grey day, and bombs away!

I love getting outside when there's a light, chilly rain.  If you're properly bundled up, it's easy to ignore the wet and just enjoy the brisk air.

We were almost completely alone at the nature preserve this weekend.  It was quiet except for the gentle pattering of rain and the chorus of tree frogs in the background. 

Since there weren't any other people around, we saw many more birds, including a snowy egret...

...and, of course, the omnipresent geese.

I was so excited to see that every single heron nest in the center of the preserve was occupied!

I had a macro lens, not my zoom, so I just couldn't get a close shot.  But at least you can see their silhouettes.

I love how rain brings out the fungus...

...and the flowers!  Since it's regularly dipping into the 70s now (75 by mid-week!), the bulbs are all coming up.

Hellebores are unfurling.

The camellia shrubs are either bud-laden...

...or drooping with blooms!

Perfect timing, because it's almost VALENTINE'S DAY!  💗  I don't really think of myself as a romantic person...I think I'm too analytical/logical for that.  I don't feel like I need a special day to appreciate my loved ones and look a bit askance at the commercialism of it.  But I do love holidays and any excuse to be festive.  Thanks to my handy dandy planner, I knew that February 12th was the day to pull out decorations.  I've already had my advent calendar up!  I've done one every year for a while, re-using the same background sheet but doing different "themes" with the days. This year is funny pictures from the past decade that combined to make a long, rambling Valentine's sentence.

Garlands MUST go up.  They were all waiting in my HOLIDAYS!!! box, so it only took about 15 minutes to festoon the rooms in which we spend the most time.

And camellias are pink/red, so every room is bursting with bouquets.

I normally bake treats to send out, but lack of time coupled with a desire to decrease my sugar consumption resulted in me cribbing an idea from Pinterest.  I ordered a case of Rolos, wrapped them in red paper, and printed out tags.  Tied together, they looked like dynamite...

You're the BOMB, Valentine!  And no leftover cookies to make us feel sick.  Hooray!  I sent out cards to people abstaining from junk food and "bombs" to those who make an exception for holidays.  I'm preparing to make a special two-person dessert tomorrow, which I'll post about next week. 

Otherwise, we've had a series of sleepy days here...

Looking forward to experiencing more chilly hikes and cozy, sleepy days - as much as we can before the heat and humidity set in.

Have a great week!