Not a very good picture, but here are two of the loons on the lake. They seem pretty calm about being near people. There's one that comes very close to the boat house--Linda and I figure the fishing must be pretty good there. I think that one is Tic. Tess watches Tic intently but so far hasn't swum out after him. I hope he doesn't spread the word that there's good fishing off the Rogers' boat house.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
A lady's shoe
Of course it's a lady's slipper. I promised there would be more flora, right? We used to have a bunch of these next to the boat house, then they disappeared. Now they're back.
For a few years when we were kids, living in Rockford, we went to Door County (peninsula in Lake Michigan, Wisc.). The water was clear, we went before tourists, beautiful place. My father was thrilled because there were yellow lady's slippers. Those are very rare and seldom seen. There they were--in the woods, spread out all over the place. They were very pretty, and it was nice to see him be so excited.
For a few years when we were kids, living in Rockford, we went to Door County (peninsula in Lake Michigan, Wisc.). The water was clear, we went before tourists, beautiful place. My father was thrilled because there were yellow lady's slippers. Those are very rare and seldom seen. There they were--in the woods, spread out all over the place. They were very pretty, and it was nice to see him be so excited.
alder brook june 09 010
It just wouldn't be a change of seasons without a picture of Alder Brook, would it?
Peaceful
Is this peaceful enough? The stairs lead to the the porch, which many of my friends agree has the best view on the lake. Also to the bedroom, which has French doors offering a view of the lake. Also to the back room, where my sister cooks the most wonderful meals and I make my morning coffee.
Cutest thing
Have you ever seen anything cuter than this?
Me on the left, Molly, and Henry.
I like this because
a) I'm frowning, obviously taking it very seriously, what my sister is pointing out,
b) my sister and I have very blonde hair,
c) we're all wearing UVM sweatshirts--my father was teaching there, d) Molly's pants have those iron-on patches that never really worked but were the big thing then,
e)my brother is letting my sister be in charge, his hands folded patiently
f) mostly because my sister's and brother's hands are completely recognizeable, and they looked like that all their lives
Me on the left, Molly, and Henry.
I like this because
a) I'm frowning, obviously taking it very seriously, what my sister is pointing out,
b) my sister and I have very blonde hair,
c) we're all wearing UVM sweatshirts--my father was teaching there, d) Molly's pants have those iron-on patches that never really worked but were the big thing then,
e)my brother is letting my sister be in charge, his hands folded patiently
f) mostly because my sister's and brother's hands are completely recognizeable, and they looked like that all their lives
Monday, June 15, 2009
Flora instruction
Time for the Monday Bog Report. I try to take the dogs (and myself ) for a bog walk Sat. and Sun. mornings, for exercise, to tire and entertain the dogs, and to see what's new in the bog.
Lots of wildflowers in bloom right now. Not too many bugs, though the black flies are still making their presence known. I'm still learning to identify wildflowers, but I'm making progress. These are mostly pretty obvious ones. I didn't find the Ladyslippers until Linda pointed them out to me last night at Camp, plus I found False Solomon's seal there too. Just to keep you in suspense, pictures to follow.
I stayed in the boat house last night. Pretty but I was restless and woke several times. Then overslept so was late to work today. Barely functioning. Plus didn't take my sweatshirt off this morning when I bathed in the lake. Huh?
Book group on the b.house porch last night, very nice. Great food, and we learned the difference between French lentils and our lentils. Everyone was there. This month we're each reading a different Gene Stratton Porter book, courtesy of Lin. This is a new concept, having everyone read a different book, and these are sweet books so we'll have a good time next month. At Linda's, no less. M. gave us a really nice book talk on the books she'd read during the month. I liked that a lot and it made me want to read a couple of the books a lot. And skip the others. It's great, guidance in what to read and what's not nearly as good as the jacket makes it sound.
Got to sit in the sun and read on the deck yesterday. Such a luxury! Plus got to talk to my sister part of the time. Double luxury. I have a good life. Social life is really picking up now, and will rev up even more. Workfest 09 starts this weekend--The Boys of Kokosing (just down the hill from my house) arrive. How cute are they? VERY. Sadly, the end of June is closing in and the lake will fill up with people and boats and jet skis. Last night, sitting alone on the b.h. porch it was totally silent at dusk. The lake was glassy, no one was there. I realized that, in a little while there will be boats and jet-skis droning around at that hour--it's a popular time to go round and round, after dinner and a few beers. It' wonderful to to have the time now.
Lots of wildflowers in bloom right now. Not too many bugs, though the black flies are still making their presence known. I'm still learning to identify wildflowers, but I'm making progress. These are mostly pretty obvious ones. I didn't find the Ladyslippers until Linda pointed them out to me last night at Camp, plus I found False Solomon's seal there too. Just to keep you in suspense, pictures to follow.
I stayed in the boat house last night. Pretty but I was restless and woke several times. Then overslept so was late to work today. Barely functioning. Plus didn't take my sweatshirt off this morning when I bathed in the lake. Huh?
Book group on the b.house porch last night, very nice. Great food, and we learned the difference between French lentils and our lentils. Everyone was there. This month we're each reading a different Gene Stratton Porter book, courtesy of Lin. This is a new concept, having everyone read a different book, and these are sweet books so we'll have a good time next month. At Linda's, no less. M. gave us a really nice book talk on the books she'd read during the month. I liked that a lot and it made me want to read a couple of the books a lot. And skip the others. It's great, guidance in what to read and what's not nearly as good as the jacket makes it sound.
Got to sit in the sun and read on the deck yesterday. Such a luxury! Plus got to talk to my sister part of the time. Double luxury. I have a good life. Social life is really picking up now, and will rev up even more. Workfest 09 starts this weekend--The Boys of Kokosing (just down the hill from my house) arrive. How cute are they? VERY. Sadly, the end of June is closing in and the lake will fill up with people and boats and jet skis. Last night, sitting alone on the b.h. porch it was totally silent at dusk. The lake was glassy, no one was there. I realized that, in a little while there will be boats and jet-skis droning around at that hour--it's a popular time to go round and round, after dinner and a few beers. It' wonderful to to have the time now.
Fern (? Bracken?) in bloom
How pretty is this? The blossoms are gross, the big brown stalks, but the bracken (I'm pretty sure it's bracken, but it might be fern) is really, really pretty. I love the bowl shape. It's still growing. It gets to be about 5' tall and looks really prehistoric.
Labrador tea
This doesn't do justice to how pretty it is to see the white flowers going deep into the woods. It's hard to tell the difference between Lab. tea and Sheep laurel based on their leaves, but Sheep laurel has purple leaves and is obviously a type of laurel.
Yes, I've heard you can make tea from the leaves of this. Doubtful that it tastes very good, though.
Yes, I've heard you can make tea from the leaves of this. Doubtful that it tastes very good, though.
Bunchberry
A bunch of Bunchberries. These are very pretty litle flowers. I think they're related to dogwoods, based on the shape of their leaves. The flowers turn into pretty little red berries. They're low to the ground and are prolific here.
My friends bought a camp with a few buildings, a beautiful and wonderful camp that belonged to other friends of mine. The new owners named one of the buildings Bunchberry. The main building is Birchwood. The previous owners named the main building Robinswood and the other building Wendy. I always thought Robinswood was named after the Pooh character Christopher Robin, but who was Wendy? Anyway, Wendy is a stupid name for a building. So is Bunchberry. Better than naming a child Trillium, which is what a (distant) friend of mine did.
My friends bought a camp with a few buildings, a beautiful and wonderful camp that belonged to other friends of mine. The new owners named one of the buildings Bunchberry. The main building is Birchwood. The previous owners named the main building Robinswood and the other building Wendy. I always thought Robinswood was named after the Pooh character Christopher Robin, but who was Wendy? Anyway, Wendy is a stupid name for a building. So is Bunchberry. Better than naming a child Trillium, which is what a (distant) friend of mine did.
Clintonia
This is Clintonia, named after Governor DeWitt Clinton of NY. I forget why it was named after him. Some special reason.
The blossoms are very pretty. They become blue berries, a very true and pretty blue, big and tempting to children. But STAY AWAY, CHILDREN--the berries are poisonous. First that was just family lore, but when I got older and read about wildflowers, I read that this is true.
When I was a curious kid I of course opened up the berry. Inside it's white and like cotton/popcorn. Oh, so tempting--must be very sweet. Like those orange carnival peanuts that are revolting to adults but irrestible to kids. yummmm.
The blossoms are very pretty. They become blue berries, a very true and pretty blue, big and tempting to children. But STAY AWAY, CHILDREN--the berries are poisonous. First that was just family lore, but when I got older and read about wildflowers, I read that this is true.
When I was a curious kid I of course opened up the berry. Inside it's white and like cotton/popcorn. Oh, so tempting--must be very sweet. Like those orange carnival peanuts that are revolting to adults but irrestible to kids. yummmm.
Foamflower
First I identified this as Sarsparilla. Wishful thinking, my dear. It's Foamflower. Not nearly as exotic. This one was near the entry to the bog, one lonely plant.
Canada mayflower
These are really tiny flowers. When we were kids we played with tiny, flesh-colored baby like dolls. They were fully little things, in sitting positions, but they fit in the seats of our model cars.
We called them "Little Bills," and we'd have Little Bill Villages. We built a huge Little Bill Village in a pile of the nice, dark dirt/loam my father had to add to his garden. There was a winding road that went all the way to the top of the pile. The best ever LBV we had was in the bunch of lilies of the valley that grew next to the house in Rockford. We made driveways, had houses, it was a great LBV.
When I drive around and see houses nestled in the woods with nice driveways I think "what a great Little Bill Village." Anyway, these flowers would be like Giant Sequoias to Little Bills.
We called them "Little Bills," and we'd have Little Bill Villages. We built a huge Little Bill Village in a pile of the nice, dark dirt/loam my father had to add to his garden. There was a winding road that went all the way to the top of the pile. The best ever LBV we had was in the bunch of lilies of the valley that grew next to the house in Rockford. We made driveways, had houses, it was a great LBV.
When I drive around and see houses nestled in the woods with nice driveways I think "what a great Little Bill Village." Anyway, these flowers would be like Giant Sequoias to Little Bills.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
dorky but funny
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Back by popular demand
Popular or not, here I am. I've been busy and not motivated to blog--I always feel I have nothing to report, but people tell me my life is a tale to be told.
Hard to believe we're moving along through June. My good friend Linda arrived Memorial Day weekend and I've been spending many hours with her. I get in the habit of stopping at her camp on my way home just about every night, but this year I feel as if I'm using it as a shelter/sanctuary to avoid thinking about Ken. I also think I need to pay more attention to my house.
June is We Own the Forest month for black flies, mosquitoes and punkies (no-see-ums) and we're approaching the end (maybe?) of the season now. Except for the punkies, which are having a great time this year. They small enough to get through screens so there's really no stopping them. Tiny black things that have a mean, mean bite. ouch it hurts. They're easy to kill, though, apparently it takes them a long time to bite so they sit still, inviting you to pinch them to death.
I've been planting flowers regularly--annuals mostly, and I have all of them planted. I have a lot of perennials to plant and on Sunday I wrote down where I'm going to put them all. This was part of the delay--I couldn't make up my mind about that. My perennial garden was bulldozed by a friend to make a better place to park and turn around, which I really like. Anyway, I bought a ton of new plants and have to get them in the ground. Lots of lilies. I bought one of those things that you hang upside down to grow tomatoes in but stripped the screws when I tried to hang the hanger. That was the same day the lawn mower stopped working and something else went wrong (mercifully I can't remember what that was).
I've been taking time off because the weather's been great, off & on. Sunny and not too hot. I've been able to sit on my deck & read in the sun, until the black flies took over. I tried to do it on Sunday but it didn't take long for the flies to find me. You can't complain about them--like cold weather and snow, it's part of living here. This year everyone seems to be more frustrated than usual about the lack of good Internet connections. I keep saying that, when you live here you have to give up certain things. Yeah, sure, I can say that because I have this connection at work. Catch me again when I only have my dial access from home.
I had water problems again--no water for 3 weeks, but it was much easier this time. 2 water barrels full so I didn't begrudge the dogs their water (as in, "Do you HAVE to drink so much water?" from the winter) and could flush without counting the gallons. As always, Steve found the problem and fixed it in a matter of minutes. I said that pretty soon "we'll" have replaced the whole system. Not well received at all.
I stayed in the boat house quite a bit but then it got cold (40's) at night. I need to have it be at least 50, preferably 55, to spend the night there. One morning it was 48 when I woke up and I decided I was a fool for staying there when I have a nice warm house up the hill.
We have at least 4 loons on the lake this year and they're incredibly vocal. Loons have several calls, each meaning something specific, like Where are you? I'm right here. I'm horny. I'm right here. Let's play. Alarm!Alarm! etc. Anyway, these loons spend time at opposite ends of the lake, calling to each other. It's been nice to listen to (I can hear them from my house) but the other night it was a little annoying. I was sitting on the porch at a friend's camp--the porch is about 6' from the water, it was a silent night with a full moon making a beautiful path on the water. The loons wouldn't shut up. All right already! It was a pretty sound for the first half hour, but after an hour, really, we'd had enough. How snotty does that sound?
Dogs are fine. Chances has real vision problems, cataracts in both eyes and can't see distance very well but sees things close up. I can see her slowing down a bit but she's as happy as ever and I pay extra attention to her. Tess has mellowed just the tiniest bit. She spends too much time at the bog with people I don't know because I don't tie her up soon enough.
Not much else to say. I've been to a few libraries, weeding their collections (mostly adult non-fiction). The directors are wonderful and these trips are really nice. I've learned not to notice the junkiness of the collections and just enjoy being with the people. We're weeding our fiction here, not in alphabetical order, oh no--based on which parts of the alphabet are most crowed in the stacks. I let the clerk decide which areas to do, everyone needs to have some decision making power in the work place.
Hard to believe we're moving along through June. My good friend Linda arrived Memorial Day weekend and I've been spending many hours with her. I get in the habit of stopping at her camp on my way home just about every night, but this year I feel as if I'm using it as a shelter/sanctuary to avoid thinking about Ken. I also think I need to pay more attention to my house.
June is We Own the Forest month for black flies, mosquitoes and punkies (no-see-ums) and we're approaching the end (maybe?) of the season now. Except for the punkies, which are having a great time this year. They small enough to get through screens so there's really no stopping them. Tiny black things that have a mean, mean bite. ouch it hurts. They're easy to kill, though, apparently it takes them a long time to bite so they sit still, inviting you to pinch them to death.
I've been planting flowers regularly--annuals mostly, and I have all of them planted. I have a lot of perennials to plant and on Sunday I wrote down where I'm going to put them all. This was part of the delay--I couldn't make up my mind about that. My perennial garden was bulldozed by a friend to make a better place to park and turn around, which I really like. Anyway, I bought a ton of new plants and have to get them in the ground. Lots of lilies. I bought one of those things that you hang upside down to grow tomatoes in but stripped the screws when I tried to hang the hanger. That was the same day the lawn mower stopped working and something else went wrong (mercifully I can't remember what that was).
I've been taking time off because the weather's been great, off & on. Sunny and not too hot. I've been able to sit on my deck & read in the sun, until the black flies took over. I tried to do it on Sunday but it didn't take long for the flies to find me. You can't complain about them--like cold weather and snow, it's part of living here. This year everyone seems to be more frustrated than usual about the lack of good Internet connections. I keep saying that, when you live here you have to give up certain things. Yeah, sure, I can say that because I have this connection at work. Catch me again when I only have my dial access from home.
I had water problems again--no water for 3 weeks, but it was much easier this time. 2 water barrels full so I didn't begrudge the dogs their water (as in, "Do you HAVE to drink so much water?" from the winter) and could flush without counting the gallons. As always, Steve found the problem and fixed it in a matter of minutes. I said that pretty soon "we'll" have replaced the whole system. Not well received at all.
I stayed in the boat house quite a bit but then it got cold (40's) at night. I need to have it be at least 50, preferably 55, to spend the night there. One morning it was 48 when I woke up and I decided I was a fool for staying there when I have a nice warm house up the hill.
We have at least 4 loons on the lake this year and they're incredibly vocal. Loons have several calls, each meaning something specific, like Where are you? I'm right here. I'm horny. I'm right here. Let's play. Alarm!Alarm! etc. Anyway, these loons spend time at opposite ends of the lake, calling to each other. It's been nice to listen to (I can hear them from my house) but the other night it was a little annoying. I was sitting on the porch at a friend's camp--the porch is about 6' from the water, it was a silent night with a full moon making a beautiful path on the water. The loons wouldn't shut up. All right already! It was a pretty sound for the first half hour, but after an hour, really, we'd had enough. How snotty does that sound?
Dogs are fine. Chances has real vision problems, cataracts in both eyes and can't see distance very well but sees things close up. I can see her slowing down a bit but she's as happy as ever and I pay extra attention to her. Tess has mellowed just the tiniest bit. She spends too much time at the bog with people I don't know because I don't tie her up soon enough.
Not much else to say. I've been to a few libraries, weeding their collections (mostly adult non-fiction). The directors are wonderful and these trips are really nice. I've learned not to notice the junkiness of the collections and just enjoy being with the people. We're weeding our fiction here, not in alphabetical order, oh no--based on which parts of the alphabet are most crowed in the stacks. I let the clerk decide which areas to do, everyone needs to have some decision making power in the work place.
bog mem day 009
This reminds me of a song we used to sing (in our family? in Sunday school?)--"happy am I with my Redeemer." These dogs love our bog walks. At the end of the boardwalk is a trail that continues to the top of the bluffs. I don't go on that trail, I turn around and walk out of the bog. Tess runs up the trail; that's the way she goes with her Bog Friends when she's Tess the Bog Dog.
ladies 001
I had a Ladies of Hawkeye Luncheon on Saturday. There were 6 of us. Linda doubted my ability to fit us all on the b.house porch, but my sister has served dinner to at least 5 of us before so I knew I could do it. It was crowded but it was fun. Everyone brought a salad of some sort--I brought a terragon chicken salad, Pat brought a BLT salad, Martha brought tortellini salad, Brooke brought a broccoli salad, Linda brought dessert. Judy was a surprise visitor.
The luncheon has become part of Hawkeye lore now--lots of people asked how it went and have heard full descriptions of the whole thing. It was fun and I'm lucky to have such great friends.
The luncheon has become part of Hawkeye lore now--lots of people asked how it went and have heard full descriptions of the whole thing. It was fun and I'm lucky to have such great friends.
ladies 002
Things you can see in the background: the peace (pace) flag my sister brought from Italy during the war before this one. I found mine while I was "cleaning" (moving things around). I'm really happy we can hang it up--we kept the last one up until it was in shreds.
Inside you can see the vase that's a lady--that came from M., a book group member. We swap things at book group--you bring a couple of things and are supposed to take a couple of things home. It doesn't always work. Sometimes I feel like Tess, walking around the house looking for something to play with.
The bureau is one that's been in the boat house for as long as I can remember. I think it probably came from my parents' past. A few pieces on the porch are from their early days together.
There are a few candles--I put most of them away (I didn't want the Vase Lady to look like a shrine) but we have lots and lots of candles so we can sit on the porch after dark. Only one outlet in the building--it's impressive how resourceful we are with that one outlet.
Inside you can see the vase that's a lady--that came from M., a book group member. We swap things at book group--you bring a couple of things and are supposed to take a couple of things home. It doesn't always work. Sometimes I feel like Tess, walking around the house looking for something to play with.
The bureau is one that's been in the boat house for as long as I can remember. I think it probably came from my parents' past. A few pieces on the porch are from their early days together.
There are a few candles--I put most of them away (I didn't want the Vase Lady to look like a shrine) but we have lots and lots of candles so we can sit on the porch after dark. Only one outlet in the building--it's impressive how resourceful we are with that one outlet.
frost 004
We've had some heavy frosts lately--down to 29 a couple of times. Here's what we do to protect our little planties--we cover them with all sorts of things. I know someone who uses beach towels. I tried that but then all the plants ended up lying down. Some people use pillowcases and sheets, some use blankets. I told my container plants to huddle together for warmth and covered them with a flanned blanket. That worked well. I didn't lose anyone to frost. So far.
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