Archive for the ‘summer’ Tag
I’m not normally a person captivated by breaking news events nor do I feel the need to be the first person to spread the word about certain occurrences but today is an exception. So here goes. . .
I received a tidbit of news this morning from an anonymous source that my previously mentioned garden marauder, aka "The Skunk", may have been fatally injured during the night. I’m aware that my earlier threats against his life could possibly make me a person of interest in his disappearance and possible death.
I’ll probably spend the day waiting around for the inevitable arrival of the animal homicide investigators. I also heard there’s been a rash of similar deaths in the last few weeks and no real leads or clues have been discovered. It’s only a matter of time until they pick up the rumor of my blog and those rather inappropriate death threats.
At 3 am my source just happened to be nearby when the "The Skunk" was observed slowly slinking through my yard towards my garden. It just so happened that just as he was nearing the garden he was accosted by a couple of strangers. Within seconds loud and shrill screaming was heard by neighbors sounding much like someone being assaulted and badly injured. The screaming continued even louder but seemed to be slowly moving towards a nearby wooded area where it suddenly stopped. All was quiet in the neighborhood for the rest of the night.
After listening to that report and being the experienced criminal investigator I am, the next morning I hurried to the alleged crime scene. While I found no traces of blood or indications of a tussle I continued collecting what few facts that were available.
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Fact #1 – I actually heard the screams outside my bedroom window that night but saw nothing suspicious.
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Fact #2 – I found no evidence at the scene of violence being perpetrated.
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Fact #3 – My garden was untouched for the first time in weeks.
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Fact #4 – I personally saw no suspicious characters in the neighborhood that night nor did I hear anything that would help me identify the unknown subject or subjects (the UNSUBS).
The next day I was approached by two investigators who required me to supply them with an alibi for the time in question. Since they could find no forensic evidence at the scene they began the process of building a circumstantial case with me as their chief suspect. While my better-half was asleep beside me that night she was unable to verify my presence or supply me with an believable alibi.
‘Suspect #1’
Later that same day I heard a rumor that I immediately conveyed to the investigators concerning two suspicious and dangerous looking characters seen in the area. They’d been spotted with the victim near the scene of the alleged crime on the night in question by an anonymous source,who I refused to identify. They were very upset with me but I do have the constitution right to protect my sources.
“Suspect #2’
A little later in the day an APB was sent out to all nearby neighborhoods with a BOLO on these two suspects. They were described briefly as being similar in stature, approximately 24 inches tall, wearing shaggy overcoats, and with a mean and hungry look in their eyes. Other information received indicated they were members of a notorious local gang called "The Coyotes". Many suspicious deaths have occurred in the past in this area that were attributed to this gang but no arrests have never been made.
Hopefully this will get these pesky investigators off my butt. They’re now requesting all of my guns for ballistic testing on the side chance the victim’s body will eventually be located. I immediately checked with my attorney and we refused to give up my weapons. They left in a huff but there is no doubt in my mind that this matter wasn’t going to be dropped anytime soon.
Trust me, they’ll never find the body.
I’m still in bed this morning because it’s raining, I’m all warm and cozy, and I don’t wanna get up. The Spring season is slowly moving towards Summer and most of my ridiculous yard and garden related chores have been completed. Except for one.
I have to say that I’m still a bit irritated that I haven’t been able to put an end to my night marauder who is haunting my garden. For some reason for the first time in years I have an effing skunk who has been undoing most of my good works in the garden almost every night. This fat bastard has been patrolling our property for some years without ever bothering the garden. He apparently discovered an abundant supply of worms and/or grubs in the soil and has been digging for them furiously. The fact that he has killed many of my plants in the process is the source of my current anger.
‘This isn’t him but it could be his twin brother.’
On top of it all this damn skunk is huge. If he grows just a little more I could probably put a saddle on him and take a ride. He also has a habit of spraying anything and everything in his immediate area if bothered. A year of so ago the neighbor’s cat had a midnight run-in with him which resulted in our backyard reeking of skunk for many days. I really don’t want that happening again.
My secret plan was to sit on my deck with a pistol in my lap and hopefully put a stop to all of the night time nonsense. I sat quietly the first night until 3 am reading my Kindle and maintaining a close surveillance of the garden. It was a quiet night with no activity. Then it began to rain which immediately chased me off to bed. I slept the sleep of angels knowing that the garden was safe for the night. What a moron I am. I awoke in the morning and walked out to the garden and the place was a mess. He’d been busy digging up tomatoes, cucumbers, and a number of pepper plants and did it all in a driving rainstorm. To say I was not happy would be a huge understatement.
I spent the next night on the deck armed, dangerous, and pissed off. I never heard or saw a thing and the next morning more plants had been destroyed. That SOB is making me a little crazy. I’ve since replanted all of the damaged plants and I’ll continue to monitor things as best I can and rid myself of this pest.
I have a bad history withy skunks and as a young guy was known to hunt them. My father paid me and a friend a bounty for each one eliminated from damaging his garden. The smell of skunk still makes me a little queasy since I was sprayed one hot summer evening in 1962. I was on my knees looking under a shed for an escaping skunk and BAM, he was right there and sprayed me across the side of my head. Be warned, that is not something you ever want to experience. I was forced to shave my head by my mother and wash it thoroughly numerous times with tomato juice. Nothing really worked very well and for more than a month every time my head got wet or sweaty you could smell skunk. A lost a few friends that summer.
With any luck at all before summer’s end I’ll soon be posting a photo of his corpse. He’s mocked me long enough and now it’s personal.
My Rule #6 – Don’t screw with my garden, or else.
I thought I’d take a little time today to give you a general update of the garden. I realize that it’s still early in the season but with the warm weather finally arriving the plants have really begun to grow. As usual there have been a few fatalities in the garden. Two jalapenos dried up and fell over and three of the cucumber plants followed suit. The peppers had their stems cut which confused me for a time. I thought it might have been deer but a nearby nurseryman advised of a rash of cut worm complaints in recent weeks. They love chewing through the stems of healthy plants. I’ll have to keep an eye out for them and squish as many as I possibly can.
The cucumbers were ones I purchased from Lowes and I’ve come to find out that most plants purchased from local nurseries seem to thrive much more than those purchased from these big box stores. I think it all comes down to how the plants are handled. Unfortunately at any big box store, they hire a bunch of high school or college students at minimum wage and set them loose on the plants. Too much watering is just as damaging as too little and those kids are clueless.
With the new plants in hand I replaced the dead ones last night. I spent some time chopping down the seed stalks of my rhubarb plants too. This should help them fill out a little more and give me a better harvest when it comes time to make jam. I was surprised to find a number of rhubarb seedlings in one of the other frames. The seeds must have blown there last year and took root this spring. I replanted them nearer the rhubarb patch will I’m going to be forced to enlarge next season.
‘There always seems to be one on these guys hanging around.’
I finally began caging the tomato plants when I found the first bloom on one plant. I was going to wait until later in the month but the plants are growing so quickly they’ll need the support from the cages to keep the fruit off the ground.
As you can see by the photos the entire garden including the herbs are looking good. If this keeps up for another couple of months we will have a ton of product to deal with this Fall. I have a feeling we’ll be canning a lot more than we did last year with a much larger variety as well.
After our fun day trip to Portsmouth and Kennebunkport we decided we needed some additional cruising time but a little further north in Maine. It was one of those days where we just drive. No GPS, no real destination, just drive until we get lost. The above photograph illustrates why traveling around in Maine is such fun. It seems that you can’t drive for more than a few minutes without seeing these kind of picturesque scenes.
It makes driving a real chore because you want to stop at every location but they’re everywhere. There are hundreds of lakes and ponds and any one of them would result in fantastic photographs.
It was getting to be lunch time and we were starving and craving some good old Maine seafood. This place pictured below was just a shack along the highway and since we had nothing to lose we stopped. It’s places like this that always seem to have really good food and fresh from the ocean seafood. We pulled in, ordered, and weren’t the least bit disappointed.
‘It doesn’t look like much but don’t be fooled.’
‘The prices were reasonable and the food terrific.’
We sat at a picnic table in the parking lot and pigged out. A sunny day, fresh fish, and and a huge container of iced tea. It just doesn’t get much better than that. We ended up driving more than two hundred miles before finally finding our way home.
‘Another great Maine day.’
‘One last scene from the drive.’
Now that the vegetable garden has been planted I can relax and enjoy my summer a little. Since I’ve been boring everyone with a continuous stream of vegetable garden information I thought it was time to change things up just a little. I’d like to talk about flower gardens.
My better-half and I decided a long time ago to split the responsibilities when it came to yard work. I was responsible for the vegetable garden and yard maintenance and she would take care of the many flower beds on the property as well as her container garden on the deck. Her results over the last few years have been more than a little spectacular.
It’s still May and we are only a few weeks away from that cold and miserable weather of April. Her early plantings and seedlings that she started weeks ago are already beginning to bloom. We both love as much vivid color as we can get and that’s reflected in the many containers on our deck. All of these photographs were taken yesterday and will give you some idea of the variety of colors we’re hoping to have all Summer long.
In another month these deck containers will turn the deck into a wonderland of color. Late in the Summer it’s like walking through an arboretum. A wide variety of colors combined with unusual herbs help to make it a fun place to sit, relax, and enjoy a good book. It’s a win/win because the deck is on the second floor which translates to no mosquitos, bugs, or other annoying creatures except for the occasional wasp.
I’ll update these photo’s as the season progresses. It’ll be getting positively Mother Naturish (my made-up word) around here by July.
It’s 6 am and I’m barely awake and I don’t want to get up. I’m lying here looking out the bedroom window waiting to see if anything in the world is moving yet. It’s dead quiet with little or no observable breeze. There are no birds, no squirrels, and no fat ugly turkey running around the yard making a racket. It’s just too quiet for my liking. My better-half is still sleeping and that light snoring of hers (sarcasm) can’t be considered noise or so she constantly tells me.
I love the beginnings of Spring and the late days of Fall the most but these interim periods between seasons are the worst. The Spring transition is always slow in coming when we have nothing but gray skies, cold rain, intermittent sunshine, and a need to stay out of the shade. I can bask in those brief moments of warm sunshine on the deck but if I step into any shaded areas it’s like someone walking across my grave. A deep cold chill that hits you hard and stays with you way too long.
The Fall changeover is similar when you’re sitting on the deck enjoying a warm and sunny Indian Summer day where it’s nice and warm but you can just feel that little bit of Winter in the air. It comes slowly with those giant folds of gray clouds edged in black that slowly roll over the horizon. All of a sudden one morning you’re on the deck and you walk into a patch of shade and that same coldness you felt in the Spring grabs you just for a second. Then everyday you can see the plants slowly browning, the cold dew on everything in the mornings, with the full knowledge that snow is coming soon. After that you have nothing to look forward to but seven months of a cold and depressing Winter, snow shoveling, black ice, and the occasional slip and fall to bruise your butt and your ego.
Maybe in another few weeks I’ll be able to pull myself out of this winter/spring funk I’ve gotten into. I go through this every year and there’s really nothing I can do but deal with it. I’ll wait patiently for that first really sunny day when I can visit the beach and not feel the need to take my windbreaker "just in case". That may finally convince me that Winter is truly gone.
All that being said, the next few weeks will be hell. I have absolutely no patience for this never-ending waiting around for Mother Nature to stop screwing with us.
APRIL SHOWERS BRING MAY FLOWERS, I hope!
With a major warming trend gripping Maine I was swept away with a huge dose of Spring Fever this week. I moved my grill from storage, cleaned it up, and cooked my first feast for 2015. I spent some quality time on the deck reading one of my favorite books with my favorite lazy cat. Life was slowly improving and I began to throw off those Winter doldrums.
I decided that since a great deal of the snow had disappeared I’d take a trip to the coast to look around a little. I worked my way up the coast to the inlet where the great Scarborough Marsh empties into the Atlantic Ocean. This inlet is populated by a large number of lobster boats and their owners and is the area where you can buy the freshest lobsters in town. There was a lot of activity in the harbor with the boats being cleaned and readied for the warmer weather.
As you can see by these photos it was a gray day but slowly showing some signs of Spring. I should have known better than to get my hopes up because the weather in Maine is nothing if not fickle.
I awoke yesterday prepared to face the day and to begin the cleanup of my yard and garden. How stupid am I? I walked to my bedroom window, looked out, and saw an overnight deposit of four inches of snow. WTF!
Now I’m once again depressed and irritated. While listening to the radio today I heard about the Freezing Rain Alert for tomorrow where high winds, sleet, and power outages are expected. What did we ever do to deserve this I wonder?
I think it’s time for me to sit quietly, sip a glass of my favorite brandy, and relax so my head doesn’t explode.
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.
Today’s my day to brag a little. We finished the last of the canning yesterday which means that within the next three weeks I’ll begin to close down the garden for this year. I have to say it’s been a great gardening summer with more enough rain to keep the plants happy and a level of production at least 30% better than last year. This first list is the approximate amounts of veggies we harvested over the last three months.
- 10 – pounds of cherry tomatoes
- 6 – pounds of jalapeños
- 2 -pounds of cayenne peppers
- 6 – pounds of snap peas
- 4 – pounds of black beans
- 30 – pounds of zucchini
- 2 – pounds of kohlrabies
- 50 – pounds of cucumbers
- 4 – pounds of Beets
- 5 – pounds of radishes
- Two additional plantings of lettuce.
- Two additional plantings of snap peas.
- One additional planting of radishes
We then took most of them and processed them into the following list of usable foods for the winter months.
- 10 – pints of hot mustard dill pickles
- 15 – pints of pickled zucchini
- 12 – pints of pickled jalapeños
- 8 – pints of pickled veggie mix
- 24 – pints of hot B&B pickles
- 1 – pint of pickled jalapeño/habaneros
- 13 – quarts of roasted corn/black bean salsa
- 9 – half pints of radish relish
- 18 – large loaves of zucchini bread
- 5 – quarts of pickled kimchi
- 12 – quarts of chili for freezing
- 4 – pounds of kale, frozen
This last list are the herbs I harvested during the Summer to help refill our stocks for winter. We use a great deal of them in every meal we make and we also supply to to family and friends when requested. They’re extremely easy to grow and dry and taste great.
- 1 – quart jar of dried oregano
- 1 – quart jar of dried parsley
- 1 – pint jar of dried habaneros
- 2 – quarts of dried chives
- 1 – quart of dried garlic chives
- 1 – pint jar of dried jalapeños
- 2 – quarts of dried kale
- 9 – pounds of dried sunflower seeds
- 1 – quart of dried Cilantro
- 1 – quart of dried Basil
All of this was from a 350 square foot garden.
Gardening is not as easy as most people think but the rewards make it well worth the effort. My better-half and I really want to know what we’re putting into our bodies. While it’s almost impossible to do that 100% these days, it gives us a little more peace of mind than the average person. Along with gardening we’ve become two of the biggest pain-in-the-butt label readers anywhere. It’s something everyone should learn to do because it’s enlightening and at times a little scary.
The better-half has a few batches of jam to prepare in the next few weeks but there’s no rush. All the necessary berries are in the freezer and can be used at any time. I always look forward to the blackberry jam made from the berries we picked, there’s nothing better.
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.
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