Messing Around with Online Quilty Stuff.... again

I'm trying this again.  I do so love this quilt, so I thought I'd totally embarrass myself by putting it in the contest.  I don't know if I put this one up before or not.... don't care either.  So if you're bored, click on over to the quilt site and vote for me.  Actually, there are a couple of quilts I like better than mine!  Arg!!!!

http://quiltinggallery.com/2011/10/07/fall-splendour-quilts/

Birding and Beavers

I must be sort of a grown-up or something. I was turned loose on my own to count birds on the Grand Rapids-Waterville, aka Oak Openings, Christmas Bird Count. My skills pale when it comes to my friends~~I'm lucky to know so many awesome birders. Compared to my non-birding friends, I'm pretty darn good. But whoa, when some of the best birders in the country are leading counts around here, I feel like a complete ninny. But this year, I got to put my skills to the test.

I opted to stay in the park this year, because two friends, Laurie and daughter Annie, decided they'd like to spend some time birding with me. This wonderful family has "followed" us around the country as I work. Vince, the dad, and Matt, the son, have been closely involved with FTD's Scout Troop. Vince and Laurie are both Really, Really Smart People, being professors of pharmacy stuff. Both of the kids are also Really, Really Smart and Talented. And the whole gang is rib-tickling funny. Anywho, they visited us when I worked at Acadia, and then totally surprised me in the middle of a program at YNP. Annie wants me to get a job in Hawaii next, figuring they'll come visit us there. I haven't got a handle on the logistics for that one, sorry Annie.

Laurie and Annie said they could meet me on Birding Day around 10 a.m., so I took the time between sun up and then to scope out the new beavers at Evergreen Lake in the Park. For years, one of our naturalists sort of joked about bringing beavers home with him from his camp in Michigan. We were never sure if he'd really do it or not. He swears he didn't do it, but the beaver are here and taking up residence. They were first sighted about 3 years ago--a road kill actually--then on Swan Creek just outside of the park. They've worked their way to Evergreen Lake, and have found a nice quiet spot to build.


I'll have to do some research, but I'm guessing beavers haven't lodged in this area for close to 100 years. Awesome. And the rest of the good news is that they're in an area where they won't bother anyone else's property.


Meanwhile back to the birdies. . . . .

We three birded from 10 to about 3, finding darn few birds, although many of the ones we did see were "lifers" for Laurie and Annie. Bluebirds in winter~~always a crowd pleaser~~cedar waxwings~~lots of 'em~~Golden Crowned Kinglets, and lots of the usual suspects. We walked a section of the Wabash Cannonball Trail in the park and were treated with red-headed woodpeckers, but missed the pileated by moments. One of the most noticeable things on this count were the low numbers, not only in species but also in individuals. Our section was no different. But driving back, we hit pay dirt. I was driving on the Parkway, when whoosh, a "flying cinder block" by Laurie's description, zoomed past, being chased by a nuthatch and a really ornery blue jay. This was Annie's first encounter with an owl in flight. It landed and took quite a squawking-to from the jay. (The first pic is for you, Loopy.)



Then the Barred Owl did us the favor of turning around and winking in the ever-so-brief sunbeam.

This event pretty much cements my title of World's Laziest Birder. They come to me.

Sa-weet.

Owling with the Lil' Ripper

If you want to have a magical night, take a seven year old owling.

Last week, Tuesday, the Lil' Ripper (my great-nephew) spent the day and night with us. We first went to the Toledo Zoo for the Lights Before Christmas, where my younger son, DD, was running his trains with the Swanton Area Railroad and Model Club (or something like that). DD is "in charge" of the display each Tuesday. He takes his responsibility seriously--in his own DD way, of course. Any who, all four of us and the little guy all went over. The highlight there was the octopus, which was actually moving~~and moving a lot! Big hit with kids of all ages.

When we got home, we were all bundled up and I asked Lil' Ripper if he wanted to go owling. Now mind you, he kept telling me over and over how tired he was while we were driving home. But he re-energized as soon as we hit the driveway (my guys all three crashed).

Some time ago, I had told LR how to walk silently in the woods, so we did. But somehow, with him in the lead, it morphed to "walk like a penguin--they're very quiet you know, Anna." I had a hard time being quiet since laughing out loud was what I did after he told me that. But dutiful grand-auntie that I am, I walked like a penguin.

I took him over to the scout trail across the street. For a kid who wants a night light when he sleeps, he was completely fearless walking in the woods in the nearly pitch black. I had my headlamp on as we started, but on the way back he told me to turn it off--it might scare the animals. Huh? and Wow! He also told me we had to stop every now and then and be sure to look back for animals, too. What a hoot.

After walking in a few dozen yards, I told him I'm try to call for owls. Have I ever mentioned that my calls suck? Try as I will, I never seem to get it right. But to a 7 year old with a high, squeaky voice it mattered not. I told him he should try it with me. We went for Barred Owl, as it's the easiest for a kid to remember. And what a joy to stand in the silent woods with darling kid and calling for owls~~and to savor the companionable silence in-between. Not a thing stirred or called back to us, but the fun is in the trying.

It really was cold, and I really was tired, even if Lil' Ripper wasn't, so we walked home. The Christmas lights were still on at home, and they gently lit our way. Of course, for a bedtime story it was Owl Moon by Jan Yolen, followed by North County Night by Daniel San Souci. Being a too-cool 7 year old means being too cool to snuggle for books very often, but that night we did. It might be the last for he and I, but if it was, it was the best.

Birding Time Again!

While most folks think of a nice relaxing Christmas break, lots of crazies are gearing up the the annual Christmas Bird Counts. Here's the deal.

Over 100 years ago, somebody said, "Let's see how many birds there are in the world." And thus began the Audubon Society's Annual Bird Count Census. It's organized now, as opposed to folks just running around the countyside yelling out, "Six creepers!" and stuff like that. We now have Count Circles--areas that are deemed to be birdily important or just plain fun (like the Rudolph Ohio Count--get it--Christmas count????) NW Ohio has several very important count circles. The North Coast, aka northern Ohio along Lake Erie, is a Big Time Birding Area. The Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge is there, along with Magee Marsh State Wildlife Refuge, East Harbor State Park, Maumee Bay State Park, and the Crane Creek area. We, of the Oak Openings, are west of the Lake, having been left behind by the ancient Lakes Whittelsey and Warren. And though it sounds like there is lots of land left on the lake, don't be fooled. Most of the marshland/wetland is gone. Conservation, as usual, was too little too late. But I digress.

Back to count circles. A point is picked and a circle with a diameter of 15 miles is drawn on the map around that point. Ta-daa, a count circle. Teams of birders go out on a given day, from mid-December to early January, and count all the birds they can find. We count species and number of individual birds--it's a census.


NW Ohio has several count circles: the Toledo, the Islands, the Refuge, blah blah blah, and the Big One: The Grand Rapids/Waterville Count. The other name for this one is the Oak Openings Count. Birders spend their holidays scoping out where the good stuff is, and I ain't talking candy canes here. Maybe Sandhill Cranes, though. With or without this rotten head cold, I'll head out with my fellow birders for a day full of chickadees, titmices, hawks, and who-knows-what else on Sunday.

Kidding aside for a moment, this is an incredibly important chunk of research. Because of the longevity of the counts, we can use this citizen science for important longitudinal studies, not only of a given species, but of trends. For example, the trend toward having more boreal species in more southernly locales was among the first research-based evidence of global climate change.

Now back to the funny stuff. Oh, wait, I'm all out of funny stuff--the head cold does that. Anywho, there are birders all over the place scoping out what may or may not be here, and any rarities that turn up a week before or after Count day are tallied, so it all counts.

But here's where I need your help. Yes you! Fill your bird feeders, and if you live inside the Oaks Count circle, check your feeder on Sunday to see what and how many of the whats are there. Email or text me, so we can add your numbers to our tally. It really is important.

And if you don't live in my count circle, contact your local Audubon Society to see if there are still counts going on in your neck of the woods. Really, get out there and get birding.

Long Time, No See

Gee. I just checked and it really has been months since I last posted. My cop-out story is that with limited computer time at work, and this year's record breaking crowds leading yours truly to be really tired at the end of the day, I just didn't write.

But I'm home now, safe and sound. Back on Eastern Daylight Time, both boys are back in school, and we're back to normal. Well, as normal as we ever get.

I've also composed some outstanding posts while driving. Sadly, I can't compute and drive simultaneously, so those totally awesome thoughts go unwritten.

The one I should have written was going to be called "Happy Trails and Happy Feet." Another great summer season and new boots that fit! Woohoo! The longer version I was composing as I drove across South Dakota was much better, but not quite so succinct.

Today's post, were I not doing a round-up post would be called "The Perfect Day." The best month in NW Ohio is October. Last year was the most stunning I can ever recall. This fall hasn't been quite as dramatic, but today was a stunner. Wow. My friends in New England and the mountains both say they have the most beautiful fall foliage. They only say that because they haven't been here to experience a real fall. Someday they will be lucky enough to enjoy a beautiful fall day with us. So come on over, sit on the front porch, and enjoy a cuppa with us soon. We'll be looking for you.

How Children Should Spend Their Days

We had a fog cancellation day. It really was murky. So the kids were home, which worked out well, since FTD is sick and can't really afford to miss any more days this quarter. That's one of the many hard parts of having a child who's nearly able to make it on his own in school, but not really. Sigh.

So since my niece's school was also canceled, she needed a sitter for my great-nephew Colin. He's a wild and wacky, bundle of energy six year old. Even though it was a bit overcast outside it seemed warm enough for a little walk. Warm enough indeed. Most of the time the humidity in Ohio is just unbearable. Today, the warm air was absolutely lovely. It was like a moist envelope of air, soothing inside and out. So off we went, DD, Colin, and I. My plan was to walk our road to the corner, down to the next corner and back home. Little boys with spring fever have other ideas.


We got as far as the next ravine over. We have a small ravine on our property, and the one just up the road is deeper. Deep by northwestern Ohio standards is 10 feet or so, but if you are only 3 feet tall, well, that's a huge ravine. And lo and behold, there's running water in the ravine. It's only about 2 feet across, but again, if you're only 3 feet tall, well. . . So here's how we spent our afternoon. It was wonderful. Within minutes, Colin had gone into the drink. Unfortunately, one of his shoes stayed there--and Lord knows they dug and dug to try and find it. Since one shoe was gone, I suggested that Colin give me the other one. He tossed it in my direction and eventually I found it. And oh yes, the boys were both covered head to toes in good ol' mud. Children need more face time with mud. Today was a perfect day for mud.

The Fine Art of Solar Drying

One of the things I miss most about Wyoming and North Dakota is solar drying. Every time I put a load of stuff in the dryer here in Ohio, I cringe. Out west, I timed my laundry days to be those days when I could get a load or two of laundry in the washer before I left for work, out on the line during my lunch break, and off the line after work. This year, it took a little more creative scheduling (no thanks to Ranger Jerk You-know-who). To make this work, I had to be scheduled at Madison, my all time favorite place to work. Working in West was exciting this year, but it ain't no Madison Junction. Not to mention, I couldn't make the solar drying thing work on those days.

I love that there are some folks who live completely off the grid. But I also love that I have access to electricity. I can flush inside because of electricity, read in bed without so much eye strain with electricity, and check with my FB peeps because of electricity. No, I couldn't live off the grid. But I sure wish I could live without the electric dryer. Of course, in the dead of winter, I can warm up my towels in the electric dryer, so it stays.

When we lived in the Old House on Jeffers Road, we had a clothes line. DH and I dug the massive poles up from a house I used rent in Maumee and transplanted them out here. I could only use it a few days a year, because here in NW Ohio, if you hang your laundry outside, it will come back in wetter than when it went out. Drat.

Our new house (well, it's now 15 years old, but play along) is totally in the woods and there's no place to put a line. The only place that has any amount of sun is in the front yard, over the leach field. If we put poles out, we'd hit something, so that won't work. I do have a mini-line on the back deck, but again, the humidity issue rules it out for serious solar drying.

When I was using the solar dryer at Jeffers Road, DH was the Park Manager. I quickly realized that hanging his undies out was well, tacky. And out west, I promised the family that I wouldn't hang any one's undies out on the line. My fellow solar dryer, Bob, got a chuckle out of that--but he didn't put undies out either. Rangers Pi, JR, and G had no such compunction. Turns out they all wear black undies. How rangeresque. Matches Kevlar, I guess.

There's something satisfying about using the solar dryer. It's a great excuse to be outside on a beautiful day and working at the same time. Of course there's the obvious benefit to the environment. I find it almost Zen-like--after all, I also try to make the stuff hanging out there create a pleasing pattern. (Sounds like I have too much time on my hands to me.) I also try to hang them in such a way as they fold nicely when I take them down. After all, I'm one of the laziest people in the world.

So here I am running the electric dryer yet again tonight. I hang blue jeans from hooks on the door to try to get them a little bit drier before I send all that money off to the Toledo Edison/First Energy folks. And I only put half loads in the dryer--turns out it's just as fast as trying to dry a whole load and there's less wear and tear on my textiles. That's all my poor old dryer can handle.

The most amazing thing about solar drying is that it's against the law in many places. What a crock. The first time I heard about a subdivision that zoned against solar drying I thought someone was pulling my leg--after all, I am the most gullible person in the world, too. But no clothes lines? That's like the most un-American thing I can think of. Next someone will zone against apple pie.

So I raise my clothes pin bag to those of you who lug the baskets to the yard or who find other creative ways to dry your ditties. Long live the clothes line.

Glowing October Days

The colors of the trees this year has been simply indescribable. The closest thing I can say is they glow this year. You just need to be here to believe it. I've taken several pictures, but they don't capture the feeling that comes over me when I'm out walking the woods. And since we've had very little sun, I haven't yet figured out why the trees are glowing! Very, very cool fall show.

Along those lines, there are very few pine cones and acorns on the ground. Last year when we walked the path in the back woods, it was like walking on ball bearings. And every morning when we came out, the yard was covered with cones from our white pines, no matter how many we picked up the night before. DH figures that the year before last the trees must have been stressed. The good news from that was the finches were here in record numbers. I suspect we won't see many crossbills and such this year.

I went berserk and bought some more rocks. This morning I loaded up 500 lbs of field stone into my car, then drove home and unloaded the things. I also shoveled the last of the river rock into the cart on the mower, so I can get those placed around the window well in the back. I spent several hours a couple of days ago beating back the weeds in my "back yard." This is barely more than a ribbon of grass around the back deck, but dang it! I want it to be a ribbon of domesticated, well behaved grass. The environmentalist in me is rather disgusted with the home owner in me that wants said ribbon of grass. We've got 3+ acres here, and most of it remains in it's natural state and I love that. But we have to grow domesticated, well behaved grass over the leach field, which takes up our whole front yard. And when one has grass growing, it needs to be cleared of the leaves in the fall, or it will cease to be well behaved grass. I bought a leaf sweeper that goes on the back of the mower, so DD can cruise around and sweep leaves to his little heart's content. And again the "green me" is yelling at the homeowner me about using so much gasoline to get rid of leaves. I guess October is just going to remain a month of my internal selves yelling at each other.

And homeowner me would dearly love for the spiders to either move back to the trees or at least stop pooping all over my porch. Can't a girl have a little space to herself that doesn't need to be cleaned all the time!!!!!! Is that asking too much?

Home, Sweet Home

I just googled Oak Openings to see who else is crazy about my backyard. There are just a handful of us folks who have the honor to say we live in Oak Openings. This area is a globally rare ecosystem. Think sand dunes (albeit small ones), hardwoods, and Indians. Well, okay, there are very few native families still living around here, but tradition has it that the Ottawa, for one, liked this area because the sand dunes created higher, drier places. Most of NW Ohio was more like the Great Black Swamp. This area was impenetrable by everyone, until the coming of the Big Ditchers. But every here and there, small sand dunes--remnants of the shores of ancient Lake Whittlesey--poke up and provide an area where trees could grow and spread their crowns. In these areas, why, you could drive your wagon through the openings! Openings in the oak trees, get it?

When the local park district starting purchasing land, this area was considered crappy agricultural land--especially when compared to the ultra-deep topsoils of the drained swamp (still some of the most productive land in North America, currently covered over by huge and unnecessary big box stores and strip malls, barf). The district was able to purchase large, "useless" tracts out here and viola! a beautiful park.

In the '30s, concerns about any bit of sand blowing anywhere caused the local CCC to plant thousands of pines in the park. In recent years, this has become a hot button item. Oak Openings purists want to rid the area of all pines, as none are indigenous to the area. Others love the park because there are 100 foot tall pines creating cathedral like corridors in the park. Birders enjoy the added variety of species, due to the added variety of tree species. What's a park district to do? When the pines were planted, it was assumed they would also be harvested when the time came, then replanted. That time came and went. Many of the trees became diseased, and well, old. They die, ya know? In the past 5 or so years, several acres, make that many acres, of pines were clear cut. Good news, bad news that. I'm on the fence on that one. And many areas are actively brushed out, mowed, and burned on a rotating schedule. Again, are we interfering too much? Only time will tell. In the mean time, we need to whack down several more trees on our own property. Dang. We'll replant along the property boundary, but will likely plant--wait for it.... pines. The property next door, you know the one that looks right into my bedroom, will be developed some day. I need my space, and natural privacy, so the pines will go in.
Unless, of course, some kind soul gives us the money to buy the 10 acres north of us. . . . . please make your checks out to me. Soon.