Framboise Rouge

In the foreground is our raspberry patch.  

It’s not very large and the variety(s) of raspberries we planted decades ago is lost to history.  Most springs I prune and remove any dead canes and give it a good fertilizer drench formulated specifically for raspberries.  While it is hardly neglected it doesn't receive the level of attention a commercial raspberry grower would give it such as tidy straight rows, diligent weeding and a trellis.  We have an old school briar patch.  This year I was worried that our modest berry patch might have been done-in.  Finis.

Over winter the rabbits (or some other critter) chomped every single live plant down to ground level.  I had to remove only a handful of dead canes and there wasn't much to observe above ground.  Nevertheless, I fertilized it and crossed my fingers.  And as it warmed-up, sure enough, raspberry leaves emerged from the ground and plants began to grow.  So I fertilized it again; and a month later fertilized it a third time for good measure.  I even went in there with a string trimmer and cleared as much of the grass and weeds as I could taking pains to avoid cutting any of the raspberries.

And in the last week the berries began to ripen.  And there are a lot of them.  The dog and I go out to the patch nearly every day to pick berries; and it looks like we're gonna be busy for a while.  On a good day I estimate we'll gather almost a pint.  Doggo is fond of eating the low-hanging fruit and I pick the rest.  And eat some along the way.  Consequently, we've got seasonal raspberries for table fare.  Given the cost of diesel to get raspberries to the produce department of a local grocery nowadays, these gems are worth their weight in gold.

 

And we're freezing them for a wintertime treat.  You haven't lived until you've had one of Jill's smoothies made with Greek yogurt, local honey and our own frozen raspberries.   

The Golden Hour

 

Google Photo periodically furnishes unsolicited photo vignettes using their AI platform.  Like these brief, fleeting, moments associated with the rising and setting of the sun.

Characterized as the Goden Hour almost always these moments are not even close to an hour.  Most often they are there and gone in a heartbeat.  You snooze you lose.

Nevertheless,they are a welcome addition to my day; especially travel photos set to music.

Autumn Is Knocking On The Door

From our walk today there is further evidence of the changing of the seasons.

 

Busy bumble bees, migratory songbirds winging their way south and mast crops in the woods.

 

 

Acorns

 

 

Walnuts

 

 

Bumble bees on Canada Goldenrod

 

 

Blue birds built the first nest.  After their brood fledged some house wrens moved in and did the same.  Nest box is doing double duty this season for the migratory songbirds. 

Velvet Bucks

Antlers are unique in the animal kingdom as the fastest-growing bone structures in mammals.  

While growing, they are covered in a soft, fuzzy skin called velvet—a dense network of blood vessels and nerves that delivers the oxygen, hormones, and nutrients required to fuel this remarkable, rapid growth.

Because velvet antlers represent a rare instance of a mammal regenerating a complex tissue structure from scratch every year, scientists frequently study them as a model for bone growth and regenerative medicine.

The trail camera trap line recently captured several great bucks currently in full velvet. Be sure to check out the dandy at the end!

 

Center of the Universe

My universe anyway.

This spring we had our property surveyed.  

As near as we can tell, and based-upon our surveyor's check of the county records, the joint hasn't been surveyed since the Government Land Office moved their chains along our south and west property lines back in 1836.  We know that because our southwest corner and the northwest corner are corners of the quarter section.

The SE marker is buried under County Road D; nevertheless we found it with a metal detector and pounded a spike in the road.  We found this official marker buried at the NW corner. 

One of the tasks performed by our surveyor was to locate the exact center of our property.  I had a reasonably close reckoning of where it was located generally but did not have it precisely marked.

It is now.  And my plan is to install some sort of monument there for people to puzzle-over long after I am dead and gone. 

Yesterday morning was quite calm so Doggo and I seized the opportunity to run out to the center and send the DJI Neo up for a quick reconnaissance of the principle compass directions and an ascent and descent from its firmware operating ceiling of 120 meters. 

Click on aerial images for a closer look. 

 

That's me and Ruby in the center

The Center

View North

View South

House and outbuildings left of center

 View East

View West - somehow went missing.

And the climb to altitude and return to terra firma. 

 

Pollinator Paradise

I cannot say enough about the satisfaction that has come from naturalizing more of our immediate yard. It's been an explosion of native wildflowers that start in the spring with early ephemeral blooms to feed the newly emergent insects who feed the newly-arriving migratory birds.  This persists into the harvest season and autumn months as bees gather pollen and nectar for their colonies and migratory birds pass thru as they wing their way south.  Even our non-migrating birds are packing-away additional insect protein in preparation for the coming winter months.

Doggo and I went fut to  check on what's happening early yesterday morning.

Canada and stiff goldenrod area popular dining spot this time of year.... 

 

Restoration

This photo was taken the spring of 1995 the year following our purchase of the farm.  That's the original barn in the background and the well house (pump house) in the foreground.  I took the photo below of the same view just the other day.

An interesting historical factoid about this place is that the original house never had running water or indoor plumbing.  Pictured is the pump house.  It happens to be the newest of the original buildings and likely was constructed about the time rural electrification arrived.  Evidence supporting this theory?  The studs in the building are dimensional lumber milled precisely 2X4 inches (none of them sixteen inches on center), the siding was wood Dutch lap board and the surviving electrical work in the building dates to the period of the late 1930s to early 1940s.  As near as I can tell power arrived along our stretch of road sometime between 1937 and 1942.  

The shallow well in this building and an additional one in the yard were properly plugged, abandoned and registered with the county more than twenty-five years ago.  Inside this building is the original pump-jack and electric motor that delivered water via an overhead pipe to the barn.  Indeed, the livestock had running water.

In any event, about the time we constructed the house the pump house received a facelift.  The asphalt siding had been previously removed and it got a new roof.  I constructed new casings and installed replacement windows.  It got a couple of paint jobs too.  Because we have indoor plumbing we store garden tools and potting supplies in it.  Alas, over the last few decades the aging process persisted and by the time last winter rolled-around we were pondering our options for a deteriorating shed.  

The original log house was sold to someone from Chicago who disassembled it and hauled it away shortly before we purchased the property.  We hired a guy to dismantle the barn and clean-up the site.  No money changed hands in exchange for the salvage of the original posts, beams and siding.  Our house was constructed on the barn footprint.  We previously restored the original granary which dates to the Belgian settlement of the mid to latter 1800s.  Our sad-looking pump house is the second and last of the original buildings on this farmstead.  Our choices included:  Total demolition and removal.  Demolition, removal and replacement with an Amish-manufactured shed.  And partial demolition and restoration in-place.  

Weighing costs and other considerations we opted for the latter.  It was much more than a cosmetic  facelift so I'd characterize it as a complete facelift, tummy tuck and boob job.  The interior is unchanged thus preserving the old; but the exterior is new.  It's maintenance-free too.  And I gotta say, we're tickled with the results.

The only thing left for us to do is spread gravel around the base to keep dirt splatter off the siding; and tidy-up the interior.  That white cedar may have to go too.  That's worth pondering. 

If anybody in the neighborhood is looking for a talented handyman I gotta guy you should meet. 

 

Click on images for a closer look