Life on the Ridge. It's Never Boring

One of the great things about living in the woods is being surrounded by nature.  This week's blog provides lots of examples of the fun it provides.

Sometimes it comes back to bite you though.   The results are that you lose a few things.  It's been a long time since we've had a problem with the bears so we can't be too upset about the recent visit.  We aren't going to complain to the state about the bear problems because they will want to come out and remove the bears but they have as much right to live here as we do.  So, we'll just do our best to co-exist with them.

Several days before the bears attack our feeders we had just replenished our supplies in order to get ready for the winter.

This cabinet was standing beside the one in the background with all the new supplies neatly stored away.  There are now some nice claw marks on the sides of the cabinet laying on the ground. Needless to say, since the attack, we've secured the cabinet to the wall so it's almost impossible to pull over right now.  And a lock has been added to the door.

We've had this bird feeder for 30 years since my wife worked at Air Products and Chemicals in Trexlertown, PA.   It's beyond repair.

This is where I found one of two 25 quart containers of sunflower seeds which had been dragged some 35 yards from the house and into the woods.

 In all, we lost 6 feeders to the bears, 2 of which were these metal ones which were bent and twisted beyond repair.

This ivy, which was discarded from a planter many years ago because it was an "annual", continues to grow along the edge of the woods.  The green makes a nice contrast against the fall colors.

You know what they say about "a bird in the hand".

Hopefully this guy will make it through the winter and come visit me again.

Junco

You may remember that we started October 2011 off with a little snow, and this weekend we got to end the month with a lot of snow, probably around 10 inches here on the ridge.

For some dumb reason I set this pumpkin on the top of the snow to add some contrast.

You've probably seen this over and over but each time it's a little different.  We got the snow shovels and snow shoes out of the shed, but we haven't put the summer yard wagon away.   We know snow comes in October, we just weren't in a hurry to get things done.

It looks like the gargoyle has a giant "snow fro".

The colors of the maple and the shed standing out against the snow is what attracted my eye.

Luckily this section of power line that runs through our property has been maintained over the last several years so that when we do get a heavy, wet snow, the tree limbs aren't laying on top of the power lines.

Morning Dove sitting on the limb near the feeders before committing itself.

Autumn leaves

Mountain Chalet for Rent.