Charley Hoke

I have a couple of those bat houses up but have never seen the bats use them. I have noticed them in the trees and on the rock cliffs behind the house. That one in the pic is the only time I've seen one under the eave of the house.

The only time I really notice them is at dusk, in the twilight. I usually see anywhere from 2 to 6. They really are a joy to watch as they flit about.

I remember as a boy we used to throw rocks at them, it was amazing how quickly they could turn and dodge the rocks. Occasionally one would actually fly towards the rock, to investigate, as soon as he figured out it wasn't food he flew away.

We too choose don't wash, we do however travel dirt roads and occasionally rinse.

Upon closer examination I have both squash bugs and cucumber beetles. I did find the eggs on the underside of the leaves, as well as the bugs themselves.

I still haven't figured out what the alien things are but my research continues.

These really are cool critters, we are very fortunate to have many of these who visit us every day at dusk. They are fun to watch as they flit about catching bugs, hopefully many mosquitoes.

Last summer I was up on the ladder one day working on the chimney. I had been up there for about 10 minutes or so before I noticed the little guy in the picture. He was very patient and waited for me as I climbed back down the ladder and retrieved my camera.

After taking the picture I left my little friend to continue his rest and saved the chimney work for another day.

The strangest thing happened one night as I was in the basement working on the computer. I kept noticing something flying by the door to my study. I assumed it was a large moth and didn't give it much thought. Finally curiosity got the best of me and I decided to go investigate. It was a bat, this part of the basement is long and narrow and he was flying figure 8's trying to find his way back out.

We often leave the basement door open for the dogs and cats, this was how the bat got in. I finally turned off all the lights in the basement and turned on the light outside and he soon found his way back out.

Here's a couple more pics of the whatever it is. These guys are very small, maybe about 1/8" in diameter and 1/2" tall

Something seems to be killing our cucumbers. Just a few days ago the plants were looking healthy and happy, all the leaves were a nice emerald green.

Now as you can tell by the pic the leaves are turning yellow and wilting. The second pic is something I'm not familiar with. My first thought was that it was some type of fungi, then I noticed that the ground under the plants was covered with june bugs, so that got me to wondering if maybe this was the eggs of the june bug. I squished a couple of them and what looked like a grub worm came out, so now I'm wondering if maybe grubs are the culprit.

any thoughts or opinions are appreciated.

I would just like to add that commercially mass produced dog/pet foods scare me. There are no controls or regulations for the pet food industry and most are full of all types of scary stuff. Even the so called premium brands.

Read the ingredients and you will see what I mean, some have enough stuff to fill a page or two, and they use a lot of fillers and words I can't even pronounce, If I can't pronounce it, I have to wonder how bad it is.

There are some good pet foods out there but I think they are far and few between.

I think a good rule would be to read the ingredients and if you would not eat it yourself, then it probably is not fit for your pet either.

I do both, actually I don't have a lawn but a country yard. 

Most of the time I let my grass grow very tall, when I cut I collect the clippings for mulch for my garden or for fodder for my compost.

If you don't allow your grass to grow too tall and you cut on a regular basis it's best to leave the clippings, as long as they are not too thick and matting they will  break down and provide valuable nutrients for your lawn.

Well the punkin jerky didn't work out quite as I had hoped. It wasn't ready when I went to bed last night and when I got up this morning they had completely dried out, punkin chips. Very tasty none the less, a mild nutty flavor. I think we will make more.

As we are learning more about permaculture we are discovering that we have been practicing permaculture methods and did not realize it. We called it natural living or simple living.

We have read Mother Earth News since its beginning in the late 70's although current trends with this magazine would probably lead it more to yuppie living than permaculture. IMHO this magazine has done a 180 on the principles it began with.

We also read CountrySide magazine which is a little better.

Are there any magazines that any of you read that are more permaculture based?