Birds and Fowl A Visiting...

Cardinal, male - 

Bluebird, male -

Bluebird, female -

Bluebird, male -

Tom Turkeys -

Hen Turkeys -

House Sparrow, female -

Chipping Sparrow, male -

Note: Picture credit goes to Emilie Frye

Money Pit Repairs...

I hired a contractor to replace rotted, cracked and damaged clapboard all over the house.  I pointed out a soft spot I had noticed in the wall, under the deck.  Boy-oh-boy, what a find - ROT! 

Whoever built the deck cut a few corners.  Seems for whatever reason, perhaps how it was done 30+ years ago, but header board was never cut into the clapboard and mounted properly into the wall studs.  Instead they simply nailed the header board over top the clapboards.  The second issue is that there was no flashing installed, so what has been happening over the years is water from the deck, instead of draining in front of the header board, was draining behind it, which eventually made it's way between the wall and began to rot.

Truth be told we're lucky, the rot could have been SO much worse had the water been seeping in from other areas behind the header.  Fortunately, it was only the one spot.  Still the damage was significant and costly to repair, however, the good news is the contractor, who admits to "loving" this type of repair was able to repair, replace and fix all the rot and damage.  

Looks as good as new!

After following repairs - 

After following repairs - 

She's A Beauty Clark - Coop 2.0!

The old chicken coop has been resurrected!

Moved to a new location, lowered, replaced some rotted wire and many rotted boards.

WALLAH, I give you Coop 2.0! 

The Littles have been tossed out of the basement and into their new forever home.  Jack 2.0 was also tossed out of the garage and now resides on the second floor, west end.

Everyone has adjusted well and I could not be any happier!

Only about 4 more months until the girls start laying!  It'll be here before we know it!

Shiver Me Timbers!

Whadda ya think of this bad Larry?!

I scored me this beautiful 18' white birch tree, oh yeah!

I noticed this a couple months ago down at the ball fields, when I would take my covid walks. Seems to have fallen at some point during a winter storm perhaps and was tossed in the ditch along the driveway.  Forgot all about it, then recently something made me remember, so with the help of my poison ivy scared neighbor we shot down to the park and loaded it into his truck.

The birch logs we had as eye candy in our fireplace for years were tiny.  They looked odd in the larger space, not to mention that they faded some over the years.  More noticeable when lying next to one of these newbies.  I cut this new tree into 27" lengths and was able to get (7) beautiful logs.  The eighth log is smaller but fits in nicely.

What a difference!

"I'm Batman"

 We had a bit of a tizzy here this past Saturday afternoon.  

Seems a bat was out and about at 3ish in the afternoon.  It was acting strange; not flying to well, flying awful low, out in the hot, humid day and didn't seem to be bothered or scared of us humans.  It was skimming the pool, with a couple times just breaking the water.  Grabbing a drink?  Grabbing a floating insect?  Not sure but it would fly a short distance away and land in trees.  Did these numerous times.  The pics below show it resting, I guess, just hanging upside down.  Didn't stay like that too long before it took off again, doing the same things.

We summize this was a juvenile bat.  One that hasn't been taught the ropes yet and took off early (or perhaps a late night, wink wink) and ventured out on it's own.  Slim chance it was rabid.  It eventually flew off, hopefully home safe and sound, but it's presence had the recent HS graduates in a tizzy...

Highs and Lows...

Admittedly not the best photos, however, they're the better of the bunch taken. Also worth noting these pics were taken through our bay window.

A Red-tailed Hawk soaring over our house and being extremely boisterous too.  There's a pair always over head, which I think are nesting in the pine trees across the street.

Awsome!

Orange They Awesome!

Our Lillie's are loaded with buds and just now starting to burst open!

The orange is so deep when they first open, stunning!

So far this season I've only seen and caught four Scarlet Lily Beetles.  That's not to say there isn't more out there but I monitor flowers and I'm not seeing any additional beetles or their larva, so I'm pleased.

The War Rages On!

 I've been setting the traps lately in an effort to catch chipmunks.  The little buggers are doing a number on our strawberries.  Seems just as soon as a berry ripens, a flip'n chipmunk grabs it.  Often times I'll find half eaten ones in the yard too.  C'mon, if you're going to steal berries at least eat and enjoy them...

Here's a beautiful Red Squirrel that had a hanker'n for peanut butter.  As soon as I open the door, this dude shot out like a cannon ball -

And up the tree she went making all kinds of racket.  She wasn't content to get away and up the tree, she jumped from tree to tree and off into the wooded area she went - 

 Alas, and here's a grey squirrel.  The sparrow or pigeon of the breed.  This dude made it's way into the chicken pen to eat the chick starter feed.  I don't recall ever, in all the years here and having chickens, a squirrel fussing with chicken food inside their coop.  Well, we can have that, noppers -

On a positive note, I've caught 7 chipmunks to date.  They just keep coming and coming...

Comfrey, aka Ass Ear

Our Comfrey is doing really well this year.  Actually it does well every year.

We have two of the three colors, would love to find some white.

Purple, which gets taller and has bigger leaves -

Blue, which is smaller but seems to spread faster -

Jack 2.0 enjoys eating, although not as much as some of the other bunnies we've had over the years.

Comfrey uses from WebMD

Another Milestone!

I don't like to brag but I've made the 6-gallon club at the American Red Cross!!

49 donations to date and climbing!

Ordered my pin, it's on the way.

Wicked Tiny!

How bout another turtle post!!

This tiny young'n, and I mean tiny, is a Painted turtle.  I suspect he can't be more than a week old, if that.  I found this dude or dudette feverishly paddling in our pool either trying to stay afloat or trying to get someplace fast.

Perhaps, I should have used a quarter for comparison but the dime works too.  Actually, he\she was just about the exact same size as a quarter -

The beauty of the Painted turtle is really their undersides, where you can see some awesome reds and  oranges.  Painted turtles are super common in this area, so although still exciting, they're NOT Spotted turtle exciting - 

Emilie drove this fella\gal to a local pond here in Franklin and released him\her in a mucky side vernal pool versus the BIG pond.  A bass or heron would make a quick snackie of this little.

Loving me some local animal interactions!

Vietnam Veterans of America

Great organization the VVA!

We've been donating to them for many, many years now. Super easy to schedule a pick up online.  As you can see they come right to your door to pick up!

Covid isolation allowed the Franklin Frye household to do some "spring" cleaning.  Tough decisions, in some cases were made, on what stayed and what was time to be let go of.  In the end we amassed (14) full trash bags full of clothing, linen and shoes, all going to a good cause and to be put to good use!

Merica!

"Coop" De Grâce

Over the course of a couple months I slowly dismantled much of our old chicken coop.  Not the core structure but more the pieces and parts, e.g. lattice sides, rotting back panels, etc., and systematically loaded into our weekly trash bins.

With that completed, I was able to rock the coop forward and slowly jimmy it forward enough so that it was now fully on our property and off the neighbors, see first pic -

I began working on what has now become the new foundation.  Digging it into the ground to get level but more importantly to help discourage predators from wanting to try and dig under -

The structure itself isn't too heavy, rather more awkward due to it's size.  So, with the help of my neighbor and his two teenagers, we were able to stand the coop back up and rotate onto it's new foundation and new location.

A quick trip to Home Depot on Saturday, and several hours installing what was purchased, and the renewed coop is beginning to take shape.  Cut the legs to shorten the unit so more accessible, installed a new solid T1-11 back and shored up the sides -

This weekend I'll be working to close in the front, lattice the sides and mount the roost.  Once complete, the (10) 6-week chicks are FINALLY being evicted from the basement AND Jack 2.0, our ageless mini lop rabbit is also being evicted from the garage!  

Ah, there is a light at the end of tunnel...

Why Did The Turtle "Try to" Cross The Road

Be still my beating heart!

Look what Emilie saved crossing the street, a spotted turtle!  He's a lucky boy for sure.  I've seen or held one of these beauties in years, many many years.  Brings back some great childhood memories, when we'd catch these and painted turtles.  Who didn't have a kiddie pool in their backyards filled with turtles?!  Sure do miss those days...

This handsome specimen is a male!  We put him in a tank until we were able to release him. He didn't waste any time eating the worms we dropped into the tank, gobbled them right down!

Playing shy -

His undercarriage - 

Here's a pic from his perspective on his new home.  He sat there a short while contemplating his move and then BAM off he bolted with a KERPLUNK!

Hoping he stays away from the roadways.