Picture taken by Kathy Novey.
Susan Mayer's Haven
Pictures from my back yard.
Tuesday, July 08, 2025
Whip taking a summer nap
Sunday, July 06, 2025
Water Hemlock
Saturday, July 05, 2025
Black bear and cub
After the one day, temps are back to normal. We also have rain which, for this year, is normal too. Whip alerted me to visitors. This time though they were out behind the house. Probably not of the human variety. I got up to see what the fuss was and there was one very large bear standing up in the meadow. She was far enough away that I felt safe to go out onto the deck and shout at her. I don't mind her roaming the woods but she should know that coming into the meadow means people and dogs - two things bear around here avoid. She didn't move and the reason was soon apparent as one and then two little cubs popped out of the tall grass onto a mown path. The first cub headed straight across the path and into the tall grass on the other side. Probably following the route mom had taken. The second cub - like the turkey chicks - hit the short grass and liked it. This one stood up (as it's probably seen mom do) looking in the direction the rest of it's family had taken. The cub then dropped to all fours and trotted on down the easier to travel pathway until it intersected w/ another and turned in the direction I'd last seen mom. Mom was still out there - invisible when she was on all fours in the tall grass. She popped up again, figured her brood were on their way, and dropped back down out of sight. Hopefully they were all headed for the more quiet deep woods.
Friday, July 04, 2025
First of the wild raspberries
Thursday, July 03, 2025
Elderberry Blossoms
On a 4th of July kinda note, when I went in for library duty Librarian Trevor pulled out his U.S. naturalization document. He passed his tests and was sworn in yesterday as a citizen. He retains his Canadian citizenship so, should the United States become provinces of Canada, he's still covered.
Wednesday, July 02, 2025
Asiatic Lilies
Monday, June 30, 2025
Doe and fawn
Sunday, June 29, 2025
Daisy Fleabane
7:38 a.m. - Caller reporting a fairly large snapping turtle on their front porch.
9:04 a.m. - Officer with underage male walking down the road with a case of beer. Officer confiscated the beer.
9:14 a.m. - National Guard requests a check welfare for a male who failed to show up for morning muster. Deputy spoke with mother of male who stated he pushed his start date back and didn't need to go.
9:20 a.m. - Female reports she gave a check to another person to cash since she is not allowed in most stores. The person has not returned with the money. Officer talked with the person who said they sent the check back to the payee as he doesn't know where the female lives and doesn't want any further contact with her.
12:53 p.m. - Caller reporting a vehicle pulled into his driveway, occupants walked around and left two heavy lawn ornaments in front of the door.
1:49 p.m. - Call from Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requests a deputy go to the airport and check if an airplane is there. Follow up call to dispatch from Minn. Air control tower stating they made contact with the pilot and everything is OK.
3:40 p.m. - Officer spoke with female informing her she needed to clean up after herself. Officers will be checking frequently that she is not littering or creating an issue like laying on sidewalks or disrupting business. Female stated she is here for her annual summer vacation. Officer spoke with her about finding a new annual summer vacation spot if she continues the behaviors from last year. She was informed if she didn't pick up her trash by the end of the officer's shift she would receive her first citation of her vacation. 7:03 a.m. - Officer out with female. Citation issued for littering.
5:04 p.m. - Caller reporting 20 cattle on the railroad tracks. A black bear is hindering them from checking further. Deputy made contact with cattle owner who states he was out looking for them.
6:17 p.m. - Officer flagged down by a neighbor of address where there is a large amount of full garbage bags piled on the back step. They had seen rodents and cats getting into the garbage. Resident of the house stated she is waiting to get paid to remove the garbage. The officer informed her she could receive a citation if she doesn't remove it soon.
7:15 p.m. - Railroad worker asked if he could sleep in his car just for tonight due to low funds. Officer cited city ordinance against sleeping in vehicles but will allow for the night due to observing two juveniles in the car.
7:45 p.m. - Walk-in individual to Law Enforcement Center states he had a disagreement with a neighbor and thinks they will retaliate. Complainant states the male is threatening him saying he is going to hang him and his family. When asked where the male lives he stated in Florida. Complainant was told to block this individual from communication. There's nothing that can be done here as the person lives in Florida.
Saturday, June 28, 2025
Hares-foot Clover
Friday, June 27, 2025
Bird's foot trefoil (and ant)
Wednesday, June 25, 2025
Arrowwood flowers
Woke up earlier than my alarm. I padded out to the kitchen first. I'd put frozen bread dough into a pan before I went to sleep last night. It had risen enough to bake. I heated up the oven. Went on into the laundry room. Forecast is for storms coming in early this afternoon. I popped in the laundry detergent and started the washing machine filling. Dressed for the day. Shoved the bread into the oven, started up a load of clothes, whistled for Whip, and we went out on our constitutional. Wonderful to have cooler weather again. When we returned still had some time before the bread and wash were done. Sat down to peruse my electric bills. I hadn't received any since putting in the solar array and then received two a week apart. Olson Solar Rep Cody had warned me that the power company would take a few months to start sending me bills. The first bill was for mid-April thru mid-May and the amount due looked pretty normal for that period of time. The usual "Your bill is paid through an automated bank payment plan" was printed across the bottom and I hadn't thought any more about it. The second bill was for mid May to mid-June. This amount also looked pretty normal. Reading through it though showed that no money had been taken out of the bank but instead I had a credit for the same amount. Cool. If this is how it works should be a simple spread sheet to determine savings vs. cost. The wash finished so I took that out and hung it on the line. Birds were chirping. The bread was also ready to come out and, once on the rack, I brushed the top w/ butter. Time to start the coffee and fix breakfast. Life is good.
Tuesday, June 24, 2025
Asiatic Lily
I walked out into the living room. Whip was there looking out the window and giving a low growl. I turned to the window to see what had her attention. Took a moment before I saw a deer walking through the belly-high grass of the meadow. Watched intently for a moment and there it was ... a little snatch of brown behind her. It came and went. Did I really see it or just want to see it? I kept watching until she broke out of the grass onto a mown path and continued down it toward the woods. Then behind her emerged a fawn. A few weeks old I'd guess 'cause now that he could see where he was going he had slowed and was curious about his surroundings. As mom disappeared into the woods, I saw a little flash of white as he flicked his tail and walked after her. First fawn I've seen this year.
Town Planning Commission meeting tonight. Chairman Roger is fishing in Canada so I led the meeting. We had two permits to consider. They were both fairly straight forward. Last meeting, I'd been tasked w/ checking on another building that had been put on some property. It had no fire sign. Basically, if there is a building of any kind, then that property needs a fire sign so emergency vehicles can find it. The county manages giving those out and maybe they didn't know about the building. I'd stopped by the court house and County Zoning Administrator Yvonne knew which place I was talking about immediately. She laughed that the out-of-town new owners said they didn't know they needed permits. They had been granted one by the county in December. She gave me a copy of their county permit which included a note that they needed to contact our town clerk (they had included her name and phone number) for a town building permit. I looked at the paperwork. It stated it was only a 'shed' and a box was checked that it was not built for sleeping quarters. I think there are lots of "sheds" big enough for bunk beds built on hunting land.
Monday, June 23, 2025
Red Baneberry
Sunday, June 22, 2025
Haven
Photo taken by Kathy Novey.