Curiosities

Amongst the usual unusual things that happen around here, we've seen a few things lately that really stand out.  First, it appears that we have all unwittingly purchased waterfront property, as the low depression on Jon & Kim's land recently began to mysteriously fill up with water from hidden underground springs.  You can see just how big the pond has gotten in the lower right section of the photo below, especially in comparison to Kim's house (left middle):

Our delight at this unexpected watery wonder quickly turned to disdain, however.  Seriously, the stench from the decaying grass in that water is putrid and strong!  And guess whose house is downwind?  The smell can only be described as that of rotting seaweed along the coast.  While I have been wishing that we lived closer to the ocean, this is definitely NOT what I had in mind!

As almost everywhere else in the world, we have also experienced unusual weather this year.  Here in the northwest, we had a long, cold spring that severely impacted our growing season.  Almost all of our vegetables have been small and harvested much later than usual.  In contrast, our apple trees have done really well.  We are happy to report that we have 15-20 mature apples on our tiny trees.  Still, imagine our surprise when we inspected our trees the other day and found not only apples, but blossoms on our trees as well.  Yes, you read that correctly.  We currently (in early September!) have both apple blossoms and apples on our trees at the same time:

Has this ever happened to you?  If so, did it hinder your trees' fruit-bearing abilities the following year?

Lastly, I'm often scolded for not including photos of myself on the blog.  So to round out this post on the oddities at our farm, here's a picture of Thane and me.  Sorry, but you asked for it!


At least Thane's cute.