Sunday, November 11th, 2007
We were going to go for a hike this afternoon, but I feared the ground would be swampy when we got to our destination. I wanted to hike down to a pond a few acres away. I think we’ll get to that another day, but for today, we stuck with our usual walk down the road.
I have to say, for all those people who put off hiking in the summer because it’s too hot, today was the day for you. Weather.com tells me it’s 44 degrees outside…perfect for walking or hiking. No sweating and no freezing. Just perfect.
In an unusual move, I thought I would bring the camera along. It’s nice and sunny, so I knew the photos would come out nicely. Wanna see a few?
This is a piece of property down the road that both Laura and I are very jealous of. I am not sure how many acres it is, but they have a pond, a grassy area, a main house and another house out back. They also have a table and chairs set up near the back of the pond. I would like to drink my morning coffee there.
Moving further along, there is a river that flows pretty much along the entire road. When Rob came up to visit a while ago, we looked for salamanders under the rocks in this river.
This is Laura’s favorite house on this road. It’s an old white farm-ish type house. It’s hard to see back there, but what I was trying to get a picture of was the nice driveway and Pacasandra planted off to the right.
I just had to grab this one on our way back. The sun was hitting it and the leaves were bright yellow. Also, this is a great stone house to look at.
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Saturday, November 10th, 2007
This is getting pretty bad. I woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. I noticed there was snow on the ground and immediately thought about writing a blog post about it. Yes, I probably should pursue therapy.
In any event, yes, it did snow last night. It was the first snow of the season for us in this part of New York. It actually hasn’t been cold really and there are still leaves on the trees…green ones on some. That strikes me as weird. Laura keeps telling me they are on the trees until after Thanksgiving. It’s nice to have a little brain so closeby.
When I woke up in the middle of the night, there was more snow on the ground. I guess some of it melted. I have to say, the sight of snow does give you a nice feeling. With all the Christmas commercials on TV these days, it is starting to feel like the season. Also, just a word of warning, these are the days that I start dreaming. These are the days of reflection on what I want to do with the rest of my life. I probably think this way because snow calms me down and gives me some breathing room.
We have had the pellet stove burning for most of the month of November and some of October. I am so happy we got this stove. It’s clean and very easy to operate. Gone are the days of splitting wood, dust and a mess in the house. I don’t think I will ever forget all the bark in the living room when I was a kid. I did like burning it though.
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Wednesday, November 7th, 2007
Well, Laura did anyway.
She was letting Holly, the dog, back inside this evening, (which is now dark by the way) when she heard something in the leaves. She told me about it and grabbed the flashlight. I told her I was going to go out the front door and we would surround whoever was out there. Somehow, Laura ended up going out the front door with me. I don’t think she heard me. So much for surrounding the enemy. Either way, we walked out onto the front porch and saw their eyes sparkle in the moonlight…two hungry deer.
I ran out on the lawn and watched (and heard) them run away into the neighbor’s yard across the street. That’ll teach ‘em. Yeah, right. I walked downstairs and grabbed my big sprayer full of deer spray and had my way with all the trees on the property. Now, the whole place stinks to high heaven.
Tomorrow, I will wrap the trees with fencing.
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Wednesday, November 7th, 2007
I know, I know, I complain about the same thing every year.
I kept forgetting to spray my three new crabapple trees with the Liquid Fence deer repellent spray. I sprayed them before, but it seems like every time I do, there are heavy rain showers. Even though the spray claims to stay on in the rain, everyone knows that is just a dream. By the way, if you are going to buy this spray, purchase the concentrated bottle. It goes a much longer way than the other pre-mixed stuff.
So, the deer have been nibbling on the end tree. I thought the other two trees were a different breed that the deer weren’t interested in, because they weren’t touched. Well, this morning, I noticed that the trees were bare. When I say bare, I mean the wood was eaten too. The damn deer even broke a few branches to get to the leaves at top.
I love animals, but at this point and want to strangle these deer. Today I am going to the Depot to get some of that see-through black deer fencing. I will take a picture for you.
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Saturday, October 6th, 2007
It has been a very dry Autumn. It has rained only once in as long as I can remember. My memory isn’t that great though. The one time it did rain was a heavy downpour for a few minutes. You know, the kind of rain that rolls right off the hard dirt?
I have been out watering each night, trying to keep my young trees from drooping. I like them fresh looking. Now, if I can just keep those annoying hungry deer away from the bottom branches, I will be set.
Anyway, I wanted to show you a nice Red Maple in the front yard. It’s strange…usually, the leaves just change color and drop. This year, because it’s so dry, some leaves actually are getting crunchy right on the branches and then dropping. Weird. It better rain soon. Here is the photo…
The leaves around here are very pretty right now. I would say they are in the first half. I have seen very few trees with all their leaves down.
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Wednesday, September 19th, 2007
I thought it might be a good idea to give some mad props to my sister, Laurie. True, she is not part of the “Young Astronauts” program, but she’s ok anyway.
Laurie took some very nice photos of the dogwood trees in her front yard. I thought they were good enough to publish on one of the hottest sites on the world wide web. Here they are, let me know if you think she has a future in this stuff.
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Tuesday, September 18th, 2007
This morning’s drive was a mixed bag…sunny in some parts and foggy in the rest. I thought I got some really cool shots of the fog, but they ended up to be just gray.
If I was able to stop on the side of the road today, I think I would have been able to get some really interesting photos. There was cool fog mixed with the Newburgh/Beacon Bridge and some clouds were hanging about half way up Mount Beacon. Since I was on the highway, I thought I would look like a herb pulling over to take pictures. Also, I probably would’ve been killed by that one 85 pound woman driving that huge Suburban all alone. I thought it was a bus.
Anyway, to the pictures. One of them actually has some leaf change…
Ok, this isn’t the one with the leaf change. It’s a pretty picture of a field. Remember, this isn’t too easy to do while driving. I think whoever was driving behind me probably thought I was drunk.
Here is another good shot of some trees.
This is the one with some color change. Right in the center of the photo, you will notice a little something peeking out. Actually, there was some action today, but I didn’t get too much of it. I will have to make more of an effort next time.
I thought this was pretty neat. I was sitting on Rt.208 in Montgomery, waiting to turn left to get on Interstate 84, when I looked to the left. Up on the wires were some birds. Since it was cloudy, I was able to get a nice pic right into the sun.
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Saturday, September 15th, 2007
What a weird feeling I had all day. The temperature feels like it’s around 60 degrees and it’s quite breezy. It feels like the seasons are changing. I am sure there will be some more annoyingly hot days, but I think it’s here.
It’s nice, but it’s not. It’s nice because something new is around the corner. As everyone always says, “I get to wear all my really cool sweaters again.” The only problem with me saying that is the only cool sweaters I have are the same cool sweaters I had last year…and the year before. Still, I get to wear them. It’s not nice because I am going to have to wait until the Spring until I get to see all my trees grow again. Sounds strange, I know.
I say that I don’t ask for much, but I actually ask for quite a bit.
I was driving to work the other morning when I just happened to look to the right. I was on Interstate 84, heading East towards Newburgh. When I looked, I noticed the most beautiful piece of land. There was a field and a lake, with the mountains in the background. That’s when I told myself that I don’t ask for much. All I wanted to do was walk around that field with a nice hot cup of coffee. That’s really all I wanted to do. Then I started thinking about how maybe that’s all anyone really wants to do. When people go on vacation, they sit on the beach or go to the mountains. They like to take it easy and enjoy the beauty. Well, that’s what I want for my whole life. It’s probably unrealistic to think that I will be happy taking it easy, when my personality type is ambitious. Oh well, we shall see.
So, I was thinking, even since Laurie wrote the comment wanting to see some photos of the Autumn up here in New York, perhaps I would just walk around and take random shots of whatever. I mean, sometimes those are the best types of pictures to look at. What’s nice about the end of summer is just what my Uncle Bob said; the way the sunlight hits you just a little bit differently than before. It’s quite noticeable.
Here we go…
This is the front yard. Not much of a leaf color change there yet.
Just a weird shot of the driveway, my car and the road in front of the house.
This is the side of the house. I am not sure that my rock walls get enough attention. So many times, when I walk up and down that beautiful stairway, I tell myself, “Self, you really had no idea what you were doing, but it still came out A OK.” I mean really, when does anyone really ever teach you how to build a rock wall and a stair case made out of 6×6s?
I took this picture when I was driving through Walden, NY the other morning on my way to work. As you may have been able to notice, it was spur of the moment. Please don’t try to change me.
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Saturday, June 2nd, 2007
I decided that this was the day for me to go out to my local Agway and pick up some Tent Caterpillar killer.
On the way, I thought it might be a good idea for me to swing by the local nursery to see if they have any decent trees. I am still looking for two to plant as shade in front of the house. I got to the nursery and took a look around. They had some good trees (not many), but were about 400% too much, compared to what I have been seeing around. No wonder no one ever goes to this place.
I drove back towards Agway. When I pulled in the parking lot, I noticed these fantastic looking Plum Trees. I couldn’t believe their fullness and great color. I said to myself, “I must aquire such beautiful trees.” That was a little joke, I didn’t really say anything beyond something about them looking good.
I walked in towards the entrance and struck up a conversation with a nice couple who were purchasing two of the same type of tree. They were all excited about how lucky there were to find these for only $20. Well, there was one left and I didn’t need much selling at that point to know that I wanted it.
Well, here she is…a Thundercloud Purple Leaf Plum (Prunus cerasifera). Ain’t she pretty? As I was looking around, I noticed a few Maples hanging out in the corner. They were around $28, so I figured that I could grab the two of them and my tree shopping would be done for the year (yeah right). By the way, here is a good journal about a Thundercloud Purple Leaf Plum.
The above picture is a Red Maple – October Glory (Acer rubrum). Now don’t get all nervous and try to offer me your opinion of the tree being planted too close to the house. It is meant to be. I am looking for shade, remember? As it grows, I will trim it. If it gets too large, I will take it down and replant another one.
Oh, by the way, Agway didn’t have what I was looking for as far as Tent Caterpillar control.
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Sunday, December 17th, 2006
Believe it or not, this is the first year Laura and I actually went out with the intention of bringing back a Christmas tree. I am not sure why we never had one before…probably because we just never got around to it. Well, that all changed today.
I spoke to Paul yesterday and happened to mention today’s agenda (Christmas tree). I said we would probably go to Home Depot or something and just grab one. He said, “No, you less than intelligent, but well intentioned friend. Go to Bell’s Christmas Trees and cut down your own.” Well, I hadn’t thought of actually cutting down our own tree. Somehow, and I do mean somehow, the thought of driving my “kill” home on the roof of my car was a little weird, but I got over it as soon as I pictured myself walking around thousands of pine trees with a saw in my hand.
We woke up nice and early this morning with the goal of beating the crowd up there in Accord. We made it out of the house by 9:30AM and were at the farm a little after 10AM. Like Paul said, there was hot chocolate, a saw and a little sled to drag the tree back to the car with.
The tree farm was better than I expected. You kind of never know what you are going to get up in these parts, but the trees were in great shape and there were plenty of them. The acreage was very clean and the employees very helpful. It was so nice to take our time and stroll around in the great weather (50s) for a while before stumbling across “the one.”
She was a Blue Spruce. She towered over me. She was a beauty and stood about ten feet tall. We thought for a few minutes about how we would fit a ten foot tall tree in the house. I kind of wasn’t listening because my mouth was already watering at the prospect of me putting a picture of me standing next to a ten foot tall tree on my blog. We agreed that a taller tree is better than a shorter one because we could always cut it if we needed to. But, my friends, don’t forget that we have thirteen foot vaulted ceiling in our living room. I cut her down and fastened it to our sled.
Let me give you a small peek into my mind right as soon as I tied it to the sled. “Man, I have about ten puncture wounds on my left hand from these needles.” That’s right, the needles were like little razors on a mission.
Now, let me give you another little peek into my mind as soon as I started dragging the tree back to the car. “Man, this is a very heavy ten foot tree.” Yes, again, that’s right, the weight of the tree created a magnified friction effect between the sled and the ground which, in turn, created a slower and more painful half-mile walk back to the car than if we had no tree at all. Laura helped pull during this agonizing trip and mentioned something about how mules felt. I told her this was no time for jokes and silence would be appreciated. Just kidding, I would never, ever talk to someone like that, especially Laura, my queen.
During our trip back, we paused for a moment to snap a photo of one of the hillsides. This was taken for the blog too. Ok, you know my secret. I take pictures for blogs, now forget about it. When we made it back to the home base, we paid the extra dollar for the nice men to tighten up the tree for us through their machine. Then, some generous guy in the parking lot helped me load the tree on top of my car.
I have no pictures of me dragging the tree up out front porch steps and into the house because I was too busy being maimed by the pine needles, but Laura took a few nice ones after we stood the tree up in the stand.
Not bad huh? She’s giant. We already put some lights up on it but need some more. I am going to grab them tomorrow and then I will post a picture of the final product. All I need now is some Egg Nog.
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