Archive for the ‘photography’ Tag
The day after the night before. Happy Birthday America! Another Fourth of July celebration under my belt but you know, it just doesn’t feel the same as it once did. Things in this country seem to be a little out of kilter these days and I’m not too happy about it. In my opinion this posting at this time is an absolute necessity. I never thought it would come to this but here goes.
I suppose I could blame the Obama’s for everything bad that’s happening but that’s a little too easy. In reality they’re just a symptom of this countries problem, not the actual cause. Unfortunately in a representative republic (incorrectly called democracy) the will of the people rules and therein lies the real problem. It’s obvious to me and others that most people in this country no longer give a damn. The evidence is shoved in our faces every day if we’d only pay just a little attention. I could spend twenty more paragraphs explaining all of the dirty little details but everyone admits to knowing them so what’s the point. The United States is slowly turning into a much larger and richer version of Europe and if that doesn’t frighten you just a little bit then there’s really no hope for us.
Wide open borders . . . Ignoring dangerous enemies . . . Loss of respect in the world . . . Corrupt politicians . . . Lying and corrupt media . . . And a total waste of precious money, energy, and time on ridiculous social issues like gay marriage. Try to imagine the millions and millions of dollars spent on this nonsense and to what end? Just more inane and unimportant issues to further divide the country into arguing factions of passionate idiots. This country has lost the ability to create a consensus on any given topic, important or otherwise.
Maybe I’m slowly turning away from the lies and BS of the Republican and Democratic Parties and morphing into some sort of borderline, militant, and angry Libertarian. It’s going to take a powerful third party to rise from the ashes in this country with the ability to pull the strongest and smartest members from all of the other parties. They can then create a cohesive majority with good common sense goals for the country. That party must have no fear of the political correctness crowd and all of their liberal hangers-on.
So a great big happy birthday to American, a once powerful and respected nation. I’m beginning to wonder for how much longer it’ll be worth celebrating.
U . . . S . . . A U . . . S . . . A U . . . S . . . A
Sixty plus degrees. That’s all I have to say about yesterday. I’m just about over this stupid virus that’s been kicking my ass for the last two weeks. Combine that with the warm weather yesterday and guess what you get. The largest most contagious case of Spring Fever ever experienced. I guess the longer and more oppressive the winter the more intense is that first burst of Spring Fever. Man I’ve got it bad.
I spent a good part of the day yesterday just wandering around the yard in a T-shirt with no gloves, no hat, and no parka. As I slowly strolled between the remaining piles of snow I could see that blessed light at the end of the tunnel and no, it isn’t a train coming toward me it’s Summer.
I couldn’t stop myself from going with the feelings and actually started cleaning up the winter debris strewn about the yard. I picked up tree branches and pine cones of which there were thousands. I’ve never seen so many freaking pine cones in my life and they will certainly require an major investment of my time to pick them all up. That should tell you just how bad my Spring Fever really is that I’m actually looking forward to doing it. I find that a little disturbing to say the least.
I then decided to get my riding mower out of mothballs and ready for use this summer. I filled it with gas, checked the oil, and reconnected the battery. I was just standing there enjoying the warm air when I was overcome with love for that stupid tractor. I hate to admit this but I found some rags, soap, and car wax, and went a little crazy. That tractor got a hot bath and a good scrubbing, was dried off, and waxed to a high sheen. How sad is my life?
I need to pace myself a little better or I’m going to lose my mind. I actually found myself drawn to the seed packet display at Walmart a few days ago. They were silently calling to me to buy, buy, buy. I maintained what little control I had left and just “Said No” and walked away. Unfortunately my better-half is worse that I am when it comes to Spring garden purchasing. We both need some sort of twelve step program to help us through the next two months and to keep us from overspending like we do every blessed year.
I just received a giant package in the mail today and had to help the mail carrier bring the box into the house. It’s the new part I ordered a week ago for my sweetheart, the mower. Now she’ll be even prettier than usual as I cruise around the yard making the neighbors oh so jealous.
Eat your hearts out people, if freaking Spring Time.
With the crappy weather continuing to keep me housebound I settled into my chair last night to rejoin the Lewis and Clark Expedition as they traveled through the wilds of the Louisiana Purchase (based on their journals). As you may not be aware they began their journey on May 14, 1804 and as of July 3, 1804 they arrived in the vicinity of Cow Island (now Montana)and made camp.
‘Then’
‘Now’
Cow island is located in an area called the Missouri Breaks and at that time it was a rather desolate area. In later years it became known as Cow Landing because it was one of a few places to easily ford the Missouri River. The area had been named by groups of nomadic fur traders and was the first time that Clark climbing a nearby ridge saw the Rocky Mountains in the far distance.
During the Nez Perce Indian War in 1877 the Nez Perce forded the Missouri at Cow Island, and it became the site of the Battle of Cow Island. After six days of fighting, and with Nez Perce men, women and children suffering and dying from wounds and exposure to freezing weather, Chief Joseph surrendered to the U.S. Army commanders.
From the journals of Clark:
"Our hunters had killed two of the Bighorned Animals since I had left them. we also passed another creek [Cow Creek] a few miles below Turtle Creek on the Stard. 30 yds in width which also had running water bed rocky. (we called it Windsor Cr.) late this evening we passed a very bad rapid which reached quite across the river, [NB: water deep channel narrow gravel &c. on each side] the party had considerable difficulty in ascending it although they doubled their crews and used both the rope and the pole. While they were passing this rapid a female Elk and its fawn swam down through the waves which ran very high, hence the name of Elk rapids which they instantly gave this place, these are the most considerable rapids which we have yet seen on the Missouri and in short the only place where there has appeared to be a sudden descent."
Checking current maps places them in the vicinity of The Charles M. Russell Wildlife Refuge near the Upper Missouri Breaks National Monument east of Great Falls, Montana. It’s taken the expedition almost two months to travel from St. Louis to this point.
I’ll be back with them later tonight and I’m looking forward to their first contact with the local Indian tribes and their entry into the Rocky Mountains.
. . . To Be Continued . . .
One of the biggest problems with this extremely cold weather is not getting to spend much time outside the house. I’m able to run outside for short periods but anything longer than a few minutes is problematic. Even my unheated workshop in the garage is impossible to spend more than a few minutes in and I’m too cheap to pay for a space heater and gallons of kerosene. The first week of this cold was bearable but each day that goes by without relief I become more and more antsy.
I ran out of patience yesterday and decided to grab my better-half, my camera, and just go somewhere. As long as the car’s heater continued to work we’d be just fine.
I’ve been wondering during the last few days how in the hell the wild animals survive this kind of weather. I’m sure that many don’t but it’s amazing that any actually survive it at all. I noticed this morning that my house is being circled by a flock of birds which I haven’t been able to identify. It’s like a scene from Hitchcock’s movie “The Birds”. They seem to be interested in the suet we have near the other feeders but they’re beginning to make me nervous. Prior to their arrival we hadn’t seen much activity at all except for a few chickadees and those annoying woodpeckers.
During our foray into the ice and snow we took a ride through the Dayton area which is loaded with horse farms. I was surprised to see quite a few horses out in the corrals wearing their coats and getting a little much needed exercise.
Normally anytime we approach horses they walk right over to check us out. They’re always curious and looking for apples, carrots, or sugar cubes. Not today though. They were just as cold and miserable as we were. They appreciated the exercise but headed for the barn every few minutes to warm up a little.
Well it’s time to head back home for more reading and TV. I miss the occasional walk on the beach even during the winter. The current wind chill makes even that uncomfortable. Hopefully we’ll see some warmer temperatures next week even if it’s only somewhere near thirty degrees.
With the weather slowly but surely changing from Fall to Winter the final work to harvest the last of the herbs and to compost the garden needed to be done. My better-half had the day off and we both knew we had a few hours of hard work ahead of us. It was the last of our major tasks for the Fall.
It was hard labor for a while as we shoveled compost into our small trailer and delivered it to the garden. Not only does the compost reenergize the soil but it also helps to refill the frames with much needed soil.
We filled the trailer three times which allowed us to cover the entire garden with approximately three inches of compost. We took special precautions with the rhubarb and asparagus because they require additional protection from the coming snow and cold weather.
In a day or so I’ll add some lime to the compost as well as a general fertilizer. Then I’ll rototill the entire mixture thoroughly and let it sit until Spring.
I wanted to dry and store more herbs but a surprise hard frost last week killed off ninety percent of my basil plants. Fortunately I harvested some of the plants before the frost but it still irritates me to see any of them go to waste. Mother Nature always seems to get her fair share of things whether we like it or now.
It’s difficult here in Maine for cold-sensitive plants to survive the winter but I’ll never stop trying to find a way. Instead of harvesting all of the Rosemary and Parsley I decided to compost the plants heavily and then later in the season cover them with a thick layer of leaves. I’m hoping that for once I can have a Rosemary plant that survives the Winter and is able to get larger and stronger each year. Probably just wishful thinking but we shall see.
‘Harvested, Cleaned’
Only about fifty percent of this parsley was harvested in the hopes that it would retain enough energy to regrow in the Spring. I cleaned and washed the parsley, removed the stems, and placed everything into the dehydrator. In four hours it will be dry enough to crush and place into air tight jar for later use.
‘And Dried’
Our harvested black beans have also been dried and stored. There seems to be more than enough for a few good meals. It was our first year growing them and we haven’t decided whether to plant them again next year.
Once all of the days labor was completed we sat down to relax, have a drink, and discuss possible improvements and repairs of the garden for next year. One of the most interesting possibilities is the construction of a much larger cold frame that will be eight feet long and two feet wide. This would allow us to grow a variety of lettuces and radishes well into late October and even early November. Anything we can do to extend the growing season is well worth the effort.
We’re almost ready for that damn snow. Bring it on…..
What’s your morning routine? For most of my life I’ve had a routine and I stuck to it regardless of the day, the month, or the year. It also was flexible enough to change when necessary to fit my always changing lifestyle. I have to say that my routine these days is by far the best it’s ever been.
I’m sitting in a nice warm bed and into my second cup of coffee while watching and listening to one of my favorite chick flicks, Return to Me. My better-half has left for work, the cat has been fed, and I just finished off a bowl of crunchy cereal covered with berries and almond milk. Now it’s time to write this posting before I finally roll out of bed and officially start my day.
With Fall now rushing upon us and Labor Day behind us, we decided to make our farewell visit to the nearby tourist trap, Old Orchard Beach. We expected much smaller crowds because many places close up for the season just after the Labor Day weekend. It was warm and sunny and the crowds were even smaller than we anticipated.
We were both surprised to see that the vast majority of shops and restaurants had already closed their doors for the year. I’d intended to do some shopping at a certain store but because it was on the grounds of the amusement park it was fenced off and locked up. That’s what I get for delaying my visit to avoid the crowds. Another casualty of my claustrophobic need to avoid large groups of insane people.
The beach was almost as empty as everything else. Just a few die-hard beach people refusing to accept the fact that Winter is fast approaching.
We made our way to The Pier and the local Irish Pub. They were open for business and apparently trying to rake in as much money as they could from any straggling tourists. The prices were too high but the food was almost as good as the cold beer or so says my live-in beer expert. I had the vodka tonic which wasn’t all that bad either.
We ended the evening with our mandatory visit to the Arcade for my better-half’s minor obsession with Skee Ball. Don’t ask me why she has it, I just don’t know. We walked around for twenty minutes or so and decided to call it a night. The Summer is over, Fall is beginning, and we’ll be shoveling the white stuff all too soon.
Just so you know the little guy on the right is me. A little bit taller and always keeping an eye out for trouble. And in my humble opinion a whole lot cuter too.
What does beautiful weather and a lack of humidity mean to you? To me it means a day in the woods and swamps with my camera and a gallon of bug spray. This summer hasn’t allowed me as much time as I’d like to roam around. We’ve been much too busy to take the time and I’m not at all happy about that. So today I decided to make time for a little of Mother Nature’s healing influences.
I’ve been attempting this summer to collect as many photo’s as possible of the illusive dragonfly. I packed up the car and made my way back to my favorite swamp for another attempt. In years past there were a constant supply of dragonflies beginning in July and lasting until Labor Day. This year has been quite a bit different possibly due to the higher than normal rainfall. The number of dragonflies in the skies around our home has steadily increased over the last few weeks and I’m hoping for the best here in the swamp.
As I arrived at the sanctuary I discovered a few vehicles parked around meaning other visitors in the area. Hopefully they’re here to pick black berries and aren’t stumbling around near the swamp scaring the wildlife away. I cover myself in bug spray and head into the woods. The milkweed pods are in bloom in really large numbers this year. I’ve also noticed a much large number of thistle plants as well which always makes for interesting photographs.
The closer I get to the swamp the more dragonflies I’m seeing and as I enter the swamp they’re everywhere. I also notice that most of the ones I’m seeing are all the same color. In a normal year I would see at least a dozen brightly colored variations but not today.
There are a few mallard ducks flying around but they refuse to sit still long enough for me to get a few photo’s. They seem a little jumpy which could mean a few visitors had been in the area before my arrival. I stumbled into an area with a large cluster of dragonflies so I stood perfectly still and waited for them to come around to check me out. This was my best picture of the day. This guy was a rather small specimen who’s actual size was only about an inch and a half long.
Since the selection was somewhat limited I decided to move on to a secondary swamp located nearby that usually has large numbers of frogs and turtles. I hope to find a little more activity there. It’s unusually quiet today which can only mean previous visitors which for me isn’t a good thing. I arrive in the area and there’s no wildlife activity at all except for this stupid frog. No dragonflies, one frog, and no turtles. I decided to call it a day and began my trek back to my car. It seems today was a wasted trip.
As I made my way along the trail I came upon that group of visitors. They were all clustered around my favorite blackberry patch filling up their containers. It appears a number of new people have stumbled onto the patch which translates to less berries for me and my better-half. We’ll need to stop by in a few days and hopefully collect enough berries to make our usual batch of summer jam.
We shall see.
My better-half has announced a day-off today so we’ve planned an outside workday at home. Believe it or not Fall is just a few weeks away and we’ll be starting the process of closing down the garden soon. If we do a little each week then it won’t be such a challenge.
I really was in denial about Summer being over until yesterday. We were driving around enjoying the nice day when horror of horrors I noticed a few trees whose leaves have begun to turn red. I was a little surprised but a few days before I’d also noticed a large flock of birds gathering in a wooded area near our home. Both signs of an impending season change.
I guess it’s time to plan the work for today. Job #1: Cut the grass. That’ll have to wait until afternoon when the grass has dried somewhat. All the rain we’ve been receiving of late makes cutting in the morning impossible.
This morning will entail us working in the least favorite job we have. If you’ve ever seen the movie Apocalypse Now, you’ll remember that famous quote of Robert Duvall’s, "I love the smell of napalm in the morning." Here in Maine during this time of the year we have a quote of our own, "We love the smell of compost in the morning." If you’ve never had the opportunity to work in compost you don’t know what you’ve been missing. There’s nothing that says Fall like standing knee deep in a large pile of decomposing vegetable matter that oddly smells like an outhouse. If on a hot, sticky and humid day you took a rotten egg, wrapped it in a smelly old sock, then wrapped it in a really nasty pair of old filthy underwear, and rubbed it under your nose, you’d understand. That will be our morning today.
‘Piles 1, 2 and 3”
Pile 1 will be used for the garden in 2015. Pile 2 will be used in two weeks. Pile 3 will be used 2016.
A compost pile is crucial to keeping your garden happy and healthy. It replaces many of the nutrients needed to grow vegetables and they must be replaced every year. Unfortunately there are certain things a compost piles needs. It needs vegetable matter, water, heat, and stirring. Stirring is just taking the pile and turning it over with a pitchfork to allow more air to get into the mix and to help grow the bacteria that accelerates the decomposition process. That being said the reality is that it smells bad, really bad. After working in it today I’ll be smelling that smell for a day or so. It’s gross and more than a little disgusting. A typical day in the life of most farmers and part-time gardeners like us.
‘A big moist and steamy pile.’
I need to get to work soon but I wanted to tell you about my fun yesterday. Each year we do a large amount of canning but we always like to try new recipes we’ve found or created. Yesterday I made for the first time a batch of hot Radish Relish. It takes a few pounds of radishes, vinegar, habaneros, sugar, salt, and a few other spices. The result as you can see is a beautiful and savory red relish that will be great on burgers, hotdogs and can add a little zing to your tacos as well. Sometimes these experimental things fail miserably but not this one. I look forward to making it many more times in the future.
‘Start’
‘Finish’
‘This is From a Nearby Neighbors Farm’
I’ve been enjoying my downtime since the departure of my better-half for her trip to Ocean City. The downside to her leaving is the fact that I’ve been stuck with some of her watering chores. She has at least a hundred plants surrounding the house, on the deck, and even in the house. I find having three plants six feet high in the living room very interesting. It’s like living in a jungle and that jungle needs watering all too often. God help me if these plants aren’t all healthy and happy upon her return. There could be bloodshed.
My second chore involved the babysitting of her daughters dogs. I need to drop in at their house everyday around noon to let the little buggers out for a pee break and a romp around the yard. I really don’t mind it all that much because I actually like most pets more than I like most people.
‘Good Eating’
Once her chores have been handled I can then move on to my list. Fortunately my list is flexible and if I choose not to complete anything on it no one would give a damn anyway. My list includes the garden that is continuing to produce ridiculous amounts of veggies. I’ve been trying to keep ahead of it by canning a few things each week but I’m quickly falling behind. Here’s a list of what we’ve canned so far and believe me I’m ready to call it a day anytime.
10 – pints of hot mustard dill pickles
6 – pints of pickled zucchini
12 – pints of pickled jalapeños
1 – quart of pickled veggie mix
6 – pints of pickled veggie mix
10 – pints of hot B&B pickles
I still need to make two large batches of salsa and a huge batch of chili. The salsa will be canned to the tune of twenty quarts or forty pints. The chili will be frozen in twelve one quart containers and that should give us enough for most of the winter.
‘This is Kick Your Ass Chili’
‘This is Double Kick Your Ass Salsa’
Once the better-half returns from her final trip of the summer we’ll get down to some serious work for a few weeks. It’ll be a huge relief to get the garden processed and into storage. If the results so far are any indication, we’ll surpass any expectations we had for a garden as small as ours. I’ve already started planning for next summer with the addition of a small greenhouse and an irrigation system that will use our water more efficiently. That will allow us to grow a few additional items in a more controlled atmosphere with less bug problems and better water control.
Back to the fun.
Every once in a while I find something that catches my eye. This photograph is of a entry gate that leads to an old and extremely run down house located next door to nowhere important. I saw it a few months ago as we were driving around looking for anything interesting. I didn’t stop for the shot then but I did a few days ago when we happened upon it once again. I found it simple and fascinating.
It’s been an interesting few days. Shortly after posting earlier in the week I came down with a truly nasty 24 hour stomach virus. I won’t get into the stinky and smelly details but that virus targeted areas of my body that shouldn’t be messed with. All of my activities ceased immediately except for staying within running distance of any bathroom facilities. I was on the mend within twenty-four hours and regained my appetite and my antagonistic attitude rather quickly.
Just when I thought things were improving my better-half said those infamous words you never want to hear, “I think I’m getting a sore throat and my stomach hurts.” It’s only this morning that she was able to get out bed and go to work. She’s one of those women who seems more macho that most men when it comes to missing work. She gets some sort of rush by being able to make it to work regardless of the circumstances. I was like that once but times for me have changed, thank God.
Since I’ve been staying close to home these last few days I thought I’d spend a little time photo documenting every type and color of flower in our gardens that we’ve been blessed with this season. I was more than a little surprised at the variety myself. Here are a few samples of some of those flowers with more to follow as they begin blooming.
Believe me when I tell you there’s no better way to spend an hour or two each week by walking through the garden and photographing everything. It’s a really tough life I have but you know someone’s gotta do it.
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