Sept 19, 2014 Fall Colors & Wasps Have Arrived

My wild roses dressed in their
Fall finery.

More Fall colors at Rose Camp.

Wednesday 9/17. Mid September and the wasps are swarming, especially at the apex of our porch roof.  A couple have found their way into the loft, but I really don't know from where.  And there are now yellow jackets in the bird bath instead of honey bees.

But the good news is that our Fall colors have also arrived, and just over the past weekend.  There was barely any color other than green and some yellow when I drove Down There on Friday, but when we drove down to Larry and Elsie's on Monday, the Fall brilliance had taken over.  Now yellow, gold, orange and red against a backdrop of evergreen is the canyon standard.  The change is late this year, but as Larry always says, "Every year is different."

And there are so many birds out and about.  Foraging and fattening up for winter, I guess.  Speaking of birds, I need to make a correction on an observation I made several days ago.  It is not a Canadian Jay that we have Up Here, but rather a Stellar Jay.  Don't ask me what the difference is.  JB is the bird expert.

We started planning our garden for next year as some of the lumber that Gridder is bringing up on Saturday can be used for raised beds.  We need to rotate the onions and potatoes, and I would love to grow spinach, kale, acorn squash, zucchini and carrots.  Don't know if the yellow raspberry cuttings are going to make it or not.  They are looking pretty sad.

Am planning to go to the laundromat on Monday to wash our winter coats and overalls.  They should have been done in the Spring, but that just didn't happen.  Will also do a load of JB's slacks for his trip and some of my tops that really need a spin in a dryer.

After lunch we drove down to harvest the rest of the elder berries off the big bush on our road.  Just as we were finishing up, the husband and wife of the family of six who didn't show up for the BBQ drove up our road.  They came bearing gifts and apologies.  Seems her parents showed up unannounced from Idaho.  We all drove up to Rose Camp and we gave them the grand tour, as they had never been here before.  We had a very nice visit and hope to see them often again.

After dinner I picked the elder berries off the stems, and will prepare them tomorrow.

Our high for the day was 82, but I'm sure that was only for a few moments.  Most of the time it was a pleasant mid-70's.

Thursday 9/18. It was 61 and mostly cloudy with a cool breeze this morning, and raining pine needles with every strong gust.

I love the fact that between the girls and the compost pile, no food is wasted.  Something I have always tried to prevent, but to no avail.

Emergency Essentials has a great sale this month and on many items we need, so I got my order ready to mail when I go Down There on Monday.  Don't have to report for jury duty this week, but must call again Monday evening to see if I have to go on Tuesday.

I washed the elder berries and tried to get all the small stems out.  There is not enough for jam, so I made tincture.  Or rather I wanted to make tincture, but when I finally found the magazine article about it, I discovered that these blue elder berries are not the medicinal ones.  So I made it anyway, and in 30 days we will end up with elder berry vodka, not tincture.  I would like to plant a medicinal, or "common", elder berry bush at Rose Camp next Spring.

Our high for the day was a breezy and cloudy 69, with a few sun breaks.

Friday 9/19. This morning is 56 and mostly clear with a cold front on the way.

Thought for the day: We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice that thorn bushes have roses.  Abraham Lincoln