AND THEN THE RAINS CAME....
It's been so long since we've had significant rain, that I had forgotten how to deal with it. The YMCA pool shut down because of lightning and thunder. I traipsed around Bath under an umbrella that gave little protection from the downpours. I just came in from picking beans, onions and carrots and again got drenched. Oh well, we needed it. Let's hope it let's up for the Red Sox game tonight!

I picked up these crabs some time ago on an outing at Totman Cove. These crabs were not eaten by gulls, but somehow had been washed up at the strand line and turned bright orange. I thought they would make a nice wreath. Can you pick out the males from the females?!

I've also had fun recently discovering some interesting fungi. My neighbor at West Point had some growing in his lawn. At first, I thought someone had thrown some apples into the grass, but realized they were mushrooms called Slippery Jacks. They are in the Bolete family distinguished by the pores under the cap. The cap is slimy and when removed, the mushroom is considered "edible with caution"! I loved the contrasting green clover and purplish leaves.....all a part of the fall scene.

I attended a workshop yesterday on Invasive Plants. It was held at the Audubon Center in Falmouth, a great place to visit. Most of the plants identified and discussed are familiar to me. I've hassled with what to do about controlling them, notably Knotweed or Japanese Bamboo. This is a plant that has taken over areas and reduced the presence of native plants. In the interest of diversity, we should learn about these plants and try to keep them under control. In Connecticut, the culprit in my book is Garlic Mustard that is almost impossible to get rid of. Bittersweet is now attracting attention with its colorful berries, but this vine can kill trees! There are ways to monitor and control these invasives. A good beginning is to walk your property and identify what is growing. If you start seeing new plants that appear to take over, it is time to take action.

For a number of years, fall has meant an encounter with Sapsuckers....a woodpecker related bird that can be mistaken for a Downy Woodpecker. What amazes me is the fact that every fall I see this bird in a small Elm tree on our property in West Point. This year, there were two - flying around and pestering each other. They occasionally would stop to hammer holes in the tree for sap, often making lines of holes as they feed. But why do they always visit the Elm on our property in the fall?

Here are more of the Wood Guys that greet arrivals on our property. They are made from the chunks of wood left from the post and beam building project. The fellow on the right blew down in Friday's wind and rain storm, along with two others on the property. As you can see, the Zinnias are still providing color in the garden. One final note...I found an Opossum roadkill on the way out from Bath on Route 209. Unfortunately, it was a female with full milk glands in her pouch. I could not see if any embryos had migrated to the nipples, however. These marsupials are becoming more common in these parts.
10/14/07 Falling for Fall, Ronnie