COVID19: Collecting Leaves from the Buckeye

A few years ago, Jack dug a pretty little buckeye tree and planted it in the front yard. The trunk was barely more than a straight stick with some roots and a handful of dirt at the bottom, but it likes the spotty sunlight and slightly acidic soil where it lives now and is thriving.

Long before our oaks and beeches think about putting on leaves, the little buckeye flutters with tender, yellowy-green foliage on  skinny, branch-y "arms" which now stretch nearly four feet in every direction, and by mid-summer - this time of year - those leaves are a scattered across the ground like curls of caramel colored parchment.

The little buckeye is always a step ahead of most everything else in the yard and has become one of our favorites for that reason. Reminding us that spring or the relief of cooler weather is just around the corner, showing us the direction of the breeze, providing a perch near the feeder for our hummingbirds during summer.

For the last couple of years, I meant to preserve a couple of leaves somehow to use in an art project or incorporate into one of my journals, but they're always dried up and done by the time I remind myself to save some. 

The same thing happened this year, but I collected a big crunchy handful of them anyway and dug out my bottle of vegetable glyercin to see it if was possible to bring them back to life enough to paste into a scrapbook.

Google and Pinterest pointed me in a basic direction, but I carried it my own way. Instead of dropping the leaves into a bath of glycerin, I applied a few big drops to each leaf and let it "soak in" for a few minutes before massaging the gylcerin into the tissue of the leaves. 

They were initially resistant and felt like they might crack, but gently spreading the glycerin with my fingers and in a couple of cases a small brush - mostly to see if that worked better than my fingers, and it didn't - worked to loosen them up, and they were initially super-shiny and still pretty rigid.

I put two-fers and three-fers inside folds of waxed paper and tucked them into a book for a few days before taking them out.

Using an old textbook which will never be of use to anyone as a textbook again was a good choice, because the glycerin did leak out and make a little bit of a mark, but it isn't greasy or weirdly-colored, but it does leave a mark. 

The leaves turned out beautifully and their beautiful deep lustre returned in the moisture of the glycerin.

When I bought the glycerin to make do-it-yourself hand soap, I knew there were other ways I could use it, but I never considered resuscitating leaves, but here they are.

Dragonflies

 

Late season dragonflies. They're one of my favorite things to paint.

We Love Visitors: Pileated Woodpecker

For as long as I can remember, Pileated Woodpeckers have been regular visitors to our yard and the woods around us. Dead tree limbs and old stumps are some of their favorite feasting places, and we intentionally leave things like that in our landscape because they do attract so many interesting species of birds, insects, and fungi.

Spotting these beautiful creatures is a completely different ballgame than successfully photographing them, though. They're fast and nervous, ready to fly away at the slightest perceived threat, including noisy dogs, passing cars, and humans with cameras.

Last year, Jack managed to snap some great shots of one during an ice storm.

A few days ago, I got the photo at the top of this post from the shelter of the house - not bad for a shot through our dirty sliding glass door, I think.

Read about Pileated Woodpeckers at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology:

All About Birds

A Favorite Thing: Trout Lilies

The Trout Lily tops my list of favorite spring wildflowers.

These tiny beauties begin sprouting their characteristic mottled foliage during late February and bloom in early April.

While leaves might come-up all over the place, Trout Lilies require several years for their jagged bulbs to mature enough to bloom, and in our years of nurturing the handful which grow in our yard, we're lucky to get two or three blooms each spring.

They're small, with stems only reaching three or four inches tall, but the bright color and structure of the bloom, in contrast with their beautiful, trout-speckled leaves, makes this wildflower perhaps my very favorite spring-blooming Tennessee wildflower.

Copperhead Road

We kept the dogs in all weekend. With all the traffic back and forth to the marina, we felt it too risky to let Moose and Josie-beagle out for their night-time romps and made them make-do with outings on the leash. Once things calmed down around dusk on Sunday, we decided it was safe to let them out -

We fully expected them to be out and running for hours, but shortly after letting them out, Josie scratched on the front door and wanted in - badly.

She ran to her bed and began frantically rolling around. At one point she jumped to her feet, and swelling was evident under her left eye.

We'd seen it before - snakebite.

She paced and cried. She moved from the dog bed to the middle of our human bed to the crate, and she did NOT want anyone anywhere near her.

Having been through this before with Jimmy, Jack and I knew she needed a dose of Benadryl as soon as possible, and a dog-bite (Jack) later, we made it happen.

Luckily enough, our dear friend and veterinarian, Dr. Scott Little was available in "Facebook Chat", so I hit him up to let him know what was going on...

First thing the next morning, they were waiting for us at his office.

By that time, Josie's head was as big as a pumpkin, and she was in a lot of pain. Merely making eye contact with her was enough to elicit screams and howling. The staff at the vet clinic had to reassure everybody that no, a dog wasn't being skinned alive in that back corner treatment room.

The snake, likely a copperhead, bit through her left upper lip.

Two shots and a bunch of humiliation later, Josie was ready to come home with a prescription for the swelling, which has almost completely resolved, and something for pain.

The other dogs were anxious to check her out, but she quickly let them know that she wasn't in the mood to talk about it and after a long drink at the water bowl, retreated to her crate.

She's been hanging low and resting, but this afternoon we saw some tail-wagging, and she piled up between Jack and me on the couch for a short love-in.

Itching has started, so we know she's healing, and that's a good thing.

Saturday Evening Post

There's a night club a half a mile away from us now, and I'm not making that up, either. It's an open-air, warm-weather deal at the marina down the hill from us, and this being a holiday weekend with near-perfect weather and a big ol' full moon in the sky, the joint is rockin'. Jack and Pam at the Lake can play name that tune from our front porch and occasionally make out what's being said on the stage.

"Give it up for Memorial Day, y'all. HOLLER!!!!" The crowd roars... 

No shit. 

The dogs hate being on house arrest for the weekend, but there's too much traffic for us to let them do their nightly romps. Moose did get to visit with some friends of his this morning - they actually stopped-by yesterday afternoon to invite him for breakfast when they were on their way "in" for the weekend.

Speaking of Moose... Tuesday will mark the year anniversary of his disappearance/dog-napping. Every day when he climbs up onto the couch and puts his head in my lap for his daily dose of "Pam time", I can't help but remember how scared Jack and I were that we'd never see him again. He's SUCH a sweet thing... 

Mom and Dad celebrated their 49th wedding anniversary on Wednesday, so when you see them out and about, give'em some love and tell'em how cute they are. And mark your calendars now - there's going to be a PARTY next year.

In other news, Jack and I did a really fun photo shoot in Brentwood last weekend, and while we were there, we got to see a really cool thing - a fledgling Indigo Bunting flop down from his nest and take his first flight. Even though we live out here in the sticks, surrounded by birds, we got better bird photos in a backyard on the outskirts of Nashville than we've ever captured here.

Here's the little thing when we first saw him. Check out the "Angry Bird" expression on his face.

He was on the rocks near a koi pond - Jack sneaked around behind the little bird and got this great shot with the reflection of the sky in the water below.

These are the koi. They started out being WalMart goldfish.

The young'uns finally had enough of watching that darned bird... He safely escaped to trees outside the yard. Good luck, sweet birdie!!

A gorgeous male Redheaded Woodpecker.

Harbingers of Spring

Spring is upon us, and Jack and Pam at the Lake couldn't be happier.

We had snow over the weekend - another one of those Middle Tennessee blizzards... Fifteen hours of steady snowfall, but none of it stuck to anything. We ended up with three slick spots on the deck, which is barely enough for the dogs to play "acorn hockey" or whatever the heck they call that thing where they all slide around, barking and growling with each other, chasing an acorn until it falls over the edge. Seriously, sometimes it's the little things...

Our crocus and buttercups are in full bloom, which is a definite sign that we're in for sunnier days...

And a couple of weeks ago, Jack and I got to once again witness the northern migration of Sandhill Cranes, which is a delightful and interesting spectacle. We happened to be in the yard, heard a racket and recognized it from past years, and grabbed our cameras. Jack took these wonderful photos...

They start as a disorganized group, flying in different directions chaotically before organizing into a V-shaped migration formation...

Sis' Birthday and Some Ducks

First on the agenda for this blog post is wishing my beautiful sister a Happy Birthday!! I love you, Sis, and I'm thankful to have you in my life every single day - especially days when we have the opportunity to laugh together about some little something or other. 

Here's a picture of some ducks on a pond I pass on my way to the grocery store. There are probably ten pairs of mallards hanging there every afternoon. They look like decoys.

Here's a picture of them flying away after I scared the hell out of them. They look less like decoys when they're flying overhead.

"Quack! Quack! Quack!"

They really say that.

No, we don't watch "Downton Abbey".

I see this horse every time I drive to town. Today I took his photo.

First of all, congratulations, Jack! Yesterday he was crowned by his dentist and now has a permanent replacement for the tooth he broke while eating ribs during our Valentine's Day celebration last year. Eleven months and thousands of dollars later, we celebrate by chewing carefully and trusting no take-out.

Josie.

And there's a new dog in the house. We call her Josie, and God help us, she ain't nothing but a hound dog. Forgive me for the corny joke, but today is Elvis' birthday, and I couldn't help myself.

I found her running down the road last month, dragging half of a string of Christmas lights, which had been tied to her collar. After seeing her almost get hit by two different vehicles, I pulled my car over and called her over. She jumped into the car and passed out in the back seat.

Since neither Jack nor I were too keen on adopting another dog into our crew, I contacted a local rescue about finding her a new place to live, but "long story short", the rescue is over-burdened, we've found this beagle to be a good fit for the family, and she's evolved from being "puppy-girl" to "Josie".

She's been fixed but has no micro-chip, and while she's likely "someone's dog", who ties up a dog with Christmas lights? I posted her photo on facebook, but the only inquiry we received was dubious, and the caller became disinterested when he found out the dog was spayed.

The other dogs have adjusted to having a new pup in the house and she's good with the cats...

The elusive Pileated Woodpecker re-appeared in the neighbor's oak tree this past week.

Winter sunset.

In other news, we still have daylight in the sky at 5:00 p.m. -- spring is coming.

The squirrels seem to know when the dogs are sleeping... 

-- soft landing... 

Stargazing

Yes, it's late to be writing, but tonight Jack and Pam at the Lake stayed up past our bedtime and braved the chill to view the Geminid meteor shower for several minutes and are just now settling in and getting warmth back into our toes and fingertips. I'm no fan of being out in the cold, but seeing numerous shooting stars blazing across the night sky every few minutes is totally worth the effort and the discomfort.

The Geminids are one of the most active meteor showers and take place each December with observers being able to witness up to 80 falling stars over the course of an hour. Most visible after 11:00 in the evening and peaking sometime around 2:00 in the morning, tonight is the big show, though some meteors will continue to sparkle and fizz until around the 18th. Called the Geminids because of their proximity to the constellation Gemini, many of the shooting stars can be seen in the northeastern sky, though on our adventure tonight, Jack and I spotted a number of others in a lot of different locations.

We actually drove up a couple of miles way from the house but found it impossible to quickly find a location that was away from security lights. A side road lined with a long row of large hay bales beside it to block some light presented itself and provided a nice vantage point for our stargazing. In the thirty or so minutes we stood out there, we probably saw between thirty and forty meteors, and they were spectacular.

We both finally got cold enough to retreat back to the car and head home, but both of us are glad we went to the effort. If you get a chance to throw on a coat and a nice warm hat, head outside tomorrow night after 11:00, find a comfy dark spot, huddle down and enjoy the show. You won't be sorry.

Here's a link to more information, if you're so inclined -- 

http://www.space.com/18899-geminids-meteor-shower-early-reports.html

Too Hot to Blog

I try not to post too much about the weather, but with record-setting triple-digit high temperatures this week, it really deserves mention. With no rain to speak of in the last few weeks, the entire Middle Tennessee landscape looks a lot more like late August than early July, and fire risk is on a lot of people's minds.

Brush fires have occurred all over the region, including a large one near the White County-Cumberland County line that destroyed nearly a hundred acres of pine forest on Wednesday of this week. Fire departments throughout the area are reporting ten-fold increases in the number of calls they are receiving. We had a small fire along a fence-row up the road from us on Friday, which caused a power outage for couple of hours and required the resources and people from the county's volunteer fire department, Caney Fork Electric and DeKalb Telephone to resolve on one of the hottest days ever. The fire was quickly extinguished and all services were restored within a couple of hours, but this kind of situation can easily get out of hand with the slightest of breezes, especially in the more remote, rural parts of the county. And heat like this is dangerous for people who have to work out in it.

With July 4th happening this week, I hope people use common sense when it comes to fireworks. Many municipalities in the mid-state have enacted all-out bans on fireworks and outdoor burning, but according to some of the folks interviewed by the Nashville news stations, that isn't going to stop them from doing their bottle rockets and roman candles - they're just planning to go to areas without bans or that are sparsely populated.

Whatever you do, be careful - and if you see any fire-related behaviors that worry you, contact your local authorities and let them know. Very little makes me sadder than seeing news stories about families losing their homes, barns, fields, forests and personal property to fires that could have been prevented.

A little sunbath is sometimes nice.

I don't know if it's the heat or the lack of other flowering vegetation due to the drought, but we've seen a huge increase in the number of hummingbirds feasting at our feeders in the last week. We hung two feeders back in May and have seen a few visitors on and off, but in recent days there have been lots more.

A quick shake then back to work.

Beautiful as they are, hummingbirds, especially the colorful males, are territorial and vicious about it. Sometimes the action around the feeders is similar to the dogfight scenes in World War II movies...

A Father's Day Hodgepodge

The "man of the day" with the platter of burgers he and Jack grilled.

Father's Day has been wonderful. Jack and Pam at the Lake tripped over to the farm for lunch of grilled-out hamburgers and some time with Mom and Dad. And Moose, who totally agrees with the rest of us that the farm is a great place to spend some time.

Moose cooling off in the kitchen floor.

I really wish Sis and Chris had been able to bring the little girls to join in the fun - the Vernon family was the only thing missing from an otherwise perfect afternoon.

Happy, happy, happy, happy....

After clipping Moose's wings in the wake of his big, scary adventure a couple of weeks ago, Jack and I decided the best way to make sure he gets enough exercise is to carry him to Mom and Dad's farm for romps through the pasture and long walks with us as routinely as possible. Jack had to help Dad with some cattle a couple of days earlier this week, and Moose successfully rode shotgun both trips. He had one little interaction with the electric fence and asked to be put in "time out", but once he got past the shock, he was good to go. He's a little nervous around the cows, but they're huge, and he isn't accustomed to being around them, so he watches the action quietly and from a distance.

On one of our junkets across through the fields and trees, we noticed beautiful little blooms that we've seen before but never really paid much attention to. I knew it was a form of touch-me-not but had never gone to the trouble of identifying the plant.

Spotted Jewelweed.

Interestingly enough, this is Spotted Jewelweed, a plant that grows wild in this area and is pollinated exclusively by hummingbirds. The juice from the plant stems has powerful anti-inflammatory qualities which counter the effects of poison ivy and is also used in Preparation H. Jack and I have used Burt's Bee's Jewelweed Soap after being exposed to poison ivy for years, but this is the first time we've made the connection between the "magic poison ivy soap" and the lovely plant from which it is made.

Bea V. is ready for her close-up.

I spent some time with the Vernon girls this week and took some brand new pictures of Beatrice. She's still a few days away from being two months old but is very alert and interested in what's happening in the world around her. My friend, Melena, is a photographer who takes lots of baby pictures and has lots of baby props, so I dropped by to borrow a few things before heading off to Sis' house with the camera.

One of my favorite photos from the day. Isn't she beautiful?

Just when you think the sky is clouding-up....

The photos turned out nicely, and I'm going to tell you this - taking baby photographs is some hard work. They wiggle and squirm, and their expressions can change twenty times in about five seconds. Beatrice was so wide awake and into the action that shots of her sleeping sweetly in her birthday suit were completely out of the question, but at least the things she peed on were things that could be cleaned.

...the sun comes out again.

Lucia wasn't in so much the mood to get her picture taken, but she did love dressing up in the beautiful, sherbet-toned tutu with matching leotard and fur jacket that Melena sent in the bag of props. And she managed to crack a couple of smiles for the camera.

Lots and lots and LOTS of ruffles.

Beautiful!!!

The full Flickr album with all the photos from the "shoot" is linked at the upper right of this page. Enjoy!