WiseAcre Gardens

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The season for fresh flowers is over around here. I’ll have to pull flower photos out of my assorted stash that I never got around to posting this summer. Don’t ask me why but I hardly took any perennial flower photos this year. Guess if you see them every day they sort of fade from attention. But hunting for wildflowers is a different story. I’ve got to bring home proof that I at least spotted my prey. So this winter you should expect to see more wildflower pics.

This was a field of wild mustard on a day in the first week of July that I won’t be seeing the like of in a long time. Sunny for sure but the temperatures are going to be a lot lower for quite a while. I didn’t get out of the truck to shoot any individual flowers - it was just a pretty sight and I was happy enough preserving the image.

I can’t remember why I had my truck in the shop. It takes a real beating and has to go in for repairs often. But while waiting I snapped this photo of one of the Potsdam bridges. No real reason to show it except I seem to have gotten sidetracked with landscape photos of that day. I’ll show more but first I want to re-post another photo taken during my wait.

The post was titled ‘Holy Flowering Fangs Batman’ but there’s no need to go looking it up. It was the photo that made the post.

I covered a lot of ground that day. By the time the truck was repaired I figured it best not to work and go fishing instead. My favorite spot is on the Grasse River near my house but I decided to head downriver and try a different location. The river has plenty of areas like this where it gets shallow enough to wade. It’s surprising how many smallmouth bass these areas hold but they do run small. Catching dozens are no problem and it’s usual to hook into a couple decent size ‘keepers’ at any given time. Unfortunately that day wasn’t usual.

To change my luck I gave the little guy a big kiss. It must have worked. When I got home my wife gave me a big kiss even though I was late for dinner.

So today I’ll play along. Not because I like being “IT” but rather that I appreciate a regular viewer of my blog and for her sake I’ll participate.

Peppylady has invited me to post ‘6 random things about me‘ (link goes to hers)

First I’m supposed to post the rules:

1. Link to the person or persons who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

6 Random Things About Me

1. I don’t like goats.
2. My Company Motto is: OOPS
3. My role model is Bugs Bunny
4. Married on April Fools day. Long story but the punchline is my mother-in-law didn’t get the joke when she asked when.
5. My wife married me for my potential - so I haven’t wasted any by accomplishing anything
6. This whole thing scares me - am I the only one who’s noticed the 666 hiding in the background? 6 rules - 6 random things - 6 tags. The devil made me do it.

Now for the hard part - 6 tags

The Everyday Adventurer - Ratty goes outdoors and has his/her own perspective on what’s seen. I think Ratty is young (at least compared to me) and I think we should all encourage the long tailed one.

Empty Nester - Grammy has been a regular visitor here and it’s time to send someone her way. Not much garden stuff - family is her focus.  Not sure I’d want a slice but you can check out the Diaper Cake she made.

GardenJoy4Me - Joy and I have had some nice exchanges and I appreciate her sense of humor towards me. She has a wonderful garden and some cat’s I’d be willing to cat nap with anytime.  Joy is a bit of a witch - Halloween is her favorite holiday. I’m trying to tag those that can use a link but in her case it’s not necessary - she reaches out to people and they seem to flock to her site. Must be some kind of spell she casts on visitors.

The Giddy Garden Gnome - another frequent visitor here. I have no idea why but she’s always welcome. from her header -  “A journal documenting the trials and tribulations of gardening on the rocky coast of Downeast Maine. My attempt at keeping in touch with my many friends and loved ones who live all across the nation.” - I guess she thinks of me as a friend and is just keeping her ‘promise’ to keep in touch. So go ahead and make her your friend too.

Photography by KLM - I’ve enjoyed her pics and hope you do too. We haven’t heard from each other in a while so I’m going to pester her with this

Water When Dry - Aiyana is another frequent visitor that has a blog I really like. It has something to do with her being in Arizona - and the fact you need to be very careful if you stop to smell her flowers. She’s as close to an expert I’m ever going to get when it come to Catci.

Well there’s my 6 taged blogs. No real rhyme or reason except an attempt to pay back the visits and comments each have given me. There are more blogs worth visiting on my blog roll. If you visit them don’t tell them I sent you. They might throw you out.

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‘Im not going to tag - The Life and Loves of Grumpy’s Honeybunch - HoneyB has a blog that makes my mouth water. Stop by and see what she’s cooking up. I just wanted to show off another made in the NorthCountry blog without committing her to responding to a meme.  (Oh and Joy - don’t mention my mouth waters because I’m a drooling idiot - it’s obvious enough)

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One last order of business. Today is Green Thumb Sunday and I need to post something before going out to the woodpile and moving it indoors. It’s getting downright chilly and damp and the woodstove wants a steady diet lately.

Join Green Thumb Sundays

Old Man’s Beard -

Clematis virginiana

The photo was taken on Sept 21 and the seed pods hadn’t gotten the very fuzzy look yet. By now they should be very fuzzy with silken threads attached to the seed ready to fly away.

They start with a pretty flower. Virgin’s Bower is a wild Clematis that’s a common sight around here. They bloom starting in July and can be mistaken from a distance with Wild Cucumber but when you get up close there’s no doubt about their identity.

Too bad the end up looking like me in the Autumn. All burnt out and disheaveled. But it’s nothing to fret about, come next season we’ll be all prettied up again

Following the Red Sandstone trail of yesterday’s post brought me to the north entrance of the trail where canoe access to the Raquette River means climbing over the hydro pipe going to the Sugar Island power plant.

The Raquette River is dammed at numerous places as it rushes north out of the Adirondack Mountains to the lower level of the St. Lawrence River valley. A common site along the public trails are the turquoise hydro pipes leading from the dams to the power plants.

I don’t want anyone fixing the Potholes along the Red Sandstone Trail but I do think a couple of leaks in the hydro pipe running next to the trail should be fixed. It’s a bit disturbing to see leaks in a 13.5 foot diameter pipe that at peak flow delivers over 1100 cubic feet of water per second.

I think even Joe the Plumber would be a bit overwhelmed if he had to fix this little leak.