Between the holidays and Blackie "boo" found a home

Missed my update last week as I was enjoying the Thanksgiving holiday in Vermont with family. Still seems odd to me even though my sister has been up there for close to three decades now that my son Josh is living there as well and we tend to be going up more than ever. It is a nice place to visit but this time of year not necessarily preferred over here or other warmer locations. We avoided all the traffic on both legs so it was a pleasant commute at least and no snow yet. The temperature was a shock though being in the teens and 20's at night. Sis had a town newsletter floating around that had a Halloween theme and discussed a few haunted houses and the old cemetery. She had not read it yet and when I discussed it with her she said "Oh that is right over there we will have to go check it out" One part of the story was trying to figure out why there was a big gap with no stones in the center. Theory was several (15-20) members of the same family were moved to the new cemetery which was closer to their homes. Some interesting stones see below:

East Thetford VT cemetery

 While I was away JC Murphy abducted Blackie. It was a cold stretch and according to JC the cat has acclimated to living with him and his wife Pat. They had recently lost their beloved cat Watson who lived a healthy 22 years. JC swore the black cat had the spirit of Watson and it was meant to go home with him. I was concerned it might try to return to the property having been feral for a couple of years. Will Warner said Pat posted on facebook the day they took it that she thought the cat may be pregnant. Chris Welch said when the cat was on his lap on the porch it had a nice belly so maybe that would explain the sudden personality change and desire to move indoors. JC told me "boo" (as he calls her because she disappears when her eyes are closed and then when she pops them open it is as if to say boo) has no interest in going outside and sleeps on top of him. He said she is a marvel in that she allows him to brush her and even lays on her back to have her belly brushed or petted, not standard for cats, apparently. So the Black cat who has roamed the property is now a house cat in West Tisbury and actually comes when JC snaps his fingers. good for her.

cotton candy? Nope foam from sprayer with non-toxic antifreeze

after final spray and before on bottom We use a dye to green them up for winter

 The course continues to be prepped for Winter. Once the final preventative fungicide spray is put out we can winterize the sprayer, mix load pad, and water source. Another box checked in the preparations for a cold climate. The prep of most things toilets, sprayers, pumps etc involves draining as much water as possible and then adding non-toxic antifreeze. While running the foam marker on the sprayer to get as much liquid out as possible I had these huge piles of foam and they looked cool when the red antifreeze came out with a pink hue. We tried the antifreeze in the ball washers for a spell but they froze once already so they are in for the season and will be painted up for next year. Pleas use the few old style trash receptacles we have put out for the rest of the Winter.

hydrophobic soil on left

aerifying the brown patches on a few fairways

We have recovered from the damage we received this summer except for a few brown patches here and there. These spots are referred to as localized dry spots. The soil becomes hydrophobic (water repelling) and needs special attention to break the barrier in the soil to allow water to penetrate. The use of wetting agents help but often the best way is to fracture the soil by mechanical means such as aerifying. I pulled cores on 3-5 fairways in these areas and then picked up the cores with Chris. He then filled them back in with divot mix and seed. the picture of the two soil cores shows a dry plug (lighter in color) and a moist one. This was after two inches of rain a few days before and a rather wet month. You could water these spots with a hose and not get the water to penetrate. We have stepped up our use of wetting agents for next season on fairways to address this problem. The picture showing all the cores pulled looks mostly dark but there was no easy way to do just the bad spots. and if you look closely on the left side you can see lighter patches.

happy dog

There was an astronomical high tide this week so Bert and I went to check it out. He was just a little excited running back to me as if to say hurry up can you believe we are at the BEACH!!! He loves the beach and I really need to get him there more often. Maybe an early resolution?