And the summer finally fades

[altivo]

Signs of the end:

Getting dark by 6:15 pm, even with Daylight Saving still in effect.

Forecast for the next eight days: "Cloudy with a chance of showers, cool temperatures..."

Fall color was spotty, but the leaves are already dropping.

The last load of hay is in the arena waiting to be unloaded.

Hummingbirds have vanished. Cardinals are reappearing at the feeders.

The apple orchards are shutting down one by one.

Piles of pumpkins dot the roadsides, some with signs that say "Self service, honor system" and an arrow pointing to a tin can or other container for payment.

Gasoline prices are dropping fast, at about two cents a day for the past couple of weeks.


Odd contraindication:

The duck we rescued a month or so ago is laying eggs. Today was the fourth day in a row. Obviously she's much happier here than she was living with a flock of chickens. She has a drake boyfriend, and they stick close together, and now, eggs. Good ones. I used two in the muffins yesterday and they were grade AA good. Late in the year for her to be laying, but she's an egg producing breed and must be quite young. Let's see how long she keeps it up.

In other news, the flax I've had in water since Wednesday is done. I drained off the water this evening and left it to drip dry balanced on two plastic milk crates. We'll have to get it hanging in the garage before all this rain begins to fall. I say it's done because I could easily pull out fibers from the stems with my fingers. Remains to be seen how much yield there will be when we hackle, break, and scutch.

Comments

[chibiabos.livejournal.com]

Duck eggs are delicious ... they make chicken eggs taste watered down by comparison. We used to get duck and goose eggs regularly when I lived with Hawk in Texas on an artificial lake, especially after the dam burst and the 'lake' was reduced to a muddy stream for several years. The ducks would frequently come to our yard. I did tend to feed them, which is probably a no no, but I also rehabilitated one duck whose leg had been shot by a neighbor's pellet gun (gotta love Texans). I bound his wings so he wouldn't hurt himself, splinted his leg and kept him in the bathroom, cleaning him and the bathroom after him, giving him cornmeal-based dog food (which is not great for dogs but good for ducks IMO). After a couple weeks, his leg seemed to have healed and I set him free. After that, he came straight up to me for food ... neither he nor the other few drakes in the flock would come directly to any person for anything, would lag behind the females, but he came directly up to me to eat out of my hand from that day forward until I moved out of there.

[altivo]

Ducks, and especially wild ones, are difficult to "impress" but you found the formula. Your subject was reduced to helplessness similar to that of a duckling, and you became the provider. Even newly hatched domestic ducklings quickly develop an aversion to humans, unless they are converted in the first few hours.

As for the eggs, yes. We find them especially good for baking, as they produce richer and higher-rising cakes and breads. Don't boil them, though. They toughen up and bounce like tennis balls. Even the dogs rejected those.

[hrrunka]

Definite signs of autumn here, too; leaves turning and falling, weather blustery (if not yet exactly cold), lots of fruit and berries on some of the garden's plants, and miratory birds gathering on overhead wires. Not seen fuel prices dropping, though.

[altivo]

I believe your fuel prices are held artificially in place by taxes, even more than ours are. Three factors are at work on that here: crude oil prices have dropped significantly, demand drops off as the summer ends, and the blend of fuel prescribed by law changes to a less expensive one (that gets lower mileage, unfortunately.)

We may get in another orchard visit yet. We found this morning that they are still picking at a place north of Woodstock that we haven't visited for a few years.

[schnee]

That's very nice to hear that your new duck's laying — she really must be happier now.

I've never eaten duck eggs myself, I think. What are they like?

[altivo]

To tell the truth, if you were served duck eggs in an omelet or soufflé you most likely wouldn't know the difference. The domestic ducks generally lay white-shelled eggs in the same size range as the larger chicken breeds. The shells are a bit thicker, and (depending on diet) the yolks can be a bit richer in fat. They seem to make cakes and breads a bit richer and higher rising, but otherwise, are not much different from chicken eggs.

The breeds of duck that have been selected for egg-laying can produce over 300 eggs per duck per year, and they are hardier birds that need less protection than chickens (who are tropical stock originally.) The reason that they aren't in wider commercial production is probably that ducks don't do well stuffed into one foot square cages. They do require some room to move around, and have to be supplied with enough water to immerse their heads. This last requirement lets them keep their beaks and nasal passages clean, since they dig in the soil for grubs and insects quite a lot.

[schnee]

*nods* Ah, that's all very interesting. It does make you wish that chickens had similar requirements so that they, too, would not have to suffer they way they do now, doesn't it?

Thanks for the tip about duck eggs making cakes etc. a bit richer; maybe I'll try that some time if I can find duck eggs somewhere. (Hmm, I should probably check out the local farmer's market some time. There's one that's just a kilometer or so from me that's taking place twice a week, and there's another dozen (almost) in town on various days, so every day from Monday to Saturday is covered. *s* Maybe someone there has some for sale.)

I didn't know chickens where originally from tropical areas, either. Come to think of it, I don't think I could even say I'm sure what the closest living wild relative of domesticated chickens is.

[altivo]

Probably red and gray junglefowl from southern Asia. Relatives of the peacock. (Or was it the pheasant? Or maybe all three?) Anyway, tropical Asian, yes.

[songdogmi.livejournal.com]

Here, too, in southeast Michigan, the leaves also seem to be dropping more quickly than usual. We had a sudden color change over the weekend, but a lot of trees are dropping leaves just as the color change, in some cases seemingly just before. I'm afraid the leaves are so prone to fall that any rain we get this week will clear most of the trees, way more rapidly than usual.

This last week's weather has been something else, though, hasn't it? I think you've had something like the warm, sunny stretch we've had, right?

[altivo]

Well, yes, and didn't we used to call that "Indian Summer" and expect it to arrive in early October and last about a week? Or am I imagining something from a past too far back for anyone else to recall it?

September cools the heat of August, bringing in both wind and rain, but Indian Summer follows that, and gives us back the sun again...

[songdogmi.livejournal.com]

I thought we needed a freeze before Indian Summer could come, and we didn't quite get that cold here (because it was raining so much the temps couldn't fall enough). But yes, it definitely fit the description of Indian Summer in a most welcome way.

[altivo]

It's global warming, though. Forget the freeze, nighttime lows in the 40s will do. There were frost advisories and freeze warnings all over on this side of the lake, actually.

[songdogmi.livejournal.com]

Now I remember, we had at least frost advisories beyond a radius of 40–50 miles from the center of Detroit ten to fourteen days ago, so if temps below 32 were required, the requirement was met nearby. I'm not complaining, as the weather was so nice and I'm not really eager to start scraping windshields yet.