wet feet

rain beetle

last night after dinner we started hearing occasional knocking/banging on the windows.  it happens every year when we start having wet weather.  it was raining last night and the rain beetles were out.  the females cannot fly so they wait by a burrow they have dug and send pheromone signals to the males who fly around looking for them.  once a male finds a female they mate and she lays eggs in the burrow.  if the males happen to find themselves in an area near a house they are often drawn to the light coming from the windows and make quite a racket banging their big, hard bodies into the glass (hopefully not hurting themselves in the process). 
a little while ago i was out with the ducks and as i was coming back in i saw this big guy near the greenhouse door...

rain beetle, complete with raindrops

offering gratitude

tomorrow is thanksgiving day and we'll be enjoying spending some time with family.  today is also sort of a thanksgiving day (probably all days should be) for me.  i spent the earlier part of today out in the fig orchard sowing wildflower seeds in preparation for the rain that has just begun and is forecasted to continue off and on over the next few days.  it's become something of a tradition for me over the last few years and is my way of offering gratitude to the birds and insects, to this place and my life here with staal and the critters, to those who visit or pass by on the road, to the rain and the sun...

pretty quiet out there right now but the winter rains and snows will get things growing and it'll be buzzing with color and life in the coming spring and that will be something to be grateful for too.

hermit thrush

squash harvest

the last couple years i've had a hard time getting a decent squash crop because gophers

and pill bugs will ruin any part of the plant or fruit that makes ground contact.  this year i grew the plants in nursery pots set into the ground under the drip line and trellised the vines.  it worked out really well.

the following two photos show the plants growing up their trellises in july (the amber light was provided by the ferguson fire).

kabocha squash

banana squash

today's harvest:

lost label, possibly hubbard or mixed maxima from saved seed

kabocha and sweet meat

pink jumbo banana and scarecrow

i think we'll be eating well this winter.

happy birthday, zane grey!

seven years old today, 11/12/18