Nature Nerding: April 2008

Friday, April 25, 2008

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Monday, April 21, 2008

New Craze in Town

Cornelius, Rob, Emily, Sylvia, Carlos and Ruby feeding their new addiction.

Rob's a natural

Rory's latest trick

I'm hoping the Suchy kids will spread this at their school and then I can teach hoola hooping during gym periods.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Salix's Bad Day

Salix, cowering in the foot well of the Jeep, post vet-visit.

Not only did I take him to the vet, I locked him in the house for the afternoon to make sure he didn't go missing right at 3pm. Then he got poked by two needles, had a pill shoved down his throat and a thermometer up his butt. To top it all off, he's being put on a diet and will be getting a bell this week. He got back at me by scratching my shoulder and putting a hole in my t-shirt, but I think I got the better deal.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Garden Adventure Part 2

I never left our little quarter-acre to find these treasures today.

A lichen community.

My plant guide is just not detailed enough in the lichen department. My best guesses are grey-eyed rosette (Physcia aipolia) for the grey one, powdered orange (Xanthoria fallax) for the orange one and abraded brown (Melanelia subaurifera) for the brown one. I'd be shocked if I was right though.

Oregon grape (Mahonia aquifolium) flower buds.

Mosses (if I attempt to id them, this blog will never get posted)

Spreading dogbane shoot (Apocynum androsaemifolium)

Compost worm (Wormus compostus)

Cloche greens! This is a zesty mesclun mix from my friend Patrick at Stellar Seeds.

Abandoned wasp hive

Lupine leaf

Hens and chicks

A pacific bleeding heart leaf that was buried under leaves.

Blue hyacinth

Fire moss (Ceratodon purpureus)

The two buckets of garbage I picked up on our corner lot. Spot the intact whiskey glass (score!).

Old can with ant nest inside.

Curious ant. The white things in the top right are grubs.

Garden Adventure Part I

I spotted this little vole zipping under the Cozy Cabin in the same spot several times today.

So did Salix.

Scared vole

The inevitable end

Salix playing with his kill.

I think this is a long-tailed vole (Microtus longicaudus), but if anyone out there is better at identifying small rodents, I'd love to hear your opinion. I figure I should learn how to distinguish native and non-native rodents if I want Salix to do the same.

Fest of Ale

James and I went down to the Fest of Ale in Penticton last weekend. We tasted some yummy beers and poured some even yummier beers for Brian and Rebecca who make Crannog Ales.

Rebecca, setting up the Insurrection Pale Ale and the popular "Backhand of God" Stout

The long line up for Crannog Ales.

Debra, Greg, Rebecca and our volunteer in action. It gets crazy trying to pour beer fast enough.

Lurkin, the Crannog barn cat, snuck into the beer truck and hitched a ride to the festival. Who can blame him? We all took breaks from the mayhem of the festival to snuggle with Lurkin. Breaks are especially important when the keen beer connoisseurs get replace by obnoxious drunk frat boys.

Team Crannog. Brian and Rebbecca's awesome beer won best Pale Ale (brewers choice). Have I mentioned their beer is awesome and that you should all try it? You can drink it on tap at these locations.

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Spring Blooms

These lovely spring beers (Cerevisia veris) emerged out of our snow piles here at the Cozy Cabin. I'm pretty sure they were planted on a snowy Robbie Burns night.

I first noticed them when I got back from the Bonningtons. They seem to be a short-lived bloom as they are all gone already.

And here's the token macro shot.

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

The Bonningtons

I spent spring break in the Bonningtons with this fun crew from the coast. The tour is usually done in 3-4 days, but we went for a full eight and it turned out to be the perfect amount. Tour one day, turn one day, repeat. Photo by Dave Campbell.