Tenants, Perhaps...

Grey Squirrel - 

Red Squirrel -

Darn Cat -

Blue Bird - 

Critters sure do like our condo bird house. We've had all kinds stopping by and visiting.  Some welcome and some not.

Let The Noise Begin!

I've noticed that it's been unusually quite come night time lately.

Usually there's all kind of insects singing and talking but not so much this year.  However, I suspect this is going to change pretty soon!

The following photos show that the Cicadas are starting to make an appearance:  the first two are the casings left behind after emerging from the ground.  The second is what emerges...

Chaplin, CT Ride

Road to Chaplin Connecticut this past Sunday and enjoyed a $3.00 roast beef dinner will all the fix'ns.

A ride out Rt 44 and Rt 198 - beautiful once we crossed into Rhode Island.  Very rural will rolling hills and fields.

Put another ~175 miles on the bike!

Common Name Frangipani

It doesn't take long for our Plumera plant (tree) to bloom once it's been moved outside onto our deck. It flourishes in full sun, particularly when it's hot and humid too.

The flowers are awesome and smell fantastic!

Cuc's Are Coming In!

First two cucumbers of the season, yummy!

Looks like we're going to be having cuc's coming out of our ears soon!

Stop on by if you're in the area!

Pool Jumper

It's been awfully hot and humid here the last couple of days.  Perhaps that's why this little Garter snake decided to take a dip in our pool.

HBD Son

Happy Birthday Christopher!

HBDB!

Another year older!

Greedy Son-of-a-guns NO More

***  WARNING  ***

The following image by be offensive and upsetting to some.  Non-farmers of course!

Having a terrible time this Spring/Summer with Chipmunks.  They're doing a number on our Strawberries.  Eating many, most not even fully ripe.

Along with the assistance of a 20' x 40' inground pool, which has claimed two of these pests to date, I've instituted other means of control.  This picture is just one.

To "Victor" goes the spoils...

Broccoli Insect Damage...

This is what our Broccoli plants look like today, alas.

Thankfully these plants produced several nice, tasty heads of broccoli before the damaging insects arrived.  We've had them for many years now too.  Typically, I'll hand pick the worms when they begin to appear, feeding them to our chickens.  However, this year it seems like overnight they appeared and this damage set in.  When the plants are this badly eaten and covered in caterpillar droppings even our rabbits tend to refuse to eat them.

There are two pests here: the Cabbage worm and the Cross-Stripped Cabbage worm.  The later was formally restricted to the South, however, this insect is now a serious problem in southeastern New England of which I can attest to.

Bumper Squash Crop 2014

Zucchini -

 Summer -

Planting this seasons Zucchini and Summer squash in a different location than years past is turning out to be a terrific idea!  The plants, although slow to take off, are BIG, full and beautiful with oodles and oodles of squash on each.

Bark, Bark, Bark, Bark, Bark, etc...

I made this 1:30 minute video this afternoon.  The video piece is not what I was after, rather the audio piece, so take a listen!

It appears that the neighbors are not home and the dog is locked on their back deck.  The dog has been barking, at essentially nothing, for well over 2 hours now!!  

It's a beautiful day today.  The humidity has fallen and there's a nice breeze, so all the windows are open. I'm working from home today, however, the incessant barking is awful and non-stop, which has forced me to close a number of windows.

This is nothing new.  This took place last year also.  "Those" particular neighbors are simple inconsiderate and have virtually no regard for anything but themselves.

Swallowtail and Parsley

I noticed that we have our first Black Swallowtail caterpillar of the season!  He's contently taken up residence in one of our Parsley plants.  Seems a tad early to me.  Also, the Parsley plants are still awfully small but he's growing like a weed and seems to be bigger each day I check on him.

Ironically, we still have several Black Swallowtail chrysalis that we wintered over inside and have yet to hatch.

Either way they're all welcome and hope more and more appear.

Apiculture, But Not Really...

A cantaloupe sized yellow jacket nest was found under the neighbor's pool bench and boy-o-boy was there a flurry of activity in and around it!

Of course it couldn't be in a worse location.  These dudes are a mean bunch on a good day when they're not being bothered.  Stir them up, even by accident, and watch out!  To boot the neighbor is allergic to bees SO this dude had to go.

Once night-fall set in and the bees went to bed, and we finished our beer, we put our plan in motion.  After everyone was moved off to a safe distance, two of us went over; one with a black plastic bad and one with a light, and simply put the bag around the hive, while the other knocked it off into the bag.  A nice tight knot and we had ourselves a stirred up bag-o-bees a buzzing away!

Success!  Beers all around!

Homestead Yarrow

Achillea millefolium, known commonly as yarrow /ˈjæroʊ/ or common yarrow

Yellow -

White - 

Red- 

Here are the color's of Yarrow that we have here at the ole homestead!  They're all doing great, flowering away and lookin fantastic!

Other common names for this species include gordaldo, nosebleed plant, old man's pepper, devil's nettle, sanguinary, milfoil, soldier's woundwort, thousand-leaf, and thousand-seal.

Happy (Belated) Fourth!

Fourth of July cookout at the neighbors.

Food, Beer, Swimming, Beer, Frisbee, Beer, Fire, Beer, Marshmallow Roasting, Beer, Weenie Roasting, Beer , Good Friends and a lot of Laughs...oh and Beer!

Critter Riddle

So, a Grey Squirrel, Chipmunk and a Catbird all go into the woods together...

Mom's Poppy

This picture was taken about 3-weeks ago - early June

This beautiful Poppy plant was my mothers back in Westwood!

It's a long story on how this plant ended up here in Franklin, perhaps for another time, but I'm SO happy it's here and it survived!  It had close to a dozen big beautiful flowers.  Not too bad for the first time flowering here in Franklin.

It's simple things like this that bring me back.

BBQ Ride North!

Rode to the Pit Stop Smokehouse BBQ Restaurant in Westmoreland, NH this past Sunday for a delicious pulled pork sandwich, seasoned fried, coleslaw and a sweet tea, YUMMY!

A 221 mile round trip ride!

Up on Rt 140 to Rt 12 and back on Rt 12 to Rt 119.

I've put approximately 855 miles on the bike already and the Summer just began.

The Squash Has Arrived!

Picked our first two squash of the season yesterday, a zucchini and a double-summer!

I planted the squash in a different location this season and the plants look fantastic, so I'm guessing they approve.  However, the proof is in their output but early indications are positive.

New Hatchling

Spotted this little fella the other afternoon - a baby Praying Mantis

I was happy to see that the cold winter we had didn't wipe out everything.  I can only assume that where there's one there has to be more.  Well have to wait and see.

Winchester, NH Ride

Before departing the house -

Upon my return home -

Just shy of a 200 mile ride!

At the farthest point we were standing in Winchester, NH.

We took Rt.126 to Rt.16 to Rt.27 to Rt.119, all secondary roads.

It was a beautiful day and somewhat chilly ride, especially once we got into NH where it clouded up some but the scenery was fantastic regardless!

Chickens in Motion

The ladies are feverishly hunting and pecking some of the treats they were given.

I tried to get a birds-eye-view, no pun intended...

Their A Bloom'n!

The Zucchini and Summer squash plants look fantastic, with BIG beautiful blossoms!

There's baby squash started, as you can see in one of the pictures above, so hopefully it won't be too long before we have a couple to enjoy, yum!

New Rabbit Housing Setup

Finally reconfigured the rabbit cages.  It had been on my "list" for quite some time but I can now cross it off as done.  Also, as a part of this project I pulled all the spare cages we have, inventoried them and posted the ones I no longer want (9 of them) on Craig's List as "free", with the caveat that you must take them all.

In waiting mode for someone to contact me.

Too Big For Their Nest!

Our under-the-deck Spring tenants are growing!

Just a couple days ago we had a jumper and each time I returned it back to the nest off it would go again.  Upon further inspection there was simply no longer any available space for the family of four.  So, I took one of the nearby nests, placed it next to the original and put the little fella in it.  That seemed to do the trick but as it turns out for just a day or two.

The other morning I noticed a little on on the lawn again but this time I let it alone.  I figured the mother knew what to do and would take care of the situation.  However, this afternoon there is only one young'n left.  I think they're too young to fly just yet, so not sure where the other three have gone to.  Chances are they're hiding among the flowers under the deck.

Father's Day Ride

Father's Day Pre-ride gathering spot preparing for departure.

We drove Rt. 140 to Rt. 12 to Planfield, Connecticut and stopped for lunch at Lucky Jack's Bar and Grill. With full bellies we continued South on Rt.12.

At our farthest point south we stopped at the Submarine Forces Library and Museum in Groton, Connecticut, which I'm guessing is some 100+ miles from home.  We didn't go inside but parked, stretched and puttered around outside and along the water for a while, as it was a beautiful day.

It was a fantastic full day ride with over 190 miles logged.

Broccoli 2014

Broccoli was first veggie we picked this year!

\

Two heads picked and ready for eating, with two more in the wings.

Fire In the Hole...

Our big vegetable garden is doing terrific with all the plants beginning to take off!

Here we have tomatoes, zucchini and summer squash, broccoli and sunflower's along the back and to the left just our of camera shot are the green bell peppers and some parsley.

All mulched, weeded and staked.

Can't wait...

Lying in Wait

So, last weekend I got my tomato stakes in the group next to each plant and tied each plant.  However, there was one plant that I skipped, as I spied a beneficial friend lying in wait and cooling off.

You can see in the first picture a small hole in the mulch.  To the common folk I suspect this would have gone unnoticed but I knew exactly what was burrowed beneath and chose to keep my distance so not to disturb him/her.  If you look closely at the second picture you can see my friend peering out at me.

An American Toad !

Comfrey In Bloom

Our Comfrey plants all looks terrific and blooming away!

We have two different varieties: Blue Comfrey (Symphytum caucasicum) and Russian Comfrey (Symphytum x uplandicum)

Comfrey (also Comphrey) is considered a herb and used as a fertilizer and as an herbal medicine.  We use it for beautification and as treats for the rabbit's and chickens!

Sunday Mass Perhaps?

Ants!  I'm guessing thousands and thousands of them!

It's odd how they'll occasionally congregate and mass like this.  It's Sunday morning, so one theory I have is they're gathering for morning mass.  What ever the reason this particular group will NOT be attending any more of these gathering...

Take That!

 

Was greeted with this pile of grass the other afternoon.

This was my punishment for going on my first motorcycle ride (last Sunday) without him...

I Wear My Sunglasses at Night

I don't think I could ever live up to the standards set by dudes who wear sunglasses indoors.

Just saying...

Maiden Ride

Got my first real motorcycle ride in this past Sunday!!

Three of us, two newbies, took off around 10AMish and meandered the back roads into Rhode Island and back.  We stopped at a couple places along the way to relax and grab some cold drinks and some lunch.

When all said and done I put approximately 80 miles on the bike.

It was a beautiful day and awesome ride.  I can't wait to go again!

Graduate!

I signed up for, attended and passed the Massachusetts Environmental Affairs Bow Hunter Education class!

The class was held in Foxborough, at the Bass Pro Shop, this past Friday evening from 6:00PM - 9:00PM and Saturday 9:00AM - 6:00PM

Although this course is not required of Massachusetts hunters, it is accepted by all states and Canadian jurisdictions which require a government issued Bowhunter Education certificate for the purchase of a license.

Several years ago I took and passed the mandated Basic Hunter Education course which is required of all first-time hunters in Massachusetts.

I've met all the requirements to obtain a Massachusetts hunting license, if and when I'm ready.

Watch out Bambi!