fall and evil birds

It's fall! And beautiful by the lake. Our tree is the first in the circle to go, apparently. It was a bit of a shock, since for the past 6 years or so, we haven't had to rake anything. Our baby trees had so little to offer.

So we were unprepared and rakeless when the tree started dropping her leaves. We got some of them in the last mow of the year. The plan was to let her dump everything and then rake once, but on Tuesday, with only half the leaves down, our entirely front yard was completely covered and spreading into other yards. So, I bought a rake and five yard bags at Lowes (ignorantly thinking that'd be enough).

Halfway through, I went back for more bag packs. We wound up filling 10 bags before calling it a day. On the bright side, the weather was beautiful and we got some exercise. And I got to jump in a big pile for kicks.



Yesterday was another beautiful fall day. I went for a walk, Mike watched football. When I came back, there was a strange tapping noise coming from the west wall. I went out to investigate.


And promptly swore. Way up high, a little bird was making himself a nice little home in the side of the house.

Really, bird?! Really?! There are a bajillion trees around here that would make a lovely home for you, and you have to bore a hole through our siding and insulation?!

We got out the ladder and Mike went up to inspect the hole. Don't worry, the ladder was actually steady, and I held on.

The hole was clean (no bugs or nesting), so Mike cut a wood patch and also sprayed the seam ledge to deter opportunistic little demons. He caulked the patch and sealed it up. It's not pretty, but we hope it'll do.

What do you to keep woodpeckers, or whatever it was, from making Swiss cheese out of your house? 

On a happier note, here's a fall shot of the lake.