Fall From My Yard

     The other day I took a few minutes to take a look at fall colors around my yard. Once leaves turn color here it doesn't take long and they fall off. 

     So here are some photos taken from my yard on Oct.

My cheerful little white birch

Already some leaves have fallen

My green ash. Yesterday, Oct.10, most leaves had fallen from the ash.

Some birch beauty contrasted with cedar

My neighbor's birch trying to help brighten up a gray sky

      Happy thanksgiving to Canadian followers and anybody else who cares to accept good wishes.

Fall Gardening

      Gardening is winding down in this part of the world.  I think of vegetables first when gardening is mentioned. I like planting vegetable  gardens, watching them grow and eating the fresh produce as it comes directly from the soil.

I can taste these by just looking at them

A few beets are still left.

Onions have been pulled for a while so that they can dry and be stored.

The onion crop was poor this year as they didn't have time to complete growth.

I will leave the miserable sunflower for birds to pick through.

The remains of the bleeding heart

The bleeding heart in prime time.

Who couldn't like bleeding hearts

     My Dad and maternal grandfather were skilled gardeners. I guess my brothers and I were influenced enough that we all like gardening. For my Dad the vegetable garden produced a major proportion of food.  Vegetables were processed or stored and had to last to the next summer. In Dad's day produce was not sold in stores. A vegetable garden was vital.

     Sadly gardening comes to an end each fall. I have to harvest the late produce, clean things up and work the soil. I have just a small garden patch and I work everything by hand. I use a fork to work up the soil. My soil has become very hard in the last few years so I'm trying to add plant material to soften the soil. I get two loads of shavings and work them into the soil. So as well as good food I get a tremendous amount of exercise and fresh air.

    So I've had a wonderful summer with these plants and will be ready next spring to start over again.

...and I Give You Crows!

     Now is a very active and interesting time for bird migration. First, I had a visit from Brewer's black birds. Common grackles should have been with them but were absent. Then, I had robins preparing for their trip.

    I can't miss out on commenting on the crows I'm sending south!

    Crows start their preparation for migration about the end of August and the action grows larger and larger though September. In the evenings crows fly in a steady stream. The width of the flock is narrow( about 2 or 300 m). It is a constant straggly flow of birds through the evening hours. They are flying back from the fields where they have been eating all day to a favorite roosting site along the river. When they get to the roosting site there is a fair amount of fussing around until each bird has found a roost that he?/he likes. The opposite process happens in the morning when everybody wakes up and they fly out to the fields in that continuous line of birds.

     Most crows leave here about the 25 th of Sept. We still have a few left as I heard them on my street this morning.

   Crows are some of our earliest arrivals in the spring. They show up about the end of March and very soon start nesting. They spread out in the summer and then form these huge flocks in Sept.

   It's an interesting time to watch crows. Now I know some of you will not like seeing my crows arrive on your doorstep. However, there's nothing I can do about it. They have to eat.

   As with the robins, we always have a few crows that over winter here . We always count crows in our winter bird count.

    So look after my crows this winter and keep them healthy until they return to me in the spring.

Now I'll Send You Robins

     In my last post I sent you some birds that can be a bit of a nuisance. Brewer's black birds can form huge flocks and sometimes there are two or three species in the same flock. These flocks can be a nuisance if they stay in one area.

     For a couple of weeks or more we have had robins cruising the neighborhood. The flocks keep getting bigger as birds from further north arrive. So there are now huge flocks that fly exuberantly though the neighborhood. I watched today and there would constantly be three or four robins in my back yard. They don't stay long before they suddenly buzz off and some different birds arrive.

    So in a few days this large group of robins will gradually move south. Some of them will not go too far south. A few will even stay here of the winter. Every winter I see robins and robins are always in our winter bird count.

    When I was in Inuvik in the 1960's we did not see robins. Now they have robins and robins have nested on Banks Island which is 400km (250 mi) further north and over the Beaufort Sea. When I backpacked in the Rockies one of the most common birds above the tree line was the robin. Robins will nest on the ground even  when trees are nearby. So robins inhabit a wide variety of habitat. 

    People like robins and robins behave themselves. So today I'm getting ready to send you something nice.

I'm Sending You a Big______________

     I'm sending you a big flock of Brewer's blackbirds. In the fall we get Brewer's blackbirds for a few days. They come in an enormous flock. This is what happened the other day. Every tree was loaded with birds. They were on the lawns and finding lots to eat. They came in twice on Sept.22 and once on Sept.23  They were here for one day on early Sept. I'm not sure if they were two different flocks or the same flock that came back.

These guys aren't very mannerly( The picture was taken through a window)

    Brewer's blackbirds nest in the northern U.S. and Western Canada. They have adapted to a variety of habitats and food sources. They usually stay together in flocks of about 100. In the winter they stay in the Southern states and Central America down to the Panama canal.

    So in a few more days these birds should reach their winter territories and spend their time marching around yards, parks and open areas. They will probably inundate your feeders like they've done here.

I'm Learning How to Skate

     "Whoa," you say. "You post about skating often, so you skate."

      "Well, I sort of skate."

      I skate around the arena for an hour. I can turn ...sort of.  I can stop...sort of. It's a little like my bowling. I don't know how to keep score. I throw the balls and knock down some pins, but I don't know the proper technique.

    When I was a child I skated about four or five times a year. I had second hand skates that didn't fit. As a result I didn't learn to skate properly. I skated a bit with my kids. So most of my so called skating has been with the senior's group.

    I have asked two or three people to give me pointers on skating but they usually say, "You're doing all right."

    So in the back of my mind I thought of asking Bud for some tips. Bud has been a hockey coach and teacher. So the other day I asked Bud. Absolutely , he would work with me.

    "So," he said, "There are two things you have to learn: turning and putting the whole skate blade on the ice." This suggestion surprised me but once I got going it made sense.

    I had to consciously think about putting the whole skate blade on the ice. Once I did that many other things took place. First the constant tension in my legs disappeared. Second, I became much more stable and balance was not much of an issue. Third, it took much less effort to skate.  So one little change made a huge difference.

    Now turning takes technique and coordination. If you're turning left, you cross the right skate over the left skate. Now that sounds simple. If you've never done it it takes time. Once I learned to glide with the left skate while crossing the right skate over it became easier. Now I've got a long way to go but it's a step in the right direction.

   Now it took me a long time to ask Bud to show me some things about skating. So, adults are very hesitant about asking for help. I was a teacher and was used to giving out help rather than receiving help. So now I wish I had asked for some skating tips a long time ago. I'm improving my skating and it does wonders to one's self image. Why didn't I do this a long time ago?

When is Enough, Enough?

   In my last post I told how my careless maintenance of my bike lead to a serious challenge to my riding. I had begun to question my physical condition.

I'm so keen to ride I get my bike out when there's still snow.

    Last week I phoned my friend , David, to tell him I would help him take down a couple of trees for neighbors. David just loves his chain saw. However , David informed me that regrettably he was not going to take down the trees. David told me that his manager had laid down the law and that if he was going to live in her house he had to quit the chain saw and a few other risky activities. David heats his house with wood so he likes to t the wood from various trees he takes down. He also does lathe work and makes wooden bowls.

Some of David's bowls

    So there was another incident that would cause me to think about my activities. I am 74 and I cycle, cross country ski, skate and climb ladders. Now there's some risk in all of these for all people. For a senior the risk of injury is much higher. 

When I look at this I can hardly wait for snow!

Off to skate again

    Now you just can't stop everything because there's risk. Life has to carry on. However, if one has to stop these activities and a few others , it's not the end of the world. There's still lots to do physically. One just has to find something that is a little safer. Swimming would be fine! Step up the walking routine. This is what David did. He now walks 2 hours every morning. 

    I know that some of the bloggers I follow have discussions with themselves about the proper level of activities they should follow.

    I know I'm proud and that I have always been healthy and active. Some day I will have to take a very practical look at my situation and make some adjustments.