Thursday, September 25, 2008

Aerie Bulb Planting (& Guests drop in)

Terry and I spent the afternoon planting bulbs from Burpee's that I ordered. This was the Woodland Wildflower mix that included some tulips (which Terry planted in a sunnier spot), daffodils, grape hyacinths and others. I raked away the leaf litter on the hillside behind the bird feeders and moved some of the surface rocks out of the way. Then Terry tried to dig down a few inches to deposit clusters of bulbs here and there. After a time, I went to digging some of the holes using a garden spade. Lots and lots of roots and small stones to contend with but we got all 150 bulbs in the ground. Now all we have to do is wait for some fall rains to get the roots started, the tree leaves to fall to act as an insulating cover blanket and then the warm days of early spring to see if we are successful in getting a bit more color on the hill in the spring.

After dinner I was sitting in the living room when I saw a positively huge bird fly past the window and crash land in the right of way. I jumped up and went to the porch door to see if I could spot it and just then a second and third turkey glided into the trees on the other side of the power line. One made a most ungraceful landing and crashed down almost halfway before it caught onto a branch and steadied itself. These are the first wild turkeys we've seen since the week before the spring season. They'll probably tease me by coming to the feeders for the next two weeks and then disappear again when the fall season (either sex) rolls around.

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