A Red Raspberry Weekend

We have been up to our chins in raspberries since Saturday. As you may have read, the raspberries were ready for picking, and they won't wait on you! So, we spent all weekend finding and picking ripe red raspberries on Flint Ridge.

Saturday didn't go so well for the picking. We had done work around the house, and by the time we made it to the patch, the mosquitoes had woke up. They were snacking on us big time, and we decided to give Sunday morning a try instead.

Emerald Ash Borer Update

When we first wrote about the purple boxes hanging from the trees in our area, we promised to keep you updated. Remember that these boxes were an effort to identify the spread of the dangerous insect, the emerald ash borer.

An EAB identification has now been confirmed by the USDA in Blount County, TN.  Blount County will now be added to the quarantine list beside Knox and Loudon counties, both of which were added in August 2010.

The quarantine prohibits the movement of ash wood, ash nursery stock, ash timber, or any other material that may transport the EAB.

People can expect to see more purple traps in that area as the survey continues. The purple traps are an important part of finding out just how bad an infestation may be. EAB's have been known to kill ash trees within 3 years of infestation.

Do your part!

Don't transport firewood - even within the state.

Don't buy or move firewood from outside the state.

Watch for signs of infestations in your ash trees. You can find a symptomatic checklist here: http://www.tn.gov/agriculture/regulatory/eabchecklist.html If you see signs, please notify the TDA's Regulatory Services Division at 1-800-628-2631

The Evening Post

Tonight we're spending time on the deck in the cool night air while the exhaust fan we have set up in the largest window pulls most of the hot air from the day out of the house. Our a/c is shot for the moment, and today's high temps reached nearly 85 degrees. It was 82 in the house around 9:30 this evening; an unbearable temperature in my opinion. But as the temps begin to dip outside, our fan pulls the cool night air into the house making it comfortable for sleepy time.










We spend a lot of evenings on the deck, fighting off the creepy crawlies and avoiding stepping on the caterpillars that seem to have an on/off switch. At some point in the evening, they just stop where they are at, never moving, flinching, or seeming to care that you nearly spilled their guts with the heel of your shoe. Sometimes we even find them hanging in place, as if they were in a half-reach stage when someone flipped their switch.

It smells like honeysuckle this time of year. The backyard is in full bloom; although it's hard to see any of that in the darkness. I turned on the halogens to keep the bugs off us, and they lit the rhododendron up quite nicely. And the evening forest is full of chatter - raccoons, crickets, frogs, and the occasional cat fight. There's also the beating of wings and the slamming of velvety bodies - kamikaze moths literally dying for one small moment at that halogen heaven.

Tim is reading Clover a bit out of our Advance Reader copy of Following Atticus that we are so thankful to have received. I don't know what it is, but that book has already made me cry more times than Bridges of Madison County. We'll just blame it on the pregnancy hormones. It is so beautifully written, and so heartwarming. I can't wait to finish it and write a review for all of you in hopes that you'll want a copy when it's released in September.

Until next time, happy evenings!
Robin & Tim

Pictures Of The Week - Yep We're Late

Oopsie, we haven't posted anything in a couple of days. We've had a really busy weekend so we haven't had a chance to get anything posted. Until we get our Trail report up here are a few photos from our little road trip Saturday to pass the time and a couple from Sunday's Hike as a teaser.

Ashby promised that if we bought her this skillet,

she'd make us pancakes. Unfortunately, we think her

spatula is a bit to small for the job.

Ramsey Prong

@Ramsey Cascades Trailhead

Showy Orchids

 A caterpiller of some sort

A 'Skeeter Hawk?

What are those purple boxes for?

Parts of East Tennessee have new tree decorations. You may have noticed big, purple, triangular boxes hanging from random trees in your area. We've seen them along the highway near our house, and actually seen a truck with the bed full of them out putting them up.

photo courtesy of emeraldashborer.info

It's obvious they're up to catch something; another research project. This time, it's the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB), a nonnative beetle responsible for killing tens of millions of ash trees in the Eastern U.S. and Canada, that they're trying to trap in a critical research project aimed at surveying how many of these bugs are infesting our area and what their range is. Tennessee marks the southernmost point - for now - of the EAB migration.

It is thought that the beetle probably arrived in the U.S. via wood-packing material from Asia, and has likely been transported south via firewood. This is why it is SO IMPORTANT to buy your firewood locally!

The first local sighting occurred last year in an ash tree near the Knox-Loudon county line. And because the little bugger is so invasive, the USDA and the Tennessee Dept. of Agriculture (TDA) have teamed up to place 4,500 purple traps within a 50 mile radius of the first sighting.

So, why purple? Apparently the EAB is attracted to objects with a red/purple hue. The traps have a sticky glue-like substance on the outside meant to catch them if they come into contact. Don't worry, it's non-toxic to humans and pets.

Officials are asking that you do not disturb the boxes, and that you report any downed boxes to the EAB hotline at 866-322-4512. The traps are scheduled to be taken down in August. We'll try to keep you updated as we find out more information.