I Love To Go A Gardening
Growing Our Life in Northern Michigan
Death & Destruction
Yesterday the temperature climbed all the way up into the low 80s! That was nice, although a wee bit too hot. I wouldn’t mind a balance between frigid cold and sweltering hot. I saw a few tiny spots of snow yesterday afternoon. It’s all gone today.
Today is a bit cooler with a high of 67 degrees. It stormed overnight. I didn’t hear the thunder, but EJ did. He saw that Hannah was a bit nervous so he slept the rest of the night in his chair with her on his lap.
With the warmer temps, Spring is springing. The lilac bushes are budding almost over night, and I’ve seen crocuses and daffodils in blossom. I often see the bluebirds at one of the birdhouses near the big rocks so they definitely have moved in. Their bright colors always fills me with delight and I’m thrilled that I get to watch them. I think that chickadees have moved into the birdhouse near the deck–just outside my window. Although Miss Madeline Meadows stood at the bottom of the posts chittering at them–I scared her away. I didn’t see the chickadees for a while after that and I wasn’t sure whether to be sad if they didn’t nest in the birdhouse or relieved that they might find someplace safer. They did return though. I really think Madeline is exceeding the parameters of her job and I might have to put a reprimand in her permanent file.
This is the first time since we’ve moved here that the birds have been interested in the birdhouses. I think it’s thrilling and delightful.
Yesterday morning I cleaned out the poultry coop. In previous winters I raked out the soiled straw through the winter, but this year I couldn’t do it with my fractured risk–and EJ was busy, tired, and in pain to do more than feed, water, and collect eggs. So cleaning out the winter’s accumulation was a very difficult, sweaty job. I stuck to it and with a shovel, potato fork (using it like a pitchfork), and rake I got it done, and now it looks really nice.
This morning when I went out to let ducks and chickens out of the coop, I found Butterfly dead in the straw. It made me sad. She was my second favorite hen. She always had a lot of gossip to tell me. All the other chickens were silent and huddled together at the top of their perch. I checked to make sure there was no predator lurking in the coop but I didn’t see any. I asked EJ if chickens grieved when one of the flock died, and he replied, “Of course they do.” I didn’t see any obvious cause of death. EJ wondered if she might have gotten startled by a crash of thunder or something. Poor thing. 😥
When I got back into the house after finishing my morning chores, EJ told me that he had read on Facebook that there was an explosion and massive fire at the magnesium company he had worked at for 17 years downstate. I’m glad he no longer works there. Magnesium is very explosive and over the years there has been quite a few explosions and fires but none like this, of course. The company is one of the biggest magnesium plants in the world. It makes parts for many automakers, including Ford, GM, BMW, Fiat and Daimler Chrysler. The fire could lead to an adverse affect on the auto industry and Michigan’s economy.
Fortunately, there were no serious injuries or deaths from the explosion.
I Love To Go A Gardening 
I “liked” the picture of Hannah and EJ – I’m sure he was able to comfort Hannah some from that raucous thunder. We are slated for two days of storms here, some beginning at 8:00 this evening and going through mid-day Friday. Not looking forward to it and we got into the 80s two days in a row. I’m like you TJ – I may have complained about the cold and ice and snow all Winter, but this is too hot, too soon. It was no happy medium. The bluebirds are very beautiful. I enjoyed watching the video. Sorry to hear about Butterfly and it would not surprise me to see the other chickens grieving for their friend. Look at Canada Geese – they mate for life and if one dies, they rarely take on another mate again.
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It made me very sad that the chickens were all grieving for Butterfly. :’
I love sweatshirt and jeans weather best!–warmish with a hint of coolness.
Keep alert during the bad weather! We are supposed to get some storms in our area later, but EJ and I were just discussing that the storms were much worse downstate than they are up here.
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It would make me sad as well TJ … animals are more complex than most people think.
I like sweatshirt and jeans weather best as well – I like seeing the Spring colors after the drab Winter but that’s it. And the trees have made me a sneezin’ fool today, despite being on allergy shots since 1975 and having taken OTC Alavert. My favorite season is Fall, even though it means Winter is not far behind.
I am already worried about the storms – after I leave here shortly, I’m going to pull the plug on the laptop … just in case of a problem with this electrical storm. All the trees out back are worrisome to me since they are big, tall and no one has taken care of them in years.
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We are surrounded by trees (forest) and when there are high winds, I get nervous to. sometimes they come crashing to the ground. It doesn’t help that the pileated woodpeckers (which are BEAUTIFUL) peck huge holes in the trees.
I like watching the buds and leaves unfold in the Spring, and all the blossoms. There are many, many cherry and apple orchards up here and they are so pretty in the Spring. I also love the firsts times I can open the windows to let the breeze in, and I love the freedom of walking outside with no coat, hat, mittens, or boots.
But I love autumn best with it’s crispness and color. Although I also love Winter very much with it’s snow-covered beauty and all the birds and animals coming up to the feeders. Although snow-blowing the driveway is tiring, and I don’t like driving–or walking (now)–in the slippery-ness.
EJ went goose-hunting twice (only shot one once) but as soon as he learned that geese mated for life, he refused to ever go goose-hunting again.
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There have been renters in the house behind me since the woman in that house unexpectedly died … each tenant is worse than the last one and when we had wind gusts of 39 mph a few years ago, my metal shed tumbled off its moorings and tumbled across the yard, broke apart and now I get a good view of what is back there – before, the large firebushes and lilac trees, planted over 50 years ago, obscured my view … now I worry. We have a storm erupting out there right now. Torrential rain and I am going to shut down soon and unplug and go to bed. It is warm in the house – I didn’t want to put the A/C on or even uncover the unit due to all the debris flying around.
Fall is beautiful, the smell of Fall, I love the colors because browns, golds, reds and rusts are all my favorite colors.
Yesterday was the first time I was out for a morning walk with no hat and it felt good the wind blowing through my hair … on Sunday I had on gloves and a wool hat while walking. I was down near the Detroit River taking pictures of the water and the fisherman were all bundled up as well, holding onto their fishing poles with heavy gloves.
Yes, it is incredible that geese mate for life … I like how EJ thinks – he is an animal lover. You have a gem … he slept with Hannah to keep her calm. That is a special person in my opinion.
I am going to shut down as we just had a long rumble which sounded kind of ominous and I live in Lincoln Park and storms are in the Metro area as well as the Monroe area.
Have a good evening TJ.
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I love your writing. You are very description and I can imagine what you write about.
The colors of autumn are my favorite colors as well! I’m so fortunate that my birthday is in October. For my birthday gift each year we always take beautiful drives through the colorful countryside. We spontaneously stop whenever we see something particularly interesting. A couple of years ago we passed a sign at a ski resort advertising free autumn ski lift rides. We turned in and rode up to see the colors from above. It was my first time on a ski lift.
EJ really IS a special kind of guy. He is my favorite person in all the world.
Please let me know that you survived the storm. I enjoy storms, but not when they have the possibility of becoming violent.
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Thanks for saying that TJ and I do try to write so that someone feels like they are going on the walk with me. And also, in the last few days I got a new follower – a woman in the U.K. and she is blind. I went to check out her site and have followed her. Her stories are about her guide dog named Munch (very unusual-looking guide dog as you picture a german shepher or a labrador or golden retriever) but he is a loving animal and sometimes forgets he is supposed to be a guide dog and gets over-friendly with people. 🙂 And she works with children – in her “about” page, she did not say what she did, so I had to look back and she is a school counselor. So she wrote me yesterday and said she liked that I was descriptive as she could picture what I was writing about. She was sighted earlier in her life, but very fuzzy sight. She mentions using “narrator” which I guess is like the “Dragon” software.
Fall is the best – harvest time, the pretty colors and I liked to check out the trees, and farmer’s markets as well. I’ve never been on a ski lift – that is an interesting concept.
EJ really sounds like a wonderful person – you were lucky to find someone special. I have not found my someone special – one day perhaps?
I did okay with this storm last night – thank you for asking – I looked outside this morning … it was pouring raining and there are many branches in the street but small branches – I did not go out in the yard. But we must have lost power momentarily as the digitals were off about a minute and I noticed the pre-set stations had disappeared. But I am crossing my fingers for this afternoon when we are having two rounds of possibly severe weather … one will produce heavy flooding and the second will be gusty winds and hail. The second one I worry about more – we got new sewers in 1990 and have been okay since then – we did have a flood in our basement years ago and it was messy and lost many things down there. I worry about the wicked winds and the trees toppling over, especially after the torrential rains last night. This bad weather will continue through Friday afternoon, mostly rain though tomorrow.
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TJ: I wanted to give you this blogger’s site if you wanted to check her out and forgot to add it in the message: https://thesecretblind.wordpress.com
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Thanks, Linda! She sounds very interesting!
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I thought so too TJ – I meant to add it on my reply, then pressed “send” and remembered. I was just looking at an alert I got in my e-mail last night from the City – I was already in bed, but at 11:45 p.m. in Lincoln Park we were expecting 60 mph winds. I am glad I was in bed and didn’t know that. They said to go to the basement or an interior room – they were not forecasting that severe of weather earlier yesterday.
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