Posted on 10/23/2021 6:18:54 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
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So I’m kinda’ sad this morning. When I opened the door first thing thing, what did I see hanging from the maple tree ..... nothing.
Last night, I finally took down my hummer feeders. The last bird I saw was the evening of Oct. 1. Like most folks in the area, I leave my feeders up until about the middle of October for any late birds coming through on their migration. My tithonias bloom until frost so I’ve seen late birds go to the tithonia rather than a feeder - the tiths are still blooming well since we’ve not had a frost.
The last time I cleaned my feeders, before putting out this last batch of nectar, I bleached them - wow, what a difference! I scrub my feeders every time I change nectar, but using bleach (diluted 10 parts water to 1 bleach) eliminated hard ‘scrubbing’. All of my feeders were bleached & washed again last night for storage - they really had no mold buildup. I did my SIL’s feeders at the same time & they were black with mold .... she’s out of town so clean feeders will be a surprise when she gets home this afternoon.
I’m trying not to be depressed, but I miss the little guys! One morning, I was standing at the storm door, had on a red T-shirt & the next thing I knew, there was a hummer at the door looking through the glass! I’ve also had them approach me when either going to get feeders to refill or taking them back out again, if I’m in that same T-shirt. They always make me laugh .... “no guys, I am NOT a flower!”
Until next year, little buddies - can’t wait until you come back in the Spring - clean feeders will be waiting (April).
Do they have AA Meetings for Cider Drinkers? LOL!
Oops! You picture wasn’t coming up for me, so I posted it again. What a cutie! Such a pretty tail! Is he prideful of it? ;)
Perfect! :-)
Ugh! One of those chilly, wet, Fall weeks ahead, though the weekend looks nice. I may not get the other four beds cleaned out, but that's probably NOT the end of the world. I'm out of straw, anyway. I got the garlic planted and some spring bulbs, but I have more to go in that area too, and will also be helping Mom when she's ready. As long as we do it before the ground is frozen solid, we've got time.
Beau leaves for CO on Wednesday to hunt Elk, so we'll be scurrying around getting a few last minute things done before he leaves. I have a toilet that needs fixing, and we'll be moving Fremont to the kennel shed so I have everyone in ONE SPOT for feeding and cleaning up after. Still didn't get to my herb butters and salts, but that's not a problem, either. I'm making a pot of White Chicken Chili to eat while we watch The Packers this afternoon. Life Is Good!
After depriving the public of a treasured fall tradition last year, Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang will be back on public television this holiday season. Apple TV+ became the home of the Peanuts gang last year, and with the partnership came the absence of "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" on standard television packages across the country.
The beloved Halloween special will still be available on Apple's streaming platform, but will also air on PBS this month.
Following outrage for pulling the Halloween special from public airwaves, Apple TV+ allowed for the airing of the Peanuts Thanksgiving and Christmas specials on PBS. Those programs, like the Halloween special, had originally been slated as exclusive to the streaming site in 2020. The Halloween special has been an annual staple in fall television programming for decades.
"It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" premiered on CBS in 1966, then moved to ABC in 2001. That's more than a half-century of broadcasting the inherent Peanuts celebration of gentle humor and quirkiness that has appealed to both kids and adults.
Our recent slight snowfall seemed to be too much for some tree limbs, which was perplexing. Today, I saw dying leaves on a largish limb of our front yard elm, and had to prune it out.
I had already solved the mystery: micro tornado! A trip to the garden a couple of days after the storm showed me the asparagus ferns were laid out flat. Closer inspection showed
that the rows had be knocked down in opposite facing directions.
Wine, beer, whiskey, sake, etc
The Drink of Patriots: As American as Apple Cider
Apples were among some of the first crops grown in colonial America. Potted seedlings and bags of apple seeds were brought over on the Mayflower. The Bible-thumping Puritans were not teetotalers. Apple orchards in colonial America usually meant one thing: hard cider.
snip.... As the colonies spread westward, no single man was more famous for bringing cider to the frontier than John Chapman. Contrary to what you probably learned in elementary school, Johnny Appleseed, as he is known in popular culture, didn’t just plant apple trees and strew apple seeds willy-nilly across the country. Chapman was an entrepreneur and prototypical land speculator. He followed the Ohio River system westward through modern day Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, and Illinois, planting apple orchards along the way. By staying a few years ahead of the expanding population settlements, Chapman was able to sell his orchards to pioneer families for a considerable profit. The orchards promised a steady supply of income and cider, a source of sustenance, and clean drinking water, and also helped entrench American settlements in the Midwest.
The popularity of cider in America grew as the nation’s territory expanded. George Washington even served up 144 gallons of hard cider during his first successful campaign bid to the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1758. John Adams drank cider for breakfast when he was serving as president. Cider’s popularity and association as the drink of “everyday Americans” reached its zenith in 1840 when William Henry Harrison was elected president, having run on a “log cabin and hard cider” platform that resonated with voters.
Cider’s former popularity in American culture is almost entirely lost — cider today is viewed as a kind of “soda for grown ups.” Its unfortunate decline as an acceptable beverage can be attributed to the deleterious effects of the Temperance movement, and competition from more urban-friendly fermented beverages like German lager beer. As Americans rediscover a rich historical drinking culture that was nearly eradicated by Prohibition, more craft ciders are appearing in the market. snip
(See link for the entire article from Texas National Security Review.)
We have some hummingbirds that overwinter in our area (Western Washibgton)
Most migrate but we have some that stay put.
Lucky you! I’ve gotten really fond of them - “ours” come back around mid-April (they were a little late this year) and are gone pretty much by mid-October.
The ones who remain are that flourescent green with the occasional fourescent pinkish swatch on their chest.
They fight with the migratory ones over the feeders in my garden. Very territorial with the migratory ones being super aggressive.
Beau’s fondest wish is for us to have enough of our own apples to make cider. He’s working on a homemade press and should have it done in a few years, LOL!
Those look good. Black Krim is one of my favorites.
I dunnoh...when you buy that movable chicken coop buy him a cider press.
Its Wisconsin, has to be somewhere within 30 miles where you can purchase a few bushels of apples to feed the press! Your chickens the donkey and mule, or the local black bears will enjoy the pomace! Ferment up some hard cider! It will be fall and everyone is happy!
Black Krim is good. I think its better planted early from seed, but not bad for a late planted sucker. (OK way to fill when you lose tomato plants early.)
Beloved cook love gingerbread, publishing different recipes exploring its charms. She writes that this moist, cakelike rendition, from “Home Cooking..... is “home food” — not fancy restaurant food, soothing cold-weather food, for an afternoon spent indoors. Uses Steen’s cane syrup, from Louisiana, easy to find online, or your local supermarket......and lemon brandy.
INGREDIENTS stick unsalted butter, ½ cup light or dark brown sugar ½ cup light molasses or use blackstrap for dark cake 2 large eggs 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour ½ teaspoon baking soda 1 ½ tablespoons ground ginger, or to taste 1 teaspoon cinnamon ¼ teaspoon ground cloves ¼ teaspoon ground allspice 2 teaspoons lemon brandy or vanilla extract (see note) ½ cup buttermilk (or milk with a little plain yogurt beaten into it)
PREPARATION Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch cake pan and set aside. Cream remaining 4 ounces butter with the brown sugar. Beat until fluffy, add molasses, then beat in eggs. Add flour, baking soda, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves and allspice. Add lemon brandy or vanilla extract and buttermilk and turn batter into pan. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes (check after 20 minutes). Cool on a rack.
Serve. the cake plain with whipped cream, or with fruit and a dollop of crème fraîche, or glazed with lemon icing, as Ms. Colwin often did. And a glass of apple cider.
Lemon brandy is hard to find.... homemade lemon brandy can be made by steeping lemon peel shards in Brandy. Do not use lemon extract.
Yesterday was a “weather change” day. A big front was supposed to come through with potentially severe weather between 6-10 pm. The day was to be cloudy with showers preceding the ‘main event’. Straight line winds, maybe some tornadoes, thunder/lightning & downpours were expected.
I spent most of the day in the porch swing, working on a project (Christmas present, actually - to be ‘revealed’ in next month’s Fiber Arts Thread!). The day before was a “heavy” garden cleanup day with trying to get the big bed cleaned up where they cherry tomatoes were growing. Just getting the plants cut into pieces was a ‘job’ & then digging/hauling compost followed the cleanup. It was heavy enough to trigger a touch of sciatica (I have exercises that work - I’m better today).
So I had no need for gardening yesterday and felt a strange peace about the storm that was on the way - there was nothing garden-related that could blow down or be torn up. No work to be done and since I don’t have the compost totally cleared out of the ‘bin’, I’m not ready to mow/chop up leaves to refill it. BTW, I thought I’d have way more compost than I needed - upon digging out about 2/3, I’ll have barely enough to do ALL of my beds.
During the afternoon, the wind would pick up and die down. The leaves were definitely ‘dancing’ in the wind and falling out of the gorgeous maples (decked out in fall colors - mostly red). You can smell the leaves now and the scent of the neighbor’s grass that had just been cut & lying around - smelled like fresh hay. The clouds were gray and scudding across the sky. The wind would pick up just before the showers would hit.
Late in the day, about dinner time, the big event was just on the outskirts of our area. Definitely wind and the horizon was ominously dark. Thunder was ‘rolling’ in the distance. Fortunately, despite seeing some lightning flash, there were no sharp ‘cracks’ of close strikes. The weather ‘storm tracks’ showed radar signs of tornadoes to the west, but I think they ended up being just ‘signatures’, with nothing actually one the ground. Darkness fell so the storm was all sound rather than sight. The rain on the roof was a dull roar, coming down hard. There is just over an inch of rain in our gauge this morning.
So all the ‘dire’ predictions didn’t happen. It’s cloudy again this morning - looks like the gray days November rather than the gorgeous blue sky fall days of October. We may see some sun later. The air is ‘sharper’ this morning whereas yesterday, some humidity made it a ‘soft’ warm. The wind hasn’t picked up yet, but it’s coming.
The October party is drawing to an end.
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