Eating Green

Eating Green??? As I hear the question echoes coming in from the blogosphere. We are hearing alot these days about the Green Revolution. The contruction of buildings both commercial, and residential,fabrics we use for our clothes, cleaning formulas, energy to power our every day needs and last but not least our transportation. However, today I am not going to be addressing any of the afore mentioned topics. What then, you say is all this about, "Eating Green"??? The answer happens to be a huge head of cabbage in the 15+lbs. range. It happened my way when my brother, an owner/operator of an 18 wheeler, delivered a load of these members of the brassica family to a grocery warehouse. Now, I am thinking of all the ways to use it up. A very sweet Fall treat considering it's size. Thanks brother Ed! ;)

Sadie Says - It's Snow!

Mom rousted me out of bed shortly after 5:00 A.M. and asked if I wanted to go outside. I acted as though I didn't hear her for a second or two. Yawning....Picked myself up, curled my back towards the ceiling, stretched my right front leg, then the left. After my oxygen promoting morning routine we headed out the back door. With the door opened, and the light switched on to illuminate the darkness, I saw these things floating in the air. Bugs! Millions and Millions of BUGS! I'm in heaven as my head went from side - to - side trying to grab them up. Hmmmm, no crunch. How disappointing... I was havin' such a great time! The snow has stopped and warmth in the ground has started making water out of what fell.

Before it started to melt, Mom was quick to grab the camera and look out the back after daylight arrived...

Wind Turbines in the Wetlands

In Iowa we are finding more and more ways to incorporate some valuable resources provided by the natural geography of the land. The area pictured above runs along the famous Lincoln Highway. An optical illusion has the the wind turbines looking as though they are apart of the Don Mangels Wildlife Area,a public hunting spot developed by Story County and the local Pheasants Forever Chapter . Actually, the turbines are just beyond the perimeter. As time passes we are finding ourselves becoming host to fields full of several sources for energy production of one source or another. Beginning in Northern Iowa , the first to be groomed by the now defunct Enron Corporation years ago, miles of the alternative wind turbines were erected. In recent years those first turbines have seemed to sprout co-workers to assist in the growing demands of our electrical needs. Whether it be from the winds that blow reliably, or the corn in the field that could be directed to the ethanol plant within 15 miles from this location . We are one State of many working to gain alternative sources of energy, so lack will not cause us to wish we had planned ahead.

Hubby volunteered to do a fly over of the turbines straight north of our homestead eight miles, to give us a bird's eye view of the Fall landscape. ;)

Buck Rub

It is the season for the mighty whitetail buck to start leaving more evidence of his secretive summer presence. This is the second rub in a weeks time that I've discovered in the close vicinity. The Hawthorne trees seem to be the focus of the rubs. That is a fact I will have to keep in mind when looking for other rubs, and scrapes, to see how common it is in this timber. Yesterday, this rub did not exist in an area I have begun to groom as a resting spot behind my garden. This little cul-de-sac has been a very popular meeting place for deer of all ages in the past. It is to the south of the hickory that fell a few months ago.The perfect spot to create a funnel for the upcoming shotgun season in December...