Just Start

          Start.

          I just need to start.

          "Peg! What are you going on about now!" you ask.

          Okay. Here's the deal. I don't have any idea what I'm going to talk about and I don't really like that. Writing is a whole lot easier when I have a story to tell. Despite that, I have 70 some pictures in a file to show you this week. So with no clear plan in place, let's just take a bite.

          I'm sad.

          "Why are you sad?" you ask.

          I'm sad because the one and only wild chrysalis that I've ever found is gone. The deer had run through there and knocked down all the Goldenrod. I picked it up as carefully as I could and despite searching every leaf, I couldn't find it. I've looked at least twice and I'll probably look again, just in case, you know. Now I'm on a mission to save as many caterpillars and chrysalises as I can find.

          While out looking, I spot this colorful guy hiding in a Goldenrod.

          He's an immature Green Stink Bug. As his name implies, when he's fully grown, he'll lose all his pretty yellow's and orange's and be just green. I guess losing our colors is sometimes the price we pay for growing up.

          I found this guy too. 

           Is it just me or does it look like he's got a whole lower jaw full of teeth? Maybe they are teeth! I don't know that much about grasshoppers.

     

           I've been feeding and watching my caterpillars as they move through their life cycle. Once they make their way to the top of the butterfly house, they may hang around up there for a day or more before they drop into a J. Then it's another day or so until they slip their skin. Despite checking and checking and checking on them, I've only seen one do this. I caught him mid-transformation as he undulated and wiggled, the old skin moving to the top.

          Once it was all bunched up there, his wiggles become more furious until the old skin fell off. He quieted down and hung there as his chrysalis hardened around him.

          Saturday morning I noticed one of the chrysalises had a dark spot on it. Oh no, I thought. I bet he died. I thought the black spot might be rot or something. It was a while later that I realized I could see the pattern of his wings through the chrysalis. Now I'm on birth watch. I'd love to catch him emerging.

          I've got seven chrysalises and thought I had my little family raised. No more caterpillars waiting to make the Great Climb.

          Then we went to town. A couple of things happened here but for right now just let me say that we stopped at a garage sale. We didn't buy anything but Mike spent a while chatting with the couple that lived there. On the way back to the Jeep, I spotted this guy. I brought him home. I just felt like he'd be happier (and certainly have a better chance of making it to adulthood) living in my butterfly house than there beside the road. So now I've got one more youngin' to feed.

          The other part of going to town is this. Middleswarth Potato Chips. 

           Mike and I rarely buy chips. We both like chips, but with no off switch, I wouldn't stop until I was scraping the bottom of the bag. They are a single serving, right? And I'd be sick. Silly, right! I know! When you know this about yourself, you just avoid buying them.

          So this week our local news station did a story on Middleswarth because they ran out of Bar-B-Q flavoring for their chips and didn't have it for like a month. The man they were interviewing said all the stores had empty shelves where the Bar-B-Q would normally be and they were getting all kinds of calls about it. "Bar-B-Q is by far our biggest seller," he said. "It outsells the other flavors by..." I don't remember by how much.

          "If they're that good," I said to Mike, "maybe we should try them."

          We were in town getting a few things and saw Middleswarth were on sale, two for five dollars. If you buy one you pay the three ninety-nine so we got two. Honestly, I didn't grow up on this brand of chip and thought they were way too salty and the Bar-B-Q had a little burn to them. Mike didn't like either flavor.

          "Peg, did you and Mike go to the fair on the last day?" you ask.

          We sure did! On the way there, I saw what looked like a big bomb being toted behind an SUV. I was so busy gawking that I didn't think to take a picture till he was past, then I had to turn around to get it.

          If I crop the picture this is the best I get. What do you think it is?

          Mike and I got our favorite foods then walked around a little. I was captivated by all the color. Like this wagon full of mums.

          And tub full of toys for the kids to win.

          The teacup ride.

          And the carousel critters.

          Then we decided to just sit and do a little people watching.

          "I can't decide if his shorts are long or if his pants are short."

          I'm not making fun of him, truly I'm not. And I'm not making fun of this guy either. I just can't decide if he's wearing Capri's (which I think look odd on a man) or if his pants are just short and he don't care. Then I remember I'm guilty of the not caring thing too. I'm at an age where I choose comfort over style. Besides, I don't need to impress anyone.

          Then I saw this.

          I'm pretty sure if I ever wore anything like this to school in my day, the kids would die laughing at me, and I'd die from the humiliation. Now it's a fashion trend.

          Sitting there, watching the ladies, I learned a lesson. I learned our loose tee shirts don't hide what we want them to.

           Of course, there were plenty of guys with lots to hide too.

          On the way home, Mike stopped at where they're building the new LNG plant. That's Liquid Natural Gas. It was Labor Day and no one was working but Mike was awed by the equipment lined up.

          This is an aerial view taken earlier in the week by our local newspaper. The huge pieces of equipment look tiny. So much land, they have cleared.

          On a recent ride-about, we ran into one of our neighbors as he was mowing his yard. He bought an old church/school and rehabbed it into a vacation place.

          "Would you like to see the inside?" Kevin invited.

          "Sure!"

          Inside was one big room and I only took this one picture not wanting to be too invasive.

          "We left the original chalkboards," Kevin told us. "When we got this place all the desks were still here, lined up in two rows. We kept one of the desks and got rid of the rest."

          Kevin and Mike talked about the particulars of building and I zoned out, not all that interested in it.

          Outside I took a few more pictures.

          "That shed right there is where the old school teacher kept her horse. I wanted to move it but when we tried to pick it up the walls separated from the floor," Kevin told us. "So I thought it better to leave it right there."

          "I found a picture I took of this place a long time ago," I told him.

          "Really! Can you send it to me?"

          "I bet she'd even print it for you," Mike said. And I was happy to. When I checked the date, a long time ago turned out to be 2011. So not all that long ago but still before Kevin owned it. I probably have older shots of it but I knew where this one was — and I probably have a newer shot of the place too, after Kevin's remodel, but I'm not going to look for it. My filing system for pictures is by date only so I'd have to know about when I took it to find it.

          We knocked out a few jobs we wanted to get done before winter.

          "We need to get the batten strips on," Mike said. "It'll help keep the cold winter air out."

          Even though we had new board siding over the old, and even though we put in good insulation, Mike thought it still prudent. And that meant a trip to the lumberyard. Road pictures, anyone?

          Mike called the day before to make sure they had plenty of batten strips and they did. However, when we got there the yardman only counted 62 in stock. We ordered and paid for 100. We'd have to get credit and go back when they had more cut.

          As Mike and the yardman loaded the truck, I watched another truck being loaded with sawdust.

          On the way home I see something sitting in a field. "What's that?" I asked pointing and snapping away.

          "Just a tree stump," Mike said.

          His eyes are better than mine. I thought it was a piece of farm machinery sitting abandoned in the field.

          Mike used his lawnmower to pull the wagon that held the batten strips and the saw. "That way the golf cart is free if we need to go see what's happening at the bridge," Mike said.

           It went up pretty fast especially since Mike used the air-nailer to attach them rather than using screws like we did the first time. And that's why it looks like we missed some spots. We didn't. Those places already had batten strips.

          Mike didn't measure every board. He'd measure one and cut six battens. It kinda sucks when you have a length change.

          "I gotta cut those off."

          "Why?"

          "They're too close to the ground and they'll rot out."

          "How you gonna do that?" I asked, not always using correct English. "Reciprocal saw?"

          "I'll just use the circular saw."

          Mike had to lay down on the ground to be able to see what he was doing. "Don't be taking pictures of this," he said when he heard the click of the camera. "This is a one-of-those-things-not-to-do."

          "Then why are you doing it?!"

          "It'll be all right," he assured me.

          Men!

          We worked for as long as Mike's back held up then we called it a day. The next day, before we even started, we heard back-up beepers and other activity noises coming from the bridge. It was a good thing Mike left the golf cart free because we didn't have to fool with unhooking it. We jumped on and went to see what was going on.

          A landscaping company was delivering something that looked like mulch.

            A guy was feeding it into a machine that blew it into tubes that were staked down.

          "They're silt barriers," Mike said, "to keep stuff from going into the creek."

          We talked with one guy who said the bridge'll be shut down on Monday and work begins.

          "What kind of bridge are you getting?" you wonder.

          I believe it'll be two-lane with concrete sides. Ugly. No character. But semis won't get stuck anymore and people won't have to slow down as much. All kinda sad really, but since our old bridge is becoming unsafe, necessary.

          When we put up all the batten we had we moved over to the other side of the house and built an L-shaped entryway for the cats this winter. That way the wind can't blow directly on the flap and hopefully the cat room will stay warmer. In years past, this entryway was closed off but since we closed off the garage to them this is their only entry into the cat room so we had to improve it.

          Then we moved on to the eave where the mama Starling makes her nest every spring. I haven't made it an issue the last couple of years because the only issue was once one of the babies jumped from the wrong side and landed in the breezeway. We weren't there and eventually the poor creature died. It made me sad to think of anything dying that way. Then this past spring they knocked down all the insulation and pooed all over the inside so they gotta go.

          Mike cut the rotted board off, cleaned the nest out, and measured twice to cut the right length board.

          "Son of a bleep!" Mike exclaimed.

          "What?!" I exclaimed.

          "I cut it too short."

          "How did you do that? You measured it twice."

          "I don't know but it's too short." Mike puzzled over where he went wrong then he switched gears and figured out how to fix it.

          "Put a splice on top," I suggested. "Like our batten."

          "No. They'll be a hole underneath. I know what I'll do."

          And he fixed it.

          "It looks okay, doesn't it?" he asked.

          "Good enough for me and the guys I go with!"

          I went out early one morning and was rewarded with web pictures.

          I thought this guy used a unique design.

          I was a little ways off when I saw this web still had a spider in the center. Through my zoom I could tell it was the underside of a Black and Yellow Garden Spider. I thought I'd get around to the other side and take a picture of her pretty colors. Remember, it's just the girls that make webs like this.

           But this little lady saw me coming and surprised me. Normally they'll drop to the ground and hide but she didn't. In a bold act of defiance, she climbed to the top and I was able to get this picture.

          I don't know what kind of spider this one is. I did look but didn't spend a great amount of time trying to identify it.

          When I got back to the house Mike was waiting for me. "Let's go for a ride. I heard a back-up beeper at the bridge." There wasn't anyone around when we got there but they had been there and dropped off more stuff.

          Look! A spooky Halloween tree!

          We had a whole bunch of turkeys come up our driveway. We watched from inside because we knew they'd take off if we opened the door.

          "There's Sugar," Mike said.

          I don't know if she was going to take them on or what, but one of the turkeys walked toward her and she opted to go into the weeds instead. Then the turkeys went on up to the field.

          A Crane Fly. These guys just look like giant mosquitoes, they're harmless. As I walk along the edge of the weeds, they come fluttering up in droves like balloons that've been untethered.

          Mike pulled the climbing Bur Cucumber from our pine trees. He's afraid it'll kill the tree.

          I tried not to laugh as the evil Muliflora Rose was exacting revenge.

          I arrived at the church early for my Thursday night Bible Study. I walked around and found a couple of wildflowers I hadn't seen before.

           Is this Pearly Everlasting, I wondered. I've heard Momma talk about it but I've never seen it before.

           I was close. When I looked it up I found out it's Sweet Everlasting also called Sweet White Balsam and Rabbit Tobacco. It's been widely used by Indian Tribes and the early settlers to relieve cold symptoms, like cough and sore throat, and when smoked to help relieve asthma.

          The other one I found was Snakeroot.

          This is kind of a bad bad plant. In the early 19th century, European settlers allowed cows and other animals to feed on it. It contains a toxin that's passed on in the milk causing sickness and death to those who drank it, calves as well as humans. Milk sickness, as it was called, claimed the lives of thousands of people, including, in 1818, Nancy Hanks Lincoln, the mother of Abraham Lincoln.

          "Peg, are there no redeeming qualities to this plant?" you ask.

          There are. Root tea has been used to treat diarrhea, kidney stones, and fever. A root poultice was used to treat snakebite.

          Besides the wildflowers, I found this lying in a pile of garbage behind a shed at my church. 

           It looks to me like a board they posted song numbers on. I picked it out of the garbage and stood it against the building.

          The next night, when Miss Rosie and I showed up for exercise class, I asked if she thought I could have it.

          "I don't see why not. If anyone else cared about it it wouldn't be left in the garbage."

          I brought it home. Maybe I'll give him a drink of oil and see if we can restore a little life and color back into him.

          A couple of random pictures (since I have the space).

          These busy beetles are Pennsylvania Leatherwings also called Goldenrod Soldier Beetles. These guys have a voracious appetite for aphids which means free organic pest control. As a bonus, these guys roam around the flowers looking for aphids so they act as pollinators as well.

         

          Butter and Eggs. I love Butter and Eggs even though it's an escapee from gardens and is considered invasive. Another name for this plant is Yellow Toadflax. 

          In folk medicine the leaves are used in tea as a strong laxative and diuretic for treatment of jaundice, dropsy, and skin diseases. The flowers, made into an ointment, can treat skin diseases.

          This is the flower and seed pod of Velvetleaf. The unripe seeds can be eaten as a snack. Once ripened they have to be leached until not bitter, then usually ground into flour. The Velvetleaf was introduced before 1750 in North America to make rope but it flopped and became invasive instead. Hundreds of years ago, this was an important plant for its fiber. It was used to make clothes and ropes.

          The Milkweed is ripe! The pods are starting to split and the seeds'll take flight on their silky parachutes. This year I'm going to try to plant Milkweed in the upper field where the only thing that's growing now is Goldenrod.

          The little Calico Aster is blooming.

   

          Bradford Pear Trees are ornamental. They don't produce pears. But they do have a fruit and ours are setting their fruits. The birds will eat them in the winter and poop out the seeds someplace else. That's why it's becoming increasingly more invasive.

          The Pokeweed berries are getting ripe.

            Up on the bank by the barn where the Pokeweed is protected by a barrier of weeds the deer don't bother it. But look at this one that grows — grew at the edge of where Mike mows. The deer (I assume it was deer) have eaten it down to nothing. I'm surprised because I didn't think deer would eat Pokeweed unless there wasn't anything else to eat. I guess I was wrong.

          Sometimes Mike and I like to ride out to Vernon's pond. It's just a nice little ride without having cars pass and dust us on our dirt road. Even though you've heard me talk about all the rain we've had, it's been dry lately. Our little creek is low and our pond is getting smaller and smaller. But anyway, when we got back to Vernon's Ginger jumped off the cart. I thought she had to do her business, and that may have been what she did do. She was getting kind of far away from us so we called her back. Ginger takes off and it was then that we spotted the turkeys. Yeah. She's a terrier and terriers terry... just kidding. Terriers are hunters and chase things that run. Luckily, she stopped at the edge of the weeds.

          My beautiful friend Jody gave me some Chinese Lanterns. Since I spend more time on my kitchen patio looking after my Monarchs, I've taken two pictures of the Chinese Lanterns that I really like. I can't decide which one I like best, and since I have the room, you get to see them both.

          In Asian medicine, the Golden Flower, as the dried fruit is called, was used as a diuretic, antiseptic, liver corrective, and sedative. We use the dried lanterns in flower arrangements and that's what mine are going to be.

          Let's end with a sunset picture I took coming out of exercise class one night and call this one done!