before. during. after.

pictures probably speak more than words here.

also, gratuitous cute (note how the orange cat is rarely pictured? that's because he spends most of his time destroying things in a very un-cute way):

snowbirds

we've been winterizing at city cabin. and our noble 26 cent friends have taken a well-deserved holiday south. to our basement. where they will live in dark foodless comfort for the next six months. kinda like taking a winter vacation in sweden.




it's true--i've been dying to scoop up these fish for a closer look ever since we've gotten them.





over-priced and under-located glutted condo market:

man vs beast

in the eternal struggle of man versus nature, paths collide, wars are waged, and peace is a notion of utmost futility.

the perfect day

garrison keiller has written quite a lot about why people love minnesota, and why minnesota people love fall. in particular i remember reading an essay in which he explains that out-of-staters tend to visit during one of the very handful of perfect october days, and then fall in love with the state. we who live here all the time, though, cannot perfectly enjoy this day due to 1) guilt at the notion of such utter giddiness; and 2) knowing that brutal cold winter is just days (but hopefully weeks) away.

so in celebration of this enjoy-this-october-day-but-not-too-much-because-we-don't-want-to-jinx-ourselves, here are some images of fall from city cabin.


the postman's walkway:



the migratorily-challenged male grosbeak:



covet thine neighbor's maple:






the following are from the dwindling days of outdoor chances at farmer's market:









and, of course, more birds....


juncos just returned to city cabin yesterday:




this flicker's cuteness must make up for poor photo quality:





wood thrush:



like a nightclub for birds. because it's full of champagne:

ahoy from fall

if i thought that this blog would be a once-a-month kinda place, i probably wouldn't have started the thing, as all it does is reinforce how little has happened around here since early summer. but hey! we have had some new bird sightings. and the dude has done more masonry work, which he does not love, but is actually pretty good at. so, here:


finally, a grosbeak. i've only been waiting a whole long year:


the front steps were a mess. i mean, they kind of still are a mess, and i imagine winning the lottery and having really cool block installed to replace the poured concrete. but i don't buy tickets so, my chances are only slightly less than people who DO buy tickets of winning.

before:






after:






in other news, we've done some more planting. the st. paul farmer's market had a purveyor who was selling 3 & 1/2 inch pots of perennials for a buck a piece. good deal. we threw down ten bucks, and then threw the plants in the ground. also, the nursery we bought our shade plants from sent some replacements which are also now in the ground. fall is looking pretty nice around here. too bad we've been too enamored with new bikes to really get much done. but hey. the snow will be here soon.

over a month. pathetic. as i gaze out the window at my neighbor's new siding in progress, i feel slightly chagrined at the low level of home improvement activity at city cabin. the male counterpart is off combining (excepting rain), and i've been spending many hours working at the barn (a real struggle, let me tell you). so, yeah. really, it's been enough just trying to keep the gardens alive. thanks, rabbits. jerks. so, a visual tour, in separate posts, of what's been going on for the last month. first, the pond.

water lettuce takeover!

requisite sun shot:

regrettably, the bloom lasted one day:

new resident. just kidding. this is from the bigger pond the male counterpart has been residing at:

a day in the life of a city cabin bird

big ball o' fuzz (this ball confuses everybody that visits. i hope this clarifies. if not, you're hopeless)

"i am a baby, therefore i nom nom nom"

baby oriole + sprinkler= easy entertainment

hawk 1, sparrow 0. i apologize for the picture quality. something about the shock of a hawk ten feet away in the yard, two vodka gimlets, sunset, and fumbling with the camera....

sparrows. oblivious. hence above photo.

those guys eat anything

swedish crayfish party (actually featuring one real swede! ((not pictured))):

farmer's market bounty (all local):

ikea bounty (all china):

farmer's market:

some party store bounty:

before:

artsy!

leaving the nest

yes! you are mighty correct in that we haven't done much updating at all. this is mostly because the guy is busy doing this, and took the camera with him for all those riveting tractor action shots:



can you HANDLE IT?????

while i, meanwhile, have been doing lots of things involving this pretty thing:



what the hell, let's see some more horse eye candy:




so, anyway, we've been busy doing summerly things. but, before that, we did actually do some home improvement in the department of Spending Money on Rocks.

i'm sure you remember the pond. well, i know you were holding out for the post-modern black plastic liner, but i'm too many years out of english majoring for that. so, we went and got ourselves some stone. chilton stone, to be exact. 600 pounds of it. let's enjoy the journey.


go neon! go neon! go, go, go neon!






the peace and tranquility of city cabin cemetery:




rocked hard:

i won't include the transcripts from laying this rock. let's just say...nothing.

three weeks later:




we have lots of landscaping to do around the pond(s). much of that will wait until the next planting season. however, i'm jazzed that at least one of the water plants is blooming cute little purple blossoms.


and then, the birds. baby birds everywhere. man, are they dumb and endearing. they know how to eat by themselves, but if ma or pa are around, they suddenly become helpless. it's been a great time anthropomorphizing in the backyard of city cabin:





more bird pics later, because today i'm too sad that the wrens have left the nest. wrens are excellent in every way.