Mason July 1

Weather for gardening has certainly been much better this year than last - except for fruit trees which froze just when they were fully blossomed and destroyed much of the crop.

I was really proud to announce that we had our first fresh peas from our garden on June 25, a record for me - until Alice McGinnis told us she has been having peas for 2 or 3 weeks! Lettuce, chard and beet greens are ready too.

I am most pleased and relieved that the crows didn't pull up any of my corn this year. I think that was due to the advice that Juanita Korhonen gave me (String a string 2" to 3" above the ground along all your rows of corn.) It seems to have worked for me, as my corn is now about knee-high - high enough to be out of danger from crows! I still have to worry about coons and squirrels destroying the ears just as the corn begins to ripen! Snuffy helps some with this problem by chasing those predators away! He also trees some of them every little while!

Oh, yes. Raspberries are beginning to ripen, and blueberries are beginning to show a little color here and there; I expect the arrival of the Japanese beetles any day now!

Some of our feathered friends have met with disaster recently. The robin's nest in the maple tree outside our kitchen window was somehow knocked to the ground and its tiny occupants apparently killed or kidnapped during the three days last week while we were in Bangor for the Legion and 40 & 8 conventions. Also, the tiny green and yellow warbler (I don't know its proper name) that was building its nest just outside our dining room window succumbed to an apparent sudden impact with that window, as I found the bird dead on the deck outside the window. Nest construction was halted by that accident.

At least, the tree swallows seem to be having a successful breeding season, by the look at the number of birds swooping around the pasture.

My niece, Elsie Aylward, now has two members of her family pulling part-time duty as EMTs with the Bethel ambulance - Josh and Crystal. She recommends that the Citizen begin to report on the many calls that the ambulance crew responds to. Seems like there's at least one call-out every 24 hours for something, and most people don't realize how necessary and how often this service is used.