Closing in on the shortest day

The leafless pecan stands ready for it's winter rest.

Friday morning when the dog and I walked down to the east end of the paved road the weather was very warm for December.  The temperature was around 70 degrees and the humidity was high at 90 percent.  The weather was very unsettled.  The gray clouds were still moving quickly to the north but there was no surface wind to speak of.  The sun made an occasional appearance as a big silver disk hiding behind a thick layer of clouds.

Look closely to see the bashful sun.

 It is funny to me how flat the sun appears when most of it's brilliance is shielded by the clouds.  As we reached the end of the paved road the dog became anxious about heading home.  He has been fearful of this end of the road ever since "the electric fence incident".

Very colorful stinkbug larvae await
their further transformation.

I stopped only for a moment to take a look at the small orange stink bugs hanging out on the young Golden Rods growing at the road side. These seemingly innocent little bugs will eventually metamorphosis into the large leaf footed stink bugs that are the scourge of the spring and summer garden.   With the dog running ahead we started back toward our home.

The sand pear tree says
"hey wait for me"

I saw that a sand pear has made a nice showing of orange leaves this year.  The hard freeze we had a few days ago is bringing out fall leaf colors we are not treated to on a regular basis here in Grand Bay.  This tree makes a very large number of almost inedible pears that nearly pull the tree down in the spring.  The pears laying on the ground attract many different types of animals who mostly come at night to eat them.

Another lucky turtle escapes the
jaws of my dog.

As we continued in the direction of home the dog began to run around on the side of the road indicating he had caught the scent of something.  I looked in his direction and saw a turtle hiding in it's shell which the dog had not yet seen.   I pretended to take a photo of something ,which causes the dog to completely ignore me because he sees me doing it everyday, and walked to where the turtle was.  I while bending and pretending to take a photo of the ground I scooped up the turtle and whisked it to the other side of the road.  The dog never figured out what happened.  He followed the scent trail to the spot where the turtle was sitting and just looked totally confused as though he was thinking to himself " Ok it should be right here so where is it?"   While he went round and round on the other side of the road I snapped a photo of the turtle and tossed it into the bushes.

  Slowly but surely I am learning how the dog reacts to things I do and I am able to manipulate him without his knowledge.   I am almost sure the dog has his own list of manipulations he can impose upon me as well.  Which one of us will win this battle of wits? Only time will tell.  It may make for some interesting future reading.    Thanks for reading my blog today.   I hope you have a good day.  Bye.

The Ice Man Cometh

The "COLD FRONT" even looks cold.

Tuesday morning the weather was warm but the cold front that will drop our temperatures drastically could be seen in the distance.  The clearing line is just to the north of Mobile county and the dome of cold air is hard on it's heels.  Tomorrow's blog will probably be about how cold the morning is. The dog and I walked up to the turnip green field to see how things are going.  Along the way I saw an Evening primrose blooming probably for the last time this year.

The last photo of primrose?

 

We arrived at the turnip green field and found several rows of green now harvested.  I intend to get some of these from the owner soon and have them for supper. We headed back down to the house and the dog wanted to go on further so we walked east on the paved road heading toward the soybean field.

At the gate the dog says
"Nothing to declare".

The dog went into the brush along the side of the road and found another turtle.
He turned quickly and ran back to the house and was waiting with his prize at the gate.  He went inside the gate and spent about 5 minutes walking around trying to prevent me from taking his turtle.  Eventually after much growling and snapping I retrieved it from him and threw it into the woods.  I have the feeling that the same turtle is being caught by the dog each time.   I have formulated a plan to mark the next one to see if it gets caught again.  This may just be natures way of getting rid of dumb turtles.

The last photo of bananas?

 I stopped in the back yard to get what may be my last photo of the banana trees this year.  They don't suffer freezing weather very well.   I have waited nearly two years for the stalk of bananas to grow and I do not want to loose them so I will be watching the temperatures tonight. Light a fire and stay warm.  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

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.

The calm before the storm?

The sun is headed south fast.  

Friday at last.  This morning the dog and I sat on the front porch and  watched the sun come up.  The sun has now moved far enough south that it shines on us as we sit there.  The fact that I am stopping to look at these changes in where the sun is coming up and the changes in the country side in general is a direct result of this blog and I am thankful for that opportunity.  I walked around in the yard and spotted a very small spider web that was fit neatly into one of the squares of the chain link fence that runs down the east side of my property.  The square is only about 2 inches wide and the spider was so small as to be invisible to me.

One of the tiniest webs I have seen. 

  The dew and the rising sun made the web a bit more visible.  We headed up the road to the trail that runs through the old pecan orchard and made our way out into the woods.

Watch out for webs on this trail. 

There were a lot of spider webs hanging across the trail and I probably made some of the spiders mad as I stumbled into them.    This area where the trail runs will stay warm well into the winter and the spiders will still be here till it really gets cold in mid December or early January.   While we were on the trail the dog found another big turtle and immediately started for home.  When we arrived home and he was ready to bring it through the gate he dropped it and it slid under the gate out of his reach.

 Why does this keep happening? 

 I went through the gate and left the dog outside.  Much to the his dismay I picked up his turtle took it to the woods in the back yard and tossed it over the fence.  His diet won't allow him to eat turtles. I walked back around to the gate and let the dog in and he ran to the back yard to get his turtle which of course was not there.  I am telling you that if that dog could speak he would probably be hurling dog curses at me because he keeps losing his turtle after carrying it all the way home.  The weather in this morning was wonderful.  There is a tropical system in the gulf heading north so this may be the last nice morning for a while.  Thanks for reading my blog.  Bye.

Turtle transportation

Tuesday morning the dog and I walked down to the south end of the dirt road where the pig farm is.   The temperature was very nice and the humidity was acceptable.  We arrived at the end of the road and noticed that the owner has moved in the cattle trailer which means that in a month or two he will be bringing in the 4-H student's pigs to stay till the State fair later this year.  The owner has put in some heavy duty fencing to keep people from driving up to the farm buildings and possibly making off with the pigs.  On the way back home the dog decided to take a detour through the woods.   When he popped out of the woods a few minutes later he had a fairly large box turtle in his mouth.   He ran past me and kept on going all the way to the house and sat outside the gate waiting for me to get back.  When I arrived he picked up the turtle and made ready to go inside.  I had thought ahead and picked up  a piece of wood about the same size as the turtle and brought it with me.  I asked him if he wanted me to throw the piece of wood which made him drop the turtle and get ready to play fetch.   I picked up the turtle walked through the gate and  into the back yard.  I stood by the fence with the woods on the other side and threw the piece of wood out on to the yard and when the dog went after it I threw the turtle into the woods.  Problem solved till the next walk.  Thanks for coming by today.  Bye.

What the dog saw

Yum! Turtle flavored.

This morning as the dog and I walked out I noticed that the sky had cleared and there was not a cloud to be seen. The sun at 730 am was a brilliant ball in the azure blue sky and was a welcome site. We walked down to the west end of the dirt road and along the way I spotted a large moccasin hiding under 2 feet of water in a drainage basin. I could see that it had a lump in it's body indicating that it had eaten well the night before. After directing the dog around that obstacle we moved on past the yellow jacket nest where someone had poked a long stick into the opening. I pulled the stick out and immediately the yellow jackets flew out in an angry swarm. For some reason they were not very appreciative of my help. As I ran away from the bees I looked back expecting the dog to be following me but instead he was otherwise occupied. It seems he was having some quality time on the opposite side of the road which was very quickly being turned into a stinging session by the yellow jackets. He managed to finish and was running after me with that "why did you do that" look on his face again. Later, when we arrived at the end of the road the dog started sniffing in the weeds and I knew he had found something and that I should watch out for surprises. He quickly located a baseball sized box turtle and started heading back to the house with his booty. I yelled to him as he ran that I was going the other way and that I would see him later. That turned him around and he came running back to me. When he walked up to me he made it clear that he was absolutely not going to give up the turtle. He held it tight just as you see him in the photo. After 15 minutes of fighting with him over the turtle I gave up and just followed him back home. Half way back he stopped and laid down to rest and I caught him with the turtle on the ground and wrestled it away and tossed it over the fence into the woods. It is a good thing dogs can't really speak because my dog was probably using every curse word in the dog language on me. I have to take the turtles from him or he will kill them or swallow pieces of the shell which I am not sure a dog can digest. Fortunately every walk we take is not this eventful otherwise either the dog or me would wind up in the hospital. If you don't have enough adventure during your walks may I suggest that you get yourself a stray dog and take him for a walk on a dirt road each morning and evening. But remember, you must be prepared for anything and I mean anything. Thanks for coming by. Have a good day.