Fig Tree

Look! I found a fig tree in my yard and it has fruit! My skills as an adventurer helped me discover this new edible in my yard. I showed my Hooman and it made her happy. I am a good dog.

Gnarly, Brain Fruit - Osage Orange Tree

 

This is our Osage Orange Tree, in Latin it’s the Maclura pomifera. It’s also called the bois-d'arc, bodark, bowwood, hedge apple or mockorange. That’s a lot of names for one tree! My Hooman loves this tree. It is actually her favorite tree on our land.

The local extension service employees took a field trip to come see it because they haven’t seen one this big. It turns out that our Osage tree is a bit smaller, though not by much, than the Grand National Champion Osage. The Champion is 54 feet tall and has a spread of about 90 feet. If the utility company hadn’t cut part of our tree, it would be bigger than a 90 feet spread. It is taller than 54 feet though. The extension service people said that it was here before the Civil war. That means our tree is over 150 years old!

 

Osage trees are pretty great from root to tip! The bark furnishes a yellow pigment that was used to dye khaki uniforms, it also produces tannin for making leather. The wood was sought after by the Native Americans to make bows, which is why the tree is also known as a bowwood tree. The wood is so resistant to insects and deterioration that it has been known to last over 100 years when used as fence posts or ship masts!

 

The branches are thorny. In fact, the thorns have been known to cause flat tires, even piercing thick tractor tires!

 Before the invention of barbed wire in the 1800’s, Osage hedges were woven together to keep livestock contained. An Osage orange hedge was considered "horse-high, bull-strong, and pig-tight," according to historian Paul Landacre in "A Natural History of Western Pennsylvania." The trees originated in Texas, Oklahoma & Kansas.

The branches have pretty leaves and little flowers. But the best part of the Osage tree? The fruit! It’s large like a grapefruit, green in color and looks like a brain. You can google it to see pictures. Rumor says that placing the fruit in the basement corners keeps the spiders out of your house. I’ve also heard that children use them for street bowling! The trees are either male or female. The male trees do not fruit. I do not know yet if my Hoomans tree is male or female, I won’t know until I’ve watched it throughout the season.

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that we have a brain fruit tree. It goes well with the vampire coffin in the basement, the Cyclops spider in our well and the skeleton key I found when the Hoomans started renovating.

Puffy Dove

I was sitting on the porch watching the  doves in the front yard when I saw the male dove, trying to strut his stuff. He puffed up like the Stay-Puffed Marshmallow Man. It was funny to watch him try over and over to get the attention of the little female dove in front of him. She seemed disinterested even though he put on quite a show!

Little Baby Bunny

Today I made a new friend.

 

I went out for a walk in my yard and came across this sweet little bunny.

 

You can see how small he is by the size of the blades of grass he is sitting in.

 

My Hooman wouldn't let me get too close in case the little bunny got scared. I am just happy to have a new friend who is also little.

Monkey in My Yard

I found a monkey in my yard. I think this must be solid proof that my home used to be a nature preserve.

Fields of Clover

My Hooman is boring. She has been painting......the whole house. So have the Hoomans who came to visit. I am so bored I went outside in my yard and started looking for 4 leaf clovers. I didn't find any. Maybe tomorrow I will help my Hooman paint. I think she likes it when I help.

Magnolia Tree

Our Magnolia Tree has blooms. The tree is huge, more than 2 stories high & my Hooman loves it!

Bunny BFF's

Look! My elusive bunny has a new BFF! They spent the night hopping together all over the yard!

Attacked by a Butterfly

My Hooman was attacked by this butterfly. It stalked her through the yard, landed on her shoulder and stayed there while she went inside to talk to the other Hoomans. One of them took the butterfly off of her shoulder and put it on her finger. It just sat there for a while so my Hooman got her camera and took this picture of the butterfly on her finger for you.

Surrender to the Bobcat

 

My yard surrendered to a Bobcat after the Hoomans surrendered to the water lines.

The yard had little flags all over it after our plumbing problems. Then one day my Hooman said we were going to have a Bobcat in the yard. Well I waited for a bobcat all day because cats are NOT allowed in my yard. It turns out that my idea of a bobcat & my Hoomans idea of a bobcat are two different things.

 

This is what the Hoomans brought into my yard. It was just as scary as a real bobcat!

 

So all the old cast iron pipes were replaced with new PVC ones and that made my Hoomans happy. Now all of the outside work has been completed, we just need inside work finished and the plumbing problems will be over!

Wild Strawberries

Oh wow! I found wild strawberries in my yard. Y'know the best part? My Hooman doesn't care if I eat them!

Field of Flowers

Here is a picture of my Hooman refers to as "a mess of pretty". She loves the Sweet Pea and Lilies just growing free out there in the field. There is a creek, one of the 2 we have, down there and the Hoomans decided that they are going to selectively harvest the area to keep the flowers, get rid of the weeds and plant things like Corkscrew Willow, Red Twig Dogwood & Paw Paw Trees! My Hooman owned a flower shop once. I think she's trying to create her own wild flower shop!

Bramble Berries

We have an abundance of berries that I get to eat! My neighbor called them Bramble Berries. So I looked that up. It turns out that Bramble Berries include blackberries, raspberries and logan berries. Finally, I am starting to discover some edibles!

Ginormous Spider Tree

 

This is our Spider Tree. It's HUGE like a monster sized Oak Tree and it has these funny Spider-like growths on it. My Hooman has no idea what it is but told me to ask my friends. Do any of you know what kind of tree this is?

Mimosa Tree

This is a Mimosa Tree. We have them on our land. Apparently it is from China but has been here in the states since 1745. I think it is a pretty tree. I bet now my Hooman will be searching for Margarita Trees and Daiquiri Trees. We already have strawberries growing......next I suppose will be the limes.

Sweet Pea

This is Sweet Pea. It grows all over our land. My Hooman is in love with it. Thanks to her genius wino friend wine loving friend in the big state, now she knows what it is! I like it too, although I am only allowed to smell it not eat it. Sounds familiar huh?

Cyclops Fishing Spider

This is not just a Fishing Spider. It's a Cyclops Fishing Spider, seriously...click on it & see. It is a pretty big spider as you can tell by the 1inch garden hose next to it. Cyclops lives in our well and comes out every night to stare at me. Gross. Did you know that they can walk on water to catch their prey?

I think my Hooman picked this house on purpose. Think about it. It was owned by Freddie Mac from Nightmare on Elm Street. There is a Potato box Vampire Coffin in the basement and now a Fishing Cyclops Spider lives in my well.

Lightning Bugs not Ginger Bugs

I have been calling this bug a Ginger Bug for days now because of its red head. Come to find out it is a lightning bug. Who knew?

I have them all over the yard. So many in fact that every night looks like the Sydney New Years Eve fireworks celebration! Ok, maybe not as cool as Australian Fireworks displays, but very cool. I will say it is very hard to photograph them. Here are a couple with my Elusive Bunny!

Slate Walkway

This is the slate walkway to my front door. It is original to the house from 1942. My Hooman is in love with it. She sat today for an hour sketching out different landscape designs for it. She could design around a statue of me. I would make a great focal point.

Yep.......definitely an alien.