Sunday, November 17, 2013

A Little Daytime Visitor...

It's been somewhat warm the last couple of days with highs near 40. Today, it was overcast with a very light rain. Before noon, we had a cute little visitor in the back yard. A tiny, young, black bear... We didn't see Mama and we weren't about to go outside to find her! I hope he's not an orphan, Wisconsin's bear season ended last month.




He was nosing around the bird feeders. He eventually knocked down a suet feeder and stole the blocks of suet...


The cats sat and quietly watched him. If Little Boy Kitty were still alive, he'd have been growling like a dog!



It's been a couple of days since the bear was around, but today I looked outside and there he was... Eyeing up the feeders...again!

The sun was shining so the pics are better. This one gives you an idea of just how tiny he is...



A few more in the sunshine...






Sunday, November 10, 2013

Moving the Rocks...

Today was a great day to finish up some late season outdoor projects. There really wasn't much landscaping done in the front of our house other than a some oddly placed and misshapen Yews that the prior owners had planted. They must have dumped a few bags of mulch between the sidewalk and the house. Over time, most of the mulch disappeared, then weeds took over. The run off from the roof was making large puddles next to the house.
That area was built up with some with some dirt from the garden. I leveled it out and sloped away from the foundation, covered it with plastic to keep out the weeds, and topped it with the rock that had been dumped in our driveway last week. It's hard to see the true colors in these pictures, but it's "river rock" so it will be all different colors, but mostly browns, grays, reds, and black.

Before...


After...


Before...


After...


I brought out the snow blower and got it ready for winter. I had changed the oil in it this spring and also ran it out of fuel. All I had to do was fill the gas tank, hit the primer a couple of times and it fired off on the second pull. I put the lawn mower away too.

Wednesday, November 06, 2013

The Second Snowfall...

I wish I could post something motorcycle related, like photos from a ride through the woods, but I've got nothing. The weather's been very cool lately and this morning we woke up to find this winter's second dusting of snow.... Beautiful!



The deer were on the patio looking for for some bird food and maybe a pumpkin. This is a mom and her little boy...


While I was typing this, Rick Gruel Landscaping showed up to do some work. Nancy wants a garden next year, and I needed to do something with the space between the sidewalk and the house. An hour later I have the start of a garden spot, a yard of rock, and some fill next to the house. Now the heavy work begins. I hope the weather improves!


I built another rack for wood. It's been too cold to stain it so it's still raw wood. I've been working on filling it with some ready to burn oak that had found it's way out of the woods and has been piling up on my driveway...