Category Archives: nature

More critters

Bob, nature, photography, wildlife

A second day of having our critter cam out along our farm lane meant more wildlife.

The tom turkey didn’t return to strut his stuff. Instead, two sandhill cranes walked across the field. Two days before we scared one from the overgrown ditch–maybe she was nesting there. We can’t be sure if she is one of this pair. No matter. It’s always nice seeing them on our farm.

The critter cam shows two of the sandhill cranes on Sunnybook Farm

Again, the night photos didn’t show much, only a few distant glowing eyes. Earlier a different kind of wildlife showed up in the afternoon.

Susan and Bob looked at the camera. Sunny had his eyes on a hopping robin.

We reset the camera today, thinking we missed last night’s thunderstorm. Little did we know a half hour later another storm would pop up in our area. Good thing we made it back to the house in time.

Picture Picture

nature, photography

Our critter cam was in position, ready for something to walk into its frame.

We got a few shots that didn’t show anything, then a blurred deer passed in the distance in the dark of night. It wasn’t until 7:51 am that we got our best photo.

Meet Tom

Mr. Tom Turkey came into view strutting for his lady friends. I guess the lady turkeys were shy because they never stepped in front of the camera.

This beautiful Tom is just the beginning of our 2019 nature snapshots. Hope we capture many more wild animals as we go through the year.

Looking around

nature, photography

Bob and I still haven’t been able to drive our cart all the way down our farm lane. We are keeping a watch for the day when all the water and mud have disappeared enough for us to drive safely down to our woods.

In the meantime, we took our critter cam down our lane as far as we could. There we attached it to a tree to see if any animals come for a visit.

Say, ‘cheese’

We set the camera up near the lane, on the edge of an open field. Hopefully, when we bring the camera home again, we’ll have photos of local wildlife and not just Bob, Sunny, and me in the cart after affixing the camera to the tree.

FREE fertilizer!

Farming, gardening, nature

This is an honest offer. Come to our farm with a bucket or bag and you can have free fertilizer. Many should jump at this offer, at least I hope so.

The free fertilizer is actually chicken manure. It is dry chicken manure, but there is a catch. You have to shovel your own…out of the chicken house.

Some country people would not flinch at this work, especially if they have need of good manure.

Since we only have 8 chickens, the amount in the chicken house has composted over the last six months–I really should clean it out more often. It really doesn’t smell…really.

The chickens do not add too much fresh to the mix. These days they mostly make their deposits around the farmyard, just ask Sunny where. He searches the ‘chicken treats’ out and eats them!

I have used some of the chicken manure in my flower beds, but there’s still a lot left.

Dry chicken manure going into flower bed
My raised bed is a holey water trough.

So if you are in need of a high nitrogen, natural fertilizer contact me. I’ll even give you a bucket to take your share home.

I am not Tom Sawyer trying to get you to paint a fence, but this can be fun. Also, you get to take home homegrown fertilizer for FREE.

Copyright © 2019 Susan Manzke, All rights reserved

Creating art

crafts, nature

I found a way to express myself besides using words. I’m painting again, but not with watercolors. This time I’m using alcohol inks.

Here are four of my paintings. These trees are on 4 by 4 tiles. The glossy surface makes painting with alcohol ink interesting. Sometimes it has a mind of its own and spreads wherever it wants.

There is an upside of this kind of art, if I absolutely hate what I’ve done, I can spray it with alcohol, wash it away, and start with a clean tile. If I’m satisfied, I spray the finished tile with a clear lacker and then it’s set.

These are backed with cork so they can be used as coasters. BTW: I have a few for sale at Sissy’s in Seymour.

I also, have some wild and crazy paintings, but I think I’ll leave those for another time. This is just a sample for a quick blog today.