A Parade, Some Rain, and a Crafty Time

More pictures, lots more pictures. This is what you get when words elude me.

Last night was the beginning of the Apple Blossom Festival. We had kids, so we took them to the Kiddie Parade. One the way there Aubrey said, "We're going to the Kiddie Parade? I LOVE Hello Kitty!"

It rained last night. Everything is soaked and soggy out there. Today is definitely not a play outside kind of day, unless one happens to be a duck, then maybe it would be okay. We can't complain, really. We're wet, but not flooded like some of the towns down along the Finger Lakes. Our only real "flooding" is Teal Lake and that won't stick around long.

It turned out to be a great day for our friend "Miss Linda" to come over and do a craft with the kids. They would have done this one at church a couple weeks ago, but one or more of them was sick with a tummy bug and they stayed home that night instead. They had a great time putting together kaleidoscopes and fighting over, oops... I mean decorating them with stickers. I thought it a cute little craft. Just hold it up to the light and turn it around and watch the beads make cool designs.

It's been a good week and I'm looking forward to a good weekend too. The rain is supposed to clear up and tomorrow afternoon I might tag along with Hannah to the big Apple Blossom Parade. I have to do it while she'll still let me.

A few friends have told me they're no longer able to leave comments on my blog. I haven't changed any settings so I'm wondering if perhaps it is a browser issue. Maybe using a different browser, like Firefox or GoogleChrome, would make a difference. I hate to think there are people who can't leave comments.That makes me sad.

PS. Teal Lake is gone. The drainage tiles are working well. :0)

Soggy, Soggy, and a Very Sad Doggy

Soggy. That is the word of the day. For those who remember Teal Lake, it made a brief comeback yesterday, but My Darling removed the slotted drain cover from the underground pipe this morning which quickly drained our backyard pond into the local drainage ditch. No swimming in the backyard this weekend. Please don't fuss, it was much too cold for swimming anyway.

We had some surprise visitors this morning when our friend Vinegar showed up at the door with his mommy and sister. They had been out to the dentist and thought they'd stop for a visit before they went home. How fun! I put on a fresh pot of coffee and we pulled out the toys. Vin enjoyed a sit on Hannah's lap and a cupful of his favorite pretzels while little sister emptied a big box of toys. Our soggy morning was off to a happy start.

I caught two short naps on either side of a phone call this afternoon, and then set off for the veter- inarian's office with my three-legged dog in tow. She's been a bit off lately; itching, scratching, tearing out hair, and looking generally miserable. We feared she'd picked up some kind of mange, but a skin scrape didn't show any evidence of critters under her skin. We're having blood work done, and in the meantime she's taking Prednisone and antibiotics, and wearing one of those silly cone-shaped collars. She still looks miserable and my husband isn't convinced the vet is altogether knowledgeable. I'd like to know what happened to that nice man-vet who was very objective and didn't sit on the floor with my dog's head in his lap, say words like "poor baby", and generally make me feel like this animal was more human than puppy dog...

Teal Lake?

It rained this week, but Teal Lake did not make a grand appearance. Instead of a large backyard puddle, like previous years, we have a slow trickle of water miraculously draining away into the tiles we laid last year and making the underground journey to the drainage ditch. It isn't pretty back there yet, but perhaps by the end of the summer it will be beautifully landscaped (I can dream...), or maybe I will bring home a few nice lake rocks every once in a while and strategically intermingle them with tall ornamental grasses and wildflowers.

The apple orchards directly around our house seem to have fared okay in spite of the early warm temperatures and late snows. Though some of the blossoms have appeared sickly, others are bright and cheery. The bees were buzzing about in yesterday afternoon's warm sunshine and tractors have been running in and out the orchard roads in a constant hum of activity.


I have a few "favorite" apple trees behind the house. They actually sit just inside our property line, or very close to it. They are the old apple trees, Rhode Island Greenings, good for cooking but not the best eating apple. I love the gnarly way these old trees grow. This one reminds me of the tree from the movie "A Bug's Life".

Oreo decided to keep us company in the backyard yesterday. It is highly unusual to wander the yard without a cat  on my heels. He is kind enough to say hello to each of us as we stop to snap pictures or dig in the dirt.

Today it is cold enough for a small fire in the wood stove, just to "take off the chill," of course. We've decided to stay inside and play Duplos and marble chute.

Creeky

Our "creek" is running and our backyard "lake" no longer takes up so much of the yard. Part of me wishes to solve this Teal Lake problem by installing both a creek and a pond. I know people put ponds on their property, but is it actually possible to install a creek? And where in the world does one come up with money for such a thing anyway?

I've looked at "dry creeks" online and I think something like that might work here if we didn't have to cover such a distance and plow through a knoll to reach the drainage ditch. We'd need several thousand loads of rock to fill the bottom of the trench, and once the creek was done we'd need a bridge big enough to drive the lawn tractor over in order to keep the grass cut. Is taking rock from the lake shore considered stealing?

Little Cat followed me out this morning and hopped across the creek to say hello. She's the rugged outdoorsy type and finds her way into a passel of pictures by tagging along when I have my camera. I think she's rather photogenic, don't you? And her company is nice too.

With all the rain we've had the past four or five days, I think the back forty is looking pretty good. If we can keep the water flowing, maybe it won't be quite so stinky when and if the weather ever warms up. Yup, I think I'm liking the creek idea.

Our New Creek

Gudrun has a creek in the Little Forest and now we have a creek in our yard too; a lake and a creek.



Our good weather streak is apparently over. Today we have blustery winds and rain, rain, rain. I must not complain though, as there are way too many people out there dealing with much worse than what is in my backyard. I'm sure they would trade problems with me in an instant.

Pulling the Plug

Just two days ago the west side of our yard looked like this. It's difficult to tell by looking just how deep the water is, but it's not very deep. Deep enough for a few ducks and a pair of geese to swim about, but not deep enough to be a pond instead of a puddle. It's good for night peepers, polliwogs, and breeding mosquitoes, but bad for growing grass. And it's starting to stink besides.

This is what the same spot looks like today. The grass is struggling, some of it is brown and dead, but some is lush and green too. My goose friend is out there hiding in the grass ( a little to the left of that tree). I wonder if she has a nest? And the robins are having a field day running back and forth in the mud.

Here's my friend the goose laying low and keeping her head down... kinda.

Sunset Over Teal Lake

The sky sure was pretty the other night... We had some rain here Wednesday evening which produced a beautiful double rainbow and an equally gorgeous sunset. The pictures Hannah took actually make our backyard puddle look nice. As nice as it is to look at in photographs, the warm weather is beginning to stagnate the water and it is time for Teal Lake to go, hopefully for good...

Last night, after dinner, a friend of James came by with a handy, dandy piece of digging equipment. Together they started digging a trench from the edge of Teal Lake toward the drainage ditch on the east side of our property. James told me the water was gushing through the trench last night and the water level was noticeably lower this morning.

Maybe one day there will be something beautiful behind our barns, something other than a flooded piece of property. (That is not our house over there...)





Unfortunately, there is someone who will be less than pleased at the draining of Teal Lake.

Fun in the Flood

If there must be a large puddle in the backyard, we could at least find a boat or two to sail. That is exactly what Hannah and Em decided to do this afternoon. Hannah was smart about it and tied a couple of strings on the boats this year. Of course, she was the one who had to wade out and get them a few years back. (See here.) Em found sailing to be great fun and I was glad to have purchased a small pair of rain boots so she could get close to the water. Oh what fun we are going to have while the water lasts! (I wonder if little boys like sailing boats as much as little girls?)

Teal Lake?

It has been a long time since we've seen Teal Lake,... until today...

The day started off wet and rainy and we took our umbrellas out to wait for the bus. I must say we have been blessed with mild bus stop weather this year,... until today... I know we will eventually end up seeking cover in my van, especially when the wind turns cold and bitter, unless someone decided to build us a shelter.

So far this year we have managed to escape any significant snow accumulation,... until today... It started mid morning and fell in thick wet flakes. It would have been perfect for a snowball war, if I was still fifteen, but Bethany and I were making pies again. We had to use up the leftover apples.

It was also busy day. I finally found a few moments to sit down and suddenly heard a loud crash. Our Christmas tree had fallen over. There was nobody near i,t except Oreo who took off in the commotion. We had not even hung all the heavy ornaments on one side. In fact I was just thinking about "borrowing" some of Mom's decorations to liven it up a bit. Turns out the tree's trunk was cut at an angle and it just got tired of standing on one foot. (I only got one picture as My Darling did not find the whole episode quite as amusing as I did. He doesn't always appreciate my sense of humor...) Water trailed across the floor and ornaments were scattered on the carpet.

And last of all, I finally had a chance to see my hero, The Cat in the Hat. He came along while we were eating supper, stepped into the upturned hat, and attempted to make himself comfortable. Unfortunately, it was just a little bit small and he didn't stay around long. It started to tip over, like the tree, and he took off for another resting place.

ABC Wednesday- Letter T

T is for teal, which is either a color or a member of the duck family, unless it is one's last name.

I acquired the name Teal when, as a teenager, I married my husband. We have been together now for twenty-nine years, almost thirty. We have raised seven children on this journey and it has been quite the trip!

My husband's family can be traced to Ridgeway, Ontario where the Teal family grew and multiplied. Ours seems to be a branch now little known as my in laws moved from the area over fifty years ago. My father in law was in the US Air Force and my husband was born in Tokyo; Tachikawa Air Force Base. (It's true.)

There remains in Fort Erie a road by the name of Teal where my husband's grandparents had a farm. On the Garrison, I think, is a mostly neglected and all but abandoned cabin which was once the original "Teal House." It is now a museum on the Ridgeway Battlefield, but I think maybe only Teals and tired truckers ever bother to stop there anymore. It is never open when we stop by.

Here, at this house, we have Teal Lake. Well, we have it today anyway. It appears, uninvited, in the backyard during torrential downpours. Hopefully, it will be gone by tomorrow, but I doubt it. It's still raining.

To see the other participants in the new round of ABC Wednesday, click here!

Going Nowhere, Fast

The LORD sat enthroned at the Flood, And the LORD sits as King forever.
Psalm 29:10

I am quite certain that our house will not be selling anytime soon. No one in their right mind would really take a second look at a place with this kind of water issues. This does not throw me. I know God has a plan. We have a plan too, which includes trying to fix this water problem, but that plan can not be implemented right now. If only we were raising crawdads...

I have to smile a bit because we really do not know where we will go if our house does sell. Do we want it to sell? Does the water annoy us or amuse us? It isn't in our basement, just trapped in the lower lying area like water in a bowl, a big bowl, and unfortunately, it is here to stay until we get ready to pump it out again. Of course, maybe that is really a good thing. Who knows?

Dreaming...

It was a cold and rainy day in upstate New York. The sun did not peek through the clouds and rain pelted the windows. The good thing about spring rains is they wash away the remainder of lingering winter snows. The bad thing is the ever growing "puddle" in my backyard. It looks especially bad this year. I'm kind of missing the rock wall we had buried in the fall. It broke up the landscape and added some interest...

So anyway, I am dreaming of sunshine, warm weather, and green grass. I'm dreaming of flowers in my gardens, chairs on the back porch, and Jasmine tanning herself in the yard. (She's due home any day now...) I'm dreaming of cookouts, long walks, and no mud. I'm looking forward.

There is a "For Sale" sign in my front yard. I'm not sure any potential buyers will be interested in this kind of "waterfront" property... Anyone have a dinghy we could borrow? maybe I'll just stay...

Sticks and Stones

It is another gray day. Lately we have had a rather checkerboard weather pattern; pleasant and sunny one day, soggy and cold the next. Due to all the rain, we once more own "waterfront" property as Teal Lake comes and goes with the precipitation. Maybe Troy will get a chance to float boats after all.

I have lately taken a fleeting fancy to cobblestone houses. If the Three Little Pigs had lived near Lake Ontario this is the type of house the Third Little Pig would have built. No wolf can blow one down. They are strong, sturdy, have thick walls and usually a good chimney or two in case a wolf gets angry enough to try and sneak in like Santa Claus.

All long the lake shore are smooth, round stones in abundance At one time they were collected, sorted and used as building material. They make a very pretty and unique building form. Nicer, I think, than bricks.

In the eighteen-hundreds everything from houses, churches, and stores, to barns and outbuildings might be made of cobblestones. My great grandfather once used them to line the edge of his driveway and build both a lamp post and a miniature lighthouse.

Most area cobblestone buildings are well kept, treasured by both their owners and historical societies, but here and there I find one sadly neglected. The owner of this property is not interested in selling and so this treasure is left to the mercy of vandals and the elements of nature. So sad.

The Winter is Past

For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over [and] gone; The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing [of birds] is come, and the voice of the turtle (dove) is heard in our land;

Solomon's Song of Songs 2:11-12

Although the rain is not yet over and gone, I am hopeful that the winter is past. I have heard the singing of birds more often and have even seen a robin hopping about in my yard. The ducks and geese are again considering the backyard as a possible home and voice their opinion as to my presence when I go out to look at them. These Canada geese have not been tamed and taught to eat bread from our hands like those down at Irondequoit Bay, instead they are fearful and fly off when I appear. That is okay with me, I really do not want them setting up permanent residence in my yard. I much prefer to visit them at the lake. I do, however, enjoy their honking as they fly overhead. They are another sure sign of spring.

The Return of Teal Lake and a Warm Snuggly Baby or Two

It's definitely one of those Winnie the Pooh days; blustery is almost an understatement. Between the melting snow and driving rain, we have collected up quite the backyard puddle. The consolation is in knowing there is now a working drain and once the present water table drops, our backyard lake will disappear.

It has been a busy kind of day, not only do I have Troy, but I also have two small grandsons. I'm back to the days of diapers and bottles. My floors are decorated with toys; cars, plastic farm animals, play dishes, and Fisher Price toys. Ben is reading a story to Troy and Lucas is asleep on my lap. Josh is taking his nap and the kitchen is waiting to be cleaned up from lunch. If I didn't have to check on the fire I'd just stay here with this warm cozy baby asleep on my lap.

Problem Solving

And the green grass grew all around, all around,

the green grass grew all around...

They located the connecting tiles on the first scoop. Soon we'll put in a drain and hopefully there will be no more Teal Lake, just green grass.

Ice Fishing

Once the lake freezes over, I'm thinking about doing a little ice fishing. Winter sports usually aren't my thing, but I've heard that with ice fishing you can actually set up a little shack out on the ice. Not only does a small structure break the northern wind, but it serves as a great place to put an old reclining chair and relax for a bit. I think it may even be permissible to have the shack heated. If this is true, I may take up a winter hobby afterall. I'm not really so concerned about catching anything as keeping a positve attitude and making use of that body of water in the backyard. When it warms up, maybe I'll set up a blind and go duck hunting.

A Lake or Not a Lake?

Last year at this time we were resigned to the fact that our back yard had become a lake, or should I say a "swamp". We even met with the town drainage committee to see what needed to be done to correct the problem. The answer: dig up the backyard and clean out the drainage tile. The cost: about two grand. Well, when the weather warmed up we pumped the water into the drainage ditch and waited. We didn't have an extra two thousand dollars laying around so we tried to find an option with the farmer who owns the orchards and used to own the house next door. He had said he could help us but must have been too busy with apple trees to call us back.
Do you think God cares about little things like water in a backyard? Thanks to our pump and a very dry summer our lawn has pretty much recovered from a rather lengthy submersion. Some water collected back there around Christmas and I feared Teal Lake was making a comeback, but the water drained off and the yard appears to be dry. No ducks, no geese, and no stagnant water. I'm just hoping it stays that way. Oh, me of little faith.

A Dry Yard

Teal Lake has been gone now for several weeks. It's good to see the grass growing in the back yard again and to not worry about stagnant, stinking water. The grass has even grown long enough to mow. We have yet to fix the problem with the drainage tiles but that will come in time. We aren't looking forward to digging up the yard but know it has to be done eventually as the town agrees that the water has always been funneled through our property and not back through the orchard as we had hoped. It just seemed strange to us that it would make a big U around the back of our property instead of a straight line toward the lake. Oh well, it was worth asking and now we know. Hopefully, the big rains will hold off until we can get the tiles cleaned or replaced. We really don't want the puddle back.