Middle of May Deep Freeze

May 13th snow

May 14th Freeze

Well there is a fire in the fireplace this morning, since temperatures dipped to 21 here last night making it a record cold night for May. Yesterday the poor hummingbirds were flying around in the snow trying eating from the feeders; today they are stuck waiting for the feeders to melt before their sweet liquid will come out. It is a very cold start for the few birds who are here. I felt sorry for them watching them search the feeders for something liquid only to find their treat had gone solid overnight.
It is supposed to get up into the low 60's today, but it has a long way to go. I am afraid the apple trees will once again suffer the fate they did last year and we will have few apples to show for the blossoms which are now out and very frozen. Of course it is supposed to be back into the 70's by the weekend, but it will be little condolences for the apple blossoms by then. Once again the weather trumps us all. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Mother Nature Day Flowers

View from the top

Huckleberry Blooming

Wild Strawberry blooms

Apple bloom up close

Apple Tree in yard

For Mother's Day I took a short walk to the top of our hill and looked at all of Mother Nature's flowers. Most of the berry plants are blooming and Apple trees. There were several violet colored small flowers so shy they blurred their pictures so you did not get to see them. All the trees are getting at least some green on them and starting to leaf out. It is always amazing what even a day makes in the color of things. After a long brown/grey and white winter it wakens up the happiness inside all of us to see some color.

We've had a lot of rain in the last few days bringing the creek up from 1.75 feet to over 3.5 feet in a short amount of time. This would be a great day for the adventurous mother rafting trip down Pine Creek. It would be fast and possibly a little cold as the temperatures are in the mid-forties this morning with a lot of wind.

We also went from one hummingbird to about twenty overnight and Lee has increased the amount in the feeders. She is trying to decide if she wants to risk putting them out front this year and deal with the bear again. We don't know if he learned his lesson from the electric fence last year or not. She didn't care much for mowing around the electric  fence, so the decision is still up in the air.

I still have some of my backyard fence to repair from the bear climbing it last year. Since it is only a ten foot section I am thinking of making it solid wood so I don't have to buy a 50' roll of fence to repair 10 foot of fence.

The forecast for next week is very cold we are looking at some freezing temperatures at night, which could affect the apple crop like it did last year. So we are keeping our fingers crossed it won't be too bad before we will get back into the warm temperatures by the next weekend. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Hiking Chihuahua Style 11.38 miles Cedar Mt loop

"Really, I have to carry my own water?"

Yes he did walk the whole way with me, but I carried the water. It was a bit warm walking up Leetonia Rd to Wilson to Ridge to Cedar Mountain and back up Leetonia Rd to home. The lack of leaves on the trees gave us little shade for our walk around the block. The bugs are out but not too bad as the wind blew most of them off us. I only saw a few cars one being Jeremy Bechtel one of the local Forest Rangers. He did mention I had been the only one he ever saw walking on the road that wasn't hunting. We caught up on the weather particularly the long winter, animals spotted recently; noticing near us a stop sign metal partially eaten by a porcupine. He hadn't seen many bears yet, but the warm weather had brought quite a few people out to keep tabs on. Jeremy was looking for the four-wheelers who are coming up the pipeline and other areas. So for you that don't know you will get a ticket for driving one anywhere in the State Forest. He verified the trees I saw cut along the pipeline are part of a pipeline widening project.

After he left I continued on my way on a beautiful blue day not a cloud in the sky. The walk periodically was accompanied by birds singing and woodpeckers pecking. I saw an area where turkey's had been searching through the leaves for food. It was quite a long area on the edge of the road towards the end of it I looked up to see a turkey scurry off into the woods. Since my walk started at 10 am and went through the middle of the day the animals I saw where kept to a minimum as most like early morning or dusk hours. 

This loop is about a mile longer than my Cushman direction loop and my feet started wishing it was a mile less. The bridge on Cedar Mt road is done except for any railing they might put up so I am not sure why they are waiting so long to take the road closed signs down. Speck and I enjoyed sitting on their straw-stuffed tubes along the creek for a bit, while I ate an apple and listened to the sound of the creek flowing. I sat there long enough for another person to wonder why I was in the middle of no where...really....I am beginning to think no one takes walks anymore, which is very sad. This person was not a local camp owner or he would have known better than to ask me if I was lost. Just walking around the block for a mountain girl. 

Leo felt a bit left out but he can't make it that far. Speck didn't seem to have a bit of trouble, although he appears to be resting quite well now. 

You can play the flyover to see where we walked or go to this link for a map. Oh before I forget we saw our first hummingbird today! Mountain girl,Paula, logging off and resting the toes.

Hummingbird time

Feeders waiting for birds

Green moss gathers sun

Small Fire Cherry tree

Well the first of May is time for hummingbirds. Lee has put out a few feeders for the early birds, but the 31 degrees this morning wasn't too welcoming. As of this morning we have not spotted the first one, which will be a male scouting for territory. Once we see our little friends we know warm weather is definitely on the roll.

Walking up the mountain in the morning is wonderful. Starting with cool weather and ending with a warm hug from the sun. The green moss on the rocks almost seems to glow as it soaks up the Spring sun before the trees get leaves on and shade them from the intense summer sun. Things are starting to bloom like the small Fire Cherry Tree in the bottom picture. The red buds are out in town as well as the Rhododendrons, tulips and a variety of Spring color. For those of you with tree allergies now is not a good time to visit the fores. The maples, willows and other trees are blooming and tossing pollen everywhere.

The deer seem to be moving around a lot the last couple days, but the turkeys have gone into hiding from the hunters. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly they figure out it is gobbler season. 

On the drive home the other night Lee said, "I've seen deer, turkey, porcupine, but I haven't seen a bear this year." 

It was almost like she commanded one to appear as she had barely finished the sentence when a small bear ran across the road in front of us. We both laughed at the fulfillment of Lee's request so quickly. It is always entertaining to drive home as we never know what we will see...perhaps an Elk or Mountain Lion, you never know. 

The warm weather also brings grass cutting and camp opening and repairs so we have gone from little work to seven day a week work. We are well into the work mode. For the rest of you coming here on vacation enjoy the beauty of the change from Winter to Spring. Mountain girl, Paula, logging off.

Quill Pig Blues

Porcupine

Well, it is officially mating season for porcupines or as I like to call them "Quill Pigs." They are out in full force trying to find each other and make more prickly little creatures. Coming home the other night from the edge of the State Forest to the house, I saw eight of them; five in the last two miles near the house. That is one less than every quarter mile. I think that is a record for me. They are out a lot in the evening and night time, but I have seen them during the day as well. Since they have caused me thousands of dollars of damage to my equipment, vehicles and dogs, we are on high alert. I saw the one in the picture on the way up from Cedar Run he scurried away from the camera unwilling to have his face on film. This one is about average size for the ones I have seen. I have seen them larger up to forty pounds and smaller than this one who I put at about twenty pounds.

The turkeys and grouse have been out doing the mating dance as well. I have seen many running after each other across the road. The grouse are not the brightest birds when it comes to cars. One of their defenses is to freeze and not moving on the road can be deadly. So remember if you see one on the road it may not move until it is too late.

I also saw my first bear, a second year cub, just above me along the road. Although the bears have been out for a while, I just hadn't been in the right place at the right time to see one. Soon they will be checking all the picnic baskets for a free meal as tourists and camp owners come in they know to watch out for any easy pickings.

The weather has been erratic we had several days without using firewood and are now back to warming the cabin up after cold nights in the 20's and cool days in the 50's. We have been getting some nice sunny days and that always makes it feel warmer on the South slopes if you stay out of the wind. I can report no snow on the ground sightings anymore, however a few flakes drift down now and then to remind us it ain't summer yet.

I have been working long hours at a new job in Wellsboro as well as doing my carpentry job, so I haven't had as much time to enjoy the mountain as usual this last month. It is the old thing of no money lots of time, no time more money. Too bad we have to choose. Roads are all open and ruddy, so come and enjoy the mountains. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Two days of Zero firewood use!

There is always something exciting about the first 24 hours of no firewood use to keep us warm. Yesterday, I awoke to a temperature of 68 degrees inside the house, a full ten degrees above normal for morning. I had to stop myself from an almost automatic march to the wood burner to start a fire. It got to 67 outside yesterday, which kept the wood use to zero. This morning was a repeat of the same, although the weather predictors are saying the temperatures will drop this afternoon and threaten my streak of firewood savings.
I sat in the sun on a chair in the front yard for a while before going to work and listened to the happy birds and enjoyed the feeling of a warm Spring morning.
When I drove into Wellsboro, everyone was outside walking with smiles on their faces. Winter weather makes one appreciate a nice day when we get it. Although, I am sure it won't be long before people are complaining about how hot it is...seems we love to find something to complain about. But for now I am watching the snow disappear from the north side of the mountain and enjoying a pleasant day in Leetonia. Mountain, girl, Paula, logging out.

Big Kitty!

Mountain Lion on Trail Cam

Loren Nowak of Round Top Road, Wellsboro, says these pictures were taken early Friday morning, March 29, by a Moultrie trail camera. “My guess is that this cat is a yearling mountain lion,” he said. “What do you think?” The camera was set up to catch raccoons and skunks who might steal his chicken eggs.

Seems there is a big cat near Wellsboro. So much for rumors when you have a real picture. This makes my feral cat look very small. 

They had a wildfire on Reese Hill road today outside of Wellsboro too. Things are getting dry and windy so watch your cigarettes and trash fires carefully.

Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.