Yours Forever

I will tell you, for me anyway, this is one of the toughest lessons and hardest thing to do -

"the hardest thing you will have to do in life is to let go of the people you may want to hold on to..."

**This is NOT related to a cheating ex-wife!

And That's A Wrap!

It's officially the end of the 2024 pool season here at the ole homestead!

I closed my pool today, yippie!  I have it down to a science now and banged it out in a couple three hours.

It's always bittersweet, as it signals the end of the season, however, it's also a welcome end too.  With the pool to bed I no longer need to maintain it - skim, vacuum, add chemicals and run the pump.

Plus, this is the second season where the pool was used ONCE!  All my hard work for not, so I am very happy to have it closed and buttoned up for the season.

It's good timing too to keep the leaves out!  There are a couple Box Elder trees just over the rear property line and they are super messy trees, just like Ash trees.  With the few nights we've had in the 50's, and the lack of rain, the leaves are already turning yellow and dropping, AND I was tired of constantly skimming the pool to clean these out.

One less expense and thing to worry about.  All in all a win in my book!

Find The Critter

 Can you find the critter in the below pic?!

It's Peach Season!

My peach tree is loaded with peaches!  So much so that the added weight have some of the branches drooping close to the ground, even though I pruned the tree to be able to walk and mow beneath said limbs without any issues.

Unfortunately, the tree has some sort of fungus, which it has had for years now and it also affects the fruit too.  Many rot and mold up on the tree, some have spot damage, etc.  However, that being said, the peaches are still delicious!

As you might imagine the local critters do not care about a blemish or bruise or mold, nope.  They are still drawn to and seem to come out of the woodwork to feast on the fruit that falls.

The deer, however, have no problems eating both the peaches while still on the tree and the tender ends of the tree limbs, see pic below, as they're the perfect height -

At the same time as the peaches are ripening, areas of my lawn and veggie gardens show signs of a skunk.  Plus I've seen it out there when I let Trixie out at night to do her business.  It takes off running when the light comes on and I step out on the back deck.

It's out there digging for grubs, so I welcome it's presence and the removal of as many grubs as it can gorge on.  However, what I do NOT like is when it digs for said grubs in my lawn because it destroys the lawn and makes a mess -

And not to mention that the darn skunk is pooping EVERYWHERE, gross -

Also, I've been watching a woodchuck sneak over from the neighbors yard, through my fence, to grab a peach and dart back over to and under the shed.  I've come to learn that peaches are a woodchucks kryptonite, so it's time to take advantage of this fact and set my traps!

Tuesday evening I bait and set my trap but instead of waking up on Wednesday morning to a trapped woodchuck, I instead woke to a trapped skunk, alas!

I didn't want to mess with the trap and skunk, so I simply propped open the traps door and the skunk eventually made it's way out, through the fence and under the neighbors shed -

I'm not dismayed and still wanting to take advantage of the peaches, so I reset my trap Wednesday afternoon around 4ish, and now we wait!

Just over an hour later when I emerge from my shower what do my wandering eyes see but Mr. woodchuck trapped - 

Being freshly showered and hungry myself I contemplated on whether to deal with it then or wait until morning.  Since woodchucks are gross - their poop anyway, I opted for an evening drive -

And YES, as you might have guessed, this SOB left me a present in my trunk, well actually 4 smelly and wet and gross present pieces, GROSS and PU!

One problem solved...

Hampton Tennessee - Laurel Falls

On Wednesday 8/21, we hiked a portion of the Appalachian Trail;  US 321 (Hampton Blueline) Trailhead, to Laurel Falls.

The round trip hike was just over 7 miles.  A bit steep and rugged at times but well worth the trip!  Although, we did see and pass a handful of people\groups, we had the trails and the falls to ourselves.

The scenery along the way was outstanding! So, calm and quiet and peaceful.

The pictures below are nice but do not do justice to seeing all this in person, breathtaking!

I took the following short video of the brook and it's babbling water, turn up your volume and click the link -

Bubbling Brook

The looks and sounds of Laurel Falls, again turn up your volume and click the link!

An excellent take for sure and one I'm looking forward to doing again some day!

Enough Already!

Does anyone, and I mean anyone, care or give two shits about Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez getting divorced?  Is anyone surprised they're divorcing, anyone at all? With all the problems and issues we're all facing why is this news? How the news media covers and reports on these two is cringeworthy! ENOUGH, GO AWAY!

OH SO ITCHY!!

The day before flying down to Tennessee I had a Hickory Tussock caterpillar, see pic below of a similar critter, climb up my left pant leg at some point when I was cutting my lawn.

I knew something was off, as my left ankle area was bothering me and very itchy.  However, I ignored it and kept mowing.  Only when I was done mowing did I finally peel back my pant leg to find a BIG hickory tussock caterpillar nestled or tangled in there.

I don't recall ever having issues with these dudes and have handled them in the past.  However, I can't say I ever had one in my britches before...

Seems exposure to hickory tussock moth caterpillar hairs generally results in a localized rash and associated itching - Yes and check I can now confirm this!  Apparently, ingesting the hairs may additionally elicit associated drooling, irritability and anorexia.  Now that's odd, as I did NOT ingest any of this critters hairs but oddly enough I do drool, especially when sleeping, and well, I'm always irritable and wish I could stop eating so much!  Hmm, go figure.

Well, as stated I certainly got a localized rash all over my left ankle, which also spread up to my knee and was super itchy!

I fought the urge to scratch and applied rubbing alcohol to the areas and it seemed to keep things in check.

My trip went fine with no major itching of flare ups.  After returning home on Saturday, Sunday the lawn needed to be cut again, so I put on my yard slacks and off I went and spent several hours out in the yard mowing, trimming and getting things organized again after being away for a week.  However, what I failed to remember was that I had NOT washed my yard pants, YIKES!  So, can you guess what happened?  Yup, there was still hairs from the hickory tussock caterpillar in the left pant leg and OMG, it's like ground hogs days and I'm reliving the rash and incredible itching once again AND it's spread more, see pic below -

This gave me an excuse to fill up the jacuzzi hot tub and soak for a half hour, which has helped with the itching and swelling but need to do some research for a home remedy on how to stop crazy itching. 

I decided to toss those yard trousers in the trash, NOT going to risk it.  I was in need of a new pair of yard knickers anyway. 

Back In Time Of Sorts

For our stay in Tennessee, we rented an Airbnb in the town of Gray.

A turn of the century farmhouse on 3.74 acres. There was a cow farm on one side of the house with both black and white angus cows grazing, rolling farmland across the street and a small brook in the backyard. The wrap-around porch was great and the ideal spot for enjoying our morning coffee -

The inside didn't disappoint with it's original (creaky) hardwood floors, a big kitchen, 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and 3 fireplaces (non-working), all decorated in a farmhouse, country theme throughout -

One of the big bedrooms with full bath -

View looking back towards the house from just down the street -

The perfect spot for a taste of country living!

Here I Come!

And off I go!

Flew down to Johnson City, Tennessee for a week of R&R and to visit and spend time with family; long overdue time.

The week went by too fast but it was a fantastic week with many wonderful memories made!

I was up early on my first morning to take in the sights and sounds - the morning fog hovering above the fields with the morning dew sparkling as the sun rose.  Crickets chirping, cow mooing, roosters crowing but also the quite, serene calm all capped off with a beautiful Tennessee sunrise -

A covered porch with a front row seat to the sunrise -

Merica! 

SO thankful and SO blessed ❤

When Your Hourglass Runs Out Of Sand

You Can Call Me Forest (Gump)

Below is a screen shot from my walk (disregard the "Morning Run" reference in the screen shot) yesterday morning, a personal best distance at 5.20 miles, and marked my 47th day in a row of walking at least 3 miles each day!

As you can see my total miles walked the six days this past week is 29.76 miles!

Alas, now if I stopped eating like I have two assholes, I might even get to my target weight goal...

Tale Of The Tape

So, the route I take on my daily walks takes me through some nice, peaceful neighborhoods with some older homes and some newer.

It's that time of the year around here where many homes are preparing for the upcoming New England winter and having their driveways sealed. Several have even had their driveways replaced too. In each instance the companies performing the work put up stakes with yellow warning tape, see above, to prevent folks from treading.  This warning tape is strung along the end of the driveway but also along each side where the sidewalks are.

I understand the overall principle behind this, especially with all the selfish, clueless, inconsiderate people these days but what I am finding is that the homeowners are keeping this yellow tape up for WEEKS!

At what point does this cause an inconvenience to all the folks that use the sidewalks?!  Sure, not a big deal to walk around these and I have no problem doing so but when it drags on for several weeks it starts to become a bit much.  What of the folks pushing a baby carriage?  Navigating around these barriers isn't as easy with granite curbing for example and often times, at least on my early morning walks, the grass is wet.  Wet feet when walking is no fun. Or kiddos on bikes even?

I would assume that after a week the sealant is sufficiently dry, and if a new driveway was poured, it surly is cured enough for foot traffic.  I've been understanding and considerate to you all these past weeks, now it's the homeowners turn to think about others and maybe just remove the tape that is blocking the sidewalks.

What are your thoughts?!

Looked Like A Statue

I spy with my little eye...

I came across this juvenile red tailed hawk this morning on my walk.

I spotted him right away and assumed it would take off as I got closer but noppers, just sat right there.  I was literally a couple feet away from this beauty and it didn't move or seem bothered by my presence.

Now, it did look a bit water logged, perhaps from the rains we recently had, but otherwise fine.  I was tempted to give it a nudge but didn't want to overstep, so I let it be and went on my way.  Hoping it's fine and was just resting and scoping out the area -

If I could rationalize with it I would have told it about all the delicious wild rabbits I have in my yard and would have tried to convince it to let me take it home to a nice wabbit meal...

Cheers!

Oops, slipped my mind that I had started this post back in July and it's been sitting in draft since, my bad.

My brother was up for a long weekend visit.  It was his birthday weekend, so we put on our mixology hats to make and enjoy several of these bad Larry's - 

Homemade mint chocolate martinis, right down to the chocolate rims!

OMG, so delicious 🤤!

What The "Frass"?!

Not only are my veggies doing well this summer but seems these darn hornworm caterpillars are also doing well, alas!  The pics below are a handful I've found on my tomato plants but I've also found several on my pepper plants too.

I typically know they're there when I see their frass, which I then notice the defoliation.  The problem with this is that by this time the caterpillars are BIG and have eaten quite a bit.  Even knowing they're there, it's sometime difficult to find them, as they blend in so well. 

This one below looks like a unicorn with the one white cocoon atop it's head!

The soft white growths are actually the cocoons of a parasitoid wasp – a species of braconid wasp. These tiny wasps are doing me a favor and killing the hornworm caterpillar by using the body as a hatching ground for their young - a ‘meals on wheels’ kinda thing!

These have all been dealt with and I will continue to keep an eye out for more.

It's always something with gardening.  Whether these dudes, other bad insects to rabbits and deer the fun never stops and keeps me on my toes.  Ah, the joys of gardening!

Skinny Dipping, Perhaps

I spied this frog making it's way to the edge of my pool last night.

You can see it's wet pee stain behind it.

Just might be the BIG frog I've pulled out of the pool the last several mornings.

There was a skunk in my raised bed digging the other evening but ran off as soon as I turned the spot light on and stepped out onto the deck.  I welcome them, as they're terrific at digging up grubs, however, as beneficial as that sounds, their digging is SO invasive and makes a mess of my lawn, UGH!  Stick to the gardens and we'll be fine, the skunk and I, otherwise we're gonna have an issue...

It's THAT Time Of The Year!

I made my way out to the garden yesterday afternoon to pick some of my veggies and I was NOT disappointed.

Just like last year, I am being overrun with bell peppers.  There are oodles of them!  These six below are about the size of a softball!  So BIG and beautiful!  I'll be heading to the market today to pick up the fix'ns to make stuff peppers -

My first ears of corn, three Yukon Gold potatoes and some tomatoes!

The potatoes grew from a single plant that sprouted from a potato I missed from last years growing season.  It remained dormant all winter long, then took off when things warmed up.  I doted this plant it and it rewarded me with three small taters, which I will make into fries and enjoy -

One of my all time favorites is Silver Queen corn, to die for!  There are oodles more out there too and I can't wait to sink my teeth into each and every one -

YUP, I ate ALL five pieces last night - 

My diner last night, a scrumptious BLT, corn on the cob and a frosty beer! You just cannot beat home grown veggies, SO tender and juicy -

#Blessed

Not A Reflection Of You!