Buffy and I saw something run across the far pasture this afternoon, at top speed. I think it may have been a fox. If it was a rabbit, it was a huge one. Buffy didn’t really see it, but she could smell it. I had to hang on to her to keep her from jumping off the little truck to give chase to the scent.
March 8, 2009
Yesterday when I found Teddy face down in the water bowl, I thought Buffie might have tried to drown him.
After they had a rousing game of football, I realized Buffie just tried to give Teddy a drink because it was 80 degrees and she knew he was as thirsty as she was.
August 2, 2008
The hottest, sultriest days of summer, Dog Days. Hot, humid air wraps around you like a blanket when you step outside the air conditioned comfort of the house.
The other night, I heard the bleat of a young deer, close to the house. Daddy Senior went outside. The big flashlight caught a doe and her baby in the fenced patch by the house, and a young fox in front of the tractor shed.
August 10, 2007
Sixty-five years ago:
Like Topsy, it just GROWED.
October, 2006:
Erick Valle, writing on Florida Vernacular Architecture:
“The Florida Cracker [house]… dating from around the turn of the 19th century, is found in the rural countryside and in the farmlands. The architectural characteristics that distinguish this type are wood-frame construction, an elevated first floor, a large attached front porch, a revealed fireplace, horizontal wood siding in both the exterior and interior, double-hung vertical windows and a steep roof. A unique condition of this type is that as the family grows, the simplicity of the plan easily allows for rooms to be attached in the rear of the house or as independent buildings, forming a compound.”
August 10, 2007
Mid-morning is an active time around the areas devoted to nectar plants.
As I rounded ‘Leonard Messell’ magnolia on my way to look at the butterfly area near the rock birdbath, a dark swallowtail came from the other direction, flying directly into my face.
He brushed my lips and quickly changed direction. Unintentional I’m sure but quite an experience anyhow.
August 5, 2007
Foxes Earth is a fanciful name for an ordinary piece of ground. Old men used to hunt foxes here, mostly for fellowship and the sport of hearing their dogs bay as they chased the scent of a fox. Anne Rivers Siddons wrote a novel titled ‘Foxes Earth’ which has nothing to do with me, except that I read her book.
August 5, 2007
The little fox that Cowboy and Cur had seen playing around the old barn and in the fields this summer was found dead on the highway last Saturday, victim of a passing motorist.
August 5, 2007
It’s the time of year when businesses sometimes start a new fiscal year, some churches elect new officers and a new school year begins.
It’s also time to think of the next gardening year. Spring bulbs that will bloom in 2008 must be ordered, and planting beds prepared soon. It’s almost time to reflect on the past year’s landscape and plan for another garden year.
