The New and the COLD

My mom is up to visit and on our way into Wellsboro they were treated with the arrival of a new fawn. The Fawn still slightly wet around the neck stumbled into the path of our car as its mother stomped angrily in the forest behind it. It baa-ed a distress signal as I tried to get a few pictures of it and herd it out of our way. Just barely able to walk it was a joy to see. Just a quick warning do not try to rescue any fawns you see alone. They are left for long periods of time by their mothers who return to them periodically to feed them. They often freeze laying in one spot and may appear abandoned, but unless you see a dead mother along the road near them be assured they are quit well.

On the cold side our hummingbirds are pumping themselves full of sugar to make it through a night that promises to be on the very cold and frozen side. I expect a frost tonight with temps in lower 30's and the same for most of the weekend. So bring plenty of firewood and lots of warm clothes if you are planning a camp out. I have also spotted a lot of bears moving around so keep your food out of their reach. Lee has seen new triplets two days in a row and many other mothers are out and about. Have a safe and fun weekend. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Misner Trail walk

Frost on Plants

Misner Trail

Hickey's Clubmoss

Decided to go for a walk this morning it was around 24 degrees when I started. Last night it got down to 16 degrees, but promises of upper 40's made a walk seem like a nice idea. The dogs have been a bit cooped up the last few days with bear season starting so they were anxious to go on a nice walk as well.
Scooter was so wound up he was racing back and forth annoying Leo by taking little nips at him on the way by. Finally  Leo had enough and snapped back at him. This didn't seem to phase Scooter too much as his lack of exercise lately just exploded out of him, grabbing sticks and jumping into the freezing water. Finally, about half the way up Misner trail he settled into more of a normal dog speed.
There are a few trees across the trail, but for the most part it is a nice short cut to the other side of the mountain and Francis Rd. We walked over to Dee's camp about a 2 mile hike and back. The dry weather has made for easy walking and the sun coming through warmed things up nicely for a walk.
My last picture is off a plant called Hickey's Club Moss. They look like a little pine forest growing, but never get any taller than about 6 inches. I guess it is a pine forest for faeries. I always thought they were some kind of fern, but found them listed under club moss.
I didn't see anything bigger than a Chickadee all the way over and back. Hunters I have talked to have complained as well about the lack of game. There are a few deer who mostly come out after dark during hunting season and the rest of the animals stay hidden at the sound of the first bullets.
 Seems like most of the deer like the good life on flat farm land where getting a meal is as easy as walking through a farmer's field. Life up here is much tougher for deer, predators, changes in the forest and hunting practices have all contributed. Giving out of doe permits here seems counter productive if you want more deer, but I believe this forest makes more money off trees and gas than hunters will ever bring. You can draw your own conclusion from that.
The weather is supposed to stay dry and seasonable through the next ten days. My focus today is getting the rest of my wood cut up for next year. Have a great Leetonia day. Mountain girl, Paula, logging off.

First Frost...First Fire

Well today we got down to 31 overnight and with the second day of highs only in the mid 60's, I broke down and started a fire. It has been 62 inside and it is great when you are moving around,but a bit cold sitting and doing paperwork. It was dry today and a perfect day to get outside work done.

The race to get everything done before it starts snowing is on. It always seems that summer goes so fast and winter so slow. Still have one or two hummingbirds hanging around, but most are gone. Bears still dumping in the road and eating apples like mad. 

So I will enjoy a small fire tonight, cause if I gets it too hot Lee will open all the windows. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

First frost and will the color be good this year?

The picture to the left has nothing to do with frost, it is a fire pit project I finished. I built the benches out of left over hemlock from the earlier dam project.
Its official last night was the first frost of the season. It got down to 31 just enough to leave a little glaze on the ground this morning. I thought I would see if there is anything that might predict the fall color and the following is what I found.
During the spring and summer the leaves have served as factories where most of the foods necessary for the tree's growth are manufactured. This food-making process takes place in the leaf in numerous cells containing chlorophyll, which gives the leaf its green color. This extraordinary chemical absorbs from sunlight the energy that is used in transforming carbon dioxide and water to carbohydrates, such as sugars and starch.

Along with the green pigment are yellow to orange pigments, carotenes and xanthophyll pigments which, for example, give the orange color to a carrot. Most of the year these colors are masked by great amounts of green coloring.

Chlorophyll Breaks Down

But in the fall, because of changes in the length of daylight and changes in temperature, the leaves stop their food-making process. The chlorophyll breaks down, the green color disappears, and the yellow to orange colors become visible and give the leaves part of their fall splendor.

At the same time, other chemical changes may occur, which form additional colors through the development of red anthocyanin pigments. Some mixtures give rise to the reddish and purplish fall colors of trees such as dogwoods and sumacs, while others give the sugar maple its brilliant orange.

The autumn foliage of some trees shows only yellow colors. Others, like many oaks, display mostly browns. All these colors are due to the mixing of varying amounts of the chlorophyll residue and other pigments in the leaf during the fall season.

Weather Affects Color Intensity Temperature, light, and water supply have an influence on the degree and the duration of fall color. Low temperatures above freezing will favor anthocyanin formation, producing bright reds in maples. However, early frost will weaken the brilliant red color. Rainy and/or overcast days tend to increase the intensity of fall colors. The best time to enjoy the autumn color would be on a clear, dry and cool (not freezing) day.

Our experience has been that the rain tends to knock the leaves off a little faster so for long lasting color we need little rain or wind during the color period. The frost we had last night was probably not heavy enough to affect the tree color and we often get frost in the middle of September. So we will see how true this information stays as we progress into the fall color season. Our best color usually lands in the second to third week of October about a month from now. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Frost and Hummingbirds.

This morning we woke to a heavy frost on the truck and some cold temperatures. It is supposed to get into the upper 20's again tonight so a fire in the fireplace will be happening again tonight.

During last nights fire we had some entertainment. A bat swooped through the room and awoke three dogs. I opened the back door and Scooter and Thor tried to catch the bat every time it flew over. I was armed with a broom and a hat. I have had success catching them in my hat before. After a half dozen attempts the bat decided to go up stairs. I looked for a long time and found the bat hanging near a picture.
I nabbed it in the hat, but the thing squeezed out. The bat then returned downstairs for another round with the dogs and my broom. I smacked it to the floor and it slid under the stove. I looked everywhere with a flashlight and moved the stove, but the bat disappeared again and I didn't find it. So I sleep with the bedroom door closed and expect to see the bat again tonight.

Lee has all her hummingbird feeders up and despite the cold the numbers of birds are increasing daily. She has a total of 14 feeders up and the cabin is starting to feel like a hummingbird hive once again.

Well, we are stoking up the fireplace again tonight and hopefully will not have the winged visitor. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Memorial Weekend is here!

Scooter is all tired out and ready for a nice Memorial Weekend. The weather has been unusually cold for May. We have gone through an entire row of firewood, not the normal. Usually by May we are done with the firewood burning. We had a frost this morning again at 30 degrees and the hummingbirds are not happy about the chilly mornings.

It does promise to get into the 60's over the weekend and maybe into the 70's Monday. The only plus of the cold weather has been a lack of bugs. I hope they don't return with the warm. Looks like I will be working most of the weekend in preparation for a week off when my family comes up the first weekend in June. I have heard many people saying they are making fewer trips to camp this year and trying to make them longer when they do come because of gas prices. It is yet to be seen what this summer will bring to the local business owners with what is promising to be a tight year.

To all the Veterans out there I would like to shout out a special thanks for your service and make this an opportunity to visit places which honor our Veterans. Walking to the plane crash site is always a good way to make a special tribute to the World War 2 pilot who died there. You can look it up in key words for this site by going to p47. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

May Day is cold day

The day started at 23 degrees and frost on the snowmobile. It is cold for May although the weatherman promises it to get into the 50's today the sun is going to have to do some heavy duty warming. We have had a fire in the stove for the last three nights and woke up to a chilly 58 degrees in the cabin this morning.

I have been busy working, which is good, but doesn't allow a lot of time for writing you all. The valley is perking up after a long winter. Campers are returning and camps are being repaired and remodeled so I have work and can restore my low cash reserves.

Oh, by the way I am selling this snowmobile for $500 if anyone is interested. The mountain girl needs some money after a tough winter. Now that they plow the road, I only need one snowmobile and decided to keep the larger one. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.