Puttering Around

Or a fine fall morning; just enough cool and lots of sunshine.  Found a few last tomatoes that the deer haven't eaten.  Love them.

The acorns are in abundance this year and the deer are coming right up to the house eating them.  They are also crunching underfoot on all the patios and walkways.  Slightly annoying.

The pomegranates are just about ripe for the picking.  In fact, I don't even know how to tell if they are ripe or not.

After nearly losing my entire greenhouse full of citrus last winter due to the propane tank running out, a few are fruiting.  Here is a Buddha's Hand citron, the oldest known citrus going back thousands of years.

Here are the turmeric and ginger plants I started in early summer.  The turmeric is nearly three feet tall.  I don't like the taste of turmeric, though I take it in capsule form daily.  My daughter will get those.  I am interested to see how many tubers have formed in both.

There are so many frogs and toads this year.  From the size of your pinkie fingernail to bull frog size, these little guys have taken over my goldfish pond.  They hide under the lily pads or sun themselves on top.

They are actually very stealthy - cat like in the way they stalk their prey.  Horseflies and insects buzz around for a sip of water.  The frogs sit and wait, but sometimes they move like a cat then leap.  A wasp landed on me and I slapped it and it landed in the water.  It began to swim when a toad ate it.  No reaction from the toad.  Didn't blink an eye nor move its mouth.  I guess the wasp didn't sting it or else the toad is immune to its sting.  

I think these tree frogs are my favorite.  Not quite two inches in length, they camouflage themselves to what they rest upon.  

Well, there you have it.  Not even a cute toad limerick.  Just a beautiful morning.

Turtle Time

It's turtle time again at the farm.  You can see how exciting a life I lead here.  Be that as it may, I do get a kick out of feeding the fish and turtles every evening at one of the ponds.  I have many water turtles there, but the meany snapping turtles have become quite bold.  Before I knew it the other eve, one had sped out of the water and was two feet away from my feet before I noticed it.  There is a male and female.  And, they love leftovers.  I called them meanies because they usually only like live baby fish that are waiting for me at the edge of the pond when I arrive and they are considered an aggressive species.  Their ancestor, the Alligator Snapping Turtle, can weigh 250 lbs. but thankfully I don't have any of those in my ponds.  They usually stay in streams and rivers.

They can stick their necks out very far and I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Here is a young Red Eared Slider turtle coming for a snack.  There are many of these in the pond.  Unlike the box or land turtles around, their feet are much larger and webbed for swimming.  Some of them have become very friendly and used to me while others float offshore with their heads above the water waiting for me to toss slices of bread their way.

This one decided to try Thai noodles.

When the other one appeared, it decided to score the chicken tender and quickly swam away with it.

So many cute creatures at the farm right now.  Tiny tree frogs, peepers and toads about the size of your little fingernail are everywhere.  I wonder how many we've squished.  A box turtle was feasting on some of the fallen peaches this morning and of course, the crows were calling me.  I was watering all the potted plants, it was 8:00 am and I was sweating like a pig.  It will be 100 degrees today and I won't be going out again until this evening to feed.

Tadpole Poses

Ever try to get three tadpoles to pose?  Well, they won't.  I went wading in one of my farm ponds to find bullfrog tadpoles (they are as big as marbles), but found only these measly ones.  My grand kids will enjoy them anyway.

I got to thinking about a post by John Gray of Going Gently, about what made you laugh heartily as a child.  Now, I was a serious child; shy and quiet and could not remember that time.  But, I do remember the thrill of tadpoles and crayfish; climbing the tallest trees to peer into bird nests and see the little eggs.  I enjoyed the out of doors and guess I am still that child.

My goldfish have no such problems posing, though they really only want me to feed them.

This is for those whom are thinking about putting in a water garden/goldfish pond.  Be careful of the water plants you choose, especially water lilies and cat tails.  They take over.  My yearly immersion into the stinkiest, nastiest and most disgusting water is nigh.  I have to cut out half of the lilies and get the dead oak leaves out.  The plant root you don't see is as heavy and large as a meteor and I'll have to carve away at it.  That, and if you live in an area with water snakes, well, they'll just love your fish pond.

If that didn't scare you away, well, I do love to watch the gold fish and frogs and dragonflies and even the darn lilies when they bloom.

PSSST

We've had temperatures in the 60's for the last few days, thank you Lord, and guess what I've been hearing at the farm? Yes, peepers. The cats even brought a one inch specimen in my kitchen yesterday. Also, a bee was buzzing me in the flower beds. I think Mother Nature is telling the creatures to get busy, gather, spring is coming. Yahoo!