Spring update

I certainly had no intention of taking a nap this afternoon. It’s Terry’s fault. After lunch, he kicked back in his recliner and started snoozing. I planned to write my blog post, but I didn’t want to disturb him tap, tap, tapping on my keyboard. Besides, it has been a gray, rainy, nappish kind of day. So I kicked back in my recliner, and there went two hours. I will never get to sleep tonight.

The lisianthus look great! They are very happy in their new pots. Our challenge is keeping the greenhouse at a moderate temperature through the rollercoaster spring. Open the door when the sun shines, turn the heater on when it’s going to frost. It gives Hilda something to do during our COVID-19 confinement.

Lisianthus in the greenhouse

Spring is definitely creeping up on us. Hilda and I took the mulch off the strawberries on Wednesday. When Terry and I put them to bed last fall, we had this idea that we would just be able to lift the row cover with the mulch and put it into muck buckets. Hilda and I discovered right off the bat that the mulch on the 8’ bed was WAY too heavy. I got the dustpans out of the coop so we could scoop the majority of the mulch off the bed.

Moving the mulch off the long strawberry bed

After that, we could lift the row cover. As I was rolling it up, I found a few bits of mulch still frozen to it. That’s good. We got to it before it thawed completely.

A lump of mulch frozen to the row cover

Even though the bed was frozen in places, there were green leaves. We didn’t try to remove the dead leaves for fear of dislodging the plants. We will probably try to do that carefully when the rain lets up. It won’t do the plants any favors to have dead leaves molding all around them.

The bedraggled strawberry bed under the mulch

A sprouting strawberry crown

Terry called me Thursday morning to tell me there were “50 turkeys” in the field across the road. I counted 23 in the photos, but whatever. As usual, I started taking pictures the minute I saw them.

Large flock of turkeys across the road

They didn't seem too disturbed by my presence. I was able to cross the road for better pictures.

The front tom with a whole lot of hens

There were two toms and 21 hens. One tom was pestering two hens behind the larger group pictured above.

One tom with two hens ignoring him

The other tom took on the remaining 19. No hen among any of them showed the slightest interest.

The other tom, in this photo being ignored by six hens

The rhubarb is up and growing fast. Here’s a picture from Wednesday with the buds just coming up.

Rhubarb on Wednesday

This morning, the leaves were beginning to unfurl.

Rhubarb today

Dad's tulips are still hanging in there.

Dad's tulips 

I’ve started cleaning up around where I planted a native woodland garden back by the creek. After I got the plants in, I covered the spaces between the plants with straw and put up a chicken wire fence to keep out the rabbits. Then there were floods that knocked down the fence and filled the garden with corn stubble. All summer and well into the fall, I had on my list “clean woodland garden,” but it was too wet, or too hot, or too mosquitoey. I looked at it from time to time. I knew the strawberries had spread all over, and the joe pyeweed grew tall and flowered. Beyond that all bets were off. If felt good to get that done this week. And in spite of all that abuse, some plants actually survived! Not sure what that all are, but if I can just keep the garlic mustard, thistles, and beggar ticks out of it, maybe they’ll have a chance.

Jacob's ladder

Wild strawberry

Identity to be determined later

We had 1.2” of rain last night. A pair of geese has taken up residence in the standing water around the swamp white oak. In a break between fronts this morning, Hilda and I walked back to the creek. The creek was plum full, right up to the top of the banks.

The creek to the very top where the wildlife usually fords

And looking downstream

There’s supposed to be another inch coming tonight. We will certainly flood if we get that much. Here we go again.

Shelter in place

The State of Illinois is now under “shelter-in-place” orders until April 7, although what will happen at that deadline is anyone's guess. I haven’t gone anywhere since Friday. We won’t run short of food here for quite some time, although I can imagine that the menus might get odd if this goes on too long. What can I make with grape juice, sauerkraut, eggs, sweet corn, and raspberry jam?

We are fortunate that we have 26 acres to kick around in. Terry decided that the weather conditions on St. Patrick’s Day were perfect to burn the field. There was a light wind from the northwest; the above-ground grass was dry enough to burn, and the ground was still wet enough that the fire couldn’t cross the mowed firebreaks. Hilda and I went out to watch. I pumped up the water sprayer to be ready to contain the fire if necessary, but I didn’t have to do anything.

Terry started the fire with his propane torch.

Terry starting the fire

The fire burned quickly and completely, except for a few low spots.

The fire burned well

This is a picture of Terry watching to be sure the fire didn’t spread.

Terry at the end of the burned area

Jane started lisianthus seeds back in December. The plants were doing very well and outgrowing the plant stand that Jane had in her bedroom (a cat-free location). It was time to move them to our green house. In preparation, Hilda spread the tray-heating pads on the green house tables, and Terry brought in a space heater. Jane brought the plants up on Thursday. Hilda laid out the pots, potting soil, and empty tray on the dining table.

The table ready for potting up

We sorted the plants by color. Jane had wondered if there were differences in growth the depended on variety. The correlation was not perfect. All of the yellow-flowering plants were big. The red plants had both poor germination and puny growth. Other colors had some tall plants and some short plants.

These are the blue-flowering plants, some tall, some short

Here are Hilda and Jane hard at work. I was sitting to the right, but had to get up to take the picture.

Jane and Hilda hard at work

When each tray got full, I took it out to the greenhouse.

Rose (left) and blue (right) plants in their new pots

All the plants in the green house on the heating mat

With three of us working, we were all done in about 90 minutes. Jane brought up a ham that needed to be cooked before its expiration date and was staying to dinner. We spent the rest of the afternoon working on a 500-piece jigsaw puzzle.

A 500-piece jigsaw. So many cats!

We were finished by supper time, and had a lovely meal together.

It got cold again yesterday and today, but the greenhouse stayed above freezing with the help of the heaters. Hilda covered the plants with a blanket at night to contain the heat from the pads. The plants are looking happy now that their roots have more room.

When the governor issued the shelter-in-place order, Jane said she was glad we’d gotten the lisianthus repotted when we did. Visiting is not allowed anymore.

In other news, Hilda bought a painting. A friend of hers saw it among other paintings being exhibited in the Woodstock Opera House and emailed a photo. Hilda loved it. She consulted with me, since it seemed expensive. I pointed out that, compared to the paintings we see on Antiques Roadshow, it was cheap. I think what won her over, however, was the argument that supporting artists was a noble cause. She rushed to the Opera House to get the contact information, called the artist, and arranged payment.

Hilda's new painting

Originally, the painting had to remain on display until the show was over in early April. With everything shutting down at 5:00 p.m. yesterday, however, the artist delivered the painting to the house. For Hilda’s protection, she wore a mask and handed the painting to me with an antiseptic wipe on the wire.

It is a delightful painting. Most importantly, it brings Hilda joy. So worth the money!

Fickle March

Warm/cold, sun/clouds, rain/snow—this week has had it all. Monday was dreary indeed. I had appointments and meetings all day. Every time I went outside, it was raining harder. My feet got wet at 10:30 a.m. and weren’t dry until I took off my shoes and socks when I got home at 7:00 p.m. That sort of day.

Tuesday morning, the rain gauge showed 1.3” of rain. The clouds were gone by mid-morning. Birds greeted the day with song. I’m hearing more cardinals this spring, perhaps because I’m home to listen, now that I’m retired. There were at least three calling back and forth. Like the blackbirds, these messages are probably not a neighborly greeting, but a threatening “Stay out of my territory!” A particularly ambitious male took up a position in the top of the fifth oak. “My spot! My spot! Mine, mine, mine, mine!” (Officially, the call is often described as “What-cheer, what-cheer, wheet, wheet, wheet, wheet.”)

A cardinal claims territory in the top of the fifth oak

The robins are back. I suspected this pair was engaged in a mating ritual, but since males and females look alike, I can’t be sure it wasn’t two males. In any case, one robin would hop a little way, and the other would follow, sometimes closer, sometimes farther away. It was as if the lead robin was playing hard to get and the one following didn’t want to press his luck. Once they flew at each other for just a second and then went back to their little pas de deux.

Robins on the lawn

The creek was muddy from the top soil of corn fields upstream. The water had overflowed the bank and left behind a new deposit of silt.

The creek was muddy after Monday's rain. New silt was deposited along the left bank.

The soil had thawed enough that I was able to straighten the poultry netting around the chicken run. I also put up the second shade shelter, which blew over long ago and lay forlornly on the ground most of the winter. Oh my, that was exciting for the chickens. What is this thing? It might be the best thing ever! Let’s run in circles around it! Chickens always live in the moment.

A new shade shelter! How exciting!

Later in the day, cirrus clouds moved in. The 4^th grade science textbook that Hilda taught from had a picture of clouds like these with the caption “Mare’s tail clouds. Rain or snow may be coming soon.” And that’s what we always say when we see this type of cloud.

Rain or snow may be coming soon

Rain or snow did not follow the cirrus clouds, however. The next days were cloudy but dry. Thursday morning, I saw three deer tearing across the back of the field. I got a picture of the last one after the first two disappeared into the brush.

One of three white-tail deer running into the trees

The water in the creek was nearly clear on Thursday afternoon.

Clear water in the creek

Friday was a lovely sunny day. Terry began hoping that the ground would soon be dry enough that he could get the Gator out. He needed to pick up branches blown down by storms as well as the piles of vines and twigs from pruning the grapes and fruit trees.

Early in the week, snow was in the forecast for Saturday. By Friday, all the snow was supposed to go south. Terry rejoiced! Maybe the Gator could come out by Sunday.

March is such a fickle month! On Saturday afternoon, it started snowing in spite of the forecast. It kept up until the grass was covered, but the pavement remained snow free.  Terry was disappointed. The Gator would have to wait.

Mystery solved!

I mentioned before that our hens had discovered the bird seed, and we were having the devil’s own time keeping them in the run. Sometimes Hilda would go out three or four times a day. The only silver lining was that once they were out, they stood by the gate to get back in. She’d open the gate, and in they’d go.

The thing was that we couldn’t catch them in the act. We clipped their wings after I saw one of them fly over the fence when they were young. Hilda thought maybe we needed to clip their wings again, that maybe the flight feathers had been replaced in a molt. When I looked closely, though, they still had one short wing.

Last Sunday, Jane happened to look out at just the right moment and saw one of the hens scoot clean through the fence. “I can show you exactly where it was,” she offered.

When we went out, a couple of the hens had their heads sticking through the fence on the west side so they could peck at the grass. Sure enough, another went right through. Upon closer inspection, we found a hole. Hallelujah! The mystery was solved.

The mended fence

I tied a new cord at the broken spot. I also found where one of my mending jobs had not been adequate, but I didn’t want to fix that with guests in the house. Since I fixed the first hole, we’ve had only one escape. I fixed the other spot this morning. We hope that’s the end of it. There is talk of getting a new fence. It hasn’t been the same since the turkeys.

I had to get a new telephoto lens for my camera. Every time I tried to use it, it gave me an error message. I tried cleaning the contacts like it said in the online troubleshooting. It worked once and reverted to the error. It’s not too surprising that the lens was worn out given how many times I changed lenses on my various trips in the tropics. I’d already had to get new close up lens.

While I was in Florida, I borrowed Jane’s camera with her new, more powerful telephoto lens. I had lens envy. I got my lens on Thursday. So far, it’s working well. I suppose the camera body will be the next to go.

My new telephoto lens

The new lens can take not-too-awful pictures of turkeys at the far end of the field.

Toms at the far side of the field

Enough birds have come back that the dawn chorus has begun. The redwing blackbirds are particularly vocal. This one was sitting in the top of a white pine tree. He puts his wings out when he calls. Since there are only males around, it’s probably a threat display to establish his territory.

Redwing blackbird

Calling and posturing--this is MY tree!

Terry is seeing as many as 9 tom turkeys congregating on our land. He reported that they hadn’t started their displays yet, but I caught one of them at it this morning. The wing man came at him once but was immediately subdued. Like the blackbirds, the females are so far in abstentia.

A tom turkey and his wing man

Spring is coming.

Spring fever

The transition from winter to spring is the hardest for me. By the end of February, I am ready for warm weather. We have ordered the seeds. I am itching to get in the garden. The weather teases us with a 50°F day on Sunday and more snow on Tuesday morning. It feels like the ground will never thaw.

Tuesday morning snow

I realize that it is too soon for spring. The ground needs to stay frozen for awhile yet. The worst thing that can happen is a prolonged warm spell in early March followed by a late freeze. Under those conditions, the trees break bud and the young leaves and flowers are damaged by frost. Today is cloudless and lovely. Next Sunday we are supposed to see 60°.

I heard a red-winged blackbird calling Saturday morning. Yesterday, Hilda and I saw a huge flock—all males displaying their red epaulets—when we were out and about. The males come back to stake out a territory before the females arrive. This particular flock of birds was eating spilled grain in a corn field. I wonder if anyone had calculated how many extra blackbirds there are based on this artificial energy input into the natural season.

We have to be content with starting seeds inside, beginning with the onions. Hilda has grow-lights in the two upstairs bedrooms for the flats.

Onion seedlings

In a few weeks, it will be time to plant tomatoes and peppers in the greenhouse. Still we have to wait a month before the cold-tolerant potatoes and peas go in the ground. And whether or not we can do that depends on how much rain we get. We’re not coming off much snow pack (so far), and unless we get more snow, there won’t be flooding from the thaw.

We had dinner guests Sunday. I made Mediterranean pot roasted chicken with lemon, kalamata olives, onion, and sun-dried tomatoes. We hadn’t had that in a long time.

Mediterranean pot roasted chicken

To celebrate our return from Florida, I made a key lime pie with key lime juice that we bought at the Fort Myers Beach Publix (a southern grocery store chain). Key lime pie is everywhere in Florida. We had it twice in the week I was there. We were excited to find it in the grocery. We each got some to take home. Jan made pie first, and sent us a text that it had turned out well using the recipe on the bottle. I made the pie Sunday morning and even took the extra step of putting decorative lime slices on top.

Key lime pie

When I was at Woodman’s on Monday, I saw that they have identical bottles of key lime juice on the shelf. And I thought it was something special.