Some Bunny
Mailed out a few Easter cards, dropped off a few baskets, but the bunny is operating under restrictions this year.
Snowbow?
Sunny with snow squalls. Vast amounts of cool, clear air rushing by. And then snow. Followed by sun.
Mask factory in the basement.
While, above ground, Leopold benches being assembled.
April Showers
Perfect April showers.
Right amount of rain, at the right time. No duck-drownder, but plenty of moisture to really green things up. I can sit here on the back patio and watch grass grow, as it turns greener by the minute.
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”The hand lens and the snowflake were an awakening, the beginning of seeing. It’s the time when I first had an inkling that the already gorgeous world becomes even more beautiful the closer you look.”
—Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss.
Could Be Summer
Warm, humid, and windy. Feels like thunderstorm weather.
Morning devoted to a grocery shop—decked out in gloves and masks, with detailed shopping lists. Followed by back patio de-bagging and sanitizing before re-transportation into the house.
Meanwhile thanks to the Republican junta, Wisconsinites are forced to vote in person, which means Milwaukee can’t really vote, which means a tea-party judge will be elected to the Wisconsin supreme court, which means gerrymandering and voter suppression will continue and increase, which means tRump has a chance of winning Wisconsin again. Pure banana republic, and utterly disgusting.
Meanwhile, on a happier note: Pastel de Elote for dinner (along with ribs).
Around The House
Didn’t go far today. Morning walk through campus, afternoon walk on the east side trail.
Hellebores
Back of house—photo by Sue
More mini iris under the redbud—photo by Sue
Signs of Spring
Perfect day—warm in the sun, chilly in the shade.
Ducks At The Birdfeeder…
…and other stories.
After extensive research, half a dozen prototypes developed. Construction in earnest on the winner tomorrow.
Meanwhile, about a hundred hazel seeds, after 6 weeks of stratification, were planted. If these sprout as hoped, I hope to plant them hither and yon, and distribute to anyone partial to hazel (Corylus avellana), which in my book is a fabulous big shrub or small tree. Nuts attractive to wildlife (including humans who sometimes call them filberts), and the best tree for coppicing (and thus making wattle hurdles).
Hearts are everywhere around town (and all towns I do believe) as kids who are are cooped up have to cope. Surprised to find them in front of several cacti in the greenhouse on the UWW campus.
Freight Delivery
Delivery (and exchange) of items to Oconomowoc, and then to a meeting place (a county park) half way between Whitewater and Flambeau.
Through the screen discussion.
The lizard known as Jumpy.
Back To The Barn
Nite 300 has been returned to Roger’s barn for summer hibernation—to sleep away the months until next November, most likely. And to think she never sailed once all this past winter.
Next winter—high speeds on lots of black ice, and a victory or two.
Everybody Out Of The House
Sun, and a little warmth.
So everyone outside. Walkers—dog walkers, singletons, duos, families pushing strollers, along with various other dog walkers. Who knew there were so many captive canines in little Whitewater? We had to alter our trajectory frequently as we walked Pax around the prairie.
All good. Just everyone taking advantage of an improvement in the weather, and making the best of a bad situation.
Quiet Day In Whitewater
Chilly and gray. Fired up the chiminea (to incinerate the latest batch of windfalls and trimmings) and the Big Green Egg (in anticipation of a steak about to be grilled).
Above, a Ponderosa pine on campus (Pinus ponderosa). Not a native, but seeming to enjoy college life.
Let The Sun Shine In
A few breaks in the clouds, providing a bit of beatitude, though still a cool north breeze.
A few errands requiring automotive transport, though no human contact. Topping up the tank on the Rav was relatively painless.
Wet and Windy
Very windy. A couple of hours listening to Beethoven, several long dog walks, an hour on the back patio in the company of birds and squirrels, and chicken potpie made from scratch—not all bad.
Surrounded By Chickadees
Sit still on the back patio for a few minutes and you will be part of the flock as they dart from redbud to feeder to apple tree. Sometimes the juncos join them, and occasionally, a nuthatch, but the sparrows and finches are too shy.
On our walk today, on campus…not in the forest preserve as in the photo above, we came across a large flock of what I think were warblers, loud with very high pitched chatter, weaving, cutting, looping, and chasing each other. They swerve and cut so quickly I could not always keep track of their flight paths.
Other spring things: 1) the wood ducks (Aix sponsa) are back in Starin park, where there’s a big nest box high in an oak. These birds are really skittish, and well before you get close enough to photograph, will take off squealing like a stuck pig. And, 2) the spring peepers are out in full force, now in every wetland.
Fragrant Onion Tart…
…is on the menu tonight.
Photo above by Maddie. Thanks, Maddie, for permission to use on this blog.
Around here, we tanked up on six gallons of the world’s best water (at the ever-flowing well), and then walked in the Kettle/Moraine State Forest, where the fee box has been taped shut (as well as the outhouses). We were the only humans there.
Voting Day
We walked to the post office to drop off our absentee ballots. On the way some blooms.
And this Lutheran church. Are these the 95 theses that Luther nailed to the door?
Note the date—ante bellum.
Pollarding
An arcane art I’ve been reading about and now plan to try.
This tree, which I recently came across on campus, is one of the few examples I’ve seen around here. It could be beautiful when in foliage. Now that I know that it’s here I will be watching closely to see how it grows, and how the arborists tend it.
And this stump used to be a wild, snarly tangle of shoots, new ones each season growing three feet or more. I thought is was some kind of arboreal corona virus. But then the tree man who took down the big ash said “Hackberry,” and I, immediately thunderstruck, knew he was right. I love Hackberrys, and this poor stump just wants to be a tree. My plan, now that I know what it is, is to work with it, hoping that together we can grow into something fine. It’s the wrong place for a towering hardwood, but a likely spot for something carefully pollarded.
To The Chicken Farm
The chicken farm was today’s outing.
Rhubarb, getting started. The first real vegetable of the year, and full of vitamin C.
Beautiful, rundown farm south-west of town with views across rolling pastures and fields, down to the wetlands where cranes were making their presence known. The chickens there are very free range, but according to Margie, they all come back to the barn at night. We picked up one frozen bird and 36 pullet eggs. Interestingly, just one of these substantial birds provides us with four two-person dinners and two lunches, with plenty available for Pax, too.
Crane Spotting…
…on a gray and chilly evening—after a morning of snow.
Went with the neighbors—in separate cars, communicating by cell phone.
Pecan, Date, Banana…
…bread (made by Sue), is the kind of thing to warm a chilly day.
