Ping & Post earlier than normal - have a lot going on tomorrow, and I knew I'd better start the thread when I remembered to!
Does eagerly watching the ice freeze on Medicine Lake in MN count as growing? I have waited since last March to get out on the lake.
(I like to walk on the lake. With the snow, it’s not as slippery as the paths/sidewalks/roads)
As you know, there’s only 10-12 weeks of good lake ice.
Well, I didn’t garden at all last year. We (me mostly) worked on getting the old fence out and the new one in.
It is about 80% done. Which is dumb because it’s such a small garden and should have been long finished. We have to do the chicken wire business at the bottom in the spring. AND fix the back “wall” from when Hubby purposefully startled the deer and they tried to run out that way.
Anyway, it looks like I will have time to garden again this spring - the shop where I work will be going out of business. Mostly because the owner is too arrogant to make changes as needed, but he is blaming covid. I will really miss my little job, but am trying to console myself with the promise of a garden!
Golden eagle landing
I was on animal-sitting duty yesterday & today. This morning, when I checked the chickens, something had knocked over the trash can where my SIL keeps the food ... nothing was left. Sigh. ALL of the water was frozen & the chickens were unhappy (chicken ‘cursing’ - you can tell!). Fortunately, I found some rubber feed pans, so I got everybody watered & back to ‘regular’ clucking. I found two large slugs, partially frozen, & those made two hens extremely happy ... a meaty treat.
I did go to the feed store & get another bag of feed, plus a bag of cracked corn for the bird feeder. We have 3 pairs of doves that hang out under the feeders. I have some whole corn, but it’s really too big for them (works for squirrels). They are the fattest doves I’ve ever seen - waddle around, surprised they can fly! They will love the cracked corn in addition to whatever black oil sunflower seeds get dropped out of the feeders.
So, back to the animals - went to walk the dogs tonight & ran into two different groups of deer. The first group was near the dog pen & the collie took off into the woods barking ... the old dog (almost blind/deaf) didn’t even notice. Once I got her called back, we walked out into the main field & she took off again - two deer down in the corner. Both jumped the fence ... dog attitude: “curses, foiled again!” After the deer excitement, we had a nice, calm walk.
My brother got home from his trip in time to get on his deer stand in the back - saw a huge coyote “almost as big as the collie” twice - first time passing the stand & the second time, running a deer. I heard a pack howling a couple of weeks ago, so they’re back in the area.
Overall, a nice Christmas & weekend. We had some family time, some good meals, and seeing the sun for 3 days was nice, even if all the water dishes, bird bath, etc. were frozen! Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!
The good: Ordered aboutb200 bucks worth if seeds from Johnny’s
The bad: Possibly exposed to Covid, stuck at home, gotta get a test tomorrow morning.
The ugly: Cannot convince the wife that her pouring me scotch in her underwear and letting nature take the course is actually the CDC recommended protocols.
Greetings from southern New Hampshire, where I am withholding any New Years greetings until I get some “terms and conditions” ironed out with 2021!
The weather pattern has enabled me to complete the RV site clearance, the setting up of the shed from the RV in our yard and the transfer of the box trailer contents either to the shed or my shop. The four gardening power tools, large and small tillers, edger and walk-behind mower are also safely stored for the winter in said shed. Next spring, I will hopefully have the new garden shed built and as we are not RVing anymore, we might be able to swing the pole bar which will form the “Garden-Tee” building we are dreaming about. Room to store one boat, the tractors and attachments, and lawn equipment.
Additionally, I reassembled the deck box that was used to store chair cushions at the RV site, on our back deck. More space for the Boss’s gardening stuff. I need to cut out a shelf for it, this afternoon.
I am amazed at what I was able to accomplish in a month, and in the part of the year where I shouldn’t have been able to get anything done!