Cedar Shingle Update

We have just two rows left to install but the best part is that we no longer have any of the fussy cuts to mess with just basic straight cuts.  Yahoo!

Tomorrow morning (Monday) we have to make a dump run to get rid of the last 4 non original windows.  I am so over looking at them leaned up against the house.  Goodbye, so long, farewell, au revoir, auf wiedersehen, and sayonara.  You won't be missed because you never should have been installed in the first place.

The weather forecast is for no rain or snow ALL week.  So we have no excuse not to finish the shingles on the southside of the house.  We really are antsy to get the east side shingled so that we can hang the secret project up.  You can subscribe to our Instagram page for updates on the secret project and to follow along in between posts.

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If you don't live in this area (MI) you may not know that earlier in the week this part of MI experienced several tornadoes.  I think that the last I heard was 60 or 70 houses were damaged or destroyed.  The temperature was 59 degrees which is odd for a tornado.  We worked outside all day and I had mentioned to R that one minute it was blowing from the south and then the next minute it was blowing from the west.  The skies were getting dark so we called it quits about 530pm.

I went inside and was on the computer when my phone went off with a tornado warning alert.  I actually thought it was a mistake until the sirens started blaring.  So I turned on the TV to a local channel and sure enough there was not one but 2 tornadoes on the ground.  

They missed us but one was heading in the direction of my sister's house.  She doesn't have a basement because her home was built on the foundation of a old farm house.  I called her and warned her.  She is a labrador dog breeder of show doggies so she rounded them up and put them all in their crates and then watched the skies.  I think she said the tornado went just south of her by about a mile.  I really must take some photos of her house.  They did an attached kennel that blends right into their house and future owners could use it as an office or beauty salon.  It has an attach courtyard with wrought iron fence around it.  It is really a clever design.

This is the time of year where we need to think about birds, butterflies, and bees AND what we can do to increase their populations. 

Monarch Watch

Honeybees Conservancy 

All About Birds

I purchased a large bag of dried mealworms last week and already the woodpeckers have found the mealworm feeder.  We also noticed that the red winged blackbirds are back and that is usually a sure sign of spring.  During the winter we use sunflower seeds and thistle in our feeders.

Last week we also purchased a replacement top for a concrete bird bath base that was given to us last year.  Birds like a shallow basin that holds about 2 or 3 inches of water.  Don't confuse bird baths with fountain basins.  Fountains basins are far too deep and the birds can't splish splash around without drowning.

Bedlam in the Bird Bath

 collyersam 

We have 8 concrete bird baths that are located around our 2 acre lot.  They see a lot of action especially when it hasn't rained for a while.  The birds both bathe and drink from these basins so it is important to keep the water fresh.  This not only keeps the birds healthy but will bring in more birds that are in search of drinking water during times of less rainfall.

Happy St Patrick's Day

May the road rise to meet you, and the wind always be at your back. May the sun shine warm on your face and the rains fall softly on your fields.

Reuse Repurpose Recycle

Harvesting Milkweed Seeds

Finally a day of no rain.  I have been working at cutting down all of my cone flowers and today I started cutting down the milkweed.  I thought that I would talk about Milkweed and how to harvest the seeds from the seed pods.

I love the close up photo of the individual flowers that make up the larger milkweed flower.

Milkweed plants get a bad rap and I think it is because of the word 'weed' that is part of the name.  The flowers have a wonderful scent and last for quite some time.  Also the plant stalk is strong so the can withstand a strong wind or rain storm.

The Monarchs love them but they are also favorites of the bees.  The top photo is a honeybee, the middle photo is a bumble bee, and the bottom photo is a Monarch.

There are a few things that you need to know before you start cutting down the milkweed stalks. 

The milkweed plant contains cardiac glycosides which are like digitalins that are used to treat some heart diseases.  These glycosides are absorbed by the monarch butterfly larvae whose sole source of food is the milkweed foliage.  This is what makes the larvae and adult Monarchs toxic to birds and other predators. 

The sap can be very irritating if you get it on your skin. But it can be very dangerous if you get it in your eyes.  To be safe always wear gloves and safety glasses when cutting down the stalks which is when you will be exposed to the milky sap.

Collect the seed pods before they split open.  Inside the seed pod are round flat seeds.  Each seed has a little tuft of silk attached to it.  This allows the seed to float away in a breeze to grow elsewhere which expands their territory.

Planting seeds that have the silk attached can be a real pain.  But thanks to YouTube there is a person or two who have perfected the method for removing the silk and leaving just the seeds.

 Mona Miller

Shane Simpson

The seeds need to winter over before they will sprout so plant in the fall.  Sometimes it will take a year or so before it sprouts.  But you will have plenty of seeds to sow so that isn't a problem.  Milkweed is a perennial plant and will die back in the fall and sprout again in the spring.  Each year the plant will grow a bigger taller stalk. First year plants may or may not have flowers.  Plant the seeds where you ultimately want the plant.  Milkweed plants do not transplant well especially full grown milkweed plants.

Sow the seeds into loosened soil and then kick back and wait until the next year.  Also, pat yourself on the back for helping the Monarch butterfly.

Reuse Repurpose Recycle