Nuts

A fair harvest of Hazel nuts. 





A couple of green nuts from earlier this year in photos above.




We have six large bushes that we planted over 20 years ago.  We harvest about 2 gallons of nuts a year.  Not a large harvest but I think it may have something to do with how they are pruned.  We have let me grow up about 10-12' tall, multi-stemmed.  They make a nice form but I suspect that shorter bushes more agressively pruned with yield more nuts.  I am not about to change their shape now but would like to plant more bushes and test my theory.  In the last photo above the nut bushes are seen above the lawn chairs, the bushes on this end are Lilacs.

Fall Colors

A little chilly this morning but the sun is shining and there are still a few trees with colors displayed.

The last maple to loose leaves, the front yard.


The orchard.

Annebelle

A victim of degenerative hip disease, Annebelle went to her rest today.

6 or 7 years ago we unwillingly took in Annebelle when the kids moved to town and they had no place to keep her.  We really didn't want two dogs.  In that time, her sweet disposition won over our hearts and she became a loved member of our homestead.  It would be a lie and unfair to her if I said she was a perfect dog, but where a dog is concerned imperfections just make them more human.

Several years ago we learned she had hip displasia.  The surgery that might or might not work was prohibitively expensive.  We chose the financially more responsible path of daily painkillers.  Those painkillers allowed her to have a more or less normal and happy life for an additional two years.  Two years that now seem all too short.

I had forgotten about her appointment with destiny today until on my way home from work I saw her running down the road as fast as she could go, free as the wind and unencumbered with pain or defect.

Rest in Peace.

First Day Out

Today was a gorgeous day for your first day outside.

A little unsure.


What's out there.


Don't push.


She says she is guarding the chickens.  I think she is thinking of chicken dinner.