Susan Mayer's Haven
Pictures from my back yard.
Wednesday, October 16, 2024
Robin on it's way south
Tuesday, October 15, 2024
Autumn Color
A killing freeze is forecast for tonight. The diff between 'First Frost' and 'Killing Freeze' is the frost is usually a dip to 32 degrees just before sunrise. Most native plants can shrug it off and stay alive. For a killing freeze the temps dip to 28 degrees and stay below freezing for hours. That will stop growth/kill off plants. The plants I am overwintering are already inside. I'm using Killing Freeze as a forewarning that winter will soon arrive so Whip and I walked around the outside of the house to see what else needed to be done. My hand painted gnome that sits in among the flowers on the deck had been looking forlorn without his plant cover. I moved him along w/ the sundial, the 'Dancing Rabbit' plaque, the Mjolnir plaque, and the two garden poles into Sleipnir. The solar lights around the outside of the deck stay put - I'll replace the ones that don't make it through the winter next spring. Yggdrasil could stay outside for awhile longer but I moved it into Mjolnir for a few days. If the temps go up a bit, I'll move him back outside. My checklist for this month includes replacing the batteries in the thermostats in the out buildings. I replaced those batteries and then turned the heat on in both buildings. It won't actually start up until their inside temp falls to 45 degrees. Also on my checklist is to move the shepherd hooks together on the southeast side of the deck where I can hang bird feeders this winter. This year I think I'll remove the hooks next to the deck but leave some hooks further away from the deck. Don't want to entice back those rats.
Monday, October 14, 2024
Autumn Color
Sunday, October 13, 2024
Autumn Color
Friday, October 11, 2024
Clouded Sulphur butterfly
Thursday, October 10, 2024
Autumn Trees and ... Lilacs(?)
12:18 a.m. - Caller states he came home and there is a vehicle parked in his driveway. He doesn't know who it belongs to. Caller wants vehicle off his property. Was advised the female living on the property is allowed to have people over if she wants. If he wants her off the property, he will have to evict her.
12:21 a.m. - Caller reports her husband is in garage throwing things out. She has been drinking, he has not. States he pushed her, nothing physical but they did have an argument. Second call from female stating she wants to be arrested because she's been drinking. Officer met with both parties. Female appeared extremely intoxicated. Male states he came home from work, they had an argument, he went to another part of the house. Officer refused to take female to jail. No action taken as no crimes were committed.
7:13 a.m. - Traffic stop for speed. Driver believes his speedometer is off because he increased the size of his tires.
9:12 a.m. - Call from School reporting there is a male in a silver Dodge SUV that has been driving around the school. Bus driver spoke with him and he stated he was waiting for a roofing crew. He was advised there is no such job happening at the school. He was wearing a fluorescent vest. The vehicle parked by the grain bins west of the school. Subject has one warrant from Nebraska but is non-extraditable.
10:34 a.m. - Driver stopped for speeding. Produced a Chinese driver's license. Was informed he needed o get a valid driver's license from the U.S.
10:35 a.m. - Complaint forwarded from Forestry Department to Sheriff's office. Requesting a phone call about a farm field bordering her property where the corn hasn't been harvested in two years. Caller believes this is causing her husband's asthma to flare up and the rodent population to increase. She states she left messages for farmer who leases the land and has spoken to land owner. Officer informed her he can't force them to harvest or plow corn under. She will call farmer.
10:58 p.m. - Officers at Sheriff's Office heard loud vehicles and observed demo derby vehicles on roadway. Vehicles are not authorized to operate on any roadway open to public transportation. Officer followed vehicles to fairgrounds. Drivers informed they cannot operate vehicles on roadway. One driver argued it is a tradition to drive to the event.
12:48 p.m. - Call from owner of Bar & Restaurant stating he believes he has pellet holes in his siding. Officer observed 8-10 pellet holes in siding of building that were not there two days prior. Coming from direction where duck hunters were shooting that morning.
3:50 p.m. - Deputy reports a slow-moving vehicle with a male walking in front of the vehicle and kicking it. Individual who works for a group home is transporting 2 persons to the home. The two got into an argument, both have learning disabilities. They were transported in separate vehicles to the home.
6:45 p.m. - Caller states her mother left at 4:30 a.m. to go to a doctor's appointment in another town and didn't arrive. Her phone appears to be shut off. Mother has a history of back surgeries and seizures. The mother called. She advised she was arrested early this morning for an OWI, was just released from custody, and is safe.
7:08 p.m. - Caller reports female cut off the tip of her finger while chopping wood.
7:10 p.m. - Individual came to Sheriff's Office to turn in suspected drugs he found. His dad bought a used golf glove and a small baggie with a crystal-like material was in one of the fingers, unknown who it was bought from. Field test positive for meth. Baggie destroyed.
Wednesday, October 09, 2024
First Frost
Tuesday, October 08, 2024
Fata Morgana
Monday, October 07, 2024
The Snug
Sunday, October 06, 2024
Library Display - 4H
The 4-H club wanted to put a display in the library - but only for the month of October. Think the little kids will enjoy the cross stitch of the chickens. We were happy for the display - kinda wondered why for only a month. Turns out while the items had already been judged locally, the winners go for more judging next month. Not a problem though - the Historical Society said they will put in a display next month and asked if we could keep it through the winter (their museum isn't heated).
Friday, October 04, 2024
Harvesting Soybeans
- The flowers were snug inside Sleipnir. Can bring them back out again if we have a stretch of warm weather.
- Put the rain gauge away. It has no standing water currently but don't want to forget to put it away.
- Dragged the garden hose into Mjolnir. It was too tight to unscrew by hand but found some adjustable wrenches in Mjolnir that did the trick.
- Dumped the bucket of water I have for the dog in her run. I'll clean it out and roll the hose up in it for winter.
- Eked out as much water from the rain barrel as I could to water the flowers. Then dragged the barrel to Sleipnir. I'll gradually refill it and use that to water the plants during their 'confinement'.
Thursday, October 03, 2024
Room Divider
Wednesday, October 02, 2024
Getting ready to overwinter plants
The outside plants have been moved off the deck and are staged between Mjolnir and Sleipnir. They can get plenty of sun but be close to quickly move into Sleipnir if there are frost warnings. Time to get Sleipnir ready.
(1) I moved out Jormungandr. It will spend the rest of the season in Mjolnir. Not having it in Sleipnir over the winter gives me a little bit more wiggle room around the plant tiers and should I want to use the UTV in the cold, I don't have to open Sleipnir's garage door and lose the warm air protecting the plants from the cold.
(2) Moved out the collapsed tier structure that was stored flat against the wall all summer. It's made from pine so not heavy.
(3) Removed the screens on the three double windows on the south side of the building. Screens shade a bit of the sunshine coming through and I can use all of the light and heat I can get in in the winter. Stored screens in the Sleipnir's maintenance room. Good time to wash those windows too - inside & out.
(4) Swept where the tiers will be set up. Just a bit of detritus that blew in during the summer.
(5) Picked up the end tables from their usual place next to the deck chairs. They are made from a durable plastic so, while they can (and some do) stay outside all winter long, they are perfect to serve as a first tier of plants. I put them end-to-end along the wall but about an inch away When I set plants on them, the top of the pots will come right to the windowsill so the plants will be bathed in sunlight. Unfortunately, the yellow-rumped warblers love all of my outside furniture - to land on/ take off from/wait until the next insect comes by. All 7 end tables needed a good wash.
(6) Assembled the two sets of tiers. Pretty easy. Each has a support structure which swings forward on hinges. I position each tier system so it's touching the end tables in front of them. Each tier system has two shelves which lock everything in place. Each shelf is set at a height so the pots on it are behind the plants in front of them. When you look in through the windows, it looks like a wall of greenery. The brothers did an excellent job crafting them.
(7) The outside end tables can handle standing water but the tier shelves are wood. Got out old plastic tarps and draped them over the shelves. I try to do a couple of layers of plastic so water hopefully won't find holes to seep through. A little painters tape keeps everything in place until I bring in the plants.
Tuesday, October 01, 2024
Northern Flicker
While I was doing that, Whip was roaming around. I called for her and when she finally came, it was out of the tall grass near the road. Yikes! She was holding something and left it to the side in the field before coming closer. I put her on a lead and checked what she had found. It was the carcass of a long dead coon. Probably she found it in the ditch or close to the road. Guess she'll have to wear the shock collar again for awhile until she remembers the road is off-limits.
Then Waste Management gave me a call. I'd been assured via 3 e-mails that the driver of the garbage pickup truck would be told to leave my container on my side of the road where it was picked up. This call was from the local WM rep who said they didn't care what I'd been e-mailed. My bin should be left on the shoulder of the road on my neighbor's side. I said I was pretty sure there were laws against leaving things on the shoulder of a road. She said lots of people do it. This particular skirmish is still on-going but it doesn't look good.
Yes, Scary October has begun.