Whooo Cooks for Youoooooooo?

It's an owl's night tonight. I'm not sure just what's going on out there in the growing dusk, but the evening has been alive with barred owls, from several directions, all around us, the owls are calling and calling. Their distinctive call is unmistakable and urgent, and it arouses a feeling in us that makes us want to get out and look for prey--or to do something wild!

We live in a wonderful place with a lot of deep dark pines all around, and more woods, and the owls have always found it to be a good place to be. We've seen and heard them so often that we named our home after them, Owl's Haven, a safe haven for the delightfully wise and ever so mysterious, barred owl.
According to Wikipedia: The adult is 44 cm long with a 112 cm wingspan. It has a pale face with dark rings around the eyes, a yellow beak and brown eyes. It is the only typical owl of the eastern United States which has brown eyes; all others have yellow eyes. The head is round and lacks ear tufts, a distinction from the short eared owl. The upper parts are mottled gray-brown. The underparts are light with markings; the chest is barred horizontally while the belly is streaked lengthwise. The legs and feet are covered in feathers up to the talons.

<sup>Since we so seldom see them, their chief draw for us is their calls. It's a repeated melodious call that sounds like: "Who cooks for you, (pause) Who cooks for you allllllllll?" The female, when looking for a mate, warbles the alll at the end, otherwise, it's the same call. We've been listening for that call for so many years, that we've heard lots of variations.

In early spring, there are the calls of two owls in love, who echo the calls back and forth for a while, then finally discintegrate into a wild mixed hooting, that sounds like a lust-driven melee of some sort. There are the tentative youngster hoots of confused pitch and tone, usually corrected snippily by some oldster who paces it out in precise syllables, sounding irked at "these kids today", who just can't get it right. We live in a year round concert of these magical musical singers and seldom see them, since they're so good at hiding in the dense trees around us.
A few times, we've been fortunate to share in a special moment, treasured for years and remembered as we listen to the calls. There was one time, early on, when Jim joined me here on the farm, when I happened to see an owl settle on a branch in the tree nearby. We slowly moved nearer and I pointed it out to Jim, and we stood in awe as the mighty bird looked down on us from about 20 feet away, calmly judging whether we had a right to be there or not.
Another time, in early spring, the owls were calling, looking for mates. In the rapid confusion of calls coming from two owls near our home, our grandaughter raised her head and called back to them. It called one in, who landed in a tree near our garden, and we all watched while it continued to call and the mate joined the first one, then they got acquainted, right there near us in the open. What a rare and precious opportunity.

So tonight they've been calling all around us, for hours, and we've seen one flying low over our back yard to land nearby. We're reluctant to go outside to try to spy on their activities, since it seems as though the timing may be such that there's a youngster fledging and on the ground and the adults are looking to protect her. We don't want to do anything to risk their rescue operation.
I can't get any pictures of ours here, it's too dark already, but will post some pictures found on the net of these gorgeous birds we share our home grounds with. Aren't we the luckiest people ever? Life is very good.</sup>

He's got teeth-Two of 'em! Honest!

I confess, we've collapsed into that silly, sloppy state of grandparenthood where we know, with absolute certainty, that our grandkids are the best, smartest, cutest, most lovable and adorable kids in the world. We're already over the hill with our granddaughter, so when our youngest sprouted his two new baby teeth in the bottom front of his mouth, I was there with camera in hand to document the historic event.
He's got the greatest smile ever.
When he flashes that smile, those two pearly whites just shine and reflect the light.
He's so very adorable, that the lights shine a little brighter and music plays sweeter-truly!
His sister can tease him and he smiles great big and shows off those two new teeth.But not for the camera. Not today.
Not even when Grandpa coaxes him while I stand ready with the camera.
Un-uh, not happening today!
But you have to admit, he's still the cutest little guy ever was!

Our Garden's Running Amok!

It's that time of year, when all the hard work we've done to set up and plant that garden is paying off and we're just running full speed to try to keep up with it. Jim and I spent days out there this week catching up with the weeding, then yesterday mowed the whole yard, raked up the grass and spent hours tucking the clippings in around the plants to mulch them against the dry days ahead.

This is our best garden ever. We've had one meal of green beans and new potatoes, and it was a delicious forerunner to what's coming. We've spent so much time composting stuff and adding it and tons of all kinds of vegetation to the old sand dunes we live on, that it's finally becoming a fertile place to plant in. With the addition of the greenhouse this spring, we could get our specific plants out there and really enjoy watching the results.
Here's Jim pulling weeds and I'm snapping the pictures.
The melon plants are escaping the bed and flowing down the walkways-who knows how far they'll go!
There's one small zucchini, soon to be ready, followed by many more than we'll possibly consume by ourselves. This may be the year we set up a produce stand out front.
The Scarlet Runner Beans are taking over the fence, and what beautiful bloom!
Our second cucumber-the first one was eaten already.
Start of the herbs-lots of basil! Yummmm.
Almost tomatoes! With 17 tomato plants this year, we should have all we could possibly use, and then some.Pea Pods, in a wonderful green jumble. It's always hard to find the pods in this confusing tangle.
Each year, we try to plant something new and different. This year it's artichokes. Don't know if they'll ripen before frost, but aren't the plants spectacular? They're about 2 feet tall now, and share the bed with zinnias and multiplier onions in bloom. It's really a show.
Corn, when it gets close to ready, we'll have to put up the electric fence to keep the raccoons out.
The horseradish looks ready to take over the world.
First year for the new asparagus bed and it's coming along very well, with some volunteers I just let stay, like the nasturtiums and tomato.

Little hot peppers coming on strong. We're going to wait for them to turn red before harvesting.
Overview of the northern beds, with lots of tomatoes, potatoes and onions. Great stuff doing well.

My Second Favorite Place in the Whole World!

Has got to be Turkey Run State Park. My most favorite is our own home. I've been going to visit and explore the park since I first got a driver's license, and took my kids there frequently from the time they were tiny. They first saw the trails from the carrier on my back, and graduated to walking them hand-in-hand with me and finally on their own, scrambling along ahead of me as we strode the hills and ravines of this beautiful place.

In recent years, I haven't been here much, busy with life and grandkids, and getting old and stiff with knee problems makes it tough to get anywhere in the park. Everywhere you go it's up down or across something that requires balance and agility and it was just too tough to do. I've had both knees replaced now, and the past few months of exercise has improved my strength and flexibility. This week we needed to get away, so packed up the motorhome and headed south for the park.And the rains came, and they settled in to stay. We ended up staying at the Inn, comfy and dry, and enjoyed a dinner in the dining room and a book by the fire. I walked down past sunset point and into Turkey Run Hollow for a slow stroll among those ancient rock walls. It's always so peaceful in that canyon, and I love to just stand, and soak it in. This trip the water was running so high that I couldn't get all the way into the end of the hollow, but skirted the mud and got as far as I could into it, for a marvelous evening walkabout. The Canada Geese provided a neat show of property guarding as they warned me away from their nesting sites on top of the cliff opposite Sunset Point, and geese up and down the creek echoed his cries, making the whole canyon echo with their calls.

The next morning it was a bit drier, so Jim headed out for a long hike to Camel's Back, while I took the back trail down into Turkey Run Hollow to see if I could find Kim's missing letterbox hidden there months ago. The trail starts past the guest cabins, on a boardwalk with handrails and steps.Past the boards, mud rules, and with the clay, it's slippery in that canyon, but as always, just beautiful, and I had the whole place to myself. I spent a lot of time walking the bank of the little stream, trying to find the best place to cross over without getting wet, because the letterbox site is on the other side. The water's not deep, but deeper than usual, and cold this time of year if you slip off the mossy stepping stones.I love this sign, that shows trail 6 just ending at the blank cliff wall.I finally got across, with only the front half of one hiking boot wet, and came to the entrance of the side canyon where the letterbox was supposed to be.Here's the rock where it was, and it was gone. Shame, it was such a good hiding place, right beside this little waterfall, but I suspect spring rains just swept it away.As always, I love the wonderful bright green ferns that grow out of the tiniest crack in the rock. Someday I'm going to get busy and make a painting of this fresh beauty, in the meantime, I have a LOT of pictures.
Can you believe how this tree grew? Right out of the rock and very little soil?
Back across the stream, and this time I got the other toe wet, and it's back up that big muddy hill and back to the comfort of the room to get warm and dry. I'll need to work harder on those exercises before we come back again, just wore my tired old knees to a frazzle. It was another great visit to Turkey Run to see the beauties of rock, wood and water.

If letterboxing is a new idea to any of you readers, you owe it to yourself to check it out. It's a fascinating semi-sport, hobby that stretches world wide and adds fun to exploring what's out there. Check out www.letterboxing.org for the history of the activity and what's near you. You never know where the next box might be hidden!

Morels!!

Oh, Boy! What a day! I had to fast for an upcoming test, so I was just grumping around the house feeling a bit sorry for myself and working at the computer when I saw the first hummingbird of the season right outside my window! We've had one small feeder up for a couple of weeks, watching for their arrival, but this was the first one we've seen this year.As I was heading for the rest of the feeders to put them up, Jim called for me to come outside with the camera. He'd found a nice big morel mushroom in our favorite picking spot and wanted me to come help look for more. We love harvesting wild foods, and morel mushrooms are our absolute rare treat favorites. Of course, I went right away.What a bounty! We found more and more, all over. I planted them in this spot over 20 years ago by throwing out the soaking water of shrooms I'd found elsewhere and they've come up every year since.These were the big yellow ones that almost seem to glow when you spot them hiding among the sticks and leaves on the woods floor and we found them in the original spot and about 20 feet away in each direction. Nice!That means they're spreading, a wonderful thing to happen.We had enough to put some away for another day, and a generous amount for today. While I was having my test done-(which turned out fine, by the way) Jim went out and bought a small steak and a vidalia onion. What a feast!
For dinner we had fresh morel mushrooms, dusted in wheat free flour and quickly sauted outside in olive oil. That's followed by Sirloin steak, roasted red potatoes, a baked vidalia onion with a little butter, a huge salad of our own greenhouse grown lettuces and spinach, and accompanied by an Australian Cabernet Sauvignon-Shiraz blend, deep, rich and delicious.
For dessert we had slivers of edam cheese, red seedless grapes and a tiny bit of dark chocolate. While enjoying dessert, we had a front row seat to watch the hummingbirds at the freshly filled feeders. We're always delighted to watch these tiny flying jewels, and to think of their flight all the way from Mexico, across the Gulf to return here each year is just mind-boggling, especially to think that they had to cross the path of the oil spill this year! Amazing.

Life is very good. Slainte'

Update On The Girls

These baby chicks are growing so fast. They were a week old on Monday and that box at my feet when I sit at the desk is getting noisier all the time. They've begun scratching in the box constantly as their foraging instinct comes into play and they're taking practice flights as their wing feathers grow in.The two light brown ones are Rhode Island Reds, and will grow up to have glossy reddish brown feathers and lay brown eggs. They're my idea of a classic farm hen, fairly calm and a reliable layer. The yellow and dark brown ones are Aracanas, which come in various color combinations and lay green to blue eggs. They're not so traditional, but such fun to have these Easter egg chickens as part of our little flock.I've added some sand from Anna's sandbox, since they need some grit in their craw to digest their food and that seems to satisfy their need to scratch and peck at something. It sure is interesting having those lively little beings in the house.They're very much aware of anyone walking into the room and they all pop their heads up, make alarm sounds and scurry around as we walk near. Anna was here yesterday and spent lots of time talking with them and holding them gently one at a time. She's named them, of course, and explains each of their traits and emotions to me in long rambling monologues. Leaving for home took forever, since each had to be picked up, carefully hugged and kissed goodbye.

It was a day for the chickens!

You know all that stuff about best laid plans? Well they do have a way of going astray on you from time to time. I've been wanting to get some chickens again, just a few hens so we'll have our own delicious home grown eggs, enough to let the grandkids enjoy feeding them, gathering the eggs, and making the connection between reality and the food they eat.

So I ordered four pullets, two Rhode Island Reds for brown eggs, and two Aracanas for green or blue eggs. Now the word pullet means a young female chicken, just about old enough to lay eggs. I thought that would be great, they'd be past the chick stage when we got them, and old enough that if we set them up with an automatic feeder and waterer and good strong clean pen, we could do our traveling and only have to ask someone to stop by now and then to check on them.

We cleaned up the old coop that we've been using for storage, Jim reinforced it with new paneling, and cut hatch doors for gathering the eggs and adding water to the automatic font I've ordered.
Today was the day to pick them up, and of course we were running behind as usual, but we thought we'd have it all ready by this afternoon when it was time to pick up our half grown hens. We kept Anna overnight so she could help us paint the outside of the coop. Jim picked up some almost florescent lime green paint that's really fun and three brushes and we set to work.The old wood soaked up the paint like a sponge and we had to put two coats on parts of it, but Anna had a ball, talking non-stop, like any excited 5 year old, and actually put a lot more paint on the coop than on herself, but did manage to get a lot on her butt, somehow.I scrubbed out the inside of the coop and Anna scattered wood shaving bedding around for them, we added the waterer and feed dish with layer pellets, jumped in the truck and off we went to bring the girls home.What a shock when we found our box at the feed store to realize that what we got were day-old female chicks! Of course, Anna promptly fell in love, and there was no way we were going to leave that store without those babies, so we added a bag of chick starter and a waterer and off we went.So now, my office floor has a big box with brooder light, shaving bedding, water and food holder, and four peepers, sitting right next to my desk. Not sure what's going to happen to them when we travel, but we'll eventually have our eggs--in about two months, I think. In the meantime, Anna's a very happy girl--with a lot of green paint left on her toenails, in her hair, on her arms, and a big smile on her face.