Category Archives: nature

BAM! right in the kisser

August 30, 2019nature, Odds and ends, photographysusanmanzke

Going for a drive down our lane is very interesting some days.

Because of the tall corn growing on our farm, we don’t get a great view of the landscape, but we still enjoy our rides…well usually.

Today, a flying grasshopper flew right at me and hit me in the face. Actually, it hit me in my glasses. I was so happy I was wearing my glasses as I’m not sure if that grasshopper could have damaged me.

Also, Bob and I don’t talk much as we drive. Some bugs, like this grasshopper, could end up in one of our mouths. (Once I swallowed a Junebug! Yuck!)

I wanted to write this blog about getting hit by a grasshopper but had a hard time getting one to stand still long enough to take its picture.

I finally got this photo of two on the ground. I know it’s out of focus, but those bugs are fast. They don’t sit long enough to say ‘cheese’.

Bob and Sunny were on the grasshopper search with me, hunting slower ones that I could capture with my camera.

Just a word of warning, when driving out in the country, wear safety glasses or a helmet and keep your mouth shut.

Better safe than sorry.

Corn question

August 29, 2019Farming, nature, Odds and endssusanmanzke

How many ears of corn on a corn stalk?

Internet drawing showing how to draw corn. Doesn’t look like corn to me.

When I was growing up, I remember seeing drawings of stalks of corn having many ears going up and down the stalk.

We usually see one to two good ears on a stalk. Many stalks just have one ear.

Bob gets close to the corn growing on our farm. He sees up to two ears of field corn on a stalk.

Too many of my non-farm friends think corn produces 6 good ears per stalk. They are surprised when they grow some corn in their garden and don’t get as many as they expected.

Take this as an eye-opener.

Still waiting

August 21, 2019gardening, nature, Sunnybook Farmsusanmanzke

Cosmos flowers are one of my favorites–I have many favorites.

The trouble is that this year I’m still waiting for my cosmos to bloom. The plants are tall, but because I started my current cosmos directly from seed to the ground, they are taking forever to produce buds, let alone blooms.

It doesn’t help that quite a few of my daylilies didn’t survive our winter so we don’t have them to add color to our yard.

Oh, well, I guess I’ll have to wait a little longer for my cosmos to brighten my summer. Maybe next year, I’ll remember to start a few cosmos seeds in the house in April.

Country view

August 17, 2019fun, nature, Wisconsinsusanmanzke

Our cart drives are limited these days down our farm lane. Water continues to block our lane for cart rides–don’t want to risk getting stuck–and corn height blocks much of the landscape view.

Last night we took Sunny for a short drive. Clouds threatened.

but a silver lining prevailed.

Still, we can’t see much of our neighborhood with corn growing so tall.

It’s more like a tunnel out there, but still a good ride just being with Bob, and Sunny, too.

Bob having fun

August 14, 2019Bob, fun, nature, photographysusanmanzke

Because we still have water across our farm lane, it’s up to Bob to drive his tractor down to where our critter cam is set up.

There’s no place for me to ride with Bob unless I sit in the bucket.

Here’s one of our wildlife friends coming across the camera’s view.

The only bad part of checking on the camera is that mosquitoes come after Bob. He says if they were large enough to have their photos taken, they would fill the camera up fast.

Susan Manzke

Writer, Speaker, All-Around Good Person