Heidi Chronicles: A New Year Begins!

Scutler, I wonder if Heidi's body needs some of the oils found in sunflower seeds? My Bitty will get like that when she's getting close to delivery. She's a dog, but the vet said to add a teaspoon of canola oil to her dry food in the last couple weeks of her pregnancy. Don't know, but couldn't hurt. Bitty weighs about 26 lbs.

Hmm, doccat, that's a very interesting observation and idea! Do you think the raccoons would hate extra virgin olive oil? That's all I have around right now.

BTW, I saw your espalier article last night and am really looking forward to reading it! with so little room and such a love of plants, I'm quite a fan of espalier. I have 2 apple trees and 1 peach espaliered on my backyard fence. Of course, in my yard the downside of such treatment is that it that the fence serves as a 'come and get it' super highway for the critters to steal the bounty, but the espaliered trees are actually quite beautiful in their own right - even when trained in my somewhat less than perfect geometric patterns. I dream of adding a red pyracantha on the side of the house and a Monet like row of apple trees along the property border on one side -- to feed the deer, lol.

I have to get outside and get to work right now but will look forward to reading your article tonight. I'll leave you a note when I do.

Thanks, scutler. They are just so elegant looking, besides giving all that luscious fruit. I'm seriously considering doing espaliered apple trees as a living fence on the long frontage road. We too have critters we feed, but there's enough to share. LOL

makj,

I was a little confused but didn't want to ask. Was it the squirrel (as apposed to the dog) that you led out of the yard and that was jumping off of your leg? That's how I read it the 1st time but when I re-read it I wasn't sure - and I re-read it because if it's the squirrel doing that, Wow! That is incredible. I'm thinking about cultivating a squirrel friend myself. I used to be able to walk right up to them when the little scoundrels were on the feeder, but they seem to have long memories. After I ran them off from the feeder a few times 5 years ago, now they all run when I open the back door.

LOL, doccat!

Not in my yard. My cottage garden of sorts is only 6 or so years old, so maybe in time, but I kid you not I can't get a single peach, apple, grape, strawberry, blueberry, fig, you name it. I have several columnar apples and several espaliered ones and so far have only managed to snag a single small apple ONCE. The critters eat all of the peaches while they are 1/2 size and still very green. I watch the birds scarf down 1/2 green blueberries; I managed to get ONE berry to sample a few years back but only by grabbing it before it was fully ripe. Ditto the strawberries and figs. Last year I photographed grapes each day starting when they were tiny specs. The grapes disappeared (and the time lapse photo stopped) when the grapes were the size of the average pearl.

Nope. In my yard, there is never enough to go around, and the critter don't share. With all those fruits and berries growing in my own yard I have to buy from the grocery store for my own consumption. But, for now, I do enjoy the beauty of the plants and the wonderful feeling of knowing that my efforts are helping to feed lots of hungry critters. Lately, I have been considering some ways to try to save a few bites for myself though.

You are quite welcome Re the article. I was excited to see that title.

Whew! Are we loading slow or what? Looks like I missed the new thread cut off a few dozen posts ago. Where are my spotters? Have to get out to work in the yard right now but will fix that this evening - after I recuperate, that is.

I understand, we have to run the deer out of the pear trees all the time. The squirrels have a lovely time in the pecan and that's a hoot to watch since they run along the adjoining fence line to get to the tree and the Boston's go berserk. I do believe I saw a squirrel flipping them off last year.......... LOL They also love my black walnuts. We do get a fair amount of those, since even the deer don't care much for those. These are getting tired, you can see that. I was thinking about buying a couple of the newer hybrids which bear much earlier. Don't know if those can be espaliered but I'm going to check on that. They are such big trees at maturity, I'm not sure they would take well to that method. And I do think we have enough room on that corner to add a couple almonds and maybe another pecan. I find nuts trees are fairly easy to maintain organically. Fruit trees are a whole nother ball game, but it can be done. And I make sure I keep the soil as healthy as possible. It really does make a big difference.

Run the deer away from the pear trees? LOL. 'My' deer graze in the middle of the night when I'm asleep. They make the 1st pass at 10PM and go from there.

I'm doubtful about the chances of a good outcome in trying to espalier black walnuts or pecans.

Neem is the strongest thing I've used on the fruit trees and I haven't used that for years. I do loose some apples to insect damage from time to time but overall things have been going quite well in that regard. In fact, insects and disease do far less crop 'damage' around here than the critters do. It helps to think of that huge gang of birds, bunnies, deer, ducks, raccoons, opossums, peacocks, ducks, and who knows what else as my extended family of pets.

Anybody notice how well I'm procrastinating on starting that garden work?

My deer alarms are bigger than Widget and there's more of them.......LOL The deer do move, but not with out a lot of "oh yeah, right" looks at the dogs. LOL

>>Looks like I missed the new thread cut off a few dozen posts ago. Where are my spotters?

Cheryl -- i thought you were going out the the garden HOURS ago.

Congrats, makj, on your new "grandsquirrels"! I hope you get to see them soon, and esp. hope you can get pics of them to share with us. :) Also looking forward to Heidi's new batch of kits--more "grandraccoons"! How wonderful that you're feeling better, too, scutler!

doccat -- I have considered getting a big dog for deer patrol, but I would also have to invest in the radio fence to keep him in my yard. Haven't had the time to deal with it. I bought that scarecrow device that sprays them with a harmless but frightening stream of water. It works but I have to remember to turn it on and off everyday so I don't give the meter reader a shower and/or heart attack, so it isn't without its annoyances.

LOL, Terese!!! I should have because I've been out since my last post and believe it or not it's HOT out there! I just came in to get a drink and wipe the sweat off my brow. I'm going to add a sweat band before I go back out - in February! Naturally, the neighbor put the annoying dog out back to serenade me, too. Scream! Thinking of taking a boom box out with me when I go back. Sure I could use an ipod with ear plugs but why be quiet when I can add to the noise pollution? An hour and a half of that incessant and unnecessary barking has brought out my bad side again. Hmm, maybe if I get one of those devices that makes a loud screaming sound to scare off wildlife and take it out with me only when that loud dog is out there. Wonder how that would work? Anybody have any poison darts?

Oh, that reminds me! While I was outside, a tree fell in the forest behind my house - and, yes, when a tree fall in the forest and there is no one there it does make a sound. There are a number of dead and partially dead and leaning trees back there, probably left over from Hugo - '89, but our forests still haven't fully recovered. The raccoons often use those leaning trees for ease of travel and a comfy place to rest since the leaning trees have large sections of trunk that are near horizontal and easy to walk on, etc. For a minute or so after the tree landed (with a heck of a final thud and after a few mini crashes as it met with it neighbors on the way down), I heard loud and distressing screams of the wildlife type. It was awful to hear, and I couldn't help but wonder if the tree had brought down a nest of some kind. Whatever did the screaming sounded more hurt than upset. Then there was a moment of two of silence quickly followed by the scolding chatter of squirrels. I could not identify the distress cries, have never heard them before.

No, sorry, I can't go back there to look for survivors. It is marsh land. Swampy with thick undergrowth and quite treacherous for humans. Depending on rainfall, there is often a body of water back there but I've no idea how deep. I've no doubt there are all manner of snakes back there, as well, and given that there is water, probably even gators. Several people have tried to go back there and failed. A couple of life-long, accomplished hunters, accustomed to going through swamps, and equipped with hip boots and such even gave it a go and came back without getting very far. No, as much as I would love to go back there and help any injured creatures, especially babies to get to someone who might help them, I cannot go back there.

Well, break time is over. Here I go back out. No I'm not taking the boom box. I'll just take the giant, noisy lawn tractor and all my weed wacking, blowing, trimming gear. With all that stuff going I probably won't be able to hear the dog anymore.

well, at least you know Heidi has not had her litter yet.... so it wouldnt have been her family.

Is a shame... but the thing i always have to tell myself, when something in nature upsets me is.... it happens all the time, and I rarely witness it. nature is nature, no matter how cruel.

Does your HOA have anything on "disturbing the peace"? [yapping dogs]
our village has an ordinance for 'noise polution' which includes 'yapping dogs'

i have considered a few times to call on my neighbors [across the street]
but the dogs only bard obsessively when they are not home ... that includes nice summer nights when my windows are open and they bark way past midnight.... keeping me awake.

a few years ago i actually wanted to call the humane society, or whom ever handles cruelty to animals - because until 2 yrs ago, they kept their 2 labs crated in the garage, no matter the weather.... 20below or 110 in the shade.

the way i see it... some people just should not have pets, just like some people shouldnt have kids.

opss, sorry for the lil rant... but it's true.

: )

I didn't think it a rant at all, but thanks for making me feel more normal - although certainly . I cannot BELIEVE that people leave dogs in the garage for extended periods of time. My neighbor - same one - used to do that with the pit bull, the one that attacked Widget and later a small child. After that they couldn't trust the dog tied up in the yard - which I also find unconscionable for a long term solution, so they locker her away in the garage for a year or more. It doesn't get so cold her as you know but they left her out there in the sweltering heat and humidity until the police came to cart her away. I had seen the dog lying on her side with her nose sticking out the small gap the left in the garage door. I suspect that one or more of the many people who walk by on the sidewalk daily must also have seen and reported this. I didn't report it, but to be honest, I feel guilty for not doing so. Someone needed to take action to advocate for the dog's welfare as she was powerless to help herself. Thankfully, someone more courageous than me did so. (Even though she had broken free from her ties and gone after dogs and people, I really don't think she was a mean or bad dog, just young, frustrated, lonely, and poorly socialized. She was a very lovely dog and I truly hope the authorities were able to find her a good home...Now if they could just send someone to get that nasty tempered, little barking machine.)

I need to check the HOA rules about that and the city rules since the HOA is merely an extension of the existing city rules. I'm also thinking about starting a log as someone advised - in fact a DG'er from my area, though not my specific community. The adults are home over there right now while the dog is outside barking, and I know that they actually put the dog out there - tied up on a leash - because he bothers them inside; they told me that once in general conversation. Since the dog annoys them, barks, pees on the carpet, etc, - instead of training it or getting rid of it, they tie it up outside all day and stow it away in the garage at night. Some life. I agree with those who said it already. Why have a dog if you never want to be around it? Please, please, city officials come and get this one,too.

Yes, you are right about the tree disaster. We can't save everyone/everything no matter how we try. While I doubt that any of the raccoons have babies yet, that doesn't preclude the possibility that it might have been one of the adults sleeping up in the tree when it fell though I SURE hope not.

Now what was I supposed to be doing? Oh, that's right working outside, so unless this laptop is in the yard...

Hey all yes that was the squirrel jogging down the road with me, I wanted to make sure she was out of the driveway before we left. I think she thought I was playing. she goes between my parents house and ours, and my mother said she got to pet her today, I can't believe she let her do that, she is one hungry little girl, lastnight she sat and ate all the stuff I gave her, one nut after another, then it was getting darker and I watched to make sure she would go to bed and take care of those kids:) I watched her dance through the branches and then go into the nest and as she did I heard some squeaks:) oh I would love to get a look, I know wait. I will

What a sweet little squirrel, makj!
What a horrible sound that must have been, when that tree fell, scutler--heartbreaking to think some poor animals may have suffered. I pray it wasn't any of your beloved babies.

Ruth,

As for the climate thing, for most of my life I was ultra cold-sensitive, freezing solid and unable to move at around 50F, but now I seem to have reached a point in life where I've done a 180 and am now blissfully happy running around in a tank top with a light over shirt when it's 40F out and everyone else is bundled up as though heading to the North Pole. When I was intolerant of cold, I didn't love the heat here but found it tolerable and preferable to the alternative. (If you freeze up at 50F, you pretty much have to hibernate for winter in areas where the 20'sF are normal.) Now, however, not only am I happiest when it's a bit chilly out, but I am quite intolerant of heat - and these days I think 80F is hot! So, whereas I used to think I couldn't live anywhere north of here, now cooler areas are starting to look more and more attractive to me.

North Carolina is one of the places on my radar right now because of the excellent artist community there. I see a lot going on in Raleigh, Boone, Asheville, Outer Banks, etc. Another plus for NC is that it doesn't feel so very far from 'home', just a little step to the side.

makj -- That sounds awesome to have the squirrel show such trust in you!

KyWoods,

Thanks. I really am feeling great now! Totally all better. And after 3 different diagnosis from the Dr, 2 wrong and 1 we can't confirm one way or another, my body ultimately healed itself. Definitely not an exact science.
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I, too, have my fingers crossed for the raccoons. Heidi wasn't there tonight. The dog was still barking and some kids were playing loudly in a backyard a few houses down - sounded like a party. I waited for quite a while, but with all that scary noise I knew she wouldn't show. As soon as I sat down, however, I 'saw' the missing tree. It was a large tree, maybe 50ft or so that had been draped across the other trees and resting at about a 45deg angle with the ground in the area behind my house. The raccoons had been using that one quite a bit as they could step from the limb of a neighboring tree onto one end of the trunk and then easily walk upright along the reclining trunk for quite a distance before transferring to another tree. That tree made it easy for them to cover a good distance while staying high above ground and thus safe. It is also the tree that I photographed Fraidy resting in one day at dusk - a very dark picture. They appeared to have a camp site of sorts in an area where a nearly horizontal section of the leaning trunk crossed and rested against the trunk of another (upright) tree. The intersection of the 2 trees created a pocket of sorts where they seemed to feel very comfortable lying around. There was a lot of debris, looked like maybe leaves, pine straw, twigs, etc, in that nook. Not sure if the raccoons put the debris there or if it just collected over time.

There are still a number of squirrel's nest back there. Not sure about that tree.

Really a shame about the tree, and I share everyone's hope that no critters were seriously hurt. If the tree had already been leaning on that much of an angle, it's unlikely that any raccoons were using it for a nest site. Likewise squirrels, since they like to nest as far up a tree as practicable.

Keeping a log of the dog's barking (dates, times, how long it went on) is a big help if you need to call animal control. Do they think that dogs housetrain themselves, and that it's therefore the dog's fault if it's not trained? Or that dogs are evil for "acting out" in a variety of obnoxious ways, including excessive barking, when consistently ignored and neglected? Just don't understand some people.

You're right, there are a lot of active and interesting artist communities in the areas of NC you mentioned; Asheville has a great folk art center as well. Raleigh is too hot and steamy in the summer for me, but probably doesn't get as bad as your hometown. Interesting how our internal thermostats change as we mature; I never enjoyed hot weather, but now purely can't stand it. Hey, you can add clothes when you're cold, but there's not a lot you can do when dying of the heat...

Hi Ruth,

From my interactions with them I actually don't think they understand that dogs can be trained, and I'm not kidding or being sarcastic. They never try to tell the dog to be quiet, and I've never seen them try to change the behavior of either dog. Very strange, but thankfully, the dog was not outside today. Ahhhh. So I had a very stress-free day of gardening with nothing but silence and the sounds of nature.

Believe it or not, I have finally reached the point where I'm thinking about gardening in my bathing suit - since that's about all I can take off outside and still be legal. Only in the backyard behind the privacy fence. I don't mind so much if the critters laugh at me as long as I can stay cool enough to get some gardening done in mid summer when I usually have to give up and stay inside.

Also, I read somewhere, might have been in tips section of recent gardening magazine, about using one of those portable canvas shade things (not sure exactly what you call them). The are square, maybe 10ft or so, with a canvas type 'roof' and 4 metal poles to hold it up. Many fold into a case and weigh only 35lbs or so. I hadn't thought of using it for gardening until I read about someone who sets one up and moves it around the garden as she works. I think that might help a lot. My yard is all sun all the time. Absolutely 0 shade except for a narrow strip on one side of the house for part of the afternoon, but none in the backyard. That makes it really awful. I think a 'tent' to provide shade while I work might just be the ticket, at least for now.

BTW, at 11AM this morning while I was fighting, cutting, and pulling invasive vine from one end of a flower bed, I noticed that my back was burning - THROUGH my pants and shirt! The sun was behind me, now shade, and believe it or not, I could feel the sun burning the skin on my lower back. Isn't it still February? Wow! I think I've mentioned this one before but by June my camera which has a black body, starts to get so hot that I can hardly hold it to take pictures of the flowers in the backyard. Not even kidding. Now that is bad, isn't it?

Today I noticed that the magnolias - the Japanese types sometimes called tulip trees - are blooming, the amaryllis are sending up stalks, and the Lady Banks rose is loaded with blooms. It's here! This (attached photo) is for you! Photo taken yesterday. Note from the stamen and such that these are past there prime and so did not just open recently.

Ok, so I finally made the new thread which is here: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/814836/

Hope to see you there!

Lord, scutler, that is just beautiful!! I have to share this youtube video with you ladies of a certain age, it is just tooo funny. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1TVOXdNkFo
We lost our big magnolia about 2 weeks ago in high winds. It had been hit by lightening about 2 years ago and I have been babying it hoping I could keep it alive. It just breaks my heart, because it was a huge beautiful tree, I do have another one, it's not quite as shapely, but I'm going to try and propagate the seed off of that. These are magnolia grandifloras. So they are not little trees. We've priced several of the local outfits to take it out and we've decided to do most of it ourselves. My oldest DS is going to bring his chain saw up and help his dad with this. Which is a relief to me, this is a big tree and DH is not 25 anymore either. The next door neighbor in the back also offered to help and he's another youngin, so maybe we can get that squared away soon.