Happy New Year

As the sun sets on 2011 have a happy New Year

Going... Going... Gone!!!

Over the past month the barn at Jason and Mary Abell's has gone through a dismantling to make room for a new pole barn.

Start of barn board removal



Barn boards removed



Remove structural support and collapse barn.

MEMORIAL BENEFIT for Karson Riley Hopkins

MEMORIAL BENEFIT
for
Karson Riley Hopkins

Son of SFC Brian Hopkins (Retired) & Atisha Hopkins
of Rome, PA

Grandson of Dave & Judy Hopkins
of Wyalusing, PA

Karson fought a 2-year battle with Neuroblastoma Cancer. He turned 3 on November 7^th. He passed away on November 16^th.
Please come and support this family.

Spaghetti Dinner and Live Entertainment
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Wyalusing American Legion
2:00pm-6:00pm

Raffles, Silent Auctions, Chinese
Auctions, Live Entertainment

Admission: $3 at door or cost of meal

Cost of Meal: $7 adults, $5 ages 6-12, FREE for 5 & under,
TAKE OUT orders available

All Proceeds will be donated to the Hopkins family.

Contributions may also be made at any P&G Federal Credit Union under Memorial Fund for Karson Hopkins, c/o Atisha Hopkins.

For more information or to donate please call:
Crystal & Dave Baltrusaitis 570-833-0831
Danielle & Jonah Eberlin 570-833-4539
Deanna Vaskas 570-746-9469

Pipeline Progress

Over the past couple of weeks, crews have been working on clearing the right of way for the Wilmot pipeline. Trees along the pipeline route were cut last March and now the crews are clearing and chipping the trees.

The following photo shows a section of the woods at our cabin property where the crew is in the process of removing tree stumps and stacking wood to be chipped.



This is the same section of the woods after the clearing in complete.

Smile, You're on Candid Camera

I take a lot of pictures and sometimes people aren't aware I've taken their picture. I just found a picture of me on the internet, on Google Map!

The Google Map Satellite image for our neighborhood was updated with a more current, high resolution image. The resolution is so good I was able to find myself working at our cabin property.

When I started looking at objects in the lawn at our cabin it was easy to pick out my John Deere tractor and a hay bale. I soon remembered the hay bale was only in the lawn for one day in early October when I reseeded the lawn and I was there the whole time. On closer inspection I was able to locate myself working on the lawn. (Click on photo for enlarged view)


This view shows the cabin property, our barn property, the reclaimed well pad area, access road, driveway to the cabin and even freshly mowed areas.



Since this satellite view of Rome was taken after the recent flooding it also show some of the flood damage along Wysox Creek.

Enjoying the weather

This year's weather has been unpredictable but I've heard very few complaints about this weeks weather. It's not often that we get 60 degree days in late November and Brenda Abell took advantage of the weather to take Max and Jabba for a walk.

Pipeline Construction

Clearing of trees, stumps and brush along the right of way for the Wilmot pipeline has begun at Jason & Mary Abell's farm. Once the right of way clearing is complete the pipeline construction will begin

Happy Halloween

Our son Brad attended a pumpkin carving party and sent us this photo.

First Snowfall

The following photos of the first snowfall for this year were captured by my game camera. This is the first time the fawn has seen snow.

The Woolly Bear Report

After three seasons (Spring, Summer and Fall) of unusual weather I decided to check with some widely accepted consultants on forecasting the coming Winter, the Woolly Bear Caterpillars.

The Woolly Bear Caterpillar (Pyrrharctia isabella) is the larval form of the Isabella Tiger Moth and some people believe the Woolly Bear can predict the Winter weather by the size of the black bands on its body. The more black bands, the worse the winter will be.

While a good share of the Woolly Bears I consulted had 5 to 6 black bands with 5 or 6 brown bands (~50% black), more than half of the Woolly Bears had a greater amount of brown.









This one had mixed black/brown at the head, 2 black bands, 6 brown bands and then a black band.



This one had 60% brown in the middle.



This one was ~75% brown with black on the head end and no black on the other end.



This one was brown on both ends with very little black in the middle. It was ~80% brown.


We will see if these weather consultants are correct predictors of this Winter but in reality the size of the color bands are more reflective of the Woolly Bears previous weather and food supply.

Cabin Project Update

As mentioned in the 19 July posting, we have been working on "fix-up" projects at our cabin this year. We didn't get all of our work completed at the cabin but with the colder weather approaching we have shifted to other jobs such as winter firewood.

We did manage to replace all the supports under the cabin, reinstall the front porch, replace and stain the decking on the porch, install new porch steps, install gutters and downspouts, install drain lines and do some landscaping.

Fall Fungus

While the colorful fall foliage gets the attention of most people there is a smaller display of color on the forest floor. Fall is also a peak time for members of the fungus family.

It's hard to miss a bright orange maple tree in the fall but a lot of the fall fungus is just as colorful, just smaller.

The following image may look like a large orange mushroom in a pine forest but the mushroom is less than an inch across and the "pine forest" is a carpet of moss.



Russula emetica (Poisonous)



Yellow Spindle Coral (Clavulinopsis fusiformis)




Clavaria zollingeri







Puffball



The fall foliage of this year will soon fall to the forest floor where it will decay and feed next year's crop of fall fungus.

Fall Colors

With the weather for the past several days being warm and sunny, the color of the fall leaves is starting to reach its peak. A view of our barn from the cabin property (click on image to enlarge view).



Two geese swimming on Miner's Pond.

Wild Asters

As the Autumn daylight hours grow shorter the number of wildflowers in bloom get smaller. Insects, like these bees, checking out the wild asters (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae).

School Time for Bears

I had set up one of my game cameras in the neighbors back yard and got this picture of mother bear showing the cubs the location of a food source (bird feeder).