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We’re Ready for Winter

October 22, 2008
Our woodpile. October 21, 2008.

Our woodpile. October 21, 2008.

Betsy is looking forward to a harsh winter.  All the old-timey weather signs (especially the heavy mast crop this year) say we’re going to have a harsh winter.  Betsy hopes that means lots of snow, but it could mean just lots of cold weather.

Either way, I guess we’re about as prepared as it’s possible to be.  The picture above shows our wood pile, so hopefully we’ll be able to stay warm regardless of how harsh the winter is.

Actually, we hope that pile will last for two winters, but as I said, it looks as if we’re ready for winter.

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A Perfect Autumn Day

October 19, 2008
Our first fire of the season. October 17, 2008.

Our first fire of the season. October 17, 2008.

Saturday was an absolutely gorgeous autumn day.  It started with our usual Saturday omelets, which we were able to enjoy in front of a fire in the fireplace.  The temperature has finally dropped and we had a fire Friday night (when the picture above was taken) and another Saturday morning.

Later in the morning I went out to work in the yard.  There was a slight breeze blowing and when I was in one part of the yard I could smell the wood smoke, but in another part I could smell the roses.  A day can’t get much better than that.

I was able to get some tulips planted in our big flower bed on the side of the house and even got some of our new wood stacked.  All in all it was a wonderful day.

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No Rest For The Weary

October 16, 2008
Wood to be stacked in our yard. October 15, 2008.

Wood to be stacked in our yard. October 15, 2008.

There is no rest for the weary.  Tuesday I finished up the three flower beds in our front yard.  All three now have pansies and daffodils and the largest also has lilies in it.

I was able to enjoy the feeling of a job accomplished for perhaps two hours.  (During that time I had to mow the front yard, but that’s a routine job that is never finished!).  But about the time I finished mowing I got another job to do.  I’m tired just thinking about it.

One of the requirements my beautiful bride had when we were looking for a house was that we had to have a fireplace.  Betsy just loves a fire in the fireplace on a chilly evening.

The only problem with that is that in order to have a fire we need wood.  We don’t go out and cut down trees, but we do buy firewood.  It’s delivered by truck and dumped in our side yard.

My job is to stack the wood (Betsy helps).  It sometimes takes longer than I would like, but there are some advantages to the stacking job.  If the weather turns cold while I’m stacking, the wood warms me twice — once while I’m stacking the wood and again when we burn it.

You’ll notice a wood stack behind the pile of wood in the picture above.  The stack contains the wood we’ll burn this year.  The wood pile is the wood we’ll burn next year.

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We Fly the Battle Flag

October 15, 2008
The Battle Flag at half mast. October 12, 2008.

The Battle Flag at half mast. October 12, 2008.

We fly the Confederate Battle Flag twice each year.  As the picture above shows we fly it a half-mast on October 12 and we fly it at full-mast on January 19.

Robert E. Lee died on October 12, 1870, in Lexington, Virginia (he was born January 19, 1807).  At the time he was  president of Washington College, which is now Washington and Lee University.

I’ve admired Lee for just about as long as I can remember, and that is getting to be a long time!  When I was in the third grade I asked Santa for an encyclopedia, which he brought.  I found a painting of Lee at the Battle of Chancellorsville in the encyclopedia which absolutely fascinated me.  The painting showed Lee on Traveler with the burning Chancellor mansion in the background.  Confederate troops were cheering Lee, but in the lower right hand corner was a wounded Union soldier who was also raising his hat to Lee.  What kind of man could cause an enemy to cheer him?

I know Lee fought for the ‘wrong’ side, but he did so, honorably, for what he thought were the right reasons.  But what I most admire is that Robert E. Lee was a gentleman in the best sense of the word.

So we’ll continue to fly that battle flag twice a year.

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A Visitor to Our Feeder

October 8, 2008
A red-bellied woodpecker enjoying our feeder. October 10, 2008.

A red-bellied woodpecker enjoying our feeder. October 10, 2008.

Since Betsy is down in Georgia with her childhood girlfriends, I have been given the responsibility of taking care of her birds.  My main responsibility is to put out the feeders each morning, bring them in each evening (we have too many critters to keep the open feeders out at night), and to keep the bird bath clean.

I’ll admit that none of those jobs is particularly onerous, but if the feeders aren’t out at first light, the birds get very impatient and very loud.  They make a most effective and annoying alarm clock.

But rewards often come along with increased responsibility.  Perhaps because I am responsible for the feeders this week I have been keeping a closer eye on them.  Yesterday morning I spotted the red-bellied woodpecker shown above in the feeder.  I spotted him as he was shooing away a cardinal — evidently the woodpecker didn’t want to share.  And evidently this woodpecker has a reputation because the cardinal kept it’s distance until the woodpecker left.

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It’s Beginning to Look Like Autumn

October 4, 2008
Betsy's Autumn Decorations. October, 2007.

Betsy's Decorations. October, 2007.

It’s starting to look like autumn at our house.  The leaves (and nuts) are starting to fall from the trees and the sky is a gorgeous blue.  We don’t have a great deal of color yet — I’m not sure how good the color will be this year because of our drought.  But either way we will soon be knee-deep in leaves.  Such fun!

And it’s even starting to feel like autumn — the nights are down-right cool (and the sleeping is great!).  We haven’t had a fire in the fireplace yet, but I suspect that it won’t be long before we have one.  There’s something special about a roaring fire on a crisp cold night!

An autumn tradition at our house is the decorations Betsy puts out — pumpkins and scarecrows.  The picture above was taken last year and this year’s decorations are very similar.  So please drop by — you’ll see Betsy’s scarecrows and pumpkins and perhaps even some smoke rising from the chimney.

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Betsy’s Bluebirds

October 2, 2008
A male bluebird in our backyard. July, 2008.

A male bluebird in our backyard. July, 2008.

As I’ve mentioned several times, Betsy has become very interested in birds this year.  I gave Betsy binoculars and a couple of bird-watching books for her birthday two years ago, but at that time she was mostly interested in hummingbirds.

But this  year her interest has broadened to include just about every type of bird that we have here in the Glade.  We’ve gotten several new bird feeders and Betsy has learned a great deal about woodpeckers, cardinals, titmice, chickadees, robins, sparrows, wrens and flickers.  She’s tried to teach me, but I must confess that I am a slow learner.

I think Betsy really got interested in birds of all types when we discovered a bluebird family in a backyard bird house.  The adult bluebirds (especially the male) are beautiful and they didn’t seem to get spooked by our presence on the deck.  So we were able to watch as the adults raised their family.  We were sorry to see them leave and hope they will return next year.

To see our bluebird family click HERE.

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Need Any Holes Dug?

October 1, 2008
A pileated woodpecker hard at work in our yard.

A pileated woodpecker hard at work in our yard.

Betsy and I were working in the kitchen yesterday when we saw the pileated woodpecker shown above through the kitchen window.  We have lots of woodpeckers around the house, but this is one of the largest we’ve seen so close to the house.

This woodpecker is a pileated woodpecker, which is about the same size as a crow.  He’s working on a stump which has been cut down to ground level.  Betsy tells me that pileated woodpeckers go through rotting wood looking for insects.

If you look closely you can see that this pileated woodpecker can really dig into wood!  He’s already got a pretty good hole in the top of the stump and the wood chips and the dirt were really flying!  It was something to behold.

I wonder if I could hire him to dig holes for our roses?

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