Great Blue Herons Nesting at Cuyahoga Valley National Park

I'm so lucky to get to drive through a National Park a couple times a week. The Cuyahoga Valley National Park is right on the edge of Akron, Cuyahoga Falls and just about 6 miles from the border of Hudson Ohio where I live.

This week is especially fun because the Great Blue Herons are very actively nesting. You know those giant birds. They look like a teradytal or dinosaur bird... huge wing span but very long legs.

The largest nesting area (in the world?!) is right on Bath Road in Akron at the 3rd most popular national park in the country. Majestic and bizarre, I learned these unusual birds mate, not for life, but for the season. So next spring they pick a new mate I guess!

March 1st Feels Like SPRING IS HERE!

I know, I know. I'm just excited. Today feels like spring is in the air. I'm going to go out and take off the last remanents of Christmas decorations and blown twigs, maybe even finish raking some of those leaves that didn't get picked up when we got the early snow. Soon I'll be able to start working in my gardens.

WHOOT!

Compare this to almost a year ago on the first day of spring when we still had some snow around.

Cold, Icy Winter

Christmas Fun On Line

Don't you just love this time of year!? Fun, yes. But because I find it stressful, I'm always on the lookout for something that adds fun and cheer to the season, without a lot of work/effort!

Here's some fun interactive websites of Christmas Cheer:
Track Santa!
Explore the NorthPole and play games!
Disco Dancing Santa
Have a Tasty Fun Time!
Elf Yourself

Trying to Bloom Out of Season

I saw some really big buds on this rhododendron yesterday. Hope that this out of season bloom doesn't mess things up for gorgeous color in the spring. I'm planning to plant lots of daffodil bulbs this morning -- even in the rain!

Kale and Holly in Hudson

Raining today, so I'm really glad I got these photos yesterday during some sun!

Fall colors at my new office

Having Herbs at our Finger Tips

We brought this self watering container into the house about 2 weeks ago. Hopefully it will continue to grow and flourish throughout the winter so we can have fresh oregano, parsley, thyme and dill...

Time to Get A' Raken!!

Fall Colors

Lucky Loves Apples -- Norwegian Elkhound

Lucky likes to chase apples as much... or more... than chasing a ball. Maybe he likes the taste!

I've decided that he is a Norwegian Elkhound. Here's a photo.... what do you think? The indoor photo is a different dog but is a representative photo of a Norwegian Elkhound. Looks a lot like Lucky

I think he's pretty smart, but the breed standard is supposed to be just average. I've seen him catch sight of a ball or toy in the small dog section over at Silver Springs park and then realize he has to run down to the water, swim around the end of the fence and then come back out if he wants that toy.

Obviously he can't read (I think!) but he knows that space is for the small dogs and he's not allowed in it.

End of the Season for the Garden

This past weekend we pulled the tomato, squash and pumpkin plants out of the garden in preparation for winter.

The hostas and yellow/orange black eyed susan's have faded. I pulled seedlings from the Black Eyed Susans (the little short ones) and I need to pot up some of my daisy bunches for my sister for Friday.

Because I managed to reformat the SD camera storage card by using it in both a Nikon and a Canon, I am having trouble opening it in the computer. Yikes. Time to troubleshoot that problem.

Tree Down on the Hudson Green near the Gazebo

Of course the city workers had it all cleared up in about 2 hours after I took this picture. They really do a great job keeping Hudson Ohio's green looking great.

Storm Damage - not too bad

I just keep thinking about the folks in Houston and Galveston. Here's our little bit of storm damages... and it wasn't even really classified as a storm!

Bird House Gourds

Pumpkin

This little pumpkin came from the seeds of a "100 pound" pumpkin. We'll see how much it grows before halloween -- only 2 months to grow!

Vegetable Garden 9-1 compared to 7-2-08

Hot and dry this September 1st.

Green and Lush this past July 2nd.

Hummingbird on the Deck: Lunchtime in Hudson Ohio

Hummingbird

It's hard to sneak up on a hummingbird! Yesterday was so hot, they were much braver so they could get some nectar. Either that or they're getting used to us! They were battling it out -- not good at sharing with each other!

Deer at Dawn

I put my hand over the flash, but this little guy was startled anyway!

Tall Tomato Plants

The plants are really peaking now. It's amazing how many green tomatoes we still have.

More Susans

Black Eyed Susans

The little tiny dainty black eyed susans have rounded petals and the cut ones stay in the vase much longer.

I don't particularly like how hugely tall they are (5 or 6 feet!) because they block out the big black eyed susans that have longer petals.
The big black eyed susans remind me of daisys but the little ones, although similar color, look like a totally different flower.

When you look at them closely, there are lots of difference. The little ones are about 2 to 3 weeks after the big ones.

Many of the big ones are starting to fade, but the little guys are just starting.

Nice for continuous color!

Hummingbird at the feeder

We have several hummingbirds that visit and you can tell who is who by the color of their throat. It's always fun to catch a glimpse of them before they take off thru the backyard.

I didn't expect them to land on the feeder to drink... for some reason I thought that they would just hover like they do above the flowers.

Red Sky in Morning...

Sailors take warning. It's supposed to be a beautiful day today!!

Taken just 20 minutes later.

Flowers from the Family Reunion Garden

Pretty Petunias

Deer in the Backyard

Two Bucks with horns were eating apples right off the tree this morning at 6 am. They hear everything! Every time I tried to move around to get a better shot from the house, they'd stop and stare. Then they slowly wandered over to another tree. Then meandered back around the pond and slowly into the woods. Not even really flicking their tails... just mosied along. Probably two brothers, since they looked to be the same size and age.

Old Apple Tree

Can't believe that the top is still green and producing apples!

The Vegetable Garden

I got mixed up over squash and zucchini... The first vegetables are definitely zucchini.

Black Eyed Susans - First Day July 15

Self Watering Container

We read about this kind of self watering container but it didn't work out as well as we wanted.

Blossoms of Squash and Peppers

The Vegetable Garden of Delight!

Mountains of Pumpkins, Butternut Squash,
Acorn Squash and Summer Squash.

Bee on a Butternut Squash flower.
The Birdhouse Gourds have grown up and overtop of the trellis. I can't believe what a difference great compost can make to a garden!
A peek at the green house door in the background with green beans, cucumbers and asperagus ferns in the foreground -- click on image to see the big photo!

Baby Pine Cones forming on a Spruce

A couple of years ago we planted a whole bunch of pine trees. * I say we in the royal sense... actually I didn't even touch the shovel!!

But the result is several rows of pines that are taller than me. At first when I saw this, I thought it was a weird deformity -- probably because I never saw it up so close before. But I think it's the baby pine cones just beginning to form on one of the spruce trees.