Tressler and Fedor flattened Jonathan's fossil mountains in the meadow so he'll have to be happy with a fossil plateau.  We still have plenty of rocks, fossil and not, to collect but the view from the house to the meadow has changed dramatically.  We still have the slash piles and about 1/3 of the topsoil pile that block a bit.  The dogs were a bit disoriented on their first walk since the tall grasses at the base of each hill where they liked to snort for voles is gone too.  Gambol quickly recovered and brought me his first (visible) catch of the season.

 Paul planted another bushel (~300) daffodils and muscari to complete his garden under the mountain ashes.  His prepped raised beds certainly made the bulbs easier to plant.  We'll spend the winter visualizing the golden spring view from the living room.
Kohlhepp's and Tim Mauer delivered the final rock for the back entry step. We need some grading and, of course, planting back there.

 Dodderer's took the RTV for winterizing.  It was 20 degrees on Monday morning with a ice skin on the outside chicken water.  One of the barred rocks has a very scruffy molt going on, but the rest have picked up their egg laying for us.

Prince Cheeks' visit

We tested the play loft, even without railings:  the trains work very well on the wide open space and the knee-wall provides a wonderful fox-hole diversion, even without the doors. The sun warmed the window seat nicely.  Since today is the first day of spring and we were sitting on the window seat at noon, we have a good idea that the sun will not shine in too strongly in the summer.

Opa and Jonathan (in the Kubuta Orange Chicken hat) move a few rocks with the big tractor.

We played with puzzles, looked for fossils in the meadow, collected chicken eggs, and Jonathan slept in the foxhole (Oma's closet) with his bear-in-the-woods sleeping bag.

Summer 2005

The trees and meadow looked healthy and welcoming to the Baroness when she arrived on June 15 for some much needed recuperation after a long (and last) year in 6th grade. The only sadness was that the Loyal Pooch was no longer her champion protector.

June 24, 2005
The bear is back! This time we have pictures. He lounged around on the septic path for 20 minutes, scarfing up some cracked corn. The Baroness called to him from the deck, but he didn't look up or seem to care at all. He lifted his leg like a dog and mosied off to better pickings. If he had been in another place, he'd have surely been mistaken for a Newfoundland dog.

In July while the Baron was in residence, living room furniture was delivered. This made the Reading Hour (no TV, remember) much more comfortable. We had a little problem with the sofa but Caperella's(814) 355-4857) took it back to reupholster both arms. It's dry and hot this year so we enjoy the geothermal AC. We also made several improvements to make the Barony more livable, like hangers in the bathroom, closet, and garage as well as paint under the deck to protect the wood supports. We have a laptop, but only dial-up for now, but at least we are connected.

We've seen deer in the meadow, and we've seen lots of evidence, browse and scat, of deer in the woods, but today we watched 2 fawn nurse, rather roughly, for several minutes. They were at the top of the Lower Jennifer Trail; then loped away across the septic path and into the forest, seemingly carefree.

Wahoo! Toys. After much research and discussion with R, the Baron decided on Kubota at Dotterers in St. College. The RTV is a worksite model, diesel, 4-wheel drive, with a roof and hydrolic lift in the back. That will make it nice to unload rocks and dirt. Big Orange. The tractor is an L2800 with a Bushhog mower behind. Bigger Orange. The Baron only was able to drive his Toys for 3 days before he had to return to the prairie. The Baroness will take good care of them and give them plenty of exercise.

August 14
Lady Terra had to inspect the Toys so she came to visit for a weekend.

For Father's Day this year the Ladies suggested building the Ernst Memorial Bier Garten. We have lots of chestnut (oaks) and here is the rock. We have the Bier. Next, we need a bench. The Baroness went to a meeting of the Woodland Owners of Centre County at the Walizer's Chestnut Tree Farm to learn if The Barony might one day support chestnuts as it probably did before 1920.

With the Toys and 6 cu yds of compost that R arranged to have delivered, the Baroness got to work. First, a soil test, then lots of lime and fertilizer. A trip to College Garden's sale table and to Hawk Mountain Sanctuary's native plant sale were next on the list. The Baroness moved rocks to form a shade garden for iris and lilies of the valley (to be imported from NE). On the east hill she planted 2 bayberries, 2 bleeding hearts, 4 asters, 2 monarda, 1 lavender, 2 blueberries, 2 hummulo stachys, 2 New Jersey Tea, 4 budelaria, a mountain mint, and 2 columbine. Deer apparently don't prefer fragrant plants; we'll see. The plan is to plant a few things at a time and see what makes it.

Summer 2005
-- Season-to-Date Statistics --
Average High Temperature: 82.18 Rank (1=Warmest, 110=Coldest: 17
Average Low Temperature : 63.78 Rank (1=Coldest, 110=Warmest) : 110
Mean SUMMER Temperature : 72.98 Departure (109-Year) : 3.64
Total Rain or Liquid Equivalent : 7.85 Rank (1=Wettest, 110=Driest) : 99
Total Snow and/or Ice Pellets : 0.0 Rank (1=Snowiest, 110=Least) : 110
Total Heating Degree-Days : 21 Total Cooling Degree-Days : 779