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.

The soybeans are sleeping now

The soybeans have nearly completed their task. 

Wednesday morning the dog and I decided to walk down to the soybean field on the east end of the paved road.   We were joined as we walked through the field by a couple of small dogs that live across the street.  They stay penned in a kennel most of the time so when they get an opportunity to run the neighborhood they seize it.
 The soybeans are very near the harvest stage and I wanted to capture them at this point because it is such a brief period that most people never see it.  The plants themselves have died and the bean pods are hanging limp.
The farmer who planted them will wait till the moisture level in the beans has dropped to a precise level and he will rush in and harvest the field.

Yum! Soy protein.  

 He will even harvest them at night if necessary to get the dried soybeans into a silo.

The miracle has happened again. 

We walked up to my house where I took a quick look at the oranges I have growing in the back yard.  They are hanging green on the tree but I knew from experience that they are nearing the beginning of their harvest time. I cut one open and tasted of the juice and it is now sweet and could very well be used as my morning orange juice.  I will wait though until the first cold snap which will start the color change in the oranges and cause them to crank up sugar production.   I usually start eating them around Thanksgiving.  When I go out on Thanksgiving morning and pick oranges from my back yard to take to our dinner I am very thankful for this miracle that happens for me each year.  Thank you Lord for providing me with oranges.  Thanks for reading my blog today.  Bye.

To survey the Kingdom we walk

The dog is heading for home and breakfast.

On Tuesday morning the dog and I walked down to the pig farm.   We were walking a little later this morning so the sun was fairly high by the time we arrived.   Along the way I noticed a plant that I had never seen until last year though I had walked by it for years.  It was the Japanese blueberry tree.  This a blueberry that forms a slender tall tree which blooms much later than the domestic blue berry bushes I have in my yard.  Because it blooms much later the berries don't ripen until fall or winter which is why some people call them winter blueberries.

Japanese blueberries don't taste good.

 The berries are not good to eat although they appear the same as the domestic berries.  They have a sandy gritty texture that makes them unpalatable. Last year it bloomed conspicuously and as I said I noticed it for the first time.  

Light shines through Crotalaria pods.

As we moved along I also saw that the Crotalaria is forming its bean like pods which will eventually dry and sound like baby rattles when shaken.  When I was a kid we played with these pods.  We squeezed them when they were green until they popped or we would gather the dried pods and shake them to make noise.

Golden Rod is pretty up close.

 I also stopped to get a good look at the golden rod flowers that were growing along the road side.  They are really pretty up close and are very fragrant.  They also make me sneeze if I stand there sniffing the aroma for too long.  Thanks for reading my blog today.  I hope you have a chance to get out and see your flowers and trees as they prepare for winter.  Bye.

Walking through our ever changing land

This morning the sky looked strange. 

Monday morning the dog and I walked down to the west end of the dirt road.  The temperature was in the high 60's and the humidity was around 70%.   This is the weather everyone around here looks forward to.   The high clouds that greeted the sunrise made for a very surreal sunrise that took a while to occur.  We passed by the pond which recently had nearly dried up but now has been refilled by the heavy rainfall about a week ago.   Until just about a year ago this pond was a swampy woods.

The pond has filled again

Now what was once the woods is laying in the middle of the pond waiting to be burned.  I remember how my heart sank when I saw and heard the bulldozer moving through the woods.  Things change though and we have to change with them or be left behind.

Wood sorrel is popping out of the grass. 

Once we made it to the end and started back I saw a fall and winter plant that is coming up now.  It is wood sorrel.  We always called it clover when I was young but I guess everyone else identifies it as sorrel.   Sorrel is considered edible by some.   It has a very tart peppery taste that some folks like to add to salad. I believe it also has some medicinal value and it just looks good.

The dog has ransom demands.  

 When we arrived home the dog went over by the swing and picked out a few of the balls he has collected and sat there waiting for me to throw one.  He settled on the foot ball which he likes for me to kick field goal style across the yard.  When he retrieves the foot ball he runs back and stands next to me holding the ball hostage till I scratch him a little on his ears then he will turn the ball loose again and let me kick it.   He loves it when someone is scratching or massaging his back.  Well who doesn't?  Thanks for reading my blog today.  Bye.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho it's off to work I go

This is when I should be starting my walk instead I am ending it here. 

On Sunday morning the dog and I had to walk long before the sunrise again.  I have to meet my brother early and allow him to enter the building where I will meet him to work after I attend church.  This morning we walked up to the watermelon field which is now full of turnip greens.  the greens have made it to the height of 3 inches now and look very good.  We passed the yard where R.J. the donkey would normally be but he was not there.  I noticed several days ago that a vet was in the yard with R.J. and his owner.  They were doing some work on one of his hooves.   I am hoping that everything is alright with R.J. and I will be checking on him in the next few days.  We arrived home to another spectacular sunrise this morning.  Unfortunately I could not linger and enjoy it.  This additional work will not last forever and soon the dog and I will be able to amble in the morning at our leisure again.   Thanks for reading my blog.  Bye.

Walking in the shadows of predawn

The dog walks through a beautiful sunrise.  

I had to go into work on Saturday very early, thus the dog and I rose well before the sun and drove down to the neighbor's field to walk.   The field was awash in wild flowers the last time I walked in it but now the grasses have been mowed and bailed for construction hay. The field was a dark and ominous desert as we crossed it.  This is the cycle of this hay field though and I know the seeds from the wild flowers for next  year are in the grass and ready to germinate.   I am glad I got some photos of the field before it was taken away.   When we arrived home from our walk the sun was just on the horizon and made for a nice sunrise.  I am not a big fan of walking in the dark, for some reason there is not much to see.  Sorry for the brevity today.  Much work to do.  Thanks for stopping in.  Bye.

Out for a quiet walk in the woods

The sun is rising later each day. 

Friday morning our walk took the dog and I down the trail that leads into the woods behind the unoccupied home.  As we were leaving the yard I noticed the sky was a beautiful crackle pattern of clouds with the blue sky shining in the morning sun.  The banana tree leaf in my photo makes my photo of the morning sky look tropical I think.  As we crossed the field and entered the edge of the woods I noticed a spider and its web I have not seen recently.  I think it is a relative of the yellow spiny backed orb spider I saw on Wednesday of this week.  The spider I saw this morning had a triangular shell that made it appear as though a small face was on the spider's back.

This spider has two faces.  

  It's web was similar to that of the spiny back orb weaver.  If I see the webs of the spiders I meet in the woods I try to avoid them but, they are after all meant to be invisible so I walk through many of them.  Many people around here come into these woods in search of the feral pigs and the deer that roam the woods.  They have placed salt blocks here now I suppose to attract the deer.  Soon they will place a large pig cage on the end of the trail with bait to try and get the pig in the cage.  Their aim is to catch the pig alive and take it home where it will settle down.  I hear that they don't want to kill the pig after chasing it because it damages the meat.

The dog walks ahead on the trail.  

 These woods have been trampled by cows and pigs for years so they are not in the natural state you would normally see.  They look a little sparse due to the browsing of cows, deer and pigs.  They are still very nice to look at and are a very peaceful place for a walk.  Thanks for taking the time to walk with me today.  bye.

Here comes the neighborhood

Nice morning for ambling on an empty dirt road. 

Thursday morning the dog and I walked down to the west end of the dirt road.  The weather is slowly but surely returning to a more summer time character.  The humidity is rising as a result of the southerly winds blowing warm moisture up out of the Gulf of Mexico.  The temperature was in the mid 70's which made our walk fairly comfortable.

Day 2 of  new home construction.

 We saw that the dirt work has begun on a new home under construction in the pecan orchard.  I guess the people who live there will not want me walking across the field anymore but you never can tell about that.

I can't find this one anywhere.

I spotted a nice big fungus of a type I was not able to identify.  It looks as though it should be fairly common but I could see nothing on any of the websites I normally use.  It is strange in that it doesn't have any gills on the underside but is instead smooth both top and bottom.  If you know what it is you can enlighten us all in the comments section.

This should last me a couple of days.

  I also managed to get some jars of pickled okra put up this morning before our walk.  I have been putting this off for a few days now but I had to get it done.  Now I will just wait a week or two and see if I will be having nice crunchy okra all winter or if I flubbed it up which, has happened before.   Well time to go to work.   Thanks for reading my blog today.  Bye.  

Blue skies smiling at me

Blue sky above and open road ahead.  

Wednesday morning the dog and I walked to the watermelon field. To the south and west of us it was cloudy but there was blue sky above our road so all was well.  The weather here in Grand Bay is very nice this time of year but it can fluctuate between very warm and very cool days pretty rapidly which turns some people off but not me.  While the dog was walking around in the field I took a look at the turnip greens which have replaced the watermelons growing there before.

Look closely for turnip greens.

They are about 1.5 inches tall at this point so you can now see them in their rows.  As they grow the workers will thin them out which I am sure is a back breaking job.  Around Thanks Giving and Christmas these turnips will be making really nice greens and in January they should have good sized turnips on them.  They will most likely be purple top turnips.  When we started back to the house I noticed a very pretty example of a spider which we always call a crab spider but is actually called a spiny backed orb weaver spider.

Yellow spiny backed orb weaver. 

 This one is yellow but they show up in several colors around this area.   You can see a similar example of a slightly different color on Orkin's website.   They make an web that has dash on it that make look like highway lane markers. These like the markings on the Golden Orb spider's web are probably used to confuse and steer insects into the web.  Very tricky.  I have been having pain in my feet which is a common occurrence  for me as I walk so much.  Just a word of advice to those who walk and wear dress shoes during the day.  You know the ones , tight leather dress shoes with no cushion at the heel.  Apparently those shoes have been causing me some heel problems which seem to have abated when I substituted more comfortable shoes during my work day.   Just a word to the wise. If your feet hurt change your shoes.  Thanks for reading my blog today.  I hope you are enjoying it.  Bye.