Chat Back for January 29

Responding to comments left since the last time I did Chat Back.

Judy S. asked . . .

Did you ever figure out what lives in your burrow?

And Kathy asked . . .

What is the critter you left us hanging about the other day????

I don't know. The snow has gathered undisturbed around the entrance and back hole, so whatever dug the burrow is either in there hibernating or has moved on to a new location.


Everytime we go for a walk, Glory (big dog) makes a point of running over to within two or three feet of the entrance hole and peeing to reclaim her territory. It may have worked.

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NMjewel asked . . .

When you get to it, I'd like to know how long the (Pointelle) leg is.

The leg from the top of the cuff to the start of the heel flap is about six inches, a little shorter when stretched out on my leg.

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Mrs. Susan Wike asked . . .

I bought Cookie A's book too and am dying to make a pair of Monkeys. What yarn do you suggest to make the pattern pop?

I suggest either a 100% wool or (my favorite) a wool nylon blend.

No super soft fibers like alpaca or cashmere blends. The softness will allow the pattern to “plop” instead of "pop" and the socks to expand.

Solid or almost solid colors show the stitch pattern best, but Monkey’s also look OK in variegated yarn, even one that pools. Personal opinion – Monkeys look awful with striped yarn.

Pick out a color you love and have fun.

Deer at Dawn

Morning Log.

It's almost 8 am and the dogs are impatient to get outside for their morning relief. It's not full daylight yet and I need to check for deer in the yard before I dare open the door to let dogs out.


Since I have nothing else to blog about today, I decide to grab my camera and see if there's enough daylight to get some decent deer pictures. There wasn't, but I didn't let that stop me from trying.


At first all I can see is one of this year's fawns.


Mom (guessing) came out from behind the tree on the left.

After making sure there were no cars coming down the road, I opened the window and told them to scoot. Four white tails leaped across the road and into the woods.

After a minute, the dogs and I left the house for our early morning walk.

Chat Back for October 24

Answering questions from comments and email.

Pat said . . .

You sure are staying true to the Cookie KAL

First time ever. I'm not usually a KAL kind of knitter.

As first my dog, then my mother, then my husband all got seriously ill throughout the spring and summer, I enjoyed having something easy but interesting to knit that I didn't have to think about and plan for.

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Shirley asked . . .

Do you plan to knit Cookie socks next month?

Yes, I tentatively plan to knit next months socks. At least one of the selections unless I don't like either of them.

All the socks I really love in the book - the twisted stitch designs and the gorgeous cabling - are left to be chosen. So far they've mostly selected the ones I probably never would have knit without the KAL. Though I have to admit I did enjoy knitting them, all except Wanida.

I wonder how long they're going to keep the KAL group going with the small number of people who are actually finishing their socks. When I looked this morning there were only 30 pictures in the October finished thread.

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Kellie asked . . .

I am wondering about your trout. Is this their spawning time, or are they just lost?

It's their spawning time. Every year the last part of October they struggle up the creek. Some of them die, but most are OK.

It's a pretty constant procession, three or four an hour night and day for a few weeks.

I've been told they come from the Paw Paw river.

The creek is cold and clear with a nice sandy bottom. The trout that come up it are about 30 inches long.


Some readers are telling me the fish are salmon, some are telling me trout. Both are right since trout are members of the salmon family.

From Wikipedia on Trout:

Trout are a number of species of freshwater and saltwater fish belonging to the Salmoninae subfamily of the Salmonidae family. Salmon belong to some of the same genera as trout but, unlike most trout, most salmon species spend almost all their lives in salt water. Trout are classified as an oily fish.

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It's been raining on and off, but mostly on, for the past three days. Leaves have started to fall.

Braking on a layer of wet leaves in the road can be almost as slippery as ice and snow.

Wednesday Wings - Ladybugs

They're all over the south and east sides of the house and they want in!


Most of the trees on our property are oak, not big on autumn color.

In a normal year the oak leaves turn brown in November and fall to the ground when it's too cold to take care of them until spring. If we want autumn color, we have to drive down the road.

This year is a little strange. Although October has been colder and wetter than normal, we are overdue for a hard frost. The tree colors are lovely and this big oak tree even decided it could show a little bit of yellow.


Normally by now the hosta leaves would have frozen, thawed, and turned into a pile of mush on the ground. I don't ever remember them standing long enough to show their pretty fall colors.

The yarn would be looking spectacular with hosta color if 90% of them hadn't been eaten by deer.

Wednesday Wings - Young Blue Heron

I love it when a heron decides our creek or pond is hunt worthy. They are so pretty.

They stand perfectly still for long periods of time just waiting for dinner to swim up. Then they dip their long beak into the water and grab the unfortunate, unsuspecting prey.

Heron pictures need to be taken out the window. Glory, our 13 year old lab mix, is still alert enough to spot the herons before I see them and she chases them off. She thinks it's great sport and I'm not sure I could stop her even if I was quick enough to try.


Live in a wetland and there will be snakes. We have harmless water snakes in the creek and pond. When they spot a human nearby they get in the water and swim off as quick as they can unless they're digesting dinner and can't move.

The heron like to eat the small young water snakes, but I've never seen a heron grab a snake this large.

This snake didn't move while I walked back to the house to grab my camera. There are no obvious dinner lumps distorting its shape, so I'm guessing it was just too cold to want to move out of the sun.

Monday Monday

Monday Monday, can't trust that day,
Monday Monday, sometimes it just turns out that way
Oh Monday morning, you gave me no warning of what was to be
Oh Monday Monday, how could you leave and not take me.

Six thirty this morning I woke up with a start to DH Bob saying, "I don't think Sunny is OK."

She wasn't. Her back was crippled up and she was walking stiff legged and in pain.

I jumped out of bed and started her on a round of steroids. At 9:00 I called Dr. Baker, her vet, and got instructions for what to do next. More steroids. Lots of steroids for three days, then start to taper off. If she goes back into pain, go back to lots of steroids.

She is looking better this afternoon, so I'm hoping we caught it in time to stop the spinal swelling before her muscles clench up.


The east deck where we keep a ten foot plank full of sunflower seed for the birds is full of possum poop. Way more possum poop than should be possible.

The possum come up on the deck in the middle of the night to eat dropped seed. Evidently they're incapable of putting food into one end of their digestive tract without shooting poop out the other end.

I should be out there cleaning it up instead of inside writing about it.

Because I like my readers, you get a picture of a pretty male Red-bellied woodpecker eating sunflower seed off the plank instead of what's underneath the plank.


Possum (I think the US version is officially named opossum, but nobody calls them that) are slow moving, ugly, dumb acting nocturnal marsupials commonly seen as roadkill in Michigan. In fact, there's a joke about that:

Why did the chicken cross the road?
To show the possum it could be done.

Wednesday Wings - Under the Feeder

I've lost track of which predicted snowstorm just finished and which one is expected this evening. We've escaped the high winds, but not the single digit (F) temperatures and snow, snow, snow.

It's too cold for the road salt to work so driving is like playing bumper cars. To complicate matters, visibility periodically reduces to "where is the road?" condition.

The Cardinal picture was taken during a period of heavy snowfall. The pictures below were taken during a lighter snowfall but much colder temps.


This little Red Squirrel dug himself a burrow in a foot of packed down snow under the board we keep stocked with bird seed.


It's his own little squirrel size igloo complete with room service when seeds drop into the opening.


I wish those birds would be a little more accurate with their seed dropping. It's cold out here!

One of Many Deer Visitations

Many of Michigan's estimated 2 million deer have been feasting in my yard this summer.

A few days ago I interviewed Bambi's mom. This is what she had to say.

Although I mostly live in the woods, I like to cross the street and check out the goodies in Marguerite's yard.


Yum.

Family and friends have gnawed Marguerite's hostas down to the ground, but occasionally I find a new leaf or two that begs to be eaten.


Back to the woods.

I'll return tomorrow to check for more goodies.

Wednesday Wings - Buzzing Goldenrod

Most of the spring and summer our field has a variety wildflowers. By September it's totally yellow with goldenrod.

I've never cared enough to identify the goldenrod species growing here. There are at least three. The tallest is five feet tall, the flowers just at my eye level.

The Goldenrod is covered with various bees and wasps gathering the rich golden pollen and nectar.


Honey bees with loaded pollen sacks on their hind legs.


Bumble bees are also pollen collectors.


The Bald-faced Hornets don't have pollen sacks on their legs, but they still like to visit the goldenrod and suck the sweet nectar.

Bald-faced hornets are not real hornets. They're wasps in the same genus as Yellowjackets.

Wednesday Wings - Yellowjackets

Along the most far loop of our dog walking path is an old lawn chair, frequently used for sitting and enjoying the surrounding nature.

The yellowjackets (wasps) declared it the perfect place to build a hidden nest under the seat. Fortunately Bob spotted it before I sat on it.

Not knowing what he was doing but feeling like some action was required, Bob took a looooooong stick, tipped the chair over, and whacked the nest in two. He erroneously assumed the yellowjackets would move on to some other location.

The main part of the nest is on the ground by the left most leg.


The important part of the nest, the part with the queen, remained attached to the chair.

Bob didn't stick around to see if his stick was long enough for him to avoid detection.

After the yellowjackets determined there was nothing around to sting, they set to work rebuilding under the chair.


In just a few days the nest was almost closed in again.


It took four days for the nest to return to normal.

The nest will be smaller that it would have been left undisturbed, but it appears to be healthy and functional to continue the yellowjacket lifecycle.


What are we going to do now? Leave them in peace, admiring their hard work as we walk by. Once we have the first hard frost, all the yellowjackets except the queen will die. She will leave the nest to hibernate in a protected place. The nest will never be used again and the chair can return to normal use.

Oh Deer

This spring and summer we're seeing the largest number of deer since we moved here seventeen years ago.

It's always been common to see them in the road at dusk and dawn. This year they're popping out of the woods in broad daylight to stand in the road and dare cars to hit them.

According to the Michigan State Police there are over 65,000 car-deer crashes reported annually in Michigan.


These two deer pictures were taken out a front window at 9:30 in the morning.

Even though this deer had an entire woods of greenery to munch on, she(?) decided to step out to the road and eat some leaves off a fallen branch while eyeing what's left of my hostas.


Hostas grow great on our mostly shaded property. I have at least a dozen different varieties and (I'm totally guessing here) well over three hundred plants.

Deer love hosta, but they've never been bold enough to come right up to the house to eat them. Until this year.

This was a fine, mature hosta about three feet across before it became deer salad. Most of my green hostas look like this, except some don't even have a single leaf left.

The deer don't seem to like the mostly white hostas, but the green and blue ones are yummy.

Am I upset about this? If it keeps the deer out of the road and away from my car, I can deal with it. It's all part of living with nature.

Watch Where You Put Your Feet

There's always a need to watch where you put your feet at my house. In the winter, it's ice. Spring, summer, and fall it's critters.

Yesterday when I hauled a cart full of weeds out to the compost pile, there was a huge Blue Racer snake sitting on top of the pile sunning himself. He was coiled, so I can't be accurate about his size but I'm sure he was five feet long minimum.

So beautiful. (Yes, I'm a nature nerd. I think snakes are beautiful.)

I tried to look invisible so he wouldn't leave and went back to the house for my camera. When I returned he was gone.

Here are some June foot placement challenges I was able to catch on camera.

Since our yard is an insect wonderland, the toads are big and fat.

They patrol on the front part of the property where the grass is mowed, the garden soil is cultivated and loose, and the cement is warm.

The dogs walk around the toads with respect. They know toads are a terrible thing to taste.


Frogs live by and in, mostly in, the creek and the pond.

Last weekend we had an ugly thunderstorm with high winds and too much rain. The creek was high, fast, full of sticks, and muddy. Some of the frogs, like this one, went for the high ground until their habitat returned to normal.


The one and only time a Snapping Turtle is cute - when it's still too little to snap around one of my appendages.

This little guy was out walking on the dog path. I threw a quarter down next to him to show how small he is. Still cute for now.


Soon these Robins will be on the ground. I watch for them each time I walk in their area.

Hope that Blue Racer isn't hanging around to make one of them his dinner.

Chat Back for April 26

Answering questions from comments and email.

Shirley asked . . .

Do you knit the "2 socks on 2 circular" method or "Magic Loop"?

I like to knit both socks at the same time - knit some on one sock, catch up on the second sock - because I have serious Second Sock Syndrome if they're not both done at approximately the same time.

Each sock has its own two 24" circulars. I use four circulars a pair with a fifth extra circular for the gussets.

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Sharon asked . . .

I was wondering if there's a particular reason why you seam up the sweater as you go along?

There are many reasons I like to sew up as I go along. I've been known to throw pieces of a completed sweater in a bag and not sew them up for months. Especially if it's the wrong season to wear the sweater.

I have short arms and don't like sleeves that dangle down on my hands, so I'm shortening the sleeves on almost any sweater I knit. I find the best way to get the sleeves the right length is to seam the shoulder seams, finish the neck, wash and block the partial sweater, and then knit the sleeves from the top down.

That's how the She Said Aran ended up with a blocked body and an unblocked sleeve, and how I know I'm going to like the fit of the sweater when it's done.

For the She Said Aran, I decided to knit the sleeves top down in the round, so I needed to stitch up the side seams as well as the shoulders.

I can't count the number of sweaters I've knit in my life that didn't fit. It's turned me into a swatcher and a top down sleeve knitter whenever possible. Then, when there's a problem with fit, I know it early enough to do something about it.

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Peggy commented . . .

A few years ago, the American Ornithologists' Union split the rufous into two different species--

Pipilo erythrophthalmus (Eastern Towhee)
Pipilo maculatus (Spotted Towhee)

I didn't know this and thank you for the information. It may save me from sounding old-fashioned when I communicate with other bird folks.

Privately at home, I'll go on called our Eastern Towhees their old name, Roufous-Sided Towhee. Or, as we usually say, "I see Rouffie".

I'm a lumper, not a splitter.

These two species interbreed and I can't imagine why they needed to be separated because some have a few more white spots than others. Does it make sense that a nest might contain two different species coming from the same parents?

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Elaine asked . . .

We called those Marsh Marigolds "cowslips" and cooked the leaves as greens in the spring. A little bitter, but good. Sort of a rite of spring. You had to pick them before they flowered - why?

Curious, I looked this up on Google. To summarize, in general the plant is moderately toxic and sometimes intoxicating especially the flowers and the "older parts".

There are varied cautions on how it needs to be prepared for safe eating depending on the source of the information.

My conclusion: Eating Marsh Marigold is not something one should try if feeling healthy and clear headed is important.

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Vickie asked . . .

I read your blog daily and confess that I come for the bird pictures as much as the knitting. Are you willing to share what kind of camera and lenses you use to achieve such clear close up shots?

I have a Canon Powershot S3 IS, 6.0 megapixels, 12 x 15 zoom lens, and image stabilizer - all standard with the camera.

Mine is over a year old. I see they're selling for under $300 now.

I take lots of pictures, select the best and delete the rest.

And I admit to not knowing how to use many of the camera options because I get such good results with the point and click. I do use the zoom, of course.

Here are some previous blog posts where I talk about the camera:

• New camera.
  
  
• Loving my camera.
  
  
• Taking bird pictures through the window.

Yellow But Not Mellow

These daffodils were planted when a few bulbs were accidentally throw in with the compose several years ago. They're out in the back three acres away from the house, but I enjoy them several times a day when taking the dogs for a walk.

Even though we have many other daffodils planted purposefully, these are special survivors. The compose heap has been retired so we can enjoy their pretty yellow every spring.


The males goldfinches are almost done molting.

They get yellower by the day getting ready for Goldfinch mating season.


Along the creek the Marsh Marigolds (Caltha palustris), a member of the buttercup family, are in bloom.

In some places they are considered a weed. At our house, we consider them to be a lovely sign of spring.


Just as pretty are the Dandelions. I've never understood why people hate them so.

Are they really so awful to require toxic chemicals on the lawn to eradicate them? The battle will never be won. Like death and taxes, Dandelions will always be. May as well enjoy them.

Up the Creek

Since I'm up the blogging creek with no knitting updates to share, I'll share some creek pictures.

Thanks to the County Road Commission, the trout traveling upstream to spawn have a new, larger culvert under the road this autumn.

This big fellow is poking his head in to check it out. When he spotted me and camera, he disappeared inside.

These three beauties are having a fishy get together before moving on. They're about three long.

The trout are old, beat up, and tired by the time they get to our property. It's not uncommon for them to hang around for several days before moving on upstream.


Looking upstream across the road. This is where the fish are headed.

Sock Break and Cheeky Chipmunk

Time for a sock break from Autumn Song, although it's not much of a break since I'm using one of the stitch patterns in the sweater.

The yarn is the same color as the sweater, so I figured the stitch patterns should match as well.

Is it too nerdy to wear socks and sweater that match?


Pattern: Stitch pattern B from Herbstlied (Autumn Song) in New Style of Heirloom Knitting.

Yarn: Araucania Ranco fingering weight yarn, 75% wool 25% polyamide, hand dyed in Chile.

Color: Deep, warm rusty red. In the sunlight it looks like a carnelian stone.

Needles: Options 2.50mm circulars

Gauge: 8 stitches/10 rows per inch

One of the many reasons our bird seed disappears so fast.

Old Socks and Fat Toad

Monday night at Sunny's new doggy school class someone came up to me and asked if I had knit my socks. And could she see them.

I had on seven (?) year old baggy, pilly, Opal Tiger socks. They were knit before I learned how to fit my feet. I wear them for cool weather gardening and lawn mowing and other occasions where I don't expect anyone to notice my socks. Like doggy school.

We didn't have much time to talk, but she admitted to being a sock knitter and nodded toward another woman with a golden retriever who also knits socks.

Next Monday I have to wear some socks that are a bit more impressive. My pride is on the line.


Maybe I can find a few more bugs to scarf down before I have to hibernate for the winter.