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3265. PelleNilsson - 10/8/2005 4:55:56 PM Hello Ronski. Nice to see you again. Yes, the scientific name of the plant in question is Colchicum Autumnali which, apparently, the frog eaters have adopted. But do you deny that it is called Saffron Meadow among non-snobbish, non-expert Anglos? If so I have to notify the authorities here.
Meanwhile
Progress Pic No.2
 3266. ronski - 10/8/2005 8:29:37 PM The pictures are great. Meadow saffron is indeed the name, certainly in the dictionary, but here in the U.S. I have never seen or heard it called that, only colchicum. It is sold around the same time as bulbs for autumn-blooming crocus, including the saffron crocus, and sternbergia, a crocus lookalike that is bright yellow. You plant them in August, and in a few weeks you have blooms, and they winter over and even spread if happy.
There are no crocus, colchicum, tulips, narcissus, or hyacinths native to North America, but we do have native bublbous fritillaries and some interesting bulblike or cormlike plants like calochortus and brodeia, all from the western U.S. 3268. ronski - 10/8/2005 9:28:07 PM Droughtbuster: five inches of rain from Tammy combined with a cold front (temperature dropped ten degrees F. in an hour). More rain due. 3269. ronski - 10/9/2005 5:04:09 PM Ten and a quarter inches of rain. Fifty degrees F. It may every day a bit for almost a week, due to the stalled front. 3270. arkymalarky - 10/9/2005 7:10:58 PM Wow. That's a lot of rain. We were projected to get as much as 24 inches from Rita and ended up with about six, and the ground pretty much soaked it all up since it had been so dry before then.
It's gorgeous here today and projected to be in the 70s. I hope we've seen the last of the 90s, but I'm not holding my breath. 3271. wonkers2 - 10/9/2005 9:09:04 PM It's a perfect Michigan fall day here as well. Bright sun and 60 degrees or thereabouts. It's been a warm fall. My wife's flower garden is still in bloom. 3272. alistairConnor - 10/9/2005 10:23:57 PM The day could not have been more perfect. Clear blue, warm sun.
I gave myself a bad fright today.
I decided to take the kids and the ponies for a hike. A vague plan, a round trip of 15 or 20 km. I prepared a picnic lunch, absent mindedly, as the girls prepared their mounts. We struck off through the woods, making heavy work of the steep stony paths heading up to the village of Chatelus. I soon cursed myself for forgetting my camera. We counted about 30 horse riders coming the other way - never seen so many, and realised in Chatelus what it was about : organised circuits for horses and horse-drawn carriages. We took the bridle path that arrives directly under the walls of the castle, and continued past the calvary on a track that leads down to the stream.
I had no clear idea of the path, though I have necessarily been that way before : I don't have a good memory for tracks. But I knew there must be good picnic spots down by the river. Indeed, when we came to the confluence of the stream we were following and a larger one, of which our own stream is a tributary, we found all we could wish for - water for the ponies, grass, sun and shade for us, bridges and fords to mess around.
Our picnic was sufficient but not opulent, and I thought to myself, it's a shame I didn't bring some eggs. In fact, I remembered that I had intended to boil some eggs; indeed, I clearly remembered putting some eggs on to boil.
...
oh my god! so they are still on the gas! This is 2 pm, we left the house three hours ago. I didn't bring my phone, which wouldn't work in this accursed valley, and anyway, anyone I could phone who is close enough would be out on such a brilliant day. If I run to burst my lungs, I can be home in about an hour. But I'm a bit diffident about leaving the girls to fend for themselves.
So maybe the house is burning down as I stand here panicking. Or, just as likely, it is just starting to smoulder now, and will be beyond saving by the time I raise the alarm?
After three or four minutes of agitation, I calm down enough to analyse my actions this morning... Yes, I had intended to boil some eggs; which pot?... etc and I realised that the eggs I remembered boiling were from last night, for the cauliflower cheese. I had never gotten around to boiling them this morning.
The day ended most happily and uneventfully. 3273. Macnas - 10/10/2005 11:37:30 AM Oh for fucks sake alistair, you had ME worrying as well! 3274. ronski - 10/11/2005 12:54:23 PM A cool, misty day yesterday. A great day to tend to the strawberry barrels, moving shoots into the spots where there are no plants, where they will root. I'm going to try wintering the barrels in the garage this year, since last year most of the plants died, even though it was not a particularly cold winter. 3275. alistairconnor - 10/11/2005 12:59:14 PM ahh yes - I should see what I can salvage in the strawberry patch (former sandpit)
The garden is all to hell, I haven't spent any time keeping it tidy this year. I am however salvaging the winter terrace, which is in the walled garden, and had become very scruffy and overgrown. 3276. PelleNilsson - 10/12/2005 4:13:36 PM Progress Pic No.3
Is this the apogee? The remaining buds don't look very vigorous.
In the meantime, an autumn view from the living room.
 3277. Macnas - 10/12/2005 5:43:17 PM Pelle, guess what god-awful example of confectionery I sampled recently?
I'll give you a clue, salt and liquorice..
3278. PelleNilsson - 10/12/2005 5:47:47 PM Iguess it was what we would call 'salmiak'. If so, I rather like it, but I haven't tasted it for years. 3279. Macnas - 10/12/2005 5:54:02 PM That's the one, what is it with Swedes and salt? 3280. PelleNilsson - 10/12/2005 6:20:05 PM You didn't sample ordinary salt but ammonium chloride. Happier now? 3281. Macnas - 10/12/2005 6:24:44 PM Over the moon. 3282. thoughtful - 10/14/2005 4:10:01 PM Well we've had roughly 12" of rain over the last several days. If it were snow it'd be 10 feet high. Yikes! 3283. thoughtful - 10/16/2005 4:26:32 PM I think I got to close causing the blur, but regardless, you can see how lovely denny is with his 5 blooms in full regalia.
3284. arkymalarky - 10/16/2005 7:21:33 PM Very cool! Love the irridescence!
I saved a squirrel yesterday. Mojo is the quickest dog I've ever seen to be so big. Bob and I were in the living room and suddenly Bob said "Did you see that?!" I didn't, since I was facing away from the yard, and I turned around to see Mojo all the way on the other side of our (big) yard with something in her mouth that had a very bushy, twitching tail. She wouldn't let Gus near her.
I thought the squirrel was surely dead, but it looked like it was moving a little, so I went across the yard and made Mojo put it down. It was on its side, but there wasn't much blood, and I couldn't see much in the way of injuries. I went to stand over it and its eyes were open like it might be dead, but it was breathing very fast.
As I leaned over to get a better look (holding Mojo at bay the whole time) the little thing leapt up and ran a little ways. I hollered at Bob to come out and help, and he held Mojo while I approached the squirrel. It ran a little more, and in spurts I got it to run across the road and into the woods. Bob said he saw the incident, and the squirrel had made a tactical error in trying to cut back to a pecan tree on the far side of the yard rather than running forward until it got into the woods. 3285. wonkers2 - 10/17/2005 12:56:55 AM You interfered with the working out of a Darwinian survival of the fittest scenario. The squirrel obviously didn't deserve to survive any more than the residents of New Orleans' 9th ward in the opinion of Bush Republicans.
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