Building An Addition

Mr. C. and I spent most of yesterday afternoon building an addition… not for us, for PADDY of course!
Here’s the story… I had glanced inside of her ‘lodge’ last week and realized that she had been digging a hole to China in there! So we filled it in and put a rock over the area because there was a slight possibility that if she kept going she could tunnel her way right out of the enclosure. The next day I looked and saw that she had started another hole and it became apparent to us that she was actually trying to dig a tunnel to the pond so she could get in and out of the water right from her lodge. This is a natural beaver behaviour as they usually have several entrances to their lodges with some of them right under water.
Since we knew she would be unsuccessful and become frustrated trying to tunnel through a steel tank we decided to improvise…


It’s a small box (which doubles as a seat for ME) that hangs over the edge of the pond. There is no bottom and we cut her a new door so she can swim right up and go inside.
She likes it!

Here is the view from the water into her lodge…

Then an unexpected, very cool thing happened… you see, I was becoming worried that I was raising a very, well, LAZY beaver! She never wanted to collect sticks or try to build a dam or anything. She just slept all day and ate!
BUT, as soon as she checked out this new entrance that girl got B-U-S-Y!

She started collecting branches by the mouth-full and dragging them through the pond and through the new entrance into her lodge!
She did it over and over…

She had a plan… oh yes she did! She was going to block that old door where everybody peeks in a bothers her while she’s trying to NAP!
This is what it looked like this morning…

I’m so proud of her… she’s doing real beaver stuff! I guess I’m not such a bad beaver mom after all.

Who Wants Breakfast???

Well I hope you didn’t think that I could resist making these with those beautiful berries I picked yesterday!

I only have to feel 50% guilty for blowing my diet since I used whole wheat blend pancake mix and sugar-free syrup! They were yummy!

These didn’t make it to the batter… they were far to impressive and needed to be savored by themselves!

Let’s Mosey Around The Hill

I got up early today cuz I wanted to get some things done in the garden before the humidity sets in.
First up…

No, I haven’t started growing grapes…
(although that is in the master plan)
this is round two of the blueberry pickin!

Looks like there will even be a round three after I picked four quarts this morning! Remember, I only have SIX small bushes!

This will be on the agenda for later…

But I had to pick a few to eat and share with some good buddies…

There are a few more Day Lilies popping…

Lots of weeding to do so I’d best get crackin!

Larn sumthin new ever day

(That title was a poor attempt at a long slow southern farmer’s drawl)

Anyway, I’ve had chickens for quite a number of years now and this is the first time this particular issue has come up!

Poor Kowalski! I don’t even know how the poor guy ate with that over grown beak! With his ‘hairdo’ I didn’t see this going on until recently.
I knew that other bird breeds need beak trims sometimes but none of the other chickens have ever had this problem.

So I googled (or as DaMaMa would say “goggled”) trimming a chickens beak and got the info I needed. Just like trimming a toenail it said.
So I borrowed the crazy dog lady’s dog nail trimmers (cuz cat trimmers seemed to small for the job), collected Mr. K and prepared myself for a battle roy-al!

Well let me tell you, it was a TOTAL…

… non-event. The boy sat as still as a statue and never even squawked! Such an angel he is!
So here’s how he looks now…

No blood was involved for either of us so I pronounce the procedure a resounding success!
He’s so much handsomer now after his nose job don’tcha think?

Perseverance PAYS!

So yesterday when I checked on our diligent Barn Swallows the nest looked like this…

And this morning…

Welcome to the world little bits!

Momma glared at me from a perch above my head…

Heart-Aches and Updates

It hasn’t been great around The Hill lately. First our friend and neighbor passed away.
Then I found out that Rudy the Red-Tail Hawk had to be euthanized. He had been struggling lately, losing the strength in his legs again so he fell down alot and broke alot of his feathers. He was also losing weight. We just were never sure what was wrong with him. The vet suspected nerve damage but she couldn’t figure out why he would seem to start getting better and then relapse. I forgot to ask her if she was going to do a necropsy. It would be nice to find out what his problem was.
Anyway, I take comfort in the fact that for the past year and a half he was kept safe and very well fed.
Rest in peace now sweet Rudy, go fly strongly over that rainbow bridge and land on strong sure legs on the other side.

And next… yesterday I came home from work to find one of The Twins laying dead in the backyard… my first thought was that it was a cat attack, but no, she had been shot with a pellet gun.
It makes me so mad! I brought them here thinking they would be safe! What makes it even worse is that a previously good relationship with a neighbor is going to be very strained unless an apology is forthcoming. It wasn’t hard to piece together what happened and I’m hoping said neighbor will fess up.
So, may you too rest in peace my little friend…

Tux has some type of eye infection going on and the ointment the vet gave me isn’t doing a thing. He looks pitiful.

*SIGH*

Enough of heart-aches, let’s have some updates…

The persevering barn swallows are diligently keeping their eggs warm and guarding the nest.

Paddy is doing great and we’ve taken to having a stroll around The Hill each evening. She stays right on my left heel like a well trained dog. She still loves Mr.C. too…

We had a new visitor at the pond the other day…

I’m sure that the fish and frogs were happy when he left and hope that he doesn’t come back!

Mr. C left this morning to go fishing with that same group of guys he went with last time. This time they are going out for tuna and mahi… hope to get the freezer stocked back up!

So that’s life on The Hill this past week or so…

Way Back Pigtails

I’m really loving this last haircut that Schmenky did on our Memorial Weekend Extravaganza but there are definitly days when I miss the ability to do this…

because with short hair, humidity is NOT my friend!

It’s time…

…. for the Day Lilies to shine! Here are a few that are starting to bloom here on The Hill…

Bonus this year… Paddy likes to eat the spent blossoms! That’s good incentive to deadhead!

Happy Father’s Day to all of you wonderful Dad’s out there!
I miss you Dad.

Mr C. wants to go fishing today for Father’s Day so as soon as he drags his butt out of bed we’ll get ready to go. Hopefully we’ll catch a few small bluegill to bring home to live in Paddy’s pond… I think they would amuse her!
No, beavers don’t eat fish, they are strict vegans!

Cancer Sucks

There’s just no other way to say it.
Today we went to the memorial service for our neighbor down the street.
He was only 47.
Death is never easy but somehow when the person who has died is young and vibrant and still so full of life it’s even harder.
Even harder still is that he leaves behind a family that are so incredibly close that they will all feel the pain of his absence for the rest of their lives.
*sigh* Hug your loved ones.

Being Green

Seems like we’ve finally gotten the filtering system for Paddy’s ‘pond’ figured out. While the water is still somewhat brownish looking, you can see all the way down to the bottom so it’s all good.
We’re using a sand pool filter that needs to be back washed usually a couple of times a day and I couldn’t stand the thought of all of that good ‘fertilized’ water going to waste so I came up with the idea of making a pipe sprinkler for the garden. It works great and takes only minutes to get everything watered… gotta love that!

Way Back On The Hill

As I look out over the gardens it’s hard to remember just what it looked like when we first moved here and before I started tilling, digging, planting, and reshaping the landscape.
So I dug into the old pictures and found some photos taken not long after we moved here in 1998.
I’m also including present day shots for comparison.
Way Back…

And Now…

Way Back…

and now…

Way Back…

and now…

Way Back…

and now…

Way back…

and now…

A little blood, a LOT of sweat, and maybe a few tears now and then has made this house our home. It’s a never-ending, ongoing project that I wouldn’t trade for anything.

It’s Pickin Time!!!

Oh Yes… those luscious, antioxidant-filled, plump little berries.

Tux came to help guard against any marauding Mockingbirds or Catbirds while the protective netting was pulled away.

And the payoff from a mere six plants…

That container is 8″x9″ and the bushes are still loaded with green ones! Just an observation…. green blueberries are really tasty try one next time you’re pickin!

Howard and The Twins

There were 3 Rock Doves (Pigeons) or as Uncle Grump would call them “Flying Rats” brought into the Wildlife center this spring… one was a very sick adult and the other two were babies. I volunteered to release them here on The Hill and they are quite happy here. Howard, one of the babies, likes to follow me around the yard as I’m working and is fond of landing on my head! They all have personality plus, especially Howard… the twins are a bit more stand-off-ish but follow Howard around dutifully watching over him… the oldest one seems to have adopted a motherly role and will scold Howard if he does something she feels is dangerous or foolhardy… like landing on my head or getting too close to Tux.
That’s Howard on the left….

He will sit on my lap for seeds…

And clearly, Howard recognizes fine art when he sees it!

I’m going to enjoy their company.

Product Pushing

We don’t have a pool anymore… maybe someday.
But for those of you who do have an inground pool I HIGHLY recommend this product!
I was so tired of going into work and opening the skimmers to discover many dead frogs, newts, salamanders, and toads. This product has saved the day… any many little lives as well!

It’s the Critter Skimmer an awesome invention! It replaces the cover of your skimmer with a new one that has a little ramp attached so if a little someone gets sucked into it they can just crawl up the ramp and escape!
I installed these on the three skimmers at Chesley and we haven’t had a single fatality since!!!!
LOVE IT I rate it a million gazillion stars!

Big Dreams Little Dragon Fly

ummmmmmmm…. she may be a bit more than you can handle!

Perseverance

There have been a pair of Barn Swallows at Chesley that have been trying to build a nest above the pool door all spring. For obvious reasons, the people who use said door do NOT want a nest built there! So all spring I have used a piece of bamboo to continuously knock the nest off of the wall. I believe other people would also use the same piece of bamboo to knock it down too. No eggs had been laid, and we were all hoping they would give up on that spot and move somewhere else to build… but no. they just moved from one corner to the other corner…

Keep in mind that this has been going on for WEEKS!
It had to get knocked down so often that we left the bamboo propped next to the door…

Well, it finally worked! They gave up on building above the door!!!
We WON!!!!

Ummmmmmm, well kinda…

Yep, that’s right, they decided to just build right on top of the dang bamboo instead!!!


Now THAT my friends, is perseverance!
We gave up, guess we won’t use that door for awhile.
I checked the nest the day after I took these pics and there was another egg added for a total of 5.

Lookie What I Found!!!

As I was passing by a puddle at work today I looked down and happened to notice movement; expecting to see a frog, imagine my surprise to find this little teeny tiny bit of cuteness…

Just barely bigger than a quarter… probably just hatched!

Now everything I’ve read about pond keeping advises against having turtles as they are supposedly destructive. But seriously, who could resist this face…

I released it into the pond after snapping these pictures… I may never see it again with all of the water lillies!

I hope he/she sticks around!

Uh-Oh… and a few other things

Uh-Oh… we had a morning visitor in the garden…

Fun to see but she has GOT to go away! She was seriously eating my flowers… not good!!!

Last Friday I went to my friend/ex-boss’s new house to consult about her gardens. I wish she lived closer cuz I would LOVE to keep working for her…. check out her living wall…

How awesome is THAT??!!! The sculpture was done by her late husband, Frederick Hart.
Enjoy a few more pics…

Today was a long busy day at the wildlife center… I came home with a female mallard to release at Chesley and three pigeons to release here at the house.

Tonight we’re looking forward to watching the Wings and Penguins fight for the cup… well, the first period anyway… we go to bed early around here. It wouldn’t hurt our feelings too much if the Wings lost tonight just so they could head back to Detroit and win the cup there… the fans deserve it!

Tomorrow I”m going to buy 8 chickens and a rooster for Chesley… I’ll post pics.

Sumo-Frogs

The bullfrogs are at it again in the pond. Every year we have wrestling matches in order to establish an alfa-frog. It’s quite a show,
I ought to sell tickets!
It starts with a lot of vocalization and throat puffing. Then they square off face to face and make a few rotations until the first frog sees an opening and pounces! Then they lock up sumo-style and blow their bellies up I assume to make themselves look as big as possible. A match can go on for more than an hour sometimes!
Can’t you just picture them with little tiny sumo diapers on??!

This and That

We had a heckofa thunderstorm last night and it’s still wet and misty this morning. I’ll go shopping for plants for Chesley in a little while, but I’ll take a few minutes to update y’all on what’s been going on.

Neighbor Mike welcomed a new horse to the pasture the other day. She isn’t really his horse, he is keeping her in exchange for riding privileges. Her name is Dixie, which is also Mike’s black lab’s name, so we’ve taken to calling her Dixie Too. She’s a pretty thoroughbred mare about 20 years old…

Miracle and Delilah seem to be accepting her fairly well.

Paddy gave the unripe plums fallen from the Crazy Dog people’s tree a try and declared them worthy…

The babies are filling up the wildlife center…
ever seen a baby buzzard???…

There are a couple of baby barred owls…

The usual raccoons…

And plenty of other little bundles of cuteness.
Life is busy busy busy, the weeds have the upper hand right now and I’ve got to get out there and regain control!