Still in Ohio....

We've been in Ohio 3 weeks...  or has it been longer?  I've loved this opportunity to watch spring arrive in all it's glory.  We've mowed the grass a couple of times...  had enough rain to make it really grow.  The bluebird box on the barn is occupied...  maybe even babies by now.  

I have 2 seed feeders out as well as 3 hummingbird feeders.  While I haven't gotten anything unusual, I enjoy what happens along...

 This Pine Siskin hung out for a while...

We get 4 different woodpeckers...  the Hairy, the Downy, the Pileated and the Red-bellied....

This male Red-bellied stops by several times a day.  The pileated spent some time right behind our rig.  We could see him but I couldn't get a good photo.  The Hairy and Downy sometimes come to the feeder but are more likely to be checking for grubs or larvae in old wood.

(flickers and yellow-bellied sapsuckers are also around - more birds in the woodpecker family)

The Eastern Towhee doesn't perch on the feeders...

They prefer to scratch around on the ground....  and scratch around they do!  Kicking up leaves and debris in search of food.  When I began birding this bird was called the "Rufus Sided Towhee", but somewhere along the line the Spotted and Eastern Towhee have been given separate status.

The song birds aren't the only ones we see...  yesterday as we were just arriving home, what should be walking out of our driveway?

These two turkeys are in the road, just a few feet past the turn into our lane.

The male on the right had a really long "beard"....  must have been 4" in length!

There's always something going on up here on the Ridge....  Of course Bill is always working on the rentals or doing some landscaping.  We have great renters in the old farm house...  a young couple who are expecting their first baby any day now.  They put in extensive gardens both for their own use and to sell produce to a local restaurant.  Their latest project is to grow hops...

They hired a Bobcat (with the operator) to put in 20' poles to make a "hop arbor".  Making beer is a big thing these days and I think they have plans to sell the hops to a local micro-brewery.  With plans like that, it appears that they plan to be our renters for a while longer.

Gasoline has gone up in price since we've been here...  I think it was $2.49 a gallon a month ago...  then went up to $2.59...  and this past weekend went up to $2.69....

I took this photo at the local Kroger store yesterday.

When was the last time you saw diesel fuel cheaper than gasoline?

(Okay, "cheaper" may not be the appropriate term, but you know what I mean).

I walked on the rails to trails bike path yesterday.  There are pools of water in the areas between the walking trail and the railroad tracks that still exist.

I never did get a good shot of all the baby ducks...  only one of this goose.

But I must have seen 2 dozen ducklings...  all following the same mom.  There were several families of ducks...  I love coming across those unexpected scenes.

Oh...  remember that Rossi Pasta I bought in Marietta last week?  Well, Kroger had fresh shrimp in their seafood case...  and along with some calamari, this is last night's dinner....

My version of Shrimp Scampi...

I seldom use "real" butter...  but this calls for butter, white wine, fresh parsley and of course the seafood and pasta.  It was delicious!

One last photo...

That's my sister and brother in front, and my son and me standing behind them.

We had breakfast the other morning at the restaurant where my son cooks.  I asked him if he made our omelets...  he told me that that depended on whether we liked them or not.

We have only a couple more days here...  Sunday morning we start our drive to Maine.  We have some stops along the way, so it will take us a while.

I've really enjoyed our time up here on the Ridge...  it's been special.  We plan to stop back in the fall on our way west again....  but there's the whole summer ahead of us.

That's All For Today!