Oct. 7-8, 2011

Wow, another 4 week period without getting out here. That's too long. Sally did come out during that period to tend the garden, but I was out of town 3 weekends in a row.

Weather/Garden

The first week I was gone there was heavy rain, 5+ inches. But then it dried up again and you could tell it. The garden needed watering badly and my baby trees had only a few leaves left. (I believe deer were responsible for most of that.) The burn ban was off -- good news. The temperature was also nice, about 80 and sunny each day. The walnut and ash trees were turning, so the hills were pretty (haven't seen any change in town yet).

Sally picked more butternut squash, and the plants continue to put on fruit. They were stretching out into the yard and I had to move them to mow. A few of her fall garden seeds had just barely sprouted. The jalapeno continues to be prolific, but the bell pepper is barely hanging on. The summer spinach has survived and we had some with our eggs, and new baby spinach is sprouting.

Tarantula

We usually see one of these guys this time of the year, though I don't recall any last fall. This fellow was moving fast across the road down by the pond when I was mowing. Luckily I had brought my phone camera and was able to get some snap shots. I just put my boot in front of him and he climbed right up -- I wanted to get a picture with some perspective. I've hear the males move out of the nest in the fall and venture out on their own. They always seem to be traveling like this guy was. The others we've seen have all been right behind the house.

Mow/Weed-eat

The grass was heavy and high in the normal spots, elsewhere the weeds had to be cut. Some areas, like across the spring and around the swing, had been mowed in 8 weeks. I also took the brush whacker up the road, around the cattle guard, back down the other side, and did the hill south of the house. More is needed, but there is no rush this time of year.

Flag Trees

I'm getting ready for brush hogging and so walked the creeks trying to find the pecans I put out years back so I could flag them. I found 3 along Plume Creek and 5 along Gum. Many of those had leaves coming up from the root, so they aren't getting any bigger. I'm surprised anything survived this summer. I also flagged along the line of pines back and above the pond. Found many deer scrapes like shown here on a young pine. Maybe I should take up hunting.

Thistle

While mowing I had noticed some thistle by Plume Creek, but when I went down to flag the trees I forgot to get a shovel and a bag. I ended up pulling up several patches and just laid them in the back of the truck to take to the house and bag. This was a mistake because I was bouncing up the road I could see the seeds flying out the back. Oh well.