Category: Homestead | Accent on Natural Landscaping

A Heron Visitor

October 5, 2018

Last week we had a surprise visitor in our pool area. It was an immature Great Blue Heron (Blue form). This very large and tall bird, with a very long neck dropped into the pool area mistakenly thinking it would be a good place to search for food. Unfortunately our pool offers little nourishment for hungry young herons. After thinking about it for a number of minutes, it flew off to the nearby retention ponds.

The video is rather long, but I found it interesting watching this young wading bird move its long, lanky neck. Watch the last 90 seconds as it finally decides the water has nothing to offer and flies away.

Since the City of Appleton has begun constructing retention ponds resembling actual wetlands areas, we often see Great Egrets and Sandhill Cranes in our neighborhoods. Turkeys like to nest in the adjacent prairie plantings. Because of our proximity to the Fox River, Bald Eagles and Turkey Buzzards often circle overhead catching the air streams. We are fortunate to live in such a wildlife friendly neighborhood.

Labor Day 2018

September 3, 2018

The hot and humid summer in Wisconsin has been wonderful for my vegetable gardens. Proof of my labor is the great tasting tomatoes we’ve made into juice this past weekend. But Labor Day isn’t really about my labor here at home; it’s about celebrating the laborers who have worked so hard to make America a fair and equal place to work, to make a living, to raise a family and to enjoy a good life. It’s about celebrating our “traditional ideals of economic and political democracy.” (USDOL) And I would love for us to add: “all while conserving our environment for future laborers to carry on.”

Donna’s vegetable gardens are now in the pool area because that’s about the only place we have day-long sun. But as fall approaches and the sun is lower in the sky, getting enough daily sunlight becomes a problem even in this location.

Moody Blues

August 31, 2018

Thursday night my husband and I went to see Justin Hayward of the Moody Blues. He was appearing at the Grand Theater in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The Grand Oshkosh, originally known as The Grand Opera House when it opened its doors on August 9, 1983, holds many such stage shows, but we’ve never taken the opportunity to visit this grand old theater. But this was it. How could we not want to see anything related to the Moody Blues — our favorite all-time music group! A group that finally this year was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. [Read more…]

Walkabout Summer 2018

August 2, 2018

My brother Dan joined me for a walkabout at our hunting property over the weekend. It was the perfect time to be there. It was hot and humid. Not much in the way of a breeze. But, surprisingly there were no pesky flies or mosquitoes. Just a myriad of native plants and busy wildlife taking advantage of such a lush setting.

We had a great weekend! Here’s just a few of the highlights!! (Click on the photo and then again to enlarge.)

Purple Fringed Orchid (Habenaria psycodes) – This was the first time I’ve seen this plant since the last walkabout with my brother Dave, a month before he died in 2004.

Orange Meadowhawk (Sympetrum spp) – This dragonfly seemed to follow us around as we went from one orchid to another.

Arrowhead (Sagitaria latifolia) – The Duckweed (Lemna minor) was so thick on the pond, it looked like you could walk across it.

Yellow Beadlily (Clintonia borealis) – I’ve never seen the beautiful blue fruits of the Clintonia before. What a lovely color.

Bunchberry (Cornus canadensis) – The Bunchberry with its bright red fruit was like a carpet on the woodland floor everywhere we went.

Dark Fishing Spider (Dolomedes tenebrosus) – We often see the Wolf Spider (Hogna aspersa), so seeing this big guy was a pleasant surprise.

Here a Joe Pye Weed (Eutrochium purpureum) is being visited by a variety of nectaring insects. I was listening to NPR on the radio, so if you turn the volume up, you can hear a financial specialist speaking about the best way to save money for a child’s future education.