Pig Pile, Really!

One little, two little, three little piggies, four little, five little, six little piggies, seven little eight little, nine little piggies, ten little and eleven little piggies more...if I counted correctly and by the way, they're NOT "little piggies"!

Green Thumb and Dirty Hands!

Here are the veggie and flower (annuals) plants (seedlings) that I brought home last Saturday following my ride to Marshfield to visit my farmer friend. He grew all these in his greenhouse and always plants way more than he uses or sells. He follows the weather quite closely and knew hotter days were just around the corner, so he called and wanted to know when I would be down to visit and get plants. The more he gave me and I took, the less work tending to and watering he'd have to do. So, it was a win win for both of us!

It's kinda hard to tell from this pic but there are a lot of plants there. Of course "a lot of plants" equals "a lot of work"! The good news is that they've all been planted, both, in the ground and in a slew of pots and they're all doing great!!

Ouchie BooBoo!

Pulled the above branch out of the bottom of Emilie's foot this past Saturday! Well, not the entire branch, and it's really not a branch, but rather the stripped, 1/2" section noted with the pencil arrow! She was running around barefoot with some of the neighborhood kids playing when the stepped on it. Fortunately, it came right out with one quick pull. There was no need to break out the needle and tweezers, thank goodness!

Hypercompe scribonia - Update 2

Our Giant Leopard Moth Caterpillar pupa finally hatched, hooray!

A beautiful female that's just about 2" long. We'll be releasing her tonight, so she can take care of herself and do whatever it is Giant Leopard Moths do.

On to the next critter project, whatever that will be. Stay tuned...

Chick Down...For A Nap!

So, the Buff Orpington chicks are coming along just fine. They're getting big and starting to feather out, so I've turned off their heat lamp. They'll be moved outside this weekend, finally! Each time I do something like this it reminds me of my mother and how much she had to endure with all the critters I'd bring home . I can't stand it myself, not sure why I still do it, although Emilie does enjoy it all, I'm leading towards some sort of addiction! Clearly, my mother was an angel!

Emilie is crazy about them and appears to have given them all names but not sure how she can tell one from another at this point. Although, we did mark two of them with a Sharpie; one red and one blue.

Don't be alarmed with the pictures below. The chick is not dead, she fine and simply out like a light sleeping. Emilie will fire up her computer, go to YouTube and play lullabies to put the chicks to sleep - it's the funniest thing!



See, out cold. Almost looks like a chicken sandwich, right, and making me hungry!

2011 Veggie Gardens Are In!!

It was a productive weekend here at the ole homestead. Outside of a Saturday AM trip to Marshfield to visit a friend, I spent the weekend at home getting our plants and yard in order. Most of our veggies have been planted, same for out annual flowers, finally.

Here's the list of veggies plants and seeds: (24) tomato, (4) parsley, (2) basil, (3) mounds of Silver Queen corn, (7) cucumber, (6) vidalia onions, (16) potatoes: three different kinds, (4) kale, (2) broccoli, (2) lettuce, (10) pepper and (12) squash: six zucchini and six summer.

Peppers fronted with begonias -


Squash: Summer on the left and zucchini on the right -


Tomato, corn, garlic, red onion, parsley and basil -


Strawberries, kale, broccoli, cucumber, lettuce, vidalia onions and potatoes -


There are still some seeds that need to be planted, as well as some flowers, which I hope to get to at some point during the week: carrots, radish and sunflower. Phew, a lot of work but SO happy to have it almost all behind me. Just need to load up on the ibuprofen...

NOM, NOM, NOM...

The Winter Moth caterpillars are out in abundance this Spring and wreaking havoc on many of the local trees. I don't recall seeing them in the numbers and damage I've seen this spring. The picture above illustrates some of the damage done to one of our maple trees but many trees are being stripped bare.

I read on online article written by UMass Extension where state entomologists estimate there are 2.4 trillion winter moths in eastern Massachusetts, YIKES! Add to this that the winter moth has no natural predators and all deciduous trees are at risk!

One of the other nasty problems with these moths is that what's eaten comes out the other end. This can be a huge problem if a host tree hangs over a deck, walkway, stairs, etc or if you park under one of these trees. It sticks and stains, YUK!

Poor Craftsman-ship!

I opened, assembled and used my new Craftsman weedwacker this weekend. My previous one, which was only a couple years old, crapped out on me - the pull cord came out but wouldn't retract back inside. The end result was a manufacture defect, so my new one was replaced free of charge.

Of course the assembly piece of this project,which should have been straight forward, was a little more challenging than you'd expect. This was not due to needing to install a gazillion pieces and parts but rather a result of shoddy workmanship.

I'm holding the lower piece of the shaft in the picture above. This piece, from a packaging perspective, looked very professional and even came with a nice red cap, which I'm guessing was to protect the grease inside. However, once the cap was removed I was presented with the above. This piece needs to be round and NOT bent because it needs to slide into the upper part of the shaft otherwise it simply does not fit.

In the end this was a relatively easy fix but what if it wasn't and what if there are other defects that exist but have yet to show themselves. Sadly, I've come to expect this kind of product from Sears these days. Their Craftsman products just are NOT what they used to be.

Weedwack on...

They're Coming!!

According to the Associated Press the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, which has a voracious appetite, is coming and just getting started! AP article - Stink bug spread worries growers across nation

Here is a good link from Rutgers - How to Identify the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug

All you gardeners out there, keep a close eye for these pest and squash (no pun intended) em!

Peep, Peep, Peep...

Buff Orpington's Chicks



Here are the newest members of our backyard managerie!

These little ladies were hatched May 10th.

Garlic Woes...

Behind each metal pole is a row of garlic and as you can see there's not too many plants there. As you may recall I planted this garlic in the fall, and as it's done great in the past. They've poked through before the cold sets in, at which time I cover with a nice think layer of compost. This has worked just fine in the past, however, and I'm guessing this past winter was just too cold and too much on these dudes as we've lost well over half of what I planted. The dozen or so plants that did make it are doing fine and hopefully will provide us with enough to get by - we'll see.

Hypercompe scribonia - Update I

Our Giant Leopard Moth Caterpillar has moved on to it's pupa stage - that's it hanging in the above picture. It spun a protective web like cover to hide under. So, in a couple weeks the Giant Leopard Moth should hatch, ready to start the cycle all over again.

Another update to follow - stay tuned...

Boston Public Garden, PII

More Boston Public Garden pics-





There were many, many folks in various positions taking pictures of the stunning tulips -



Wouldn't you agree that these yellow tulips are lovely? It's too bad this woman jumped between me and the flowers...

Boston Public Garden, PI

Here are some pictures from our visit to the Boston Public Garden -

Happy Mother's Day Everyone!

An Early Bloomer...

Literally!

Grade 3 Art Nite

Here's Emilie's masterpiece on display during her schools Art nite, which also included the kids singing a number of different songs. This beauty now adorns our fridge.

What a Couple of Clowns...

We took a drive into Boston this past Sunday morning and visited the Public Garden and the Boston Common. It's a perfect time to go, as the tulips and various trees are in bloom - some of those pictures to follow. It was a beautiful day and there was a lot of activity taking place. Snapped this photo of these two clowns taking a stroll...

Soaking Up The Sun, Ahhh

These critters were also enjoying Boston's beautiful day. They've chosen the lake in the Public Garden to reside, along with the famous swan boats. A pair of Canadian geese, a couple of painted turtles and a couple of red-eared slider turtles just relaxing and taking in all the visitors from a safe location.

Happy Birthday Mom!!

I wish heaven wasn't so far away...

Happy Birthday Mom!

Miss you.

Hypercompe scribonia

The Giant Leopard or Eyed Tiger moth caterpillar.

I came across this cool looking caterpillar yesterday when out feeding the chickens. It's pretty good size a far as the caterpillars I'm used to seeing. It's similar to the "Woolly Bear" caterpillar that we're so used to seeing around here come fall. One of the main differences that I've noticed is that this dude is super shy and stays rolled up in it's tight little ball. It does come out but only after it's been left alone for a while.

The moth, from the research I've done, looks equally as cool and can have a 3" wing span. I think we'll hold onto this dude to see if he'll cooperate for us, like the Monarch caterpillars do, and let us watch the Caterpillar to cocoon to moth process.

I've already gone out and picked him some young, fresh, tender lilac leaves, so we'll see how it goes.

GO B's GO!!

Horton hears a WOO! Bruins win game 7 vs Canadians 4-3!



and move on to the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

Bring on the Flyers!

Objects May Appear Closer...

So, I was in the front yard on Friday afternoon cleaning up some of our flower beds. Redefining, widening and general cleanup in preparation for mulch, which is my next project.

We live on a somewhat busy and pothole riddled street, so there is always noise emanating from passing vehicles with booming and rattling and down-right God awful noise taking place. Sure is a good thing that the town doesn't allow you to posses roosters! They're just too noisy...

Anyway I digress, as I was saying I was feverishly working away when a new sound came from the street. This was the sound of something falling off a passing vehicle. Now, I've been the lucky recipient of various items, i.e. landscape barrels, various tools from axes to wrenches and some not so handy or usable items like deer hoofs. So, I stood up, as best I could as it takes a little longer these days, and made my way to the sidewalk to see what jewel lay waiting for me.

There lying smack dab in the center of the south bound lane and perfectly parallel to the center yellow line was a large steel or aluminum landscape shovel. The type you might find being used at a horse stable to clean out the stalls.

Well, now I get a little giddy because I don't own such a wonderful shovel but that giddiness was short lived as a little old lady, driving a dark green Saturn with hands at 10 and 2, plowed right over it! Yup, she plowed right over it, never slowed, never swerved, no effort or attempt whatsoever was made to avoid the object in the middle of her lane (she had plenty of time too, as she came along a minute or so after the shovel came to rest). The shovel was dragged several yards, which then flipped and flopped and clicked and clanged until coming to rest on the center yellow line.

I don't know what the condition of that shovel was, as the owner realized it fell of his truck and had turned around to retrieve at about the same time as it came to rest on the center yellow line. Oh well, wasn't intended for me and I'm OK with that. However, what I was left with and still find myself thinking about, hence this posting, is how oblivious this little old lady was to an object in the middle of the road and how she made NO effort to slow or avoid it. I find this very disturbing and very scary! What if it was a child, or a dog, or log, something she could have done some real damage too, not to mention damage to herself or her automobile?!

This incident was eerily similar to another incident a couple years back where an old man was driving a big black Cadillac that did the exact same thing only driving in the opposite direction and this time running over a wild turkey that had been hit just a few minutes earlier. Again, the scary thing in both these incidents is that neither person slowed and tried to avoid the object or stopped following; both drove right over the items and continued on their merry way.

I don't know about you folks but I do my best to avoid hitting or running over anything lying in the road. Unless it's a squirrel, hehehe...I'm kidding

Kale, Broccoli and Lettuce In!

I finally found some time to get some veggie plants in the ground a couple evenings ago - (4) kale, (2) broccoli and (3) lettuce. Since we're still not out of the wood in terms of frost here in New England, I cover plants with old pots each night before dark and then uncover in the morning. So far this is working out just fine and the plants are doing fine.

Minimizing Our Opossum Damage

Opossum relocation is SO much easier than skunk relocation. There's no challenge or risk - kinda boring. In this case, all that's needed is a opossum and you're in business...

Step 1 - trap opossum:


Step 2 - load and transport:


Step 3 - release opossum:


and off you go!

Our Handsome Feathered Visitor

Our visiting Eastern Bluebird

The last couple of years we've always had a handful of Eastern Bluebirds stop in for a visit in early spring and this year was no different. This stunning little man was flying solo the other morning and stopped in for a snack on our bittersweet berries.

At one point he even stopped in and poked around at our bird house open house. Boy wouldn't it be nice if he took up residence here for the summer. Alas, we've not seen him around for over a week now, so I suspect he's found himself another place. Perhaps, I should consider hanging several Bluebird house to increase our chances...

I have the plans. I have the lumber and supplies. It's on the list, just need to bump up it's priority. At this point I have till early Spring 2012, plenty of time...

What If The Mower Had Nut Allergies?!

Did a little yard work at my dad's yesterday. Actually, my son Christopher did most of the work, I was just helping him out. Anyway, while he was raking I decided to pull the riding lawn mower out of the shed to see if I could get it to start. Since I didn't disconnect the battery when I last used it in the fall, it didn't have enough oomph to start. If that was going to be the only problem I was in good shape. A jump from my auto would do the trick and sure enough it did - fired right up, yippee! However, as you can see from the picture above, looks like some varmints were setting up house under the hood. Perhaps, this is there way of letting me know they're not too pleased with me removing and trashing all of the shed "stuff", which was essentially their hiding places, playground and homes. Nothing that a couple snap traps and some peanut butter won't resolve - it's go time!

Overflowing Compost Bin

Take a gander at our heaping compost pile! It shouldn't take too long for this to become ideal plant food.

Spring Cleanup 2011 Underway

Yesterday was a very productive day at the old homestead in terms of lawn care. This yard work also illustrates just how out of shape I truly am, which I measure in pain, soreness and stiffness - and yup, all three symptons have arrived and set in as expected. The following tasks were completed:

• Cleaned out garage to pull out lawn tractor


• Cleaned the chicken/rabbit pen and removed 1.5 loads of bedding to compost


• Thatched the entire lawn


• Swept the entire lawn


• Spread several loads of thatch in the animal pen


• Mowed the entire lawn (more to pick up remaining thatch)


• Spread Scott's Turf Builder w/Halts Crabgrass Preventer on entire lawn


• Spread (1) 40lb bag of lime on front lawn

With this all behind me it's off to the next chore of which there are many. I'm thinking edging and mulch, hmm....

Spring Cleanup and Play

Similar to, "Where's Waldo" but not Waldo rather Emilie. "Where's Emilie?" Follow?!? We used our pool's solar cover to winterize and protect a number of our large items that we had no place to store over the winter, i.e. patio lawn furniture, wheelbarrow, yard cart, etc. Now that Spring is upon us he was time to uncover and move the stored items to their summertime locations. Emilie was entertained with making a fort with the cover and resting underneath, as it was chill that day.

Here She Comes Poking Through!

Look, look, our rhubarb is awakening and making it's way out, waahoooooo!

I'm planning on transplanting to a more suitable, out of the way place. When that happens I will be splitting the plant up into smaller individual plants that I can then plant in various locations around the yard.

Road Trip

Took a drive to Hamden Connecticut this past Sunday - Quinnipiac University to be exact. The school was hosting a field hockey tournament and Sacred Heart University (SHU) was one of the division 1 schools participating. It was a nice, warm day and I got to spend the day watching Stephanie play some ball but more importantly I was able to spend some time with her too! Quinnipiac is kinda of the beaten path and let me tell you it's beautiful down there for sure. Of course, I wouldn't be me if I didn't bitch about something, so here goes - Connecticut drivers are assholes. That is all.

TMI

To Much Information I know, I know... I made yellow snow yesterday! This in an of itself isn't that surprising and with the exception of maybe a few parking lots were the snow was plowed super high all other snow is gone. However, there was still a pile of snow behind my dads shed where the sun almost never reaches. I had to go, the house was locked, so, I made yellow snow!

Aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Yummy

BURP!

Thank you sir may I have another?!

New to Me.

Before - After - Here is my new wheelbarrow. Well, new to me, as it's actually used and as you can see in somewhat rough shape but free is free. Is free really free? If you look closely the tires are two different sizes. How much does this matters remains to be seen. The handles needed to be replaced, which was done last weekend. Of course what looks to be a simply task turned into more of a Frye task, meaning more work, time and money than originally thought. Anyway, I'm into this free wheelbarrow for about $30.00 now, which is still a great deal plus it's gi-mun-ga in size.

Vlad Recommended & Stephan Approved!

Black bread with Sunflower seeds My co-worker Vlad, who is always making suggestions on books, shows, food, alcohol, etc, has come up with another winner - this delicious bread recommendation. Although, it's not Russian bread it was purchased at the Russian store he frequents. A tad pricey at $4.99 but it's loaded and I mean loaded with sunflower seeds. Can't tell if it's a pumpernickel or rye based but toasted with some butter, along with a nice hot cup of coffee is the to die for. We're discussing other tasty items that are available via this Russian store, some of which I just might be willing to try. Stay tuned...

UGH, More Snow!

Come on over and take a load off - have a seat! April fools'! What a dirty trick of Mother nature, tsk tsk tsk