Hazelnuts

I had another pleasant surprise today. It was a comfortably cool evening and while walking my paths, I stopped at the hazelnut shrub. This is its third summer in the ground here--but was probably a 3 year old seedling when I put it in (if memory serves). As I was checking out the new growth where the deer had trimmed it back a little, I notice what I quickly realized seem to be the nuts starting to form! I knew that it bloomed in the spring, but I only saw the male catkins and no female flowers, so I was shocked to see the nuts! I'm thrilled. I hope I get to taste them before the wildlife gets them, but if they get them first it is okay, that is one big reason why I planted them anyway.



Sorry for the dark pictures, the sun had just about set.

Every Day a New Surprise

I opened the front door, started opening the screen door, and stopped as soon as I saw a very large toad sitting on the edge of the sidewalk. I ran for the camera and she (I'm guessing a female full of eggs) just sat there as I took picture after picture.

Moving Rocks-Boulders?

Hmm...I guess I should pull out Webster's to see what the difference is between a rock, stone, and boulder, but I'm taking this time to make a post instead.

A couple of days ago, I spent two days moving two very large rocks--uphill! I found that by using a lever bar and placing cinder blocks underneath, I was able to move it somewhat "easily" (really rather difficult, slow moving, and requiring a lot of muscle.). After moving the heavier of the two (the large flat one) a few feet, I left it propped on the cinder blocks and decided to tackle it again the next day.

Remembering how much I struggled the day before, the second day I decided I should just hit it with a sledge hammer--something I apparently don't have. I thought breaking it into two or three rocks would allow me to move it more easily and I'd bury the rough edges, but instead, I took two hammers down and got the idea to try to split it along a crack. Using one hammer's claws as a wedge, I hit it at different points until I took off a thin, yet still heavy layer of rock. Because it had a slight depression that will collect water, I carried it up the hill to use in the streambed/glorified birdbath.

Although I did take pictures to document prying the layer off, they were lost due to a problem with my memory card. This is after the layer was removed...unfortunately I was not able to remove a second layer.

The thin layer with the depression now at the top of the hill.


After taking off the maybe 50 lb. layer, the rock seemed to move a little easier. I moved it a bit more, then, deciding I needed to flip it over, I asked Jeff to help me...again. Thanks to my blog, I found out we flipped it over the first time on May 1st: "With the first two rocks, we only got them out of the ground and flipped over. They are ready to be moved into place the next time I get the urge." ...Boy, it took a long time to get the urge again!


Before
After


I found moving the second rock, labeled B in the photos a lot easier than the large flatter one (A). "C" was moved into place back in May. "B" is barely visible in the before picture.



A view from above shows that the rock (B) is now visible from above--including the living room window. This helps tie in the (planned) upper pool to the (planned) streambed and pond.

Another Encounter in the Yard

I spotted this interesting, colorful bug while trying to take a picture of the early goldenrod. I lucked out to get this shot!

Update on the Bluebirds Second Brood

I am such a procrastinator. I'm guessing it was two weeks ago, I went out walking the paths. Something seemed different, quiet or something. I got the impression that the bluebird babies had fledged. I peeked in and sure enough the nest was empty.

As happened with the first brood, while I was walking the path near the woodland's edge. The parent birds seemed agitated. I believe the babies were hiding and I was getting a bit too close for mom and dad's comfort.

I'm late in relaying the story, and late in providing pics. Some may be repeats, but here are what I came across while searching my pics today:

Rough Ideas for Pond/Streambed

The underside of this rock (shown) has some depressions in it that seem perfect for running water. Originally I liked the weathered look of the top surface, but feel it is best to use this side instead.



I found this rock last year and immediately decided it may be great for the pond. A friend or ours is supposed to cut the bolt for me--I just found out today. Thanks, Justin! ~smile~

I'm hoping to use tubing connected to the hole in the rock and then disguise it with other rocks. I'm hoping it will look like a spring or an underground stream if I can set it up right--as if the water has dried up in the upper part of the stream but still flowing underneath the surface rocks.




Here I decided to try a rough idea of what it may look like. I will definitely be tweaking it. Of course, I have to dig down, put the liner down, then place the rocks appropriately. I'll be adding more rocks including smaller stones and small rounded gravel--all found on our property! ~smile~

I can see by the pictures and by looking out the window, that I need some areas for the eye to rest. I plan to make rock groupings with some spaces between them to make it look more natural and less cluttered. This is not an overnight project.




Here is the rock I dragged across half the yard (well, not quite half). The side shown on the cardboard (in an earlier post) is the flat bottom of the rock. Again the weathered side of this one is not best for the stream, either. I like the rounded look and the depression at the top for water to collect. I think I will spin it around, but I just didn't have the energy once I put if (very) roughly in place.

Planning the Streambed

This morning, I was in a bit of a funk and was not motivated to do anything. For the most part I've been very productive this summer, but not the past two days. Anyway, I went out to finish mowing the back yard, and that was enough to get me started on the pond planning again.

Jeff was nice enough to set up a canopy so that I could work in the shade.

I had placed a lot of rocks near what will be the upper part of the streambed. The grass had grown up around them, so I moved them, mowed, and began sorting them by similar characteristics. Later, I decided to haul one huge one up to the spot.

After flipping it end over end a few times, I decided to go get a flattened cardboard box to help me drag it across the grass and (eventually) roughly into place.