Wednesday, 5 July 2023
We had a bit of a cloudburst this morning that filled the water barrel—almost filled it, actually.
The day was rain-free, although often overcast, until late afternoon when we had off-and-on pitter-patter, and right now it’s sprinkling again. That pattern made doing yard work difficult, although the plants are MUCH happier. I’ll bet the grass won’t be crunchy tomorrow (which is an improvement).
Sunday, 2 July 2023
Previous summers I have had multiple opportunites to take foggy morning photos. This year I suspect it’s been just too darned dry for the fog to form. So, I was excited this morning to see the fog thicken as the sun rose, and went to to capture images. Since I now have a clear path from my activities with The Beast, I headed out into the field for a different perspective than I usually get from near the cottage. After this shot, and a few more steps, I scared up a sleeping deer, which huffed-snorted at me for the indignity.
Also, the day stayed cool longer in the morning, which made my almost-an-hour with The Beast easier to endure. Still humid, though….
Saturday, 1 July 2023
Golden-lit potentilla.
My morning fun…exercising The Beast.
The Beast…waiting.
Last summer, we bought The Beast to frustrate, and hopefully to ultimately remove, an invasive grass that has very strong stems and out-competes the “normal” pasture grasses. Of course, this is no longer a pasture, nor doesn’t anyone hay it, or otherwise manage it for agriculture. Just. Too. Much. Effort. [Yes, more than operating the beast on hot, humid, hazy days. Long story.]
Thursday, 29 June 2023
The smoky haze continues to hang here; you can barely see the other side of the lake (approximately three miles). Thankfully, yesterday and today it didn’t smell smoky outdoors.
Meanwhile, on land, the lupine blooms have mostly become pods—still green—as Fabaceae do.
Monday, 26 June 2023
We did a wee bit of time travelling this evening and watched “Yellow Submarine.” I’m sure I never saw it before. Great music; I sang along with all the songs!
Sunday, 25 June 2023
This yesterday-photo better illustrates the lake level than one from today would. Today has been breezy and variable, with 8-inch rain—as in drops eight inches apart…meaning enough to note but not enough to make any difference to the vegetation or even a measuring device. Note that there is beach, or enough sand exposed to be called beach, for the first time in, what?, two decades or more? I forget.
In my youth (yes…), the beach at the point (this view; this point) was sometimes twenty feet wide. You might be thinking “climate change” and that probably is not wrong, but more, it is the result of the lake outflow being far more heavily restricted, which has the effect of raising the lake levels. For years, it has been much higher, like on the order or two feet, than in the past. This means increased erosion, among other things.
Our lake is shallow, historically usually less than eight-to-ten feet across much of the basin (which is on the order of three by six miles), so people with their big speed boats, that is: MUCH bigger than the rowboats that we used to use, have been much happier with the greater depth, while…blah blah blah. I’m for the historic levels, but I’m probably in the minority of landowners with lakefront property.
Friday, 23 June 2023
We’re in another hot and dry spell. I’m glad I watered these beauties earlier, or I don’t think the blooms would be as substantial as they are. Now I’m back to watering to maintain them—fingers crossed.
Tuesday, 13 June 2023
Let’s stick to a hyper-local news cycle: we got more rain, and it lasted a while, but it was so light I wouldn’t call it a soaking rain. That surprised me; on the other hand: what do I know.
Sunday, 11 June 2023
The lupines are just so lovely. I like this bicolor specimen, and I’m not a huge fan of pink. It’s okay, even lovely, but not usually a favorite. Perhaps its the pairing with magenta that sparks this for me….
The BBC published this map showing wildfire data from NASA and “firms” data from the first eight days of June. There’re far more fires than I gleaned from news reports…they’re all over…well not ALL, but many scattered places.
Saturday, 10 June 2023
Finally, we got morning rain…not much and not a soaker, but more than nothing…enough to cover the bottom of the rain barrel a couple of inches deep.
[Note that the barrel is indeed tilted, so that overflow will be on the side opposite the cottage.]
By afternoon, the “wild”flowers seemed to have renewed energy to push toward more than two leaves.
And the black raspberries are in bloom, and the bees busily visited (not pictured). I admit I’ve been watering these, hoping I’ll get a couple of ripe berries before the birds take them. Time will tell.