallop
away from the equinox, and it is a little hard to get
used to rising in
the dark. In another two weeks or so we will switch back
to
Eastern Standard Time, and lose the light at day’s
end,
making the early mornings a bit more illuminating.
Enjoy your day,
Daisy
~
Wednesday, October 17, 2007 6:00 a.m.
44 degrees, starry
The morning is calm so far, but we may see some rain
later in the day.
We will be traveling to the Southern Tier, where leaves
have only just
begun their colorful autumn transformation. It will be
nice to partake of
a different view for the day. Yesterday we walked the
dogs to a pond a
couple of miles up the road for a brief swim. This
is a recently made little
body of water, and we were curious to see if it had
retained much water
over the course of the dry summer. It is brimful of muddy
still water, and
grading along the banks has been completed. It has been
interesting to watch
this project grow, from the first big empty mudhole to
the nearly-finished pond.
It must be spring-fed for it to have survived the drought.
Foliage on Tug Hill
is a little bit past the peak, but there are still many
reds, golds, and oranges
to be admired among the deep green spruce, pine, and
balsam. A blue jay
was a startling accent of color against the glowing
crimson of a big maple.
He flew ahead of us for a little while, posing prettily
as if solely for our ad-
miration. Loggers have been busy this year, and we are
looking forward
to exploring the new skid trails on skis when we get a
few feet of snow.
The canopy has really opened up, and the crews have done
an excellent
job of cleaning up the tops, chipping and hauling debris
away, and grad-
ing the terrain that was churned up by heavy equipment.
When logging
is done in such a responsible manner, it is like a well-thought-out
poem,
or a symphony where each instrument plays a vital part in
creating
something new and beautiful. As we tend our gardens, so
do
the loggers tend the forests, and we are grateful for
them.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Tuesday, October 16, 2007 9:00 a.m.
40 degrees, breezy, partly sunny
Fog has just rolled off the Hill but sits like pudding in
the valley,
beginning at our property line. Our neighbors are lost
from view.
I love mornings like this, when we are bathed in
sparkling sunlight
and it looks like we are the only place on earth, King
and Queen of
the Hill. I imagine driving conditions are tricky;
thankfully, I don’t have to
go to work until later in the afternoon. It was a cold
night filled with stars; a
thin sliver of moon hung low in the western sky as a
colorful sunset ensued,
finally dropping behind the trees after the last bit of
light had fled. A ruckus
of crows woke us before dawn, there were sentinels posted
throughout the
fog and a main group of them hung out down by our
springbox, judging
from the noise. All of a sudden it grew quiet; they may
have taken their
scuffle to another spot, or perhaps they resolved the
issue. When sounds
are heard through a fog, we can make up our own scenario
to fit our
interpretation of what we hear with only one of our five
senses.
Remember this as you listen to rumors or overhear gossip;
there
is almost always more to the story than meets the ear.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Monday, October 15, 2007 9:00 a.m.
44 degrees, calm, partly sunny
Snowbirds have arrived ! By this, I mean the actual
juncos,
not the tourists with their infernal combustion snow
machines.
Our yard is filled with little white-breasted slate-backed
birds,
pecking through the leaves looking for bugs. Flocks of
them
usually precede a cold front, but in this case I believe
they have
ushered one out. Yesterday’s air had a definite
wintry bite to it, but
this morning’s absence of wind allows the sun to
sink into our bones
a bit, moderating the air temperature nicely. We drove
around Tug
Hill late in the day admiring the leaves, and checking
out the water
levels of various creeks and ponds. We visited Whetstone
Reservoir,
which is full right up to the dam, a wonderful sight.
Streams once again
flow with sparkling water, and there were even some large
puddles lin-
gering on the dirt roads here and there. We saw plenty of
deer during
our ride, thankfully none up close and personal. So far
we have heard
from three friends who collided with deer during the past
two weeks,
and I hear there was a moose encounter as well. Pay
attention to the
critters when driving the North Country roads this time
of year;
deer are in rut and not paying one bit of attention to
traffic.
Let’s be careful out there,
Daisy
~
Sunday, October 14, 2007 9:00 a.m.
40 degrees, breezy, partly sunny
Yesterday was cold for the entire day, with a north wind
that
actually took one’s breath away; when the sun
ditched town and
icy rain moved in, that was a shock even to those of us
familiar with
Tug Hill’s predictable unpredictability. A few
pellets of grauple were
mixed in with the downpour, but we didn’t have the
snow, thunder, or
lightning that were originally part of the forecast. We
fell asleep to the
sound of steady rain buffeted by northwestern gusts, but
when I awoke in
the middle of the night, all was quiet with unbelievably
brilliant stars shining
across the black moonless dome. This morning all was
covered in a layer of
frosty white, and there was a thin film of ice on the
birdbath as well. We are
moving the big wood stove into the house today, just in
time, it would seem, as
today’s high won’t get out of the forties. A
bluebird is looking in the window, just
one for now, a plump blue and orange male; I
wouldn’t be surprised to see a dozen
or more of them later today for the final visit of the
year, as they mark the spot for
next year’s nests. Blue jays have commandeered the
sunflowers across the road,
feasting on thousands of seeds that the lush blooms left
behind. Soon we will har-
row all of the garden plots, and the seeds that the birds
didn’t devour will over-
winter and sprout into early plants to surprise us next
summer. No doubt about
it, now that frost has come, our busy season is winding
down. I look forward
to every season, but this time of year brings a
satisfying peace to our cozy
home that arrives as the canning kettles and garden tools
are put
back into storage, and the firewood stacked neatly by
each
stove signals a return to the simple pleasures of winter.
Have a wonderful day,
Daisy
~
Saturday, October 13, 2007 8:30 a.m.
40 degrees, breezy, partly sunny
A thin band of lake effect precipitation has (so far)
split right over Turin,
and we are, for the moment, rain-free. Huge clouds
surround us, but a big
area of blue sky and rays of bright morning sun make for
a genuinely specta-
cular view. Two deer just strolled across the road,
seemingly unaware that
today marks the first day of black-powder hunting season.
I’m not sure what
the rules are for this branch of sport, but for sure the
herd needs some serious
thinning in our neck of the woods. Shots rang out
yesterday from several neigh-
bors sighting in their rifles, big bangs punctuating the
sound of geese that filled the
sky from dawn to dusk. For some reason, many of the
flocks were headed north,
possibly following some shift in the wind, or maybe they
were looking for open water.
In spite of a dull beginning, yesterday’s weather
took a turn for the nice after lunch,
still very chilly but with the blue sky, sun and big
clouds that are Tug Hill’s trade-
mark. In anticipation of frost, we picked a few dozen
more tomatoes and cut
all of the zucchini, even the ones the size of a hot dog,
gourmet baby veggies
to put on the grille next to tonight’s main dish.
Although the temperature dip-
ped to 33 degrees overnight, there was no frost in our
immediate area, so
we have been spared once again. The forecast for today
includes rain,
snow, hail, thunder, lightning, and no doubt, frogs. Our
kids enjoyed a
book Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (Judi and
Ron Barrett)
and it just may have taken place on the Gomer Hill Road,
where anything is possible.
Enjoy your day,
Daisy
(Happy birthday to my favorite brother !)
~
Friday, October 12, 2007 8:30 a.m.
37 degrees, windy, overcast, sprinkles
The day had a foggy start, but now the mist has blown
away to reveal
a rainy and raw morning. The dog did his thing only
inches away from the
porch, and hurried right back into the warmth of the
kitchen. Indoor plumbing
is indeed a blessing on such a morn as this. We had a day
of rain yesterday, slow
and steady, exactly what is needed to help end the long
dry spell. Two more days
of this and we may see the wells on Tug Hill begin to
recover their stores. A strong
wind blows leaves across the view in capricious drifts,
some bringing their small
branches along for the ride. They are beginning to
collect in soggy heaps wherever
they encounter an obstacle; we have poked a ski pole into
the ground next to the
mower deck so we can find it when the trees are finally
bare; it is orange, and
blends in nicely. To leave it concealed is to tempt a
stubbed toe as we rake
later in the month. Trees are hanging on to their foliage
longer than usual,
and one maple by the barn has barely begun to trade its
deep summer
green for the flaming hues of autumn. Perhaps the chilly
temperatures
this weekend will hurry the process along. If we get some
wet snow
as predicted, much damage can be done if the trees are
still leafed
out. No matter what else happens, it appears that our
indian
summer is over; time to dig out our woolies for the long
haul.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Thursday, October 11, 2007 9:30 a.m.
48 degrees, breezy, overcast, raining
At long last; rainfall worthy of reporting !
After a pleasant afternoon of tidying up our
various projects in the woodlot, dark clouds
obscured much of the late-day light and then let
loose with torrents of rain, lovely sheets of water
that drenched Gomer Hill for five or six straight hours.
It was wonderful to fall asleep to the sound of hard rain
drumming on the tin roof, music to our ears. After a
brief
lull, during which the temperature dropped quite a bit,
rain
started in again just before dawn, much gentler but just
as
persistent. We have received well over an inch so far,
with
more on the way. Thank goodness we picked beans and
peppers before the weather turned; I would not like to
have outdoor tasks looming on this chilly wet morning.
I got a big bucketful of sweet green and red peppers,
and a smaller tote of hot varieties, including medium-
spicy banana style and atomic-fireball habaneros.
We are still enjoying fresh snap beans, just enough
for meals at this point, already having filled
the freezer with our winter’s supply.
Life is good !
Daisy
~
Wednesday, October 10, 2007 9:00 a.m.
53 degrees, calm, foggy
The view is dim but nonetheless colorful on this misty
morn.
One of our smaller maple trees is nearly fluorescent with
flaming
orange foliage at the top, melding into gold-green near
the bottom.
It is tall enough so that the top third is able to catch
just a little sun,
which really makes it vibrate above the fog. We are
surrounded by
turkeys, dozens of them in every direction, some even
boldly striding
up the middle of Gomer Hill Road. Must be there
haven’t been any
hunters up here yet; then the big goofy birds will take
to the deep
woods and hide in the trees for a while. I just heard
that there is
a possibility of snow Friday night, so we will spend some
time
today trimming up our outdoor potted plants and bring
them in
for the winter. Geraniums have entered a second full
bloom, so I
will wait until they are done before cutting them way
back and storing
them in a cool room. Yesterday was beautiful, sunny and
windy, and late
in the day we were treated to a couple of heavy downpours,
complete with
thunder and lightning. They were swift-moving little
storms that didn’t amount
to much, but for a while it looked promising. By the time
I arrived home from
work, the roads in Turin were already dry. Stars filled
the night sky until fog
rolled in just before dawn, and it looks like it has
settled in for a while. Autumn
is lingering in our neck of the woods, stretching itself
out into long weeks of
gorgeous colors, with the tang of apples and woodsmoke
scenting the air.
Enjoy this lovely prelude to winter, this gift before we
tuck in for a while.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Tuesday, October 9, 2007 8:30 a.m.
50 degrees, breezy, mostly cloudy
A few breaks of sun add sparkle to this wet autumn
morning. If I put
laundry out on the lines to dry, it might coax a few more
rain showers to
appear. There is a good chance of rain later in the day,
but we have heard
that before, only to have it all pass us by. Three miles
from here a half inch
fell overnight; up here on Gomer Hill we received a
little over 1/10th of an inch,
better than nothing but the water table continues to drop.
Because of ongoing
heavy dew and fog, meadows and trees remain vivid and
fresh-looking, bely-
ing the dire conditions that lie beneath the greenery. We
need at least a week
of steady rain to even begin to reverse the drought that
has been our lot since
April. Meanwhile, the temperature will begin to drop
steadily until at long last
we will probably see a hard freeze on Saturday night.
This will signal the start
of the carrot harvest, and will take the bite out of the
brussels sprouts as well.
Carrots are particularly long and straight this year; I
believe it is due to the
fact that they had to probe deep into the earth to find
moisture. As an ad-
ded benefit, they will have gained extra nutrients from
the lower strata of
soil. And then, the gardens will be put to rest for the
long cold season,
with leaves harrowed into the rubble and sawdust spread
over the
bulbs. Hurray for a great harvest in the face of
adversity !
Have a wonderful day,
Daisy
~
Monday, October 8, 2007 8:00 a.m.
60 degrees, windy, mostly cloudy, fog
The sun is trying to make an appearance on this dark
morning. Fierce gusts
of wind swiftly push big clouds across the sky and create
a havoc of swirling
leaves and mist closer to ground level. Wind roared
through the trees and swept
around buildings with loud whoops and hollers all through
the long night, drowning
out all other sounds. Some may find a nocturnal tempest
soothing and sleep-inducing,
but some primal impulse rises in me that keeps me on my
toes on such a night, ready
to flee if need be. This is possibly due to a childhood
spent in the midwest, where
tornadoes were a possibility, and even as an adult I look
for the yellow-green sky
and sultry stillness that precedes a big blow; even
though tornadoes are rare in the
North Country they have been known to happen, as well as
destructive microbursts
such as one in 1996. Meanwhile, the fog is lifting to
reveal a sky ripe with clouds
of every description. Whatever is in store for today,
I’ll bet the view will include
scads of geese filling the sky as they head out of town.
Our outdoor work yes-
terday was punctuated by frequent honking as huge flocks
passed overhead,
some of them so low they cast little shadows over the
woodpile. I am happy
to report that our buzzsaw can now be semi-retired for
several years, and
all that is left of this year’s hard work is to fill
the back porch with small
wood for the kitchen range. We will leave that job for
the last minute,
when snow is predicted and the weather turns the corner
into winter.
Our busiest season is winding down; gardens will soon be
put to
bed and only the raking up is left. When life is lived
close to the
land, there is a rhythm and natural progression to the
year,with
peaks and valleys, frenzy and rest, industry and
indolence,
an odd balance that is never boring.
Enjoy your day,
Daisy
~
Sunday, October 7, 2007 9:30 a.m.
55 degrees, breezy, partly sunny
Fog has lifted and everything is gloriously wet and shiny
from a
combination of thick morning mist, overnight showers and
morning
sunlight. It is as if Mother Nature got ahold of a giant
BeDazzler and
went to town on every outdoor surface, clear rhinestones
of water mag-
nifying autumn’s hues into an otherworldly feast for
the eyes. Turkeys roam
all over the place this morning, all sizes and demeanors;
some trudge along,
head down, lost in concentration as they forage. Others
race about willy-nilly,
the toms with their tails in full fan, the hens fleeing
the unwanted advances. We
heard shots ring out at dawn, so perhaps Gomer Hill has
one less turkey; there
certainly are enough to spare this year. The past few
days we have been driving
off the Hill to do some leaf-peeping. Colors on the Moose
River/ McKeever
Road are the best we have seen in a long time, and the
sky was perfectly blue
on Friday which made for perfect sightseeing. It is an
odd year, with one nearly
naked maple tree standing right next to another still
enrobed in summer’s deep
green. There are plenty of ruby reds and magenta-maroons
interspersed with
burnished metallic shades of copper, gold, and bronze.
Yesterday’s hazy sun-
shine dulled the scenery a little as we headed down to
Little Falls, but the air
cleared for our return trip through Dolgeville, Cold
Brook, Ohio, Grant,
Russia, and Gravesville, with a short walk to see
Hinckley Reservoir, at
a level so low it is a bit frightening. We traveled over
several seasonal
dirt roads and were treated to views of bright green new
alfalfa fields
ringed by trees in all the lovely colors of autumn. One
doesn’t need
to go too far from home to gain a totally different view
of things;
take a short trip and look around.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Saturday, October 6, 2007 8:00 a.m.
69 degrees, breezy, partly sunny
The Hunkering
by Donald Hall
from White Apples and the Taste of Stone: Selected
Poems 1946-2006
In October the red leaves going brown heap and scatter
over hayfield and dirt road, over garden and circular
driveway,
and rise in a curl of wind disheveled as schoolchildren
at recess, school just starting and summer done,
winter's white quiet beginning in ice on the windshield,
in hard frost that only blue asters survive, and in the
long houses
that once more tighten themselves for darkness and hunker
down.
~
Friday, October 5, 2007 7:30 a.m.
63 degrees, calm, sunny
What is so rare as a day in June (James Russell
Lowell) especially
when it happens in October ? A balmy day is in store for
us, so any heavy
outdoor work will best be done before the sun reaches its
zenith. We are still
buzzing up our huge pile of limbwood, which has dwindled
considerably from
our efforts. The smaller diameter firewood fuels an old
Kalamazoo cook stove
throughout the long North Country winters, and we
wouldn’t trade the hard work
involved for all the free fuel oil or electric heat in
the world. I love the smell of new
wood as the blade bites into the branches; each variety
has its own peculiar sweet
tang. All manner of insects and other wriggling things
are revealed under the bark,
some beautiful in their coloration and form, others
nauseating. There is a peace
about the repetitive motion of flinging the pieces as
they come off the sawtable,
a rhythm that pushes life’s little worries to the
back burner, the drone of the saw
drowning out the voices in my head which are constantly
chattering (if not to me
directly, then to each other, usually telling bad puns).
Few jobs have such simple
parameters, such a clear-cut start and finish: Here’s
a big honking pile of bran-
ches and logs; make them smaller and pile them up. Repeat
as needed. No
question as to what must be done, the rules are clear,
and in time the job will be
truly well done. Well, for a few years anyway. We reckon
there’s at least three
years’ worth of small wood already stacked neatly in
rows, and when we have
finished with the current pile we won’t have to set
up the buzzsaw again until the
second decade of this millennium. We will rake up the
sawdust and put it in the
garden, and all evidence of hundreds of manhours of hard
work will be lined up
by the woodlot, covered against the elements by sheets of
old roofing tin. We
have our entertainment, daily exercise, insect
identification course, and winter
heat all wrapped up in one nifty package, the real deal,
not available in stores.
Enjoy your day,
Daisy
~
Thursday, October 4, 2007 8:00 a.m.
56 degrees, breezy, sunny
Fog is slowly lifting from Gomer Hill, although it still
fills the valley
with mist so dense that every feature is hidden from our
eyes, even
the neighbor’s tall silo. It was so foggy up here at
dawn that we couldn’t
tell if the sun had risen or not. Now it shines with the
promise of a summery
day, even though we are well into our second week of
autumn. Although we
have not yet had frost on our little piece of Gomer Hill,
it has dropped below
freezing in several nearby locations, so I would say that
the next couple of days,
which are predicted to be quite warm, might qualify as indian
summer. Tomatoes,
peppers, and zucchini plants continue to bless us with an
abundance of produce;
sadly, our delicata winter squash vines have
succumbed to a blight just shy of
producing golden little blimps. Perhaps they will
continue to ripen after we
gather them in. We had to replant them, as some critter
ate the first row
of plants back in June, so they did not have the required
one hundred
days to achieve maturity. Our buttercup squash have
turned out just fine,
and most are the size of soccer balls, deep green and
ready to harvest. We
should have a superior carrot crop, judging from the few
that we have picked
so far; they are extra-long and straight this year,
perhaps from having to go deep
to find moisture during the long dry spells. Cabbages are
huge, and what we
haven’t been able to turn into tasty slaw or stir-fried
dishes we have given
to friends, who aren’t quite sure what to say upon
receipt of such a gift.
(Most politely accept it and vow to lock their car the
next time they visit...)
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Wednesday, October 3, 2007 7:30 a.m.
56 degrees, breezy, mostly cloudy
Last night was pretty mild, not quite chilly enough for a
heavy comforter
but a light fleece blanket wasn’t enough either. It
is wonderful to be able
to sleep with all of the windows open wide, letting in
the nightsounds. Lots
of geese flew over the house, judging from the amount of
honking we heard.
There was an owl, not our local barred owl, possibly a
great horned one pas-
sing through. This species does not migrate, and is found
all across the United
States and Canada, also Mexico, and parts of Central and
South America.
Coyotes ran close to the house a couple of times, yipping
their high-pitched
arias and setting the neighbors dogs all a-howl. The
peculiar strangled bark
of a feral cat that has been hanging around since last
spring preceded the
dawn chorus of crows by a few minutes, and ravens soon
joined in a ter-
ritorial melee. It is relatively quiet outside now that
the sun is up; I kind of
miss the crazy quilt of springtime birdsong, when every
species is looking
for love at the same time. Then in summer, all of the
parents call to keep
track of the fledglings, a different kind of sound, more
frantic than friendly.
Now the rustle of leaves is the dominant morning sound,
as our cats dive
through the piles for the fun of it. It will be a perfect
autumn day; make
sure you get out and enjoy as much of it as you can. With
the days
growing shorter, it becomes a little tricky to work in a
little walk;
perhaps during part of the lunch hour is an option.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Tuesday, October 2, 2007 7:30 a.m.
52 degrees, windy, overcast
Once again the grass is saturated with heavy dew, and if
the sun
were out it would be a glimmering sea of green. However,
a pall of haze
obscures the entire sky this morning, and fog hangs over
the valley dimming
our view considerably. Geese have been on the move for
several days; the
flocks are gathering and increasing in numbers and
frequency for their journey
south. We have seen quite a few great blue herons during
the past week as well,
traveling singly over the meadow, deep heavy wingbeats
rowing the air, long legs
trailing behind. Starlings have formed immense flocks
that roost in nearby grand-
mother maple trees, raising a ruckus as they settle down
for the night. In the morn-
ing, they swoop around as if one single entity, sweeping
the meadows for food,
rising and falling in unison and then moving off to
explore another field. The high
wires are strung with starlings for hundreds of yards
everywhere we go, wing-to-
wing as if a single strand of black rick-rack, and
sometimes they take off and
fly in a long line, strewn out like musical quarter notes
across the page of sky.
It would be cool to take a couple of photos of the birds
in flight and super-
impose their pattern on a sheet of staff paper, then pick
out the melody
on a piano. Who, then, would be the true composer of the
piece ?
Have a wonder-full day,
Daisy
~
Monday, October 1, 2007 7:30 a.m.
54 degrees, windy, overcast
The ground is as wet as if it had rained overnight, but
it is just heavy dew.
I went out earlier to chase turkeys out of the garden,
and my bare feet pro-
tested the trek through the chilly grass, colder even
than the ocean in Maine.
Fortunately, the birds had not nibbled the lettuce or
spinach, the only two things
in that area that are still going strong. This is the
first day of turkey hunting season,
which I loudly reminded them as they hightailed it down
the meadow path. There
is fog in the valley, thick enough to obscure everything
from the crest of Gomer
Hill on down. At least the plants will get a little
moisture from dew and fog, if not
rain. Skies are predicted be sunny for the rest of the
week, good for the spirit but
bad for the extremely low water table. Even if you are on
a town water supply,
it would be best to conserve as much as possible, taking
shorter showers,
watering your outdoor plants with dishwater, and putting
out pails to
catch rainwater when we are finally blessed with it. If
we head into
winter in our current situation, life may become very
difficult in our
neck of the woods. For now, water can be hauled and
stored in
barrels for every use except drinking; in winter it will
freeze in
a similar setup. Time is running out, so if you have any
rain-
making moves, I suggest you bust them out now.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
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