Category Archives: Daily life

December 11, 2010 · 6:43 pm

Snow Bird

Yesterday I noticed a robin in the crabapple tree just outside our kitchen window. I was a little puzzled because I thought robins migrated south in the winter. The bird seemed out-of-place in this frozen land, but I assumed that it must surely be on its way south sometime very soon.

We had a “major weather event” here in Minnesota starting Friday evening and continuing through today with lots of accumulating snow and strong winds.

The snow kept falling all day long and by this evening we had somewhere around a foot of fluffy new snow!

While making breakfast in the kitchen this morning, I looked out the window and was shocked to see that poor little robin back in the crabapple tree. Braving the snow storm, it was hopping around the tree and eating the crabapples.

Worried that there was something wrong with this bird that was still around Minnesota at this time of year and in these conditions, I did a quick internet search to see if it was “normal” for a robin not to migrate south.

I was surprised to read that robins apparently do not always leave in the winter, especially if there is a food source like crabapples or berries to sustain them.

They keep themselves warm with thicker feathers and by shivering.

So, I guess this robin has decided to stick around this winter and snack on the crabapples on our tree.

The robin will be doing a lot of shivering tonight, as temperatures are predicted to plunge to -15° F. Tomorrow does not look much better with a high of 3° F and wind chills of -35° F. Poor little thing!

As I sit inside tonight with my kids, playing games and enjoying a warm and cozy fire, I am glad very glad that I am not that robin. And if I were, I would never be crazy enough to stick around this state through the winter…even if there were some crabapples nearby.

Cozy and warm in Minnesota,

Lynell

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December 7, 2010 · 9:26 pm

If She Only Knew…

Our dog Sofie is a Golden Retriever, a hunting dog. She lives to go bird hunting in the fall. Every time the boys get out the guns and their blaze orange vests, Sofie runs to the back of the truck and waits to get in. She whines and she paces.

We often take her on walks down the road from our house and if there is a pheasant anywhere in the vicinity, she manages to pick up their scent. If she is not on the leash, she takes off and inevitably flushes them out of the tall grass. If she is on the leash, she pulls, tugs and whines for the opportunity to find the bird.

A few Easters ago, we had family over to our house for dinner and an egg hunt. After dinner we walked around outside, showing the family the various projects we were working on. To our surprise, a rooster pheasant flew out of the hayfield right towards us and landed a short distance away on the driveway. Before we could even react, Sofie had spotted the bird and took off after it. The pheasant took flight and headed for the woods. Sofie took off in that direction and our oldest went after her.

None of us are sure what exactly happened over in the woods, but unfortunately the pheasant did not survive the ordeal. Our son saw her disappear over the river bank and she eventually came back up proudly carrying the pheasant in her mouth. It was a victory for her. This is, after all, what she is supposed to do, right? Well, not exactly, especially when it is not hunting season.

Knowing her love of tracking down and “catching” pheasants, imagine my mixed emotions when I glanced out our back living room windows today while working on my computer and saw this…

A rooster pheasant right in our back yard! I knew Sofie was outside somewhere and I hoped that the bird would go unnoticed by her.

The pheasant seemed unconcerned about predators as it waddled its way through the snow.

I grabbed my camera and started to take pictures. He looked so stunning with his vibrantly colored feathers against the bright white snow. He continued to make his way across the back of the house and up along the side. I started to get nervous for his safety as he moved closer to the house because I suspected that Sofie was on the front porch.

Something eventually spooked the bird however, and he took flight. As beautiful as these birds are on the ground, they are even more magnificent when airborne.

Once the rooster was safely in the air, I turned to look out the window for the dog. This is what I saw…

Sofie was fast asleep on the front porch, enjoying the sun, with her beloved deer leg that she salvaged out of the woods nearby. She had absolutely no clue that this bird, her absolute favorite critter to hunt, had wandered so dangerously close to her.

She must have sensed my presence, or heard the snapping of the camera through the window, because she popped her head up to look at me.

“What?”

“Ha,” I thought to myself. “If you only knew.”

Our cat Tiger, on the other hand, he could care less about what is outside during the day. Especially when the sun is shining and he is laying on the back of a comfy chair inside the house.

His only concern was the noise I was making with the camera.

I was annoying him.

He was tired.

He yawned…

And then he tried to ignore me and get back to sleep in the sunshine.

It’s just another day in the country.

–Lynell

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Tagged as animals, Daily life, pheasants

November 24, 2010 · 3:52 pm

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Winter

The temperatures have plummeted here in Minnesota and we had our first snow storm a week or so ago. The majority of that snow has melted, but enough remains on the ground that it is hard to ignore the fact that winter has arrived.

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September 27, 2010 · 10:28 am

Fall around the Farm

Although the growing season is winding down around here, there is still plenty of activity going on outside.

The honeybees are busy collecting pollen from the blossoms of the mini-pumpkin plants in preparation for winter.

The morning glories have finally started blooming. It won’t be long before the first frost around here, so I need to enjoy these beauties as much as possible over the next few weeks.

Even the shrub roses continue to offer some blooms to enjoy.

The Sedum is in full bloom.

The Pee-gee Hydrangea has taken on the rich pink hues of fall.

The Rudbeckia continues to push out some new flowers, but most of the blooms are becoming tattered.

The asters have just started to blossom. The warm weather predicted for this week will likely encourage them to burst into full bloom.

Squash awaits harvesting on the vine.

And the leaves are changing.

No doubt about it, fall is here…which means winter is around the corner. I am not a big fan of winter (especially here in Minnesota), so I am going to cling to the beauty of autumn as long as possible.

–Lynell

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Tagged as Daily life, fall flowers, seasons

September 25, 2010 · 11:57 am

Caution: Pipeline Coming Through

We have a gas pipeline running through the north part of our property. The gas company has a 40 foot wide utility easement along the pipeline. We were completely aware of this fact when we purchased the property ten years ago.

The pipeline runs across our field and through the backwater area of the river, which is a combination of grassy swampland, brush and various sizes of trees. It crosses the river and continues east through more woods. The pipeline’s presence has never been of any consequence to us over the past ten years. Until a few weeks ago…

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September 24, 2010 · 1:14 pm

Frogs and Bees

The autumn joy sedum is in full bloom in the garden now, a sure sign of fall. On warm days, it is absolutely covered with honeybees. They love this plant. Because Jesse is always trying to figure out what the bees are up to, he started checking the sedum daily for bee activity.

One day he found this little neon-green tree frog sitting on the sedum blossoms. What a strange spot for a tree frog to hang out. He grabbed the camera and took some pictures.

As he was taking photos, a honeybee happened to come along to work the blossoms. He landed next to the tree frog.

The little frog didn’t seem to care. He just continued to sit motionless on the flower.

Sedum, tree frogs and honeybees. A strange combination, indeed.

–Lynell

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Tagged as autumn joy sedum, Honeybees, sedum, tree frog

June 21, 2010 · 3:09 pm

Simple Garden Moments

It finally feels like summer to me. The kids have all returned from various camps and grandparent visits. Our evenings have opened up somewhat and I am not dashing here or there to sit and wait at practices, rehearsals or lessons as often.

The good news about this is that I have more time to be outside working and enjoying our farm and the simple pleasures of gardening. Moments like these, for example, when you are digging around in the flower bed and look over and see a beautiful butterfly enjoying your plants.

The bad news is that I usually write my posts while I am sitting at practices, lessons, rehearsals, etc., so I have less time now to blog about all the stuff we are doing around here! Summer is short, however, and things will be back to the usual high-speed chaos before you know it. In the meantime, I will continue to do my best to steal a few moments to provide updates…maybe on rainy days when I am forced indoors. 🙂

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May 16, 2010 · 8:41 pm

The Problem with a River is…

it is unpredictable and constantly changing. The lazy, winding river by our house is no different. It rises and recedes as the rain comes and goes. You would think we would have this figured out by now.

After all, remember our maple syrup miscalculations?

In preparation for collecting sap, we placed our pails safely next to the maple trees in the backwater area of the river.

After a week of rain, we returned to the river bottom to find this…

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March 18, 2010 · 7:55 pm

Mixed Feelings on the Signs of Spring

March has been unseasonably warm so far this year (although it sounds as though temperatures are expected to return to normal by the weekend). With temperatures sneaking into the 60’s several days already, the snow has completely melted and signs of spring are everywhere. Generally speaking, I welcome the signs of spring. It means that soon I will be back in my flower and vegetable gardens.

Over the weekend I found this little gem in the flower garden in front of the house. It was such a sweet surprise and reminder of spring. This lone violet was the first sign of life in my perennial garden.

The last few warm days have brought other perennials out from their winter sleep. Seedum and Ajuga intertwine here.

A volunteer Lamium plant also has greened up under the shrubs by the house.

Even the vegetable garden is showing signs of life. The rhubarb plants broke through the ground in the last few days. I think their appearance is premature and I’m a little worried about how they will fare when the cold weather returns this weekend. They are tough plants though and will likely recover quickly from any setbacks.

Along with the lovely perennial plants and vegetables, some unwelcome signs of spring have also appeared. DANDELIONS are already popping up all over. This Stella de’Oro daylilly is fighting for space with this huge dandelion.

Dandelions and grass have also showed up among my peonies. I am not opposed to using herbicides on these rogue weeds and hope to eliminate them before the flower plants get much bigger. It is time to get out the Roundup and blast these pesky weeds. I need to wait for a calm day, however, so I don’t kill my flowers.

And this weed…it is all over in my bed of peonies and I’m not sure what it is. It used to grow in abundance in the cow pastures when I was growing up, but I don’t know the technical name. Any ideas? It also needs to go.

Spring time also brings a reminder that we have a dog. Our dear Sofie, that we enjoy in so many ways, definitely manages to leave her mark from her quick trips outside the house during the cold winter months.

In contrast to the healthy green lawn that she graces above, is the spotted lawn that appears every spring. This spring is no different, and we will need to re-seed these areas.

The weeds popping up all over and the dead spots in the lawn are the frustrating signs of spring. But my excitement over the perennial flowers and vegetables that are appearing easily outweighs these irritations. I am ready to get in the dirt and start gardening. Unfortunately, it is only March!

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Tagged as dandelions, dead spots in lawn, flowers, perennials, rhubarb, spring, violet

March 14, 2010 · 10:58 am

Spring Flooding and Maple Miscalculations

Remember last week, before we left for our trip, when we tapped a few of our maple trees in the river bottom behind our house? The pails sat safely next to the base of the trees, waiting to catch the sap when it starts to flow.

Apparently it rained nearly the entire time we were gone. It rained a lot and the snow melted…a lot. We arrived home Thursday night surprised to see how much of the snow was gone.

It was still raining on our drive home from the airport. It was evident that winter was on its way out and the dreariness of spring was upon us. In the morning, I glanced out the windows in the back of the house towards the river. Sadly, our tree-tapping experiment had gone awry.

The river has already flooded, a little earlier than usual. The flood waters have interfered with our first attempt to collect the sap out of the maple trees. Instead of sitting safely next to the tree, the collection pails are floating in the swollen river. We need a new plan. Despite my frustration over the floating pails, I do find the flooded river bottom eerily beautiful.