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cheerz2you
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Recent Entries to this Blog Snow, ice and artic temperatures
Posted: 01 Feb 2009
Those Red Tail Hawks are everywhere!
Posted: 24 Jan 2009
I thought that racoons were nocturnal
Posted: 15 Jan 2009
Bambi and friends visit again!
Posted: 12 Jan 2009
Garden Catalogs
Posted: 08 Jan 2009

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cheerz2you's Blog

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Snow, ice and artic temperatures

Category: Potpourri | Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2009 9:29 pm

I have had enough...really I have. While my husband was traveling last week we got hit with another storm that stretched from Texas to New England. This is that storm that took out power for a lot of folks in Kentucky. The storm brought snow then changed to sleet and then freezing rain. I got the snow blower out and took care of the driveway just before the sleet kicked in. We left the sleet since it was good to add some traction on the ground. Right in front of the garage, which faces North, never gets sun. So I used some 'ice melt' to take care of that. I spent two days working on the driveway to make sure that nobody visiting would fall and think 'lets sue'. I did such a great job that there was no ice! Friday morning, after I brought my oldest to her car pool and got out of the car, I wiped out on 'black ice'. Sheesh! I have seen the chiro 3 times since that happened and I can now sit again, walk normal and the bathroom isn't a moment of 'seeing stars'!

Imagine the driveway all carved out, no ice and snowbanks on each side. Ok, have that visual? Someone who came to deliver something had some issues backing up and did a fine job compressing my 'strip garden' along the driveway. :( I won't know the damage of that until spring. I am hoping that the ground is so frozen solid that nothing happened. The day after I noticed the garden tire track it seems someone else drove backwards onto the grass/snow. Same person? No idea! This seems to happen every year and every spring I am out there putting new topsoil down and new grass seed.

Please Mr. Groundhog...predict an early spring!

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Those Red Tail Hawks are everywhere!

Category: Potpourri | Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2009 2:27 am

Well this week has just been nutty. I have been doing my part as a volunteer preparing for a private school fundraising auction. While I was at one of the co-chairs home the other day and getting ready to leave I heard this wild screech. I looked around and didn't see anything. I saw her barn cat hanging out trying to get warm in the late morning sun. I got in my car and shivered while waiting for it to warm up when I heard the screech again, but it had to be closer because the motor was running. I looked to the left and up in this very large hemlock tree, there it was, the Red Tail Hawk! It spread its wings and began to glide right towards me! I had a moment of 'what is this thing going to do?'....then I remembered the CAT sitting in the sun.. I quickly turned and saw the Hawk trying to come in for its kill, but the cat was wise and ran into the barn.

I was at her home again most of the morning and mentioned what I had seen the other day. She didn't know that there were these birds around. She seemed a bit alarmed but felt confident that her 'barn cat' (rescued from a shelter) would be able to hold his own. Maybe so. But, I told her, if your cat goes missing any one of these days or has injuries, then it could very well be from that hawk since I saw it trying to get her cat.

I have been seeing quite a bit of them all over the place. On the highway heading to her home there was one sitting in between North and South bound right on a jersey barrier. I thought WOW not at all spooked by the cars and noise. I saw another one as I approached my exit and it was sitting on top of a light pole.

I really don't recall seeing so many in such a small area. I think they are here and surviving no matter what the environment and elements are offering. They are really pretty birds and I really do hope more show up in my yard!



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I thought that racoons were nocturnal

Category: Potpourri | Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 2:11 pm

When I was off picking up my youngest at her school several parents and I saw this racoon dart out from the woods and 'trot' all around the school. The garage to the main school house was open and it went inside. One of the moms decided she was going to head over to the door and give a heads up to the teacher before the little ones were dismissed for the day. She was about half way there when this thing came running towards her! She made it back to her car and the racoon turned and headed towards the front of the building. We lost sight of it and a few moments later and then school was let out. This racoon didnt look particularly mangy, but it didn't look like a mom racoon either hunting for food. We were all a bit nervous for all the little ones as well as any parents who didn't see and were just arriving; some got out of their cars. Some of us yelled over to those newly arrived and told them to be on the lookout, but that racoon never came back.

I have had rabid racoons in our backyard and called the police. They have come and 'shot and taken away' these racoons for testing. It was always positive. This racoon did not look like the ones I have seen in the past. It was just kinda freaky to see this animal trotting along the other day especially near the school.

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Bambi and friends visit again!

Category: Potpourri | Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 2:43 pm

Not long ago I posted a picture of the deer that we spotted in our backyard. Over the weekend we had another snow storm and once it cleared out 4 deer dashed through the snow and stopped to visit their local cafe'....my backyard. We all watched them as these young deer found their way to my Yews again. This time we laughed and said...won't need to go out and trim them this spring we have free help :) I let the yews grow upwards last year and only trimmed and shaped from front and back. I wanted them to get a little taller to serve as a nice back drop for some of the flowers that grow in front of them. The deer didn't stay too long because there must have been some noise outside that spooked them.

Deer are very common here and even though there are many around, when they stop by their local cafe' it causes everyone to stop and watch. They are so graceful when they run as if in slow motion and I wonder how they can run through all that snow an not trip on large branches that have fallen throughout the woods and hurt a leg or two. This reminds me of the next story:

A couple years ago in the spring when I was working on one of the gardens out front, my girls were out back playing. Not long after we were all outside I heard them screaming "MOM!!!!!!!!!!!!" I dropped my garden tools and started running thinking some bad thing happened. They are old enough and responsible so I knew I didn't have to babysit their every move. We ended up meeting in the driveway halfway when they said 'MOM....there is a deer leg in the backyard!' OK GROSS I thought...no way! I went to where they led me and sure enough, there was a leg from the knee joint down and not that old. ICK...I don't know what happened to that deer but I do know we have coyotes out there too. I told my kids to stay on the grassy area and not in the garden where they found this leg and later had my husband dispose of it through a burial.

Last spring while I was prepping the 'driveway strip garden', I was moving some plants around and dug up a hoof! Ok..now I was working in that part of the garden last year quite a bit and there was no hoof. I have no clue how that got there. I carried it way out back, dug a hole, placed it in and covered it up. I wonder what the heck I will find this spring!

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Garden Catalogs

Category: Potpourri | Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2009 4:15 pm

The companies that send these things out must have great knowledge about mailing them to folks who have snow on the ground. It gives folks like me a chance to sit there and dream of 'what it can be or what it will be or even, can it be?'

The last few years I did purchase some new seeds from a catalog and had some fun with them. One of my biggest plans is to find the designated area I want to start them in and broadcast it to those who like to help me weed all these gardens. I think I need to make a skull and cross bones to remind them. I had a tiny little Sweet Pea growing and ya know, it looks just like grass! It got pulled but guess what! There was enough left in the ground for that little thing to come back and show me what it was made of :) I have found that Liatris is the same exact way as daylillies...This is why I started the 'designated area' HANDS OFF area except for me. This has worked and I implemented this just last spring because I thought I'd lose my mind!

I am thinking of not buying anything new this year for several reasons. One, the money and trying to save it. Two, I am in the process of moving a garden and need to see what space I have for what plants. And, three, I don't think I have any room anywhere right now even if I want to buy anything.

So to the companies that send this stuff out at the most appropriate time I say Cheerz! You have the psychology down pat by selling and targeting for the cabin fever people like me and want some bizzare heat wave to show up so we can go out and play in the dirt!

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Get Digging!

Category: Potpourri | Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 3:15 am

This will be a great place to share what I have growing, share my success and failures and look for opinions or guidance for my yard!

I have seven (soon to be six) gardens. The seventh garden was just so full of poisen ivy that once spring came and everything exploded in growth...that was it. So I continually watched the flowers, weeds and poisen ivy grow. This garden is right next to the pool and in the summer I'd be in the pool, get to the edge and try to envision what to do and how to do it...whatever 'it' was. In this garden were two giant Ash trees and they began to develop some disease. This was a progressive thing and over the years we had lost a few branches. We found a tree specialist who hires a tree climber rather than having some company come in with a cherry picker to do the job. That was pure entertainment! What an art to that job with precise cuts and controlled drops. With all the tree debris that garden got quite crushed. I have a bunch of day lillies in there that I thought for sure were goners. An Azalea bush got crushed and I thought that was dead as well. Once we cleared out most of the debris and light was able to get on these areas..they grew again! :D The plan of attack for the spring is to try and dig up that bush and transplant it. This bush has been there for about 30 years and I am not sure how this will go. The daylillies I am now convinced are like weeds and will grow without much attention. Before all the tree stuff I spent weeks moving and creating a newish garden at the property edge on a hill that is partial shade. Some of the forget me nots from last year exploded and are happy there so I was please with that. We hope to get this area clean out and work with the pitch of the land since there is tons of water in when it rains and lots of errosion. I think with a clean pallet we will have success. It will definately take time. I need to start work on this as soon as the frosted ground thaws since we get slammed with skeetos..I am their breakfast, lunch and dinner :( So that is on my mind big time right now. More to come on this project I am sure!

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