Archives in Category: Flora/Fauna

Ten minutes to write. Less time to read.

Chocolate Decadence

Posted on July 17, 2007

When my sons visited two weeks ago I served Pepperidge Farm’s Chocolate Decadence for dessert. It’s a rich chocolate layer cake with equally rich chocolate frosting between the layers and gobs of shaved chocolate on top. We all enjoyed it.

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Mother Nature

Posted on June 29, 2007

It’s a tricky thing, being a gardener or a farmer in southwestern Michigan. On the plus side, the soil is right for the crops that are grown here; on the minus side, the weather is unpredictable. Which means that you

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Porky the Squirrel

Posted on May 15, 2007

We have a variety of bird feeders that hang from tree limbs and dot the perimeter of our home, and we are in constant warfare with the squirrels who think we set this food out for them. For the record,

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Mulch

Posted on May 3, 2007

Today I’m spreading mulch, twelve cubic yards of deep red mulch, around the base of the trees on our property. That’s the equivalent of two truck loads. It’s an annual spring ritual for which some of my friends have declared

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The Tease

Posted on March 26, 2007

Today is the first day this year I’ve been outside without a coat or a jacket or a sweatshirt. It’s almost eighty degrees, both outside and in the house.

I took advantage of the weather to wash my car

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Frogs’ Legs

Posted on July 30, 2006

Earl and I just returned from an excursion to Hammond, Indiana, where we had Sunday dinner at Phil Schmidt and Son. I realize it’s a long way from St. Joseph to go for a meal, but we happened to be

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Wildlife

Posted on June 29, 2006

I’ve begun to bike along our road, which extends roughly 3.2 miles from one end to the other. In the middle, the road is bisected by Bacon School Road, but I never venture on it. It’s merely the escape route

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Fifty Percent

Posted on June 27, 2006

The radio announcer said there was a thirty percent chance of rain for today and a fifty percent chance of rain for tomorrow. Now I know she was merely reading information she’d been given, but it made me wonder who

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Good and Bad

Posted on May 31, 2006

The good news is our yard looks wonderful, thanks to the proper amount of rain this past spring. The bad news is the mosquitoes think so too.

It’s always a good news/bad news thing; since what seems to be good

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The Scent of Lilacs

Posted on May 27, 2006

I love the scent of lilacs in bloom, and this spring I’ve loved them close at hand.

When we first moved into this house, we planted some unassuming lilac bushes that struggled a while but have now come into

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