Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Birds, Melons, Spiders and Country Living

This past weekend I did, among other things, water the plants on the front porch of the pond house.  As I reached up high to water the highest hanging plant, I was greeted by the sound of hurried and flapping wings.  Within a few seconds, at least one adult bird and several baby birds spilled out of the hanging plant, the plant in which I must presume, they had made their nest.



Well, I couldn't do much to help the situation, so I finished watering the plant and then took photos of some of the little birds...and hoped that because I did not touch them, once I left their territory, mama would call them back to the nest and all would be fine...until the next time I water.

This morning at the farmhouse we discovered the second melon to develop blossom end rot.  We took the melon from the plant and cut it open to inspect the interior.  Benson, the King of Nosy, had to perform his own inspection.


We "treated" the goats to the two halves of the failed melon.  They seemed completely oblivious to the fact that the melon was neither ripe, nor desirable...to them it was a TREAT!


Since I really DO have a day job, and really DID go back to work last Tuesday, I spent the majority of the day at my desk, conference calls and the like filling the hours until my legs screamed to go for a walk! Once I finished work, as the late afternoon was threatening rain once again, I headed into town to pick up supplies, check on the pond house, etc. When I went by the house, I checked and the birds all seemed to be back in their nest, because I heard a whole lot of chirpping when I went near that plant!  I do have to wonder about the mother bird who, knowing that plant typically gets doused with water every few days, would choose to build her nest there!  But what do I know?
 
When I returned to the farmhouse, it was dusk, and as I drove under the carport, I saw three big, beautiful does right at my garden...eying my melons and sunflowers and tomatoes.  Well, I had known this was coming... I live in the middle of the woods, abundant food for deer all around, but my garden was destined to be their preference...  When I got out of the car, they sauntered off into the woods, but I have my doubts that my garden will survive the night.  And what EXACTLY was my "guard dog" Killian doing while three marauders were prancing in the lawn???? Naturally, she was inside the garage, taking a siesta! If the melons do not make it through the night, at least I have photos of their promise, taken this morning.  And at least the goats had a chance to enjoy that ruined melon.


Work on the farmhouse proper has yet to begin.  We have been spending all of our time getting the property so we can drive around without sinking to our axles in mud, and planting a few "test" crops to see what shows promise.  Nevertheless, someone has been VERY busy remodeling the old farmhouse.  This spider is all about decorating the front porch as only she can do...or is this a HE?



At the end of the day, as I sit here and reflect, I am struck mostly by the beauty of nature...of things growing and changing and being completely, predictably, unpredictable.  I do very much enjoy this old farmhouse and property....it's been six months since I closed on the place.  That day the entire place was under snow and we had no idea what spring and summer would bring us....




16 comments:

V.L. Locey said...

Very cool pictures, thanks for sharing!

Leigh, Andrea Leigh Gil said...

Great story with a great ending! Im Leigh by the way and Im really enjoying your blog!
-Leigh

PS (Sha... we also have blossom end rot on our melons too... almost all of the watermelon is bad. I didnt think about giving them to the goats!)

Sharon said...

Your place is as beautiful in the winter as in the summer! You really do have a winner there.

Ah, the deer, I'm sure they love the melons! Hope you get at least a couple good ones!

Judy's Corner said...

Hey FF... thanks!

Judy's Corner said...

NIce to make your acquaintance, Leigh! Thanks for the nice complements. I sure hope we get at least ONE edible melon....

They DID survive last night! (must mean they are not yet ripe enough to suit the deer!)

Judy's Corner said...

Thank you Sharon... I do think it is beautiful, but believe me, it is a LOT of work to get it into shape... it was neglected for many years, I have a hunch.

pj said...

hey judy from gloucester aint seen you in ages, its pj from gloucester UK lol bet you dont remember me from the ebay blogs, king, chief and ive forgot the rest lolol

Judy's Corner said...

pj!!! Sure I remember you...although keeping up with your changing names was always a challenge! How are you doing? What are you doing since the end of the eBay blogs?

pj said...

ive not been upto much, still on ebay selling under highland-views now lol
iam on facebook when i can be bothered with the place, its like being in a morgue most of the time and so is multiply lolol

Judy's Corner said...

LOL.. I'm on FB too, but haven't really been "hanging out" there. Life's been super busy here... Still doing eBay, of course...never quite made my way to multiply.com...

Nekkid Chicken said...

Hey J,

I to followed the sitemeter link you put on Sharons. Managed to get the counter however, No Confirmation email. ACK technology at its finest.

Doncha love those argiope spiders? They have a large variety. I love their web, large size and mellow behavior.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argiope_(spider)

pj said...

no chicken that would be you and technology at its finest put together roflmao


trust me judy, as moooooom would tell you you aint missing a whole bunch at multiply, youd be better of going to a morgue theres more life in one lol

i will say ebay has been good to me for the past 3 weeks, they must be feeling guilty for putting a hold on my paypal funds for some stupid reason, they must be putting peeps my way roflmao

Judy's Corner said...

LOL Mal... I wonder why both you AND Sharon had no confirmation email.... It works fine for me, and it is free.

Yes, I do love those spiders...and they grow SO quickly!

Judy's Corner said...

pj,

my eBay business has slowed to a virtual crawl, but I am not too concerned about it, since I am in the process of moving everything and setting up my eBay trailer, etc. etc.... I am not impressed with the changes at eBay, for sure, but I am too busy to hunt a better venue at this point!

If you want to friend me on FB it I am there as Judy Fletcher.

pj said...

i hear ya about the changes on ebay
yea paypal just decided to screw me over and had no reason they could think of when i called them to ask what was going on and what was the reason for it just to be told they didnt know which did not go down to well with me and they got told so lol

Nekkid Chicken said...

HEY! I could be offended by PJ poking at my lack of technical skill but --- I TAINT SWEATING HIS CHOCOLATE BALLS OF ANGST.

BAWK Take that you fake highlander!

See ya Judy! LOL