Aerie Report, July 24, 2011

"Only" got up to 83 today as compared to the 97 degrees yesterday and 101.8 on Friday. THEY keep saying a chance of T-storms but nothing ever shows up on the radar. Terry and I cancelled a trip into New Jersey yesterday for an open house at my niece's. The forecast here was for 98-100 and there for 100-105. Too bloody hot to be traveling 500 miles round trip unnecessarily. (Sorry Kristen!)

I spent a few hours each afternoon in the basement where even that temperature has risen to 70 degrees. Usually it's between 65 and 68 degrees down there, but the very late afternoon sun has been shining in the walkout French doors and adjacent windows warming things up. That and the two escape wells on the southwest side of the house are--although vented--regular greenhouses. Sorting through computer hardware that no longer is compatible with anything I've got and software/floppy disks that I may or may not ever use again. Hardware/drives can go to the dump eventually. The useless CD's can be turned into 1) targets or 2) deer reflectors around the garden, but what can I do with all the hundreds of floppy disks? I've no need for that many drink coasters.

(From my Facebook account)
A quiet (but hot) weekend at the Aerie. Picked lots of string beans, zucchinis and cucumbers. Even got a few onions out of the ground with many more promising a winter's supply. Bear knocked over a small (4" diameter) chokecherry tree. Cuckoo flew into one of the windows (DOA). Nothing much happening.

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Terry and I will be heading out early tomorrow morning to go blueberry picking again. I can never get enough blueberries! There are still a few ripening raspberries around the yard but they are small due to the heat and lack of rain. (Yeah we got 1.5 inches last Monday and--maybe--a dozen drops since then. Between their predictions for temperature and rainfall, the Old Farmers' Almanac really screwed the pooch this month!) The blackberries are not yet ripe on the hill. When the do turn from their current green color, I expect them to be hard as marbles from lack of moisture. If I pick any for my breakfast cereal, I'll have to watch out that I don't crack any teeth.

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That's about it from the Aerie for now. Time to head off to the air conditioned bedroom for some shuteye.

Late fruit

I didn't mention it but the berries (blue berries and raspberries) around the Bolt Hole have yet to ripen. They are unusually late this year probably due to the cold conditions. That's driven some critters (like bears) to seek alternate food supplies. I had two old bird houses on a post in front of the barn. Operative word there is "had". They were busted open the other night by some thing looking to feast on the young birds inside. Two well formed nests were exposed and the chicks or eggs eaten.

Another note: A big old apple tree on the neighbor's corner has been dropping small green apples to the ground. Either the wind or the cold caused that. The deer have taken advantage of the bounty. There was a big doe feeding on those little green apples yesterday morning when I walked up to check the condition of his cabin.