All The World's A Stage-Starting with my backyard

We have an eating area in our kitchen surrounded by windows looking out over our backyard. When the trees and brush were cut away, it gave us a beautiful view of a small lake and creek behind our house. It's a mecca for wildlife especially since I've planted so many "delictable tidbits" for the deer. They dine in the morning and evening eating plants and shrubs from the top down.

Then there's the rabbits. They take care of the plants from the bottom up and generally choose those the deer leave behind. Chipmunks feed on the bulbs in the ground, moles "aerate the soil" and the geese tear up the grass. A huge blue heron circles on occassion checking out the size and availablity of the goldfish in my pond. (I was smart enough to only buy the 59 cent variety.) Someday I fully expect to see elephants tromping through.

I keep the nurseries and hardware stores in business buying all the latest "off" sprays and "animal resistant" plants. We have motion detectors that chase the deer with a spray of water. Unfortunately, the detectors don't descriminate between deer and meter readers or friendly neighbors. All these things help to keep me slightly ahead of the wildlife...except for the squirrel.

This is no ordinary run-of-the-mill squirrel. He sneaks his way up two levels of decking to a bar stretched out from the railing to a spot right in front of the window where he hangs by his tail to grab the suet block and smear greasy lard all over his paws and face. Then he swings to the finch feeder and somehow manages with those greasy paws to wrest the top off the tube of thistle to grab what he can.

Quite the showman, he performs these feats in front of us as we sit at the table trying to eat our dinner. One evening I thought I might get his acrobatics captured on video for America's Funniest Video. At least then I would have some money to pay for the seed and suet he was consuming. He was so greasy from the suet that he slipped into the half empty tube head first and for a moment appeared to be stuck. Face pressed against the side of the tube, his tail flicked and twitched with his discomfort. Unfortunately for me, by the time the camera was on and running, he had managed enough leverage to pull himself out of the tube and he scampered away.

Having learned this new trick however only brought the furry critter back again and again. He became very adept at popping the cap off the feeder. That is until Bob drilled a hole through the cap and screwed it on. Now he sits there and contemplates the problem before him...the squirrel, not Bob. We fully expect one day to see him come, metric wrench in hand and dig into the feeding tube again. In the meantime, the finches enjoy the food when the "sentry" is not there and we continue to contemplate a way to keep him out of the suet.

Shakespeare said "all the world is a stage". He must have had a backyard like ours.

In My Backyard - Meet the Tomato Hornworm

Note the red horn on its tail.

When it comes to his tomato plants my husband is fanatic. Do they have enough water? Are the blossoms forming fruit? What's the spot on the bottom of the tomato? Are they ready to pick? And then this past week: What's that green bug with the white eggs on its back?

He spent some time on the internet and came up with the answer. It is a tomato hornworm and the eggs aren't really eggs but tiny cocoons of a small type of wasp. I thought he was exaggerating until he called me out to the deck where our tomatoes and peppers grow in special earth boxes that he ordered this year along with a kit that contained the right amounts of fertilizer.

The hornworm we found was fascinating so of course I had to look it up and check it out myself. They grow anywhere from three to five inches (depending upon which site you read). Eventually they become a brown moth. They like only certain plants and favor the tomato the most, thus the name. They will burrow into the soil for their pupae stage and can have two generations in one summer as well as winter-over in the soil.

Against the green leaves it is difficult to see them unless the wasps have found them and laid their eggs there to hatch into larva which actually feed off of the hornworm. They then spin their small white cocoons and eventually emerge. Meanwhile the hornworm is spent from being food for the wasps. Several sites I visited said to leave the hornworms with the wasp cocoons alone as the wasps will help to control the hornworm population.

Uncontrolled, the hornworms will defoliate your tomato plants, feeding off the tender new leaves first and working their way down. Without the wasps, it is suggested you pick the worms off the plants and put them in a soapy water solution (or smash them if you are so inclined).

Every year there is something new to discover in our backyard and we certainly don't have to travel far to see it.

In My Backyard

While we have been all over the world, sometimes just traveling to my own backyard can be an adventure. All sorts of birds have taken up residence. Some are building nests, planning for families. Two morning doves this spring staked out our deck. We were sure they were looking for a place to build a nest and had perhaps tried the corner gutter above the back door since there were nest making materials scattered on the deck. When they realized it wasn't such a good place when the rains came, they moved on.

Symphonies around the globe could not be more beautiful than the songbirds that skitter from tree to tree attracting mates and friends and in my imagination, just singing for the joy of it. Flashes of red cardinals and the occasional blue jay add color and of course some of my favorites are the robins who seem to like the pine trees for their young ones.

After almost fifteen years of muck accumulating in the bottom of the pond, Bob cleaned it out and worried the whole time that our friendly frog population would desert us with all the activity. He needn't have worried. It appears most of them stayed or returned and now with a cleaner pond we can actually see where they go after we hear the plop when
they jump in the water.

This year as I was wandering around and deciding where to plant the summer blooms, I caught sight of a beautiful little cluster of white flowers. They were obviously from a bulb but I hadn't planted anything like them in my yard anywhere. Last year we had to have our brick walkway repaired from some over active chipmunks who undermined the structure. Hmmm. I wonder if perhaps the pretty white flowers were their doing? A peace offering perhaps?

You don't have to travel far sometimes to find great wonders of the world.

In My Backyard - Pond Life

Sometimes you don't have to travel far to find fun and entertainment. Our backyard pond has provided a lot as it has come awake this spring and now into summer. We relocated a turtle to our pond that our grandkids and their mother had rescued and taken care of until it got too big for its tank. We lost track of it as the lilies grew. Once in a while we would see its head between the leaves but then we figured it was either hiding from us or had taken off for the small lake across the creek from us.

We were out walking one night and got about a quarter mile down the road in our development and Bob spotted a turtle in the middle of the road truckin' along. He picked him up and scolded him for being out where he could get run over. The turtle, before pulling into its shell looked the same size and coloring as Snappy but there was not way we thought he could be that far from home.

Back home we put him on a rock next to the pond and he finally slipped into the water after much thought and a lot of looking around. We figured all was well and maybe Snappy would have a friend but then when we looked out our window we saw the turtle making a beeline across the lawn toward the creek. I didn't know turtles could move so fast.

Now we wonder if that was actually Snappy and he'd decided to relocate. Okay, as long as he stays out of the street.

Meanwhile, Bob looked out the window the other day and found a tiny turtle sunny himself on one of the rocks! Snappy hasn't been around long enough for it to be any of his progeny. It's a mystery. We haven't seen any evidence of a turtle nest but the little guy seems too small to have come from anywhere else. Bob is just happy that the pond is worthy to be considered home.

So now we have lots of frogs. We've counted at least a dozen small ones, several large tadpoles with legs and we can hear a big bullfrog but haven't seen him yet. And I was happy to see a pink lily bloom. I was worried they hadn't survived the long winter.

All that is left now is to restock with some gold comets. With any luck, the blue heron won't stop in for lunch for a while.

In My Backyard - The Bramley House

Just around the corner and up the street a bit is a house that was built in 1856 and has been given over to the Independence Historical Society for restoration. The last owner of the house, Betsey Bramley, passed away in 1996. The house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. All this history and just a short walk away from us!

We have watched with interest as the yard has been landscaped and work has gone on and we have even participated in one of the fund raising flea markets they held to raise money for the restoration but we have never had a chance to see inside. My husband picked up a brochure recently from our library and it gives some of the history as well as shows pictures of what they've done inside the Bramley House and now I am a bit more informed.

The house was originally built by Jasper Fuller, one of the earliest pioneer settlers in Independence (Ohio) and is made of sandstone block quarried in the Independence area. In 1861, Matthew Bramley and his wife Sarah who emigrated from England in 1842, purchased the house and occupied it with his large family of twelve children. Really? The house doesn't seem big enough.

Ownership of the house stayed in the family through three succeeding generations ending with Betsey Bramley in 1996 and thus represents a 140 year period where the city went from a pioneer agricultural settlement to a populous suburb which is now celebrating its 200th birthday.

Part of the house has been furnished as a place for small business meetings and the rest of the house will continue to be made into a museum. I look forward to the next opportunity to venture inside and explore more of the history of my hometown. How about you? Have you ever explored the history of your
hometown?

In My Backyard - Teddy, The Bullfrog

Somehow spring has just gotten away from me and I find myself breathlessly trying to catch up with it. Having an injured wrist put off lots of gardening chores and has certainly slowed down the ones I've started on but now the yard is beginning to look less weedy and there are some flowers planted. Of course that will sound the dinner bell for the deer and rabbits.

The chipmunks have been merrily excavating in the flower beds digging up rocks that are obviously from the original construction of our house. They can't undermine the foundation can they?

To my delight and entertainment, however, Teddy, the bullfrog is back or his counterpart is, bellowing and bulging at the throat and apparently trying to attract attention from the females in the area. Remember last year? I posted the Great Frog Take Down where three frogs were inhabiting the pond and two wrestled for the privilege of keeping the territory and I'm sure, the female frog.

What amazed me as I worked in the yard this year was the tenacity of Teddy. Fearless, he squatted on a rock across the pond from me about eight feet away and wasn't the least bit intimidated by my movements when I got within three feet of him. The next day, he even jumped closer to me to see what I was doing. That bellow made me drop my trowel as I was startled by the sudden unexpected sound so near.

Ah, Teddy, there's a story here I'm sure. If I were a children's book author I'd make you the main character but alas, I don't write for kids. There is that character, Annie Pickels, though who is a kid at heart and I'm thinking that Teddy just might get a spot in the sequel to In A Pickle. Patience. I have to finish Ruby first. By then though Teddy will probably have quite a family. He doesn't seem the bachelor type.

In My Backyard - The Canal Exploration Center

Near us is the Cuyahoga Valley National Park through which the Ohio and Erie Canal runs. This past weekend we were invited along with other volunteers who are connected to the park in some way (we are with the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad) to get a sneak peek at the new Canal Exploration Center at the corner of Hillside and Canal Roads. Before this it was known as the Visitor Information Center. Before that, Hell's Little Half Acre or Gleason's.

Gleason's as it was known in the heyday of the canal served both locals and canal travelers and dates back to the late 1830s. Located at Lock 38, passengers would get off the canal boat and go into Gleason's to eat, rest, and catch up on the news. They also stocked needles, thread, razors, clay pipes, tobacco, sugar and coffee. They served meals and any delay in proceeding through the lock meant an increase in profits. 

Like most taverns in the Canal Era, Gleason's was often a hot spot for those who imbibed and earned it's nickname of Hell's Little Half Acre during the 1920s when it was purported to be part of a bootlegging operation.

The new Canal Exploration Center is full of hands on exhibits which are rich in information about the canal and the era when it served as a main connection for shipping and industry. The story of building the canal will intrigue engineers and yet is easy enough for the kids to understand as well. It is well worth a look-see before or after strolling the towpath or taking a train ride through the Valley. 

Join in the welcome for this new center on Saturday, May 17, 2014, as they have the grand opening. 

Through My Lens - Spring, Better Late Than Never

Hooray! Not only for spring but for my wrist healed enough to hold a camera again!

Destination Cleveland, OH - Stay the week!

Tuesday I posted an itinerary for a weekend stay in Cleveland. There is so much to do. Why not stay the week? The best directions for exploring more are East, West, and South--unless of course, you want to go to Canada in which case you'd need to find a boat and head North.

To the East:
The University Circle area near Case Western Reserve University is where the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Western Reserve Historical Society, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and the Cleveland Institute of Music are located along with the Cleveland Botanical Gardens and the Cleveland Children's Museum. Severance Hall, the home of the Cleveland Orchestra, and the Glidden House, a mansion built in 1901 by the Glidden family of paint fame. The mansion is a bed and breakfast that would be an attractive place to locate to explore this area.

A little farther out Euclid Ave. you will find the entrance to Lake View Cemetery where President Garfield's tomb and monument are. Climb to the top for a great view of the area. Our visit a while back was on a beautiful spring.


To the West:
If you are craving some outdoor activity, you might try the Rocky River Reservation of the Cleveland Metroparks. The Metropark system actually circles the outskirts of the city into the suburbs and forms what is affectionately known as the Emerald Necklace. Or make a visit to our Cleveland Zoo which is also a part of the Metroparks. Our elephant exhibit and the veterinary facilities are especially interesting as well as the Rainforest building where you can step inside to a tropical climate any time of the year.

Looking to shop? Crocker Park in Westlake is a unique development of stores and restaurants and soon to be residential buildings.

To the South:
Right at Cleveland's back door is one of the most visited national parks in the country, the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. The historic Ohio & Erie Canal runs through the valley and the old towpath where the mules walked to pull the barges up and down the canal has been transformed into a wonderful walking/biking path. There are lots of places to explore along the way between Cleveland and Akron and beautiful scenes to take in along the Cuyahoga river and the canal including wildlife. During the summer, reenactments of the canal locks are done on weekends.

Through the park and the valley between Independence and Akron runs the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad. They offer scenic rides as well as themed rides including a wine train and a whodunit adventure. Smile at the trainmen. One of them is my husband. In late November and December up until Christmas, the train becomes the Polar Express. Smile at the elves. One of them is me!

That's only a small part of what is in the area. There are lots more little museums, nature centers, entertainment venues--including many community theaters. Did you know that that Chagrin Valley Little Theater has had many famous actors tread its stage including Tim Conway who grew up in Chagrin Falls? Don't miss out on Little Italy and the other Cleveland neighborhoods that make Cleveland so unique. And if you have a little more time to spend in the area, let me tell you about what's within a 2 hour drive--tomorrow.

Destination - Cleveland, Ohio, The Weekend

This venture turned out to be a little more difficult than I imagined. There's really too much to do in Cleveland for just a weekend but here's my stab at it.

Where to stay?
For a weekend, I would suggest a downtown hotel. There are lots to choose from to fit most budgets. If it were me, and only a weekend, I'd splurge on something like the Ritz Carlton at the Avenue or the Renaissance right off Public Square. (My husband gasps!) Then there's the Wyndam at Playhouse Square or for more conventional budgets, there is also a Holiday Inn Express and a Hampton Inn among others. Check out Tripadvisor to learn more about pricing and what others thought of the hotels.

Friday:
Assuming you arrive in the late afternoon plan on a nice dinner at one of our finer restaurants. Some suggestions: Cibreo's (Italian and right across from theaters. Reservations!!), Cowell & Hubbard (French/American), or District (American, Mediterranean, Seafood). All of these are right in the theater district and walking distance to your evening entertainment--a musical or play.

Playhouse Square on Euclid Ave between 14th and 17th Streets is in my opinion Cleveland's gem. It is the nation's second largest theater complex only surpassed by Lincoln Center in NYC and is the world's largest theater restoration project. Five majestic theaters built in the 1920s have all been restored to their grandeur and have created a wonderful entertainment center. A couple of years ago, The Cleveland Playhouse also moved to this area so there are lots of entertainment options to choose from. [FYI George Burns and Gracie Allen were married in the Palace Theater in 1926]

The theaters usually empty out around 10 and if you are still up for some more entertainment or a little after-the-show snacking, there is the Horseshoe Casino located on Public Square or perhaps a visit to the East Fourth Street neighborhood which is a pedestrian area with all sorts of coffee shops, bars, restaurants, comedy entertainment, and live music. This is a great spot during the day too especially if weather permits sitting outside.

Saturday:
If this is the first Saturday of the month, head to Playhouse Square again after breakfast. From 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. tours depart from the State Theater lobby and you will get a look at all the beautiful theaters plus a peek behind the scenes. The tour lasts for 1 1/2 hours, the memories a lifetime. If you don't mind the cost, a private tour can be arranged for any day of the week for $90.

Now you're probably hungry. Head over to another Cleveland gem, the West Side Market on West 25th Street. Here is your chance to sample and see a huge collection of vendors, many of whose families have been there for generations, who sell all sorts of meats, vegetables, pastries, delicacies, ethnic foods, etc. and etc. Sample your way through or get a sandwich or a pastry to try.

From the market, find your way to the Nautica Complex not too far from there along the Cuyahoga River. In the old powerhouse, you will find Cleveland's new aquarium. It takes about an hour to go through the aquarium if you like and you could do that either before or after your Lolly the Trolley City Sight-Seeing tour. The Trolley tour is either a one hour or two and a half hour tour. The longer makes one stop at the Rockefeller Greenhouse. They offer several specialty tours including one that centers around one of our more colorful Cleveland characters, Elliot Ness.

For your evening may I suggest a dinner cruise? We have a couple of choices. The Nautica Queen features a river/lake cruise with a dinner buffet and the Goodtime III has a dinner cruise with dancing.

Another option for the evening is to check what is going on at the Nautica Entertainment Complex or book your evening at the Hilarities 4th Street Theater or the House of Blues. Want something a little more classical and elegant? Check to see what the Cleveland Orchestra has to offer at Severance Hall or out a little south of the city in the open air concerts at Blossom Music Center.

Sunday:
Choose to sleep in or answer the call to worship at either historical St. John's Cathedral that dates back to 1848 or the Old Stone Church near Public Square which dates back to 1838.

Spend the rest of your morning exploring the Rock N roll Hall of Fame and Museum. Then, if it's baseball season, do my favorite thing: take in a ballgame at Progressive Field. It's a great ballpark and the Indians are showing lots of promise.

Maps are available at the Positively Cleveland website and there is an information center in Cleveland's landmark building, the Terminal Tower right on Public Square. There is so much more tucked into nooks and crannies in the city: the Arcade, the Police Museum, the Soldier's Memorial on the Square, Voinivich Park, the Flats, the Warehouse District, First Energy Stadium (Browns), Quicken Loans Arena (Cavaliers), Ohio City. It would take several weekends to cover it all. But if you have more time and want to get out of the downtown area, there is lots more to explore. Stay tuned.

Destination--Cleveland, Ohio

Recently the travel editor, Susan Glaser, at the Cleveland Plain Dealer published an editorial about the newly formed Positively Cleveland and their toughest task: getting Clevelanders to recommend their own town. We have been at the wrong end of so many jokes and have dealt with so many disappointments in sports and politics that many have become disillusioned about what the city has to offer to those who visit. So for a few posts, I'd like to take a closer look at the city and the area where I live--from a visitor's point of view.

There have been several times when I have been asked about what someone would see if they visited the area. The first time I truly had to scramble to come up with some things. After all, I live here and like anyone else who lives anywhere else, I don't look at where I live in the same way. I started by mentioning the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame. That was easy. Everyone knows that Cleveland Rocks thanks to Drew Carey. The real gem is not the Hall of Fame itself but rather the museum that fills the majority of the unique building designed by I. M. Pei.

After that I started scrambling but once I got going, the rest just started to roll off my tongue. The Playhouse Square, the lakefront, the Cuyahoga River, the museums, the orchestra, the architecture, the restaurants (you can find almost any ethnic choice), the Cuyahoga Valley National Park (and the Scenic Railroad), the Cleveland Metroparks we call the Emerald Necklace, depending upon the time of year--baseball, football, basketball, golf,  hockey, and more, the list goes on.

As you expand to include a little more area surrounding Cleveland that is easily accessible, you have another long list of activities that include several amusement and water parks, the Football Hall of Fame, Amish Country, wineries, islands, and well, as you can see, this list goes on too.

Over the next few posts, I'd like to highlight several points of interest and perhaps put together an itinerary for a visitor with a weekend, or a week to visit our city and the area. Come to Cleveland, I say. Let us surprise you.

In My Backyard - Bullfrog Takedown

Yesterday I posted about the nest-raiding bluejay. But wait! There's more going on in my backyard than thieving. There's also a territorial war of sorts. Or maybe it's just a fight over a girl. I can't tell but it sure gets noisy and vicious.


Our backyard has a pond that we installed when we built the house but further back beyond our property line is a small man made lake. I'm guessing that sometime ago a few bullfrogs saw greener pastures--make that nicer waters--and decided to migrate. Maybe they just wanted a little more privacy. Who knows? They found our pond and took up residence this year and the "neighborhood" in our backyard got a lot noisier.

Every morning and evening you can hear them. I think they croak throughout the day but we are usually too busy with our own indoor noise to hear them. We have enjoyed watching them grow and hop from lily pad to lily pad.

A couple of weeks ago I was trying to capture a good picture and was aiming my camera through the kitchen window at them. There were three I could see. Suddenly one of the frogs hopped like the video Frogger game all the way across the pond and proceeded to wrestle with the other frog there. It looked pretty aggressive and I was relatively sure these were two males but I went online to check out that behavior. Yup, they were fighting over territory and I'm guessing for the hand of the lovely green maiden still on the other side watching of the pond.

Who needs TV?



The faceoff

The takedown

The victor!

In My Backyard - Jay Raids Wren Nest

This summer has been a long stretch without any major travel planned but that doesn't mean we've grown bored. To the contrary, we have had a wealth of entertainment and drama in our backyard. It seems the birds have found every nook and cranny around our house to build a nest. The wrens came back and actually built a nest in our Williamsburg crock that is mounted on a corner of the house by our deck. 

While I don't know where the bluejays nest, I know it isn't in the crock. So when I saw this large male jay with his head inside the crock, I wondered what was going on. I read online that they are known to steal eggs from other birds' nests. Cannibalism no less!

Though small in size, the wrens perched on the shade roof over our deck and took turns dive bombing the jay until he finally gave up and left. Talk about a David and Goliath story. . .