I'm at work... obviously not working... but I brought the mower up from the old shop at 5:30 this morning and we don't "officially" start work until 6 am, so I'll take a break and write a quick post.
We didn't have electricity yesterday until sometime around 2pm... not a real big deal, but opening garage doors manually.. ones that usually open electrically... can be a chore. It rained off and on... not really rain, more of a heavy mist, but it still got things wet.
The elderberries are in bloom....
These will be the red variety... don't know if anyone uses them except the birds.
Saw a Yellow Warbler flitting around in the brush...
He has red streaks on his breast, but they don't show up well here.
This Eastern Kingbird was hanging out near the lake.
Maybe he'll eat some of the black flies that were so annoying.
I watched this Osprey swoop down over the water, then land on one of the snags to munch down on his catch.
And the most exciting thing... I was mowing up near the Guard Shack and caught movement out of the corner of my eye... turned around and there was a baby moose walking around in the field. I moved out of the way, but watched to see if I could see Mama Moose. Nope.. no Mama. Baby ran around the back of the guard shack. I left the area (I'll mow it later... baby moose sure didn't need any more stress).
I drove back up in the car later... Baby moose had bedded down at the edge of the building. By 7:30 Mama hadn't returned for him....
I drove back up there at 5:00 this morning... baby moose is gone. Hopefully Mama returned and found him.
I was asked how Mainers grow tomatoes. I don't know about anyone else, but here's what we do...
I bought 3 tomato plants when we were in Ohio... A Roma, a cherry tomato, and a "eating" tomato. The Romas are to make pico de gallo, the cherry tomatoes should be the first to get ripe, and the everyday eating tomato is the kind you just pick off the vine and eat.
They are each in their own 5 gallon bucket. The long, flat bin is where I planted cilantro, spinach and basil seeds. It's so nice to have fresh greens... just wish they were already grown.
And the red petunias are extras. I bought too many to put in my hanging planter. I always have to have red petunias to attract the hummingbirds. So... don't know what anyone else does, but this is our garden this summer.
That's All For Today!
We have used elderberries , to make pies when we can find them, ths bushes at the farm were removed a few years ago, but can still find Elderberry pies from the Mennonites at the St. Jacobs market here.
ReplyDeleteI would love this life... Except for all the work... And the bugs. So, thanks for sharing the experience here.
ReplyDeleteI too bought some herbs yesterday, I'm not going to struggle with tomatoes this year.
ReplyDeleteI remember my wife making elderberry jelly; big pot on the stove. It also stained everything it touched. That is a cute baby moose.
ReplyDeleteBlack flies---hate them. Horse flies here are an issue sometimes. Huge and the bites are awful.
ReplyDeleteI am so happy to find you can grow tomatoes there, as it is not summer without them warm from the garden.
ReplyDeleteGotta have tomatoes and cilantro...SALSA!!!
ReplyDeleteOf all the wines my father made, elderberry and elderflower were everyone's favourites. My father also believed they had medicinal qualities. The trees are quite common in the UK, where I grew up. Every year I went with him to pick the flowers and berries.
ReplyDelete