Guest Post by Barbara Paff
Some thirty years ago, Barbara Paff began keeping a nature journal, detailing the pleasures of rural living in Rice Township, Sandusky County, Ohio. During those years, Barb was a librarian at the Hayes Presidential Library/Archive, while her husband, the Rev. Richard Moe, was pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, then located at 3077 County Road 170 in Rice Township. They lived in the parsonage on the south side of the church. In 2004 they moved to Barb’s home town of East Lansing, Michigan, where she continues to enjoy gardening, albeit in a much smaller urban space…but still with plenty of wildlife.
May 1 - A few lovely warm days, everything bursting into bloom, or at least leaf—flowerbeds looking great (after all, what’s a little quackgrass?!) Perennials doing fine, also transplanted wildflowers and the baby trees. Looks like one red bud on the little redbud. And there ARE still pure white violets around the well! The peace and sense of belonging to the earth brings me close to tears.
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| Rice Twp. Sandusky County |
May 3 - Watched Mama Robin feeding her babies in the nest outside our bedroom window—their feathers are barely there, as fine as milkweed silk, long but sheer. They can’t be long out of their shells. The nest is not well-hidden, but it’s up against the siding, under the overhang, and the barrier of climbing rose branches is ferocious though still leafless. Pretty well-protected!
Twerp found a toad tonight—I was happy to see it in my flower bed, and drew her attention away from it.
May 5 - Planted some red geraniums and verbena in a pot near the kitchen window, for hummingbirds.
Gabe found out about toads yesterday. I saw him slopping his tongue around as if he had something stuck to the roof of his mouth…then pretty soon I saw a little toad wending its way through grass…he looked at it closely, but carefully avoided touching it! Today he found a dead possum in the cornfield and rolled on it—so he got his 2nd bath in just 5 days! Grrr.
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| Wild Geranium |
May 7 - The wrens are back! And Gabe had his 3rd bath in a week (creek mud)… I picked newly-bloomed lilacs, but think I’m allergic…the scent is overwhelming when indoors. The robin nestlings are growing, but still have sparse, silky strands of down on their heads.
May 12 - This week’s weather has been truly perfect, 70-80 degrees, sunny…then today, the wind suddenly changed from SW to NE. Temperature dropped like a rock, about 20 degrees in a half hour, most of it in the first 5 minutes. Wind is howling now, tearing new leaves off the trees. Poor baby birds…
Lilies of the valley bloomed today. They smell so sweet, downwind, I keep finding excuses to walk by them. When the wind changed, it started twisters of dust—so many people are plowing and planting, and the air was so filled with dust that it looked like ground fog.
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| Red Geranium |
May 13 - Baby robins left the nest today, maybe blown out by the wind!
May 15 - John found two of the baby robins in the big pine tree. Today Mama Robin was feeding one in the garden, newly-tilled, lots of worms. We saw a baby killdeer on the road…round little body on stilts!
May 17 - Mrs. Hummingbird showed up today—or at least I noticed her for the first time! I put the hummer feeder out posthaste, and she was back at suppertime. I almost walked my head into a cardinal’s nest in the pine tree…she flew up in a panic and scared me too! When Jim tilled the garden he snipped the foot off a toad—I carried the poor thing up to the house and made mud in the flowerbed for it to burrow into—it did. Still alive today but looks pretty sad. Wonder if it can survive? I suppose it was burrowed in the garden for moisture. It’s been so windy and dry! Hard to believe 2 weeks without rain. Young robins have doubled in size since Friday. So far, have planted tomato plants and buttercup squash, lettuce, beets, kale, kohlrabi, and some herbs. And a few beans—need to get more seed for those.
May 18 - Still no rain. Little toad still alive—don’t know how to feed him —sure he must be hungry if he’s healing at all. Found the other one Jim hit with the tiller—lost both hind feet—squashed (or crawled?) under a bag of manure. I feel so bad. Maybe should’ve known they’d be burrowed in the garden—but how to chase them out?
Saw the wren take out after the hummingbird tonight—the wren was definitely outclassed! Cardinal’s nest doesn’t seem to have nestlings yet—nest is just a tad too high to peek into.
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| Persian Cornflower |
May 19 - Still no rain. Cool, breezy. Planted onions alongside squash. They won’t bother each other much.
May 20 - Two bunnies playing out back—they would leap into the air, flip end for end, then chase each other in a circle—wheee! Also, Mama Robin trying to teach her teenager to find worms: she’d pull one and flip it onto the grass while the kid danced up and down and squealed—then she’d grab it and flip it again, but the kid just kept dancing and yelling! They must learn sometime…
Little toad still alive and up out of the burrow—don’t know if he(?) is getting anything to eat—I hope maybe an occasional mosquito. Planted rest of onions and more flowers—had to water new tomato and flower plants—strawberries have blossoms and look good.
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| Peonies |
May 22 - Rain! Gentle, light, less than ¼” but should help things sprout. The columbine I grew from seed scavenged from the pink one in the ditch in E.L. is blooming, and it IS pink. Toad disappeared yesterday—hope he’s OK— Twerp found a little snake in the lawn–it skittered toward the sidewalk—no doubt lives beneath. Never saw the snake, just the grass moving—maybe 8” long?
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| Columbine |
May 27 - Life is burgeoning. Even my lettuce seeds are sprouting, despite so little rain. Finches nesting in (otherwise useless) coconut birdfeeder! Hummingbird showed up at feeder again while I was filling a bucket at the faucet right below. Not shy! It’s been so enjoyable watching our cardinal pair—haven’t heard any noise from their nest yet.
May 29 - A bit more rain last night after a hot, windy day—purple phlox are beautiful—patch of brilliant purple on south and east side of the house—and the peonies opened yesterday, brilliant pink next to the phlox. After the rain last night I hurried out to check the gauge (<0.1”) and nearly stepped on a toad so big I thought it was a baby rabbit!
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| Peony |
June 2 - Forgot to mention the young robin that was sitting on the edge of the birdbath—turned around to preen his tail, and fell off! Recovered before hitting the ground, though…
Planted more flower seedlings tonight—tiring, but good therapy. Bought a bunch of marjoram just for the smell of it. Some thyme and oregano, too…
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| Lavender |
June 7 - Hallelujah! Rain! Over an inch, plus ½” Saturday—pretty soon it’ll be time for 2nd planting of beans and lettuce. Warmer, too—things can really grow. Put violas on Cannon’s grave, and more creeping phlox, with a couple of red geraniums for contrast. Need to get more lavender in there.
June 8 - The phlox and the clover smell like heaven—phlox all along south end of house and east side—SW breeze brings it indoors—flocks of it! 😊 Clover scent is strong in the humidity and warmth. Another ½” rain last night and a 10th of an inch today. Perfect growing weather. Simplicity roses burst forth (like popcorn!) yesterday and today—New Dawn bloomed its first today. Saw Mr. Hummingbird for the first time, but only for a moment—I almost never see them at the feeder. Put in another row of beans today and 3 morning glory seedlings.
New Dawn Rose
June 9 - Another 0.8” rain last night—thunderstorms. Water standing in fields, but it’ll soak in. We haven’t had too much rain yet!
June 14 - Purple bellflowers are blooming. First firefly showed up tonight. Yellow feverfew budding (the white ones are out, and lots of them!) Persian cornflower from John looks a bit limp when it’s hot and sunny, but perks up in the cool of evening. Pretty dramatic flowers—it was fun figuring out what it was. Bought lavender and 2 more perennials. Flower gardens really nice this year—always something blooming, ever since early spring beauties, violets, etc.
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| Purple Bellflower |
June 19 - Perfect growing weather, hot, humid. Coreopsis beginning to bloom, red and gold next to purple bellflowers! 3/10”rain tonight, badly-needed. New Dawn roses are gorgeous—honeysuckle blooming, scents the yard, along with clover.
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| Coreopsis |
June 21 - Pheasants! We’ve heard them everywhere this week. Sweet peas by back door are blooming—lettuce is about 2 days from eating size—it just exploded this past week, with the
rain and warmth. Martins must’ve been teaching their kids to fly tonight—they buzzed Gabe and me, and chittered and clicked like dolphins. Obviously pissed. But we couldn’t see young ones…
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| Gloriosa Daisy |
June 25 - Gloriosa daisies beginning to bloom…saw a meadowlark down the road…it was a shock, since I’ve seen fewer of them each year, and haven’t heard them very often this year. We used to have them in the back yard, but no more. Delphiniums looking great, feverfew still looking good until rain tonight bent them down. First lettuce from the garden tonight. Memo to self: maple-flavored bacon doesn’t do much for wilted lettuce, but it was good anyway! Early lettuce is so nice, before the bugs get into it.
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| Delphiniums |
June 30 - This has been the sweetest-smelling June I can remember…clover, honeysuckle, phlox, lilies of the valley…roses, peonies, lilacs…and the big pine tree smells so good in the sun, even though its pollen makes me sneeze! Planted more beans and lettuce, fertilized squash and tomatoes. Planted a few Romas (left over from Bible school project), mainly because Walt said it was “too late” to plant tomatoes!
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| Gloriosa Daisies in Abundance! |
July 11 - Hot, humid, HOT! Since July 4 weekend. Walt and Foxy put in our window A/C Thursday–it does help for sleeping, though (luckily) both of us prefer fresh air if it’s cool enough to breathe.
Birds dying, probably from heat. Watched a 2-foot garter snake eat, the other day…might’ve been either a toad or a mouse…whatever it was, it was still kicking, but all I could see was a glimpse of 2 tiny toes. Gross, but interesting!
Delphinium still blooming but mostly done, foliage browning. Gloriosas great. New Dawn roses finished. Morning glories growing, but a long way from blooming.
Jim seems to have decided to keep the stray kitten that showed up at his doorstep.
Nice gift from a church member–3 qts raspberries! We are blessed indeed.
July 14 - Today as I was hanging out laundry, a young mourning dove, flying with minimal skill, tried to land on the clothesline, got flustered by the sheets, and ended up in the pocket of one of the fitted sheets! There it settled down happily as if in a nest, and seemed content to stay there until I boosted it out. Imagine if I’d come to take down the sheets, not knowing the dove was in there!
August 5 - Home from vacation a week. After 3 weeks of no rain, everything was brown or at least wilted. Garden looks awful, but ever-faithful beans are still producing!
Praying for rain…got 0.15” a couple of days ago. Have watered some things to salvage them, but don’t want to risk the well going dry. Roma tomatoes starting to produce…the rest a disaster. Need to get about 4” layer of manure on that garden and worked in by next year.
Cardinals gone. I heard and saw the male once. Not sure if the 2nd batch of young fledged.
Crickets have started singing, but not many. Mosquitoes thinned out immensely by the dry weather. It’s been mostly cool, too, 50’s at night. Why do people think August is the hottest month? It almost never is as hot as July!
August 11 - Got 2/10” of rain yesterday–hot today, good growing weather if we had more rain. Foggy nights, but clear enough tonight to see the Perseid meteor showers. Went out about 10:00 and saw one meteor, the second biggest I’ve ever seen. No mosquitoes (no rain!) The ironweed in the south flowerbed is blooming. Morning glories not glorious, but at least alive and blooming…
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| Ironweed |
August 15 - Still no rain. Hot and humid. Turned on the attic exhaust fan tonight just in time to blow eau de skunque through the house. Very efficient fan!
Beans still coming, especially on new plants, and a few Roma tomatoes…
August 20 - A sprinkle of rain last night, not even a tenth of an inch. The wind did one of those sudden about-face maneuvers tonight…now it’s comfortably cool and no longer humid, after a NE breeze before dark.
Coyotes squealing some nights–funny how eerie they sound if I’m outside in the dark–but if I’m indoors, they just sound interesting! Insects noisy at night, but they don’t disturb me at all…it’s a peaceful sound.
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| More Ironweed |
August 22 - Made peach jam–also plum jam with plums from Gertie. Jim left a bag of corn out front, and it was fun guessing who might’ve left it. Walt is trying to help fix the sheared gear on Rich’s scooter-lift, cheaper than Medi-Care Orthopedic would. We are counting our blessings.
COLD in the house this a.m.--woke up freezing in NE wind, all windows open! Beautiful, perfect weather yesterday and today–it’s so nice to have a real weekend now that I have Saturdays off.
Butterflies and hummingbirds busy…must be migration time. Four o’clocks in bloom, goldenrod almost, no asters yet. The brown-eyed Susans from Jim’s fencerow have finally taken hold. They’ve been blooming for weeks and weeks.
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| Monarch |
August 31 - Finally a little rain…only a faint drizzle, but it wets the leaves and gives us hope. Maybe Hurricane Emily will stir up some rain for us. It’s been so baking dry that I’ve begun to realize anew how dependent the earth is on water for life. Seems as if even my soul feels parched.
Today I saw 2 hummingbirds, appearing to have a discussion about which one would visit the feeder. The one who did was executing little can-can and hula maneuvers between sips, chattering at the other one. Then they both flew straight up and circled each other…and finally came to rest about 14” apart on top of the wire fence. There they sat for several minutes, one twitching and looking around, the other calm.
Rich saw a coyote cross our road this morning, on his way to work.
There have been monarch butterflies everywhere the past couple of weeks. I’m sure I saw DOZENS today.
Planted lettuce in containers last week…tonight transplanted some of the stunted lettuce plants that never made it in the garden. Amazingly, the beans are blossoming again…some blossoms drying up, but maybe rain will save them. Several tomato plants mostly dead, but a couple of the Roma plants have given us quite a few. Defrosted the freezer tonight…we have plenty of fruit and vegetables in there…
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| Morning Glory Vines |
Morning glories more glorious each day. Hauling wastewater (and hose water) keeps me busy evenings. Trying to save kitchen water…worried about well drying up…even defrosting the freezer filled a bucket. Freezing fruit and vegs requires a lot…washing, blanching, etc. Got more plums, made more jam (thank you, Gertie!)
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| Morning Glory |
Sept 2 - What a glorious show this evening! We got 0.4” of rain and it was misting a little when the monarch butterflies began to congregate around the maples in the back yard. Dozens and dozens fluttered around for about an hour, and one by one came to rest in clumps on the leaves. As each one came in for a landing, those already landed opened their wings so the branch fairly shimmered! Sometimes one would leave, then come back and re-negotiate for a landing space. Wonder if I’ll be up early enough to see them off in the morning…
Also saw 5 egrets flying, white translucent-looking wings against the rolls and billow of black and gray clouds. We don’t usually see them flying in groups.
The rain has really perked up my spirits. Wonder if I could dig up the Rose of Sharon next to the shed and move it near the house? Worth a try…
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| Monarch on the Petunias |
Sept 4 - Lots of blond woolly-bear caterpillars this year. Gabe’s fan club (kids from church) had a whole jar of them. I should find out what they metamorphose into.
Sick kitty today…won’t eat. I’m worried about her.
We got 0.7” of rain altogether this week. Today was lovely (except for Twerp being sick). Mosquitoes bad at night…lots of them get in the house, not to be discovered until the lights are out at bedtime!
Sept 9 - Woolly-bears are all over—in Gabe’s water dish, climbing up the garage door, in the road—there are so many on the road it’s impossible not to hit them. They hustle across in small armies, all on the same diagonal course—toward a common destination? But what?
I miss our cardinals…
Garden seems pretty well finished, even though we got another 1.3” rain.
Have been worried all week about Twerp…today she’s finally showing more spunk, and actually eating again. Vet says some bacterial infection. She’s usually so healthy, but I was scared for her this week. Tonight she is burrowed under the sheets on the bed, with good reason…it’s about 45 degrees outside. Feels like winter.
Sept 13 - Saturday Hank and Jeannette brought a huge truckload of bullshit mixed with sawdust, 2 yrs old, for my garden. I worked my buns off yesterday and today digging crabgrass out of the garden, so I can spread the stuff and Jim can till it in.
Summer yesterday and today after cold 40’s night last week. Feels like rain tonight..
Still worried about Twerp, not eating right. Rich, like most other people, doesn’t understand my attachment to her—if he doesn’t feel it, I can’t explain it to him. He just doesn’t get close to animals.
Sept 18 - This is the week all the bean fields are turning gold—they glow, especially at sunset. Reminds me a little of aspens in the Rockies. A little more rain, ¼”, then some warm days like today. Lettuce I planted in July has sprouted. I put some seedlings in pots to take to Mom tomorrow for her patio. Tried to dig up 2 Rose of Sharon plants, but ended up with tiny 6” pieces. Put them in a temporary location to see if they’ll grow…worth a try!
Made more jam today. Almost finished digging crabgrass out of the garden.
Twerp is fine again…appetite returned and she seems healthy as ever.
Today for the first time I could notice the sweet scent of alyssum. It’s as if they are finally able to really bloom. When I first smelled, I knew it was familiar, but it took another sniff to realize what it was!
Sept 23 - Bean fields have turned from yellow sun-gold to golden toasty-brown. Some drizzle most of today (3/10”) but clear and starry tonight.
So happy my cat is healthy again!
Unearthed some old writing tonight, including a poem I wrote to my parents about 25 years ago and never gave them. Maybe it’s time.
Sept 25 - More rain and 55 degrees. I’m tired of hearing people say it’s no good, because it’s too late for the crops (although I understand that). The ground still needs it, and plenty of plants and trees!
I think the hummingbirds are finally gone. It’s supposed to turn cold this week. Lots of geese around. Wild asters bloomed this last week…goldenrod nearly finished…somehow I thought they bloomed together, but no. Potted lettuce doing great. Lettuce on the south end of the house is growing, but seems slow…days are shorter!
Sept 30 - Near frost last night, 33. Thus begins the nuisance of carrying in or covering plants at night in the hope that we’ll have another warm spell and the flowers might last a few more weeks!
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