October Colours

Some of the colours of October are disappearing with all the rain and high winds of this past weekend.



We do have some colour in the barn where our gourds are drying.



And then there are sunset colours.

Mystery Larvae

I found six larvae in a section of limb that I was splitting today. The limb was about 20 cm (8 inches) in diameter and damp in the middle where the larvae were found. The largest larva was about 2.5 cm (1 inch) long. It fell out of the limb as I split the limb down the middle with my axe.



While I was photographing it, I saw three more, much smaller larvae in the wood and brought them to the surface with a splinter. Initially they were curled up in what I assume were defensive positions. After a few minutes they started to uncurl.



After they uncurled, they appeared to be about 1 cm (0.4 inches) long.



I also saw two much smaller larvae that I was unsucessful in photographing as they were too small to make much of an impression in the camera.

So my question is, what do you think they are. After some thought, I am leaning towards identifying the three small larvae as centipedes due to the way they were moving and I think I can see many, many, very small, almost transparent legs on their bodies but the larger larva has me quite puzzled. Any ideas?

October Colours

On my October 20th personal wild flower search, I found 61 species in bloom. On one hand, that is amazing for this late in the year. On the other, since I have been out almost everyday someplace looking for flowers and have been helped by groups that I've led at least once each fall in late October for over 20 years, I do know where to look and have a good idea about what flowers will bloom this late. It also helps that the temperatures are warmer than they used to be.

The trees on our home property have mostly lost their leaves and it looks more like November than October here, but down by Lake Ontario, Hamilton Harbour and Cootes Paradise where the waters keep the land even warmer, the tree colours and wild flower blooms have held on later. Oh, the bird in the photo holding its wings out to dry is a cormorant. They are very common these days on the edge of Lake Ontario.

Horseradish Harvest

Can you believe that I am still waiting for my main computer from a shop that prides itself on a two day, or less, return? Today is day 15. Sigh!

Meanwhile, out in the nearby fields . . .



Here is a closer look at some horseradish plants.



The first step in harvesting this root crop is to get rid of the tops. The tops are cut, shredded, and blown back onto the field.



Next, this large machine is pulled by another tractor over the rows. The roots are dug up, dirt shaken off, and then two individuals are doing something to the roots as the machine moves the roots to them. Maybe they are sorting? I really don't know.



They are then loaded into a truck or trailer and moved on to some unknown location. I think I need to follow both the soybeans and horseradish roots further along to see what happens next.

Landscape Painting # 1

This is the painting that I talked about last week. Tomorrow is painting class again. Wonder what this week will bring?