Keeping a Lawn in the Forest

You are probably unaware of the challenges facing a landscape gardener at our place.  In the spring, Brian repairs holes dug up by moles.  He waits for an appropriate time, fertilizes the lawn and then sculpts it into beauty with a mulching lawnmower.  Things started getting rough for him about 10 days ago.  He had just mowed the front lawn when the starter pull cord broke.  He tried taking it apart to see if he could fix it (he is an engineer).  When all attempts failed, he finally took it into the dealer who promptly told him the repair would be more expensive with things taken apart.  They had to get a cable, and then found the starter had sharp edges on it which would destroy the next cable, and promptly ordered another part.

In the meantime, the side and back lawns flourished after a little rain to the extent that the chipmunk could no longer navigate unless it was willing to do it blind.

At this point, Helen heroically started to weed the dandelions and plantain out of the lawn to feed to the bunnies at the wildlife center.  This left rather big holes again because that fertilizer sure excites the weeds.  Brian went out, bought topsoil and grass seed, and repaired the biggest bald patches.  Checking only a few minutes later, he found the largest bald patch occupied by the turkey, who loved it as a dust wallow, and was happy to eat the seed while wallowing.

Here is the sign of a wildlife-friendly lawn:

Although he is still recovering from the flu, a call to the dealer determined the lawnmower was ready to go, and he was out like a shot to get his machine back.  We know how he is going to spend his recovery period.

Nothing doing at the Malloys

Things are very very quiet at the Malloy homestead because both of us have come down with the flu.  I have lost my voice for about 6 days now (this makes Brian happy), but he too is down for the count.  Fortunately he still has a voice.  We are both indignant at surviving the winter without a problem, but now the weather is nice we are laid up inside.  We hear comments that the cough persists for about 3 weeks, so we are not impressed.

As you may have guessed, we have had little/no interest in the house and will take it off the market at the end of June when the contract expires.  The agent changed real estate companies in March and seems to be disinterested in working any further on it.

We have come to the conclusion that a major deterrent is the lack of bathrooms, and so have contracted to build an ensuite bathroom off the bedroom to enhance the house.  This will take place during the summer.  If nothing else, I will be relieved to not have to have it show-ready.

Despite our deathly illness, we still have been out and about a bit.  We volunteering to monitor a 48-acre property near us that is owned by the Ontario Heritage Trust, due to significant archeological findings of a native village.  We have found a couple of patches of garlic mustard, which is a terribly invasive plant, growing on the land.  The only way to get rid of it is to pick it, and we therefore pulled three garbage bags of it today.  It is extremely pungent smelling, as the name suggests, and will continue to be a problem for some time yet.

There is one noteworthy picture from my most recent Naturalist Class.  We found some small skulls under a big rock, and considerable efforts were expended to get at least two specimens.  It looks like a coyote or wolf was having a lovely time eating muskrats. We are really getting down and dirty and you should have seen the mud on the car after this excursion.

 

Is it already mid-May?

Most of the interesting events in the last 10 days have been those involving wildlife.

We had a coyote appear in the backyard last week for a very brief period of time, but long enough to get  picture or two.  What is most interesting is how the fur colouring blends in with the background.  Had we not noticed motion as it arrived, we would have never seen it as it stood still.

At Procyon, where I volunteer a couple of days a week, they received two baby red squirrels that were only 3 or 4 days old.  When you look at the size of these infants, it's hard to believe they grow into the most aggressive rodents imaginable.

Working with the wildlife centre gives new meanings to normally boring tasks.  They have a fair number of baby bunnies under care, and bunnies need considerable amounts of fresh greens, preferably native plants.  The good news is that they love dandelions and plantain.

So, our yard is now considered an ideal bunny garden.  I weeded for 1 1/2 hours and got two bags of fresh organic greens.  Unfortunately, I still have lots more food available, but it is nice to consider it useful.

The nature course I am taking is opening my eyes to many things I never knew to look for.  On our field trip last Saturday, our ever-watchful leader found a spring peeper, the frog that fills the night with loud peeps.  To my surprise, these are one of the smallest frogs.  Witness the one below.

These guys apparently become boreal as the season goes on.  No wonder I have never seen one before.

Brian is happily riding his bike, and did 53 km today.  Both of us are doing well.

A Busy Week in Spring

There has been lots happening at the Malloy homestead this last week.

First, I must show you the picture of the streetwalker.  I volunteer each year for the Pitch-in Program during Earth Week.  This year, I picked up 20 bags of garbage and recycling on 7 km. of road in our area.  Lest you think I am doing this for altruistic reasons, I cleaned up $5.90 picking up 56 bottles and cans for return.  My neighbours have promised to raise funds for a shopping cart for me.

Brian has been working like a fiend outside on projects including cutting up a maple tree he had to fell last fall for installation of a new satellite dish.  The size of the logs are not trivial, but he got it all split today.

I am volunteering again at a wildlife centre about 90 km. south of us, just to get my baby fix.  Here is a six-week old baby grey squirrel (bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, of course) and a two-week old raccoon (sorry it's a little fuzzy).

I have also started a seven week course called the Ontario Master Naturalist Program, run by Lakehead University at a satellite campus in Orillia.  Each Saturday has a morning of lectures, followed by an afternoon of field work.  Yesterday, we were studying post-glacial formations including this limestone pavement.  The course is great!

Our backyard continues to have new guests, and there are constant surprises.  I bought a beef tenderloin and trimmed it, leaving the fat and scraps outside.  I expected the coon to find it, but within 20 minutes of putting it out, we had three turkey vultures land in the yard! These birds are not trivial in size.  On the ground, they may not be the prettiest, but they are beautiful to watch when they are soaring above.

Despite all the outdoor work spring brings, we were able to sit outside this morning and drink our coffee on the patio, and then admire Jim's daffodils starting to bloom in profusion.