Saturday we hosted Billie Jo’s wedding shower which was organized by Barbara and Maureen. Pre-party activities included preparing food, blowing up balloons, and streaming crepe paper.
There was a variety of entertainment, including making TP dresses. Dakota, Bella and Kaylee got the treatment.
Billie Jo was surprised.
Wendy, Billie Jo and Maureen
We have been getting a LOT of rain lately. The ground is saturated and we got another continuous day and night of rain on Tuesday. Wednesday am Kathryn arose at 5:20am to go swimming. I got up, dressed, threw in some laundry and when Kathryn returned I drove to the HP HS and picked up 305 fish worms in about 20 minutes. The largest of the HP parking lots slopes to the south and has a storm drain at the bottom. I have found that hard rains wash the worms that crawl out onto the pavement down slope towards the storm drain. Since the worms are cold and somewhat flaccid from not eating much over winter they are hard to pick up. I used a plastic wire tie which I would slide under the mid-point of the worm and then dump them in a cardboard milk cartoon containing some leaves. I think I only touched 2-3 worms total. Once home the worms got transferred into a muck bucket filled with leaves and covered with damp towels. This is their home until we decide to go fishing……
Thursday I did yard work. I planted four trees I received from Miller’s Nursery:
These supplement the 3 existing dwarf pear trees I already had. I put in a Vanessa Seedless grape vine and 20 asparagus plants (10 Supermale and 10 Purple Passion). I had given Linda B. and George M. each a clump of rhubarb and I used the new space for expanding my existing asparagus bed. The picture below shows sprouts from my existing asparagus, the expansion area and the remaining rhubarb plants.
I mowed our lawn for the 1st time.
I celebrated the 20 year birthday of my Volvo 240 (106,000 miles) by washing and waxing it.
The hailstorm we received on Tuesday provided marble sized hail that made pock marks in our hot tub cover.
Sunday we took another hike. Up Kirkland hill, reversing the loop, going out to the logging road, to the old foundation and back through devastation field. In some places the trail flagging we had placed was over our heads now that we lost 2-3′ of snow.
We saw this chipmunk.
Eric picked daffodils for Kathryn to decorate the house prior to Billie Jo, Maureen and Wendy coming over to make wedding favors. He was carefully clipping each one, making a pile and then counting to ensure he had enough.
My peas are coming up and my tomatoes are sprouting.
On Saturday I dug up my grapevines and transplanted them to the new arbor. In the evening we walked to the pond and fed the fish. There were actually several catfish and a few bass that were active and eating.
Friday afternoon Kathryn and I took a hike around the 3 mile loop that we skied and snow shoed this winter. Needless to say things look different. The daffodils we planted just across the road are in full blossom and are scattered about the woods.
Back by cook out corner there are lots of purple trillium in bloom.
Parts of the ski trail were really wet. Especially so after the record thunderstorms we had earlier this week. We saw this Skunk Cabbage at the start of what is now a the Swamp of Many Flags.
We found these begonia looking plants in a bog near one of the deer stands. After further research we identified them as Marsh Marigolds. Related to Buttercups, but causing skin irritation when handled. We discovered that every part of the plant is strongly irritant, and cases are on record of serious effects produced by rashly experimenting with it.
This weekend I dug up two clumps of rhubarb – one went to Linda Boucheron and one to George Mierek. So now we are down to 3 clumps of rhubarb. I plan to use the extra space for 25 more asparagus plants.
On Saturday I got our seedlings from Oneida County Soil and Water Conservation District. The 20 Blueberry bushes went in the yard and were mulched with pine needles to make the soil more acidic.
Most of the Douglas Fir seedlings went into the rough area near the silo. The rest went in along Kirkland Road and 6 along the SW corner of our yard.
Our early flowers are in full bloom daffodils in our yard.
Last fall we experimented with naturalization of daffodils in the woods. We planted ~50 bulbs in the south facing slope across the road from our house. They were hard to plant due to the tree roots. Surprisingly most all of them seemed to sprout and some are starting to blossum already.
We were looking to get in a quick overnight trip before black fly season. Looking at the weather report for the weekend, things didn’t look very promising, with high winds, rain and freezing temperatures forecast for the weekend. So Skip and Jim decided on a short Friday night overnight trip with plans to extract before the bad weather arrived mid-day on Saturday.
Jockeybush Lake is a 1.1 mile hike up a 200′ grade with two small stream crossings. Access to the trail head begins across from Lake Alma on Route 10 with parking is adjacent to yellow and brown trail sign. The trail follows a stream that flows from the Jockeybush Lake into West Sacandaga River.
A beautiful rocky stream with several small waterfalls comes down from the right about halfway to the lake.
Since we were only staying overnight we packed light and decided to hike sans snowshoes. At the beginning of the trail we found compressed snow left from previous snowshoe hikers.
I packed in a pair of waterproof, 20″ NEOS Trekkers which I proposed to use for the stream crossing. The overboots were just a little small to fit over my hiking boots however, after an initial use Skip found he could easily slip them over his boots.
As we gained some elevation there was more snow cover. Hiking involved trying to stay on the packed trail or risk a quick post hole. Although we didn’t need snowshoes the lack of gaiters meant our boots filled with snow overflow and soaked our socks.
The south east end of the lake has a beaver dam across it, allowing one to cross to an area of large, flat rocks. The view of the lake from this spot is wonderful, however we found it occupied by a couple and being buffeted by winds sweeping down the lake. We followed an unmarked, but easy to follow trail around the north shore of the lake to a location where large granite ledges provided a scenic view.
While Jockeybush Lake was covered by ice it was slowly melting back from the shoreline.
We utilized a fire ring near the shore for cooking our brats, but set up our tarp on an open area back in the woods. We lowered the windward sides as much as possible. Despite 20 mph wind gusts during the night the shelter stayed intact and upright.
During the evening we heard a horned owl from across the lake, but otherwise slept great.
The next morning we discovered the fuel canister that Skip had packed for heating our water was empty. So we had water and granola bars for breakfast and hiked out. The hike out was easier and quicker due to the snow setting up in the cold temperatures overnight.
Eric’s 2nd grade class held a Spring jazz concert along with the 4th grade. They sang two songs and then combined with the 4th grade on a grande finale. The concert was well done and short.
After we got settled in from the concert we heard a car horn and saw an orange glow. Kathryn looked out the window and saw a car on fire. She called 911 while I got dressed and ran out to see if there was anyone left in the car. The flames were 12′ high when I tried to approach the car. There were mini-explosions as glass, containers and the tires exploded from the heat. The Floyd and Holland Patent fire departments arrived shortly.
Unfortunately the gas tank ruptured and the water being used by the HP truck merely spread the gas and fire into the adjoining field. Fortunately a unit arrived from Floyd with foam which doused the gasoline fire but remained for a long time afterwards. The car was a 2003 BMW with 103,000 miles being driven by a young man.
The next day the evidence of the fire and the foam still remained.
Last night we went to Hamilton College to hear Anders Halverson the author of An Entirely Synthetic Fish: How Rainbow Trout Beguiled America and Overran the World discuss his book. It was enlightening. Who knew that Rainbow Trout had such a limited native range and were so heavily promoted.
Suppose that, more than a century ago, U.S. government officials became concerned democracy itself was at risk because men seemed to be less virile. And to reverse this trend they decided to populate streams, rivers, and lakes with “an entirely ‘synthetic’ fish”—quarry with which Americans could rediscover their abilities to capture and kill animals. And suppose that, up to the present, these creatures were still being produced and distributed on a massive scale, sometimes even being trained like gladiators and pumped full of the same supplements as the best human athletes so that they would provide a better fight.
Such is the true story of the rainbow trout. Sometimes vilified for their devastating effects on the native fauna, sometimes glorified as the preeminent sport fish, the rainbow trout is the repository of more than a century of America’s often contradictory philosophies about the natural world. Exhaustively researched and grippingly rendered by award-winning journalist, aquatic ecologist, and lifelong fisherman Anders Halverson, this book chronicles the discovery of rainbow trout, their artificial propagation and distribution, and why they are being eradicated in some waters yet are still the most commonly stocked fish in the United States.
Although I wasn’t at work on Friday I spent a lot of time answering data call issues over the potential government shut down. Fortunately by Saturday there was resolution of the issue.
Eric’s pal Jack got off the bus with him on Friday after school. We invited his parents over for dinner and had a nice chat.
Saturday we continued raking gravel off the lawn. I planted peas and started my fishworm collection. I trimmed my old grape arbor and took down the wire in preparation for moving the grape vines. Kathryn & I performed trail maintenance across the road. Several large limbs/trees had fallen during the winter and they required chainsaw surgery. Eric and Harrison wanted to play “Mantracker” but took off so fast and went so far they were never challenged.
We discovered the red tail hawks have a nest in a tall fir tree directly across from our house. It has been interesting watching them come and go.
Sunday Eric had Trevor over for the day. Kathryn and I trimmed trees around the hayfield, including a couple that had fallen out into the field. Eric and Trevor dug up “useful stuff” out of the garbage dump along the stream. We also moved the basketball hoop and set it up in the driveway for games. It got used for games and H.O.R.S.E.