Autumn arrives

Autumn is definitely riding the mist into the mountains. The leaves are beginning to turn and, in the case of the poplars, already fall. The days are still warm but the nights are clear and crisp. The resident deer have lost their fawn-colored summer coats and taken on a darker hue. They’re hard to see against the browning ground.

This year the deer spend time in the back yard without having to worry about a dog. We’ve been dog-less for a while now, and we’re looking for a pup. Likely deer vote “no” to a dog, but they have no say.

Without the dog we’re often not aware the herd of nine deer have arrived. Time was the dog let us know in no uncertain terms we had trespassers. Now one of us slinks to the window to peek out. Deer are skittish creatures. If they see or sense movement, they vanish like wraiths.

Being up early today, I sipped my coffee and watched for the herd to arrive - graceful shadows in the pale dawn light. Someday soon I’ll share my spot with a young dog and point the deer out to him.

Will he find the “critters” as fascinating as our beloved Lab did? I’m betting yes. Will he ever catch one? I very much doubt it, but he’ll have fun trying. 

And I’ll be reminded of past autumns, and other deer and dogs, and know this is where I belong as autumn arrives. 

Rayne

www.rayneforrest.com

www.twitter.com/rayneforrest

Dragonflies

I've had several blogs over the years in several blogging platforms. Having reached a point where there were just too many old, broken links to update, a few years ago I started over here at Twenty-Six Keys. This left me with a multitude of old blogs about my life in the woods in the files. Some of them are as relevant now as they were then. Today I want to share with you one of those old blogs. - RF

Blog notes

August 6, 2005        

Dragonflies

Every year brings something different to my little fishpond. One year it was a large garden spider, resplendent in her black and yellow garb and skilled in her spinning. One year it was a tiny garter snake that, thankfully, didn’t stay around long enough for me to be forced to remove him by any means at my disposal. Many years it has been frogs. This year it has been dragonflies, or maybe the damselfly. I'll call them dragonflies because I like that better. 

I much prefer the dragonflies to everything else that has been attracted by the sound of trickling water. The spider was fascinating; seldom do you see such as her around here. But she was a spider, and we weren’t friendly. Same with the little snake. I was accepting only up to a point. I pay property tax and they don’t.

We installed the pond over a Memorial Day weekend. I got ten “feeder” goldfish to start the nitrogen cycle. The fellow at the pet store advised against the feeders, saying they would never live. Aye. Right. Like they would live long after he sold them to someone to feed their Caymans. At least in my pond they’d have a few good months before winter hit. Those ten “worthless” little goldfish are now eight years old, and even spawned their own addition to the ranks. They aren’t so little anymore, either.

The first spring, a frog came. I’ve long had toads and salamanders about the garden so what was another amphibian or two? Well, I quickly found out I like snakes better than frogs. Snakes are quiet. Snakes are clean. Frogs are not.

A happy frog with his own freshwater pond wants a girlfriend. How does he attract one? He sings. He sings loudly and all night long, night after night after night until he’s finally caught in a bucket and safely transported to the nearest creek. 

Maybe the lack of frogs is why the dragonflies arrived in such numbers this year. The first one appeared in early June, hovering on shiny blue wings to check out the place. It wasn’t long before a second one appeared. Then more. They move too fast in their intricate flights to count. The number present doesn’t really matter but there are a lot of them. One was joyful and many are delightful.

Dragonflies are quiet - seen and not heard. They are clean except for the occasional shed wing floating on the surface of the pond. This surprised me at first but I quickly learned they shed old wings as they grow. The dragonflies entertain with their aerial acrobatics. We sit on the patio and watch them instead of doing our chores. Yes, they are a good addition to my backyard. I hope they return for many years to come.

Rayne

http://www.rayneforrest.com

Being Crafty

Years ago I published a monthly newsletter. While it was a lot of work, I enjoyed putting it together and including various writing tidbits, crafts and recipes. Like everything else in life, it ran its course and I let it go. Being a sort of digital hoarder, I kept all the editions. 

This time of year each evening we're spending time on the patio. With the bugs. The kind of bugs that suck your blood. We don't like the bugs. And because we don't like the bugs, we burn a lot of incense, which the bugs don't like. IMHO, keeping them at bay is better than killing them after they've taken a chunk out of one's ankle. 

Back in July 2008, I included an article in my newsletter, Forrest Whispers, on how to make an incense burner out of a wine bottle. Mine is a simple affair, for a simple country girl, but crafty people can get all sorts of ideas on Pinterest on how to create something fancier. 

Here's the entire article from the old newsletter.

= = = = = 

BEING CRAFTY

My honey and I enjoy early summer mornings and lazy summer evenings on our patio. One thing we’ve discovered is that mosquitoes do not like the smoke from incense. Our incense burner is a wine bottle, which looks very cool as it “smokes”. Here’s what you do.

Take an empty, clean wine bottle. How you get the bottle empty is entirely up to you. I know how I do it.

Using a special drill bit for glass, drill a small hole about an inch or so up from the bottom. Ask someone to do this for you if you don’t have the tools. Then find an old metal key ring larger than the opening in the top of the wine bottle to anchor the incense stick.

Slip the base end of the incense stick through sleeve of the key ring, light the incense and drop it into the bottle. The key ring will stand on end and hold the stick in place as it burns.

Wondering how to store the incense sticks close at hand and yet keep them from drawing moisture? Take a clear wine bottle (washed and dried inside, of course), drop in the incense sticks and cork it. Get several fragrances of incense and your storage bottle will be quite a colorful addition to your patio space.

Drill a few bottles and mate with storage bottles for gifts for your friends to take home to their patios.  

= = = = = = 

So there you have it. Some fragrant bug control for backyard living. 

Rayne
www.rayneforrest.com

Spring weather

Western Maryland has unusual weather. One day we're as hot as Washington DC, and the next cool as Pittsburgh PA. It can be downright confusing. Yesterday I wore a skirt to work to stay cool and today I wore a sweater. 

We've been keeping an eye on the weather for a very specific reason - setting up our little pool for the season. It needs to be sunny and warm before I'm going to wade in the cold well water to get the bottom of the pool flat with no wrinkles as the water pours in. 

Beyond that, the bedding plants are in the ground. So are four Better Boy tomato plants. I planted marigolds in a circle around them and I hope that keeps the critters away. It didn't last year but I live in hope. 

My beloved's sister wants some hosta so I must get busy and dig a few clumps for her. Two clumps will net her a dozen plants. I think she'll like that. 

I'm enjoying how green the mountain is right now, and my backyard. It's the bright, fresh green of spring but soon enough it will darken to the greens of summer. And summer will bring the humidity to the area. They do say the Mid-Atlantic states are Triple H. That's hazy, hot, and humid. 

I think I might as well prepare myself for cold feet and get the pool up and filled before the hazy, hot and humid happens. I'm a country girl. I'm supposed to be "tuff."

Rayne
http://www.rayneforrest.com