French Broad Hollow Ramble

Today’s forecast called for a “wintry mix” to arrive about 9 AM, leading to icy road conditions, and school was cancelled. No school = no volunteer job, so I headed out about 9 to beat the predicted weather. (Note: It’s 2 PM and still no precipitation.) Even with the temperature in the high 20s and no sun, it was a great ramble in the Hollow!

After walking down to the river (above) and noticing the culvert at the highway, I headed back up. The branch has started to thaw in some places but is still frozen solid near my house.

One of the controversial issues in Asheville is the recent construction of high-rise hotel and condominium buildings , and today I recognized that we already have several in the Hollow—and one appears to have an elevator shaft! 🙂

This one has an elevator shaft!

Here are a couple at ground-level…

and one that is in bad shape near the meadow.

I’m not sure how many of these are inhabited—I think a few may be short-term rentals (another issue in Asheville)—but if I see any of the inhabitants, I’ll try to share a photo with you on another ramble.

It warmed to 33 today, after highs in the 20s. I walked in the afternoons, and the sun kept me from getting too cold—although when the wind blew, I could feel the cold squeezing through every hole in the layers of clothes I was wearing! It’s been interesting to see how the amount of ice on the river has increased. (It’s totally frozen over in some places upstream.) The branch that parallels our road has been frozen solid in many places, and I plan to investigate what’s going on in this culvert once the ice melts.

The deer come several times a day, and I throw apples from the hill when I’m not dressed for walking down to the meadow. Of course, I also take apples and corn two or three times a day in this weather. Sometimes I see them on my ramble, and they are waiting when I get back home.

I take water down, too. You can see the “tower” of ice I have emptied from the water pan over the last few days (that white thing). Tonight’s forecast is for a low of 24 and a “wintry mix” in the morning; I am curious to see what that will do to the “tower.” (The deer were staring when I filled the bird feeder after posting, so I took them a little more corn and got a photo of the “tower.”)

As I noted in a previous post, I take hot water and melt the ice in the birdbaths. The birds (and squirrels) appreciate this, and I see quite a few chickadees, titmice, cardinals, and mourning doves at the water, as well as a few birds. Yesterday there was a pileated woodpecker in the nearby trees, and visitors to the suet included a red-bellied woodpecker , downy woodpeckers, a yellow-bellied sapsucker, and others. I let the birds eat and drink and don’t have photos, but I was really tempted to try today when I looked out and saw the birdbath covered by bluebirds! They looked like bright blue lights as the flew around in the surrounding trees and undergrowth. And then, after the bluebirds left, came cedar waxwings! It was quite a day for birdwatching out the window!

I doubt I’ll get in a ramble tomorrow, but I’ll be back on the trail again soon.

I don’t like to let the cold keep me from walking, but Mother Nature has been challenging so far this year. I had a New Year’s Day ramble and went again the next day, but the last two photos above (yesterday and today) were taken on my way out in the car. Since it has gotten colder, I have been walking more in the early afternoon, when it is usually a little warmer. The last two days have been cloudy and windy, and it never really warmed at all.

The cold keeps me indoors more, but I go outside several times a day to put hot water in the bird baths. And, of course, I take apples and corn down to the deer whenever I see them.

I know the weather here is mild compared to what some of you are experiencing, so I am not complaining. My house is warm (especially when the sun is shining) and I don’t have to get out to go to work. (I love retirement!) Tomorrow’s forecast calls for a sunny day with some wind and a high around 25; I hope to ramble a bit and see what’s new in the Hollow. I’ll let you know if I discover anything exciting!

Happy New Year! The first ramble of 2018 was a brisk one, with the temperature around 20 degrees and some wind. It wasn’t too bad in the sun or when the wind was still, but the wind in the shade had me grateful that I had worn layers!

When the temperatures are this cold, I take food down for the deer several times a day (pretty much whenever I see deer in the meadow). It was too cold this morning to take out my phone for photos, but here are some from recent weeks (since I’ve not posted for quite a while). This little one (Little Ellie) is one of the few I can identify by sight and/or behavior.

I am not planning to post for all of the days I’ve missed, but here are a few of the December highlights, first of the river

and then of the field across the ridge.

I expect to post on a more regular basis, especially with this winter weather.

I awoke to about an inch of snow this morning, and it keeps coming down, with 4-6″ predicted. The young deer don’t know what it is but are enjoying chasing each other around. I’m sure they won’t be as frisky when the temperatures drop tonight, and I’ll go down to feed them later.

Given the forecast of highs in the 30s (29 next Wednesday!) and lows in the 20s or teens for the most of the next week or so, I will likely be spending more time inside and aim for a more comprehensive update (assuming the power stays on!). I DO plan to walk and will post more photos. I know many of you have snow on the ground, too. Be safe and keep warm!

When I started this blog, I knew I would find it hard to work on a post when the weather was nice and I wanted to be outside or, conversely, when bad weather was coming and I had to prepare for it. Now I have gone several weeks without posting, and things in the Hollow have gone through some seasonal changes. I won’t try to catch up all at once but plan to get back to posting more regularly. (Of course, now I have errands and tasks related to the holidays, so we’ll have to wait and see how this goes.)

Shortly after the last post, I heard the trees whispering. I didn’t know what they were saying, but is seems they were plotting to drop their leaves all at once.

Some of them refused to follow along, particularly the beech and a few oaks, and the top leaves of some poplars hung on for a while.

As the leaves fell, I found some colorful leaves—some of them were gigantic!

Although the leaves are mostly gone, there is still plenty of beauty in the Hollow.

The deer come regularly (some come when I call), and the turkeys come running when they hear the deer.

They are ready to eat now, and I’ll post again soon!

It has been raining steadily since early this morning, and the warm temperatures are gone. No river photo today unless it clears a bit, and none from last Wednesday, when I had an unexpected substitute job. But the river and the seasons go on, whether or not I document the changes.

The maples are fading but still beautiful, and the oaks are beginning to change colors, mostly to a reddish-brown.

The sumac and blackberry vines also add color;

and the hickories are turning brown, too, but some still have their golden glow.

It can be simply stunning.

The foliage adds beautiful colors to my rambles this time of year, but there are always other things to observe, too.

Meanwhile, the deer do not observe Daylight Savings Time and show up for food as usual. As food sources dwindle in the woods, more are showing up for apples and corn. (I counted 11 one day!) One doe and her fawn decided to rest near the mailboxes after eating one day.

I was happy to see the triplets and their mom recently, although I was not pleased about where I first noticed them. The whole family comes pretty close, and I think that the mom has been coming around for several years. (Of course, I can’t really tell most of them apart.)

The turkeys come, too; they eat the corn but also glean seeds in the meadow (and under the bird feeders). There are about a dozen of regular visitors.

The sun is peeking out, and I may get my ramble in yet! If so, you’ll see the views in my next post.

Well, there wasn’t much snow—only a few flurries in the afternoon, most of it mixed with sleet. It was a cold and cloudy ramble, but the trees were still colorful. I was happy to get the corn and apples down for the critters in the afternoon just as the wet stuff started.

The next day was windy and cold, I missed my morning walk to the river (but stopped on my way out for the photo) and headed out in the afternoon. The light and the colors literally stopped me in my tracks several times!

The cold has made colors more vivid every day, especially the maples.

Halloween has been another stunning day, and I couldn’t resist a few more photos:

Soon the leaves will fall (except the beech), and I’ll be seeing a different kind of beauty on my rambles.

Fall is fickle weatherwise, and we go from rain to sunny, calm to windy, and warm to cold. Today it is windy and cloudy with rain approaching and a forecast high in the 50s. Tomorrow’s forecast calls for another windy day with a high only in the 40s and a low in the high 20s. Oh, and a chance of snow flurries! It will be a brisk ramble!

The leaves are getting more colorful each day. They are spectacular against the blue sky but sometimes stand out even more on cloudy days. The leaves on some of the hickories almost glow like golden lights, but I can’t seem to catch the magic with the camera. I am particularly fond of the many American Beech (Fagus grandifolia) trees in the Hollow, especially those near my house. They are still almost fluorescent green but beginning to turn yellow. The leaves will eventually turn to a coffee brown and will stay on the trees for most of the winter. (Today I am trying the slideshow feature of WordPress; I hope it works for you!)

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Many of the smaller plants are also colorful, like this sumac—one of many in the Hollow—and the beautyberries (Callicarpa americana) I planted soon after moving here.

Especially on cloudy days, even the bare branches of the black walnuts ((Juglans nigra) and the fallen leaves and husks of a hickory are beautiful.

Here are the views from the gate

and from my deck late yesterday afternoon and early this morning.

2:30 PM Oct. 23

5:30 PM Oct. 23

Fall has really arrived, bringing some beautiful weather. However, we had 3 inches of rain Monday, which limited my rambles. The last two photos above show the French Broad at 2:30 PM (in the rain) and again at 5:30, after the rain had passed. Places upstream were hit by more rain, and some places were flooded. The rain was the harbinger of much colder temperatures, and these changes in the weather have made the the foliage begin to get more color. I don’t know if the rain simply washed the dust off, revealing color already there, or if the colors are being revealed as the chlorophyll fades. Probably both.

Here is a sample of what I am seeing. I hope to edit these a little and post a slide show with additional photos tomorrow.

The deer and turkeys are coming pretty regularly. The deer let me get close, but the turkeys run when I approach. Have you ever watched a wild turkey run? (I don’t know where this video was made.) They are fast but not very graceful.

As for now, it’s about time to fill the pail with deer corn and deer apples and head down the hill to feed those critters.