Just a few more minutes of Summer

The field is decorated in fall colors

On Thursday morning the dog and decided to walk in the woods behind the unoccupied home just up the street.  The four wheeler trail is still a good way to get to the woods but the grass itself is starting to turn yellow.  Almost all of the fall wild flowers have finished blooming and have dropped their seeds.  The soybeans in the field next to this one stand dry and ready to harvest.   We walked on into the woods and found that the spiders that were there a few days ago have gone into hiding now.  They are most likely laying eggs and putting them in a safe place to spend the winter.  The webs will continue to hang in the woods untended until they deteriorate and fall.  The hunters have placed salt licks here to try and attract deer to the area so I always have to be careful when walking in the woods on the weekend or I could get shot.

The dog heads home with another prize.

We made it to the end of the trail and by then of course the dog had found a large stick to carry home.  He likes the rotten limbs that fall from the trees and break up on the ground.  As we walked back I noticed a very large Oak tree was covered in green moss at the base of it's trunk.

More moss on the north side.  

The moss made it look like something from Shrek or Lord of the Rings.  This tree is maybe 60 or 70 feet tall and has no limbs till somewhere around 40 feet above the ground.  It is a really nice looking tree.

It looks tall because it is.

 

We headed on back to the house where I had to clean up a mess the dog made.  As you know he is a collector and on Wednesday night during our walk he picked up the neighbor's new phone book which had been dropped off next to their mailbox.

He won't be making calls anytime soon.

He ran home ahead of me and began chewing it up and when he was inside the gate he tore it all to pieces.  I had to take my own copy down to the neighbors mailbox and leave it as a replacement.  I try to explain to the dog that it is OK to tear up the junk mail and discount coupons but that we may need the phone book at some point in the future.  I get the feeling he is not listening.  Thanks for reading my blog.  Bye.

Stinkbugs are not good house guests so I ask them to leave

Gloomy. A little overcast can go a long way. 

The weather on Wednesday morning was somewhat overcast when the dog and I left our yard to go walking.  The overcast gives the morning a rather sad outlook that is probably just my imagination. The temperature though was comfortable in the high 60's and the humidity was around 80 percent.  Except for the overcast this type of weather is very agreeable for walking.  We walked up to the turnip patch and found the turnip greens are being harvested in great numbers now.  Several rows of plants have been pulled.  For some reason the dog likes that field and walks around in the greens sniffing and occasionally stopping to pick up something to eat.  I think the owner of the field may have worked compost or chicken manure into the soil and the dog thinks it is something he can eat.  Yuck.  We made our way back to the house and walked around in the yard a bit.

The pink Mums say thanks again. 

 I found the Mums I have in a pot are blooming nicely now.  I rescued these mums 2 years ago after someone threw them out on the dirt road.  They have shown their appreciation by staying alive through the hot dry summer and then blooming in the fall.   Another plant I have in a pot is a Mulberry plant that my brother gave me which I need to plant in the ground this fall.

The Mulberry thinks it is spring.

 About a month ago the weather suddenly became dry after much rain and the Mulberry dried out in it's pot and the leaves fell off.  I thought it had died but I watered it and the leaves grew back out again.  After the leave came back on it produced some Mulberries which it has never done before.  I'll make note of how they taste when they get ripe.  As I walked up to the house to feed the dog his breakfast I saw that a group of Stinkbugs had huddled on the brick wall.

Stinkbugs got to go.

 The temperature is apparently to low for them now and they have found a warm spot to stay for a while.  They may stay there through the entire winter in a semi hibernation.   They will move if touched but very slowly.  I will eventually be moving the entire group down the road into the woods as they are a pest in my garden in spring.  No use in making my spring garden their first buffet after a long winter's nap.  Thanks for stopping by to read my blog.  Leave a comment if you like it,  or leave a comment if you don't like it, either way it's OK with me.  Bye

Giving a voice to a silent stream

The stream is sleeping till it rains again. 

On Tuesday morning I had the dog back walking with me again.  He was ecstatic about arriving home on Monday evening and ran around in the yard and could not wait to play ball or walk or ride in the truck.  This morning he was ready to go for a walk so we ambled down to the pig farm.  The pigs have now departed for the Greater Gulf States fair in Mobile Alabama which is not far from my home.  All was quiet in the barns now.  We turned aside into the woods where the little stream runs.   The stream has now gone dry and is showing the red sand washed down from the paving of my road several years ago.  The leaves falling from the trees are beginning to cover the sandy bottom of the stream and will eventually cover it completely till the next big rain.  The woods are somber and quiet at this time of year when the activities of the animals who live there are beginning to decline.

Magnolias guard the ground jealously.

 I stopped to take another look at the magnolia grove and noticed that the leaves that have fallen on the ground are forming an impenetrable layer.

The Magnolia leaves take on all comers.

 Almost nothing can grow through the leaves and if anything does manage to get through the shade created by the magnolias will starve it for sun light. No need for a lawn mower here.   It was good to be walking with my dog again this morning.  You don't realize how much company that even a dog can provide.  I missed the dog for those few days I was traveling.  I enjoyed my trip out of town but it is good to be back home where everything is normal again....Sort of.   Thanks for reading my blog today.  Bye.

The land stands ready for the change of seasons

The shadows from the early sun are fascinating to me.

Today the dog comes home.  If all goes well at work I will pick him up this afternoon.  I walked by myself up to the west end of the dirt road and then started back.  As I walked out of the trees the shadows and colors on the road were really nice looking so I stopped and took a photo.  We are now at a point in the season where the summertime things have stopped growing and the fall and winter plants are just beginning to show up.  It is as though nature is taking a break from the frenzy of summer to rest before the winter work begins.  The animals are preparing as well.  The birds have stopped nesting and are moving their young to areas that will sustain them through the winter.  The squirrels have begun making those nests that look like a ball of leaves way up in the tops of trees.  Since the days are cooler the reptiles are doing a lot of sunning in the morning and afternoon to keep their body temperatures up.  We usually get a frost sometime shortly after Halloween.  The  weather then will slowly begin to change to the sunny days with a chilly wind or the cold rainy days both of which represent the winter we know here on the Gulf Coast.  For the most part though it is a good place to spend winter as there are many days when the temperatures will rise into the 60's and 70's all though the season.  Sleet and snow are so rare as to be a source of curiosity when they occur.  As I have said before winter here is much like spring in the rest of the country so many of us use this time to plant winter gardens.  That reminds me I have collards that need planting.  Thanks for reading my blog today.  Bye

Today I walk alone

No dog to watch this morning.  

On Sunday morning I started walking up to the east end of the paved road.   For the last 5 years I have had very few days where I walked by myself.   When I know that the dog is OK and safe it is a little less disturbing. Still I find myself looking for him and I feel the grip of loneliness preventing me from being as observant as I would normally be.   The sun was beautiful though and the air was cool and comfortable so I began to loosen up  a little.  I walked up to the private dirt road and stopped at the Chinese Chestnut tree. I was sad to discover that the crop of chestnuts this year are very small and almost unusable.

The Chestnuts are small.

 I only found a few nuts that came close to a size I could use.   I think that the pollination may have been disturbed by the heavy rains we had earlier this year but that is speculation on my part.  I searched through many of the pointy shells lying on the ground and they were either empty or too small to use.  The local pecans have also suffered this year from a fungus that makes the nuts fall early.   Only those who pay to have their trees sprayed with fungicide have any pecans this year.   Well there is always next year.   Thanks for reading my blog today.  I hope you have a great Sunday. Bye.

All good things must come to an end

During our visit we had a beautiful view from the glass wall. 

On Saturday we began our trip home by stopping off at my bosses Aunt's home in Winter Park Florida.   She and her husband have a beautiful home which over looks a small lake.   I had never met these relatives of my boss when they came to visit our town and had heard many things about them.  His aunt was the perfect hostess and provided us with a wonderful lunch and packed a snack and drinks for us to carry home with us.  Her husband whose health is poor right now was once a librarian of congress and was a personal friend of Robert Frost the poet.   He had many photos of his time there but due to his fragile condition was not able to relate to me much about them.  After a visit of an hour or so we said our good byes and headed back out onto the road.

Good to see my front door at last.

  We left Winter Park around 1200 noon and made it back home at 745 pm which is making pretty good time.  We unpacked , returned the rental car and I made it back to my home at around 9 pm.   Not a bad day at all.  It was good to see my front door at last.   I won't be able to pick up the dog from the Kennel till Monday afternoon at which time I am sure he will be ready to leave.  Thanks for reading my blog today.  Bye.

Come to the place where all your dreams come true. Yes they really do

This place is absolutely spectacular.

I was excited as a little kid on Friday morning when my boss and I pulled up to the entry gate at Disney World in Orlando.   I had never been there though I had worked in the area several times in the past.  I just did not want to go there alone.  Well on Friday after nearly 50 years of seeing this place on TV and in books and magazines I finally stepped out onto the parking lot and began my journey to make one more dream come true.  We rode the trolley up to the ticket booth and paid for a one day pass to the Magic Kingdom.  Once inside the park we walked over to the monorail station and in a few minutes a fantasy ship slid quietly up in front of us.

The Dreamweaver train.

  I know the monorail is just a people mover but I still have memories of Walt Disney enthusiastically describing the system on the wonderful world of Disney so many years ago.  The doors of the monorail opened silently and we stepped in and were whisked away in air conditioned comfort.  We circled the park and stepped out at the ferry terminal.   My boss was directing our movements as he had been there with his daughter 25 years earlier.  He wanted me to see as much of the park as possible in one day.  Once we were on the ferry we crossed the lake and arrived at the train station.   We hopped on the old time steam  train and rode all the way around the park where we saw many beautiful vistas along the way.   We arrived back at the train station and we stood up on the balcony and caught a wonderful view of the Castle.  We walked down the main street to the Castle where a live show was occurring with lots of Disney characters.  It was absolutely awe inspiring.

Pictures can't do it justice.

 The Castle is much larger than I thought it would be and towered hundreds of feet into the air.  The open air pavilion at the front of the Castle was huge and the sound system made it seem as though you were on stage with the characters.  It was as though you were wearing head phones.  I am not sure how they did that.

Life on the Mississippi in Florida. 

 We left from the Castle and began our trip through the park.  It seemed as though we were in a small town that constantly changed from the 1400's to the 1700's then to the 1800's and then to the present and on to the future.  The place is really amazing in that so many people are there with you but it never seems crowded.  We visited the Haunted mansion,  the Hall of Presidents,  the Carousel of Progress,  the Monsters incorporated comedy floor, Space Mountain and the Thunder Mountain Rail road.  Space mountain and Thunder Mountain were two of the best rides I have ever ridden on.

Space Mountain, top ride in the park.

  If you go do not miss them. Our last stop was the Swiss Family Robinson tree house which was an amazing site.  The tree is extremely large and houses several of the shelters mentioned in the original story.  The man made tree is so realistic that only an expert would detect that it was not real.  There was a real tropical jungle under the tree with a stream flowing through it.  Paths and walks lead into and out of the jungle giving you a good look at the stream and the foliage.   The park was hosting The Not Very Scary Halloween Party with Mickey at 7 pm so we had to start heading out as we did not plan to attend the party. We caught a spectacular view of the Castle lit for the special occasion.

A most spectacular end to my day. 

We headed to the small launches that travel to various resorts around the park and rode the boats to several of the resorts to view the park from the water.  We at last disembarked at the Contemporary Resort and caught the Monorail which travels through the resort building itself.  This resort is the one everyone wants to stay in and has always been the representative of Disney in my imagination since my childhood.  We rode the monorail back to the parking lot and caught the trolley out to our car.  I left the park with many of my childhood fantasies having been made into a reality.   It was truly a wonderful day.  Many Thanks to my Boss for such a great idea.   Thank You for reading my blog today.  Bye.

Walking into the future

The epicenter of a coming technology earthquake. 

My boss and I arrived in Orlando Florida at around 2 am on Thursday morning.  After a little rest and breakfast we rode over to the Orange County convention center where the SGIA Expo was being held.  This show was for companies in the reprographics and wide format printing industry.  Our purpose in going to the show was to see the new Xerox wide format graphics plotter.  This is a game changing machine with new technology from Memjet.   The system can print color on paper at a speed of 30 feet per minute.  With a 42 inch width and small foot print I believe this machine has no equal. In the future I feel that I will remember this day when this printer becomes the IPhone of the printing industry.    We spent the day walking through aisle after aisle of printers and printing technology.   It was really fascinating to see the many different types of printing systems all the way from printing on bottle caps to printing on the side of a building. I think we must have walked about 5 miles during the day so I got my walking quota in for the day.

Very nice facility for a show.  

 This was one of the better shows I have been to and the feeling I got from the vendors was one of enthusiasm about the future.  As a technical person I am very pleased with the way the printing industry is recreating itself.  Seemingly every new technology that has come on to the market recently has made my job easier and my customer's lives easier.  I am sure there will be bumps in the road with this and just about any new system that makes it to market but I know that with time the benefits will be apparent.  Thanks for reading my blog today.  Bye.

Orlando bound for fun and sun

The peanut patch has come full circle now. 

Wednesday morning the dog and I had to hurry on our walk.  I had to get the dog to his vet where he will be boarding till Monday afternoon.  He likes the vets office because they constantly pay attention to him and give him snacks and walk him l throughout the day.  We walked quickly down to the peanut patch where I had picked up some peanuts a couple of days ago.  I wanted to pick up the peanut plants I put aside and bring them home to roast.  The peanut patch is now just a flat ocean of dead plants now that the harvest is complete.  Once these plants are completely dry they will be rolled up and baled and hauled away.

Look at all those peanuts.

 When I had my plants gathered up I began my walk back to the house.  The dog of course ran far ahead and caused me alarm when he arrived up near the paved road.  The cars go very fast there and will hit him if he is not careful.  I struggled home with the plants dragging behind me and finally arrived in my yard with the dog tagging behind.  I stuffed the peanuts into my shed so they could stay dry.   I have to go out of town to a reprographics show in Orlando Florida for my work.  The next few days will be nominally about that trip.  I am a homebody so leaving my dog and home is not my idea of fun but I will try and make the best of it.  I will roast the peanuts when I return and let you know how they came out.   Thanks for reading my blog today.  Bye.  

The tea for desperate times

All seems peaceful at the Pig farm.  

Tuesday morning our walk took us down to the Pig farm.  The weather was very cool with temperatures in the 60's.  As we walked along on the road that leads to the farm I noticed that one of the wild Holley bushes has berries that are now turning red.  The birds really like these berries. If you have one of the Hollies in your yard it will be frequented by many types of birds in the winter.   I believe I read on the web site eattheweeds.com that some people use these Holley leaves for a tea that has more caffeine than coffee or tea.

Birds like these berries. 

 I think I would have to be pretty desperate for caffeine to drink Holley tea.  Once we arrived at the pig farm we found everything in order and started home. When we arrived home I offered some roasted peanuts to the dog and he loved them.  I don't know if peanuts are ok for a dog or not but, my dog likes them green, roasted and boiled.   I went down to the peanut patch on Monday evening and gleaned the field.  I found a couple of plants that had been missed and I brought them home, washed the peanuts, soaked them in brine and parched them in the oven for 15 or 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

The dog likes roasted peanuts, I do too.

 I have been snacking on them ever since.  I still have a few more plants I want to pick up at the patch but I will need to bring a bag.  They will be picking up what remains of the peanut plants to make big round bales for animal feed soon so I can't wait long.  Thanks for reading my blog today.  Bye.

How to grow your money

The gray sky doesn't stop the greens from looking good. 

Monday morning when the dog and I went out to walk the sky was cloudy but the weather was comfortable. We headed up to the turnip green field and had a look at the greens.  They are a very luxuriant green color.  The owner of the field has started picking them.  At 2 or 3 dollars a bunch he has quite a good bit of money out there in the field.  The trick is getting people to stop and buy them.  We turned from perusing the greens and walked back down to the unoccupied home to have a look at the yard.   The leaves of the sycamore tree are falling and covering the yard.

How many leaves are on a Sycamore?

Sycamore leaves are very large and pretty easy to clean up.  You could almost walk around and just pick them up, or you could just cut them up with the lawn mower.  As we walked out of the driveway from the home I saw that Sneeze weed is beginning to carpet one side of the road on a steep bank.

Sneeze weed is pretty on a steep bank.

It will really look pretty if it manages to bloom all down the side of the road.   While I was looking at the flowers the dog ran into a pipe that crosses under the road.   I could hear him doing something but I was not really paying attention.  When I rose to walk on back to the house the dog suddenly ran out of the pipe and back to the house.  He had found another turtle.

My dog is getting smarter. 

 If it seems like this happens a lot it is because it does.  I met the dog at the front gate and tried my trick of asking him to speak so he would drop the turtle but he did not fall for it.  I had to let him in and wait till he lay down in the grass where he put the turtle down in front of him.  Then I simply stepped behind him while he was otherwise occupied, lifted him up by his collar and pulled him away from his prize.  Was the dog upset?  Oh yeah.  I really have to be careful when I take his turtle from him because he has bit my hand in the past while I was carrying it.  I tossed it into the woods behind my home while the dog was distracted by a stick I threw in the other direction.  When I threw the turtle I think he hit a tree and bounce off.  Sorry about that.  Now the dog and the turtle were angry at me.  Well it is not a perfect world.  Thanks for reading my blog today.  Bye.

Health Top Blogs

The Monarchs are just passing through

The shady spots are cool on a morning like this one.

Sunday morning we walked down to the east end of the paved road.   The temperature has now drop into the high 50's with the passage of the front.  The dog as I have said before finds cool weather to his liking and on Sunday morning he was running ahead of me like a puppy.  As we walked along the road I spotted a Monarch butterfly flying beside us.  It was stopping every few feet to warm itself be opening it's wings to the sunshine.  It would not let me get very close without fluttering away.

Look closely and see the Monarch. 

 The Monarchs are starting their epic migration from the U.S. and Canada down into Central America.   They come this way I suppose to feed on the bounty of Golden Rods and other wild flowers that are present now.  I know from experience that soon this place will be full of these beautiful butterflies flying and resting, flying and resting, always south.

Zig-Zag's field looks good. 

  The field where Zig-Zag the bull stays is now green again after being mowed for hay.   The Golden Rods are adding their color to the field and making the scene very pleasant. As we turned and headed home I saw a prickly neighbor has emerged from the grass.

This Thistle is just starting. 

 This is a Thistle plant.  It will eventually grow into a large spiny circle of about one foot in diameter and then a prickly bloom will pop out and look very pretty for a few days.   The bloom will die away leaving dandelion like tufts with seeds connected which will blow around and start the process over again.  These Thistle seeds are the ones that are in the bird feeders.  I would hate to work on a farm where they grow these plants for seeds.  You would need a very good pair of gloves.  Thanks for reading my blog today.  Bye.

Stopping to smell the flowers

All is quiet on the road to the pig farm Saturday morning. 

The dog and I walked down to the pig farm on Saturday morning.  The temperature on Saturday morning was in the low 70's and very comfortable.  The sky was cloudy but a front was passing through so clear weather was inevitable.  I am not sure why the Iphone causes photos of cloudy skies and trees to appear like something from a dream but I do like the effect.  I believe it is the HDR setting I am using that is causing that.  As we walked along I saw a honeysuckle vine poking out into the road from the bushes.

Wonderful smell but aggressive. 

I walked over to take a look at the flowers and smell of the pleasant scent they produce.  These white ones are not native to this area.  Our native honeysuckle is red or orange and will not move too far from where it is planted.  The white honeysuckle will cover a wide area in just one spring and summer and will pickup where it left off when winter is over.  We arrived at the farm and lingered for a moment and turned to head home.

I never know what he will bring home.

The dog found a very large stick in the woods which he grabbed and ran down the road with.
My dog is a big collector of "things".  I have been stacking his "things" next to his house and the pile is getting very large again.

The collection is growing again. 

  I will have to get the wheel barrow out and move the stuff back to the pile in the back yard soon.  It baffles me why the dog collects like this. I have tried to make a connection with what his wild cousins may have done but I can't seem to decipher any similarities.  If anyone out there has an answer let me know.  Thanks for reading my blog today.  Bye.

R..J. the donkey says "Hey"

I think that angry sky is just messing with me. 

This morning the dog and I walked up to the watermelon field to look at the turnips planted there now.  On our way we stopped off to check on R.J. the donkey.  I mentioned recently that he has not been around and that I had seen what looked like a farrier or vet working on his hoof.  Well I saw R.J. today and he looked fine.  His hoof is taped up for some reason though. I took him a snack and he looked happy.

His face says it all, R.J.  feels better.

I have not seen his owner lately and I still intend to check with her on his condition.  When we arrived at what is now the turnip green field we saw the greens are doing very well.

Pretty rows of turnip greens.

They are about one foot tall and very green.  The dog went out in the field and considered marking his territory till I corrected him after realizing  that these greens will be on sale in a few days.  The owner of  the field has plowed and fertilized the rows and they really look good.  These folks know what they are doing.  The weather this morning looks low but there is an area of clearing to the north so I suspect it will be clearing shortly.  Thanks for taking the time to stop by and read  my blog today.  I hope you have a great Friday.  Bye.

When Summer waves goodbye

This is what the warm side of a cold front looks like.  

On Thursday morning the dog and I jumped in the truck and rode down to the neighbors field to walk.  The weather was very threatening and low.  A weak cold front is attempting to pass through our area but appears to be stalling.  The stalled cold front is infamous here on the Gulf coast as it can create a series of cloudy days that put everyone in a bad mood.  Fortunately these fronts only occur in the fall and spring.  When the waters of the Gulf of Mexico cool during the winter the fronts will for the most part march on past us and proceed into the Gulf.  When the dog and I arrived we walked across the field where we found that the people who turned the grass into hay had left three bales in a secluded area.

The dog inspects the hay bales. 

 These bales are all that is left of the wild flowers in the field.  We continued along the edge of the field where the trail leads into the woods that surround it.

A turtle that escaped my dog's notice.

 In the wooded area I noticed a very nice looking box turtle walking through the leaves.  He was almost invisible as his color matched that of the leaves very closely.  The dog was chasing a trail in the brush and he sensed the turtle was there but I moved him on and he missed it.  He likes turtles a little too much for my taste.  The owner of the field is a real steward and has planted many types of plants in the woods to increase their beauty.

White Confederate rose soon to be red.

 One plant I noticed was the Confederate rose.  This plant is unusual in that the blooms emerge and open solid white and as the day progresses they slowly turn pink then finally deep red.  There are several of these in the wood which are very conspicuous in the otherwise all green and brown color scheme.  After our walk we headed back home and I walked around to the back yard to have a look at the okra.

The okra flower is beautiful.  

 The flowers are very pretty when they open in the early
morning sun.  The red throat of the flowers is so deep that it almost looks artificial.   The okra will likely continue it's production until it tires out or the first frost kills it in a few weeks.  This year has been a very good one for okra and the garden in general.  We have not had many bad storms during the summer and no hurricanes so far.  Rain has been steady and sunny days have been plentiful.   All in all a very good summer gardening season. Much to be thankful for. No time for rest though as our second spring approaches.  Time to put in the collards, turnips, carrots and Brussel sprouts.  Much to do.  Thanks for reading my blog today.  Bye.