smoke on the water

Warmer weather means that we're slowly starting to hike again.  We recently tried out a new place that's only about 10 minutes from our house - Bean Blossom Bottoms.  As the name indicates, this is low, boggy ground...

...with a very nice elevated boardwalk over the water.  Rare orchids grow here, and wildlife proliferates.  It's still so early that there isn't much green growth, but spring peepers kept us company as we traversed the path.

There's the usual monochromatic cool weather sights...cattails and fungus...

...but I was delighted to see a pop of color, the very first sign of spring here...even if it is just a weed!

A tornado came through last year, and the damage remains in some parts.

It was more evident on a nearby road.

Back at home, temperatures in the upper 50s mean that windows are open.  I'm a fresh air fanatic, and it's not uncommon for me to leave windows open until the chill is too great, then close windows and immediately turn on the heat. The cats love the open windows, too. Tabitha is constantly scanning the front yard for activity.

Sometimes she gets lucky.  This little guy was out there last week!

I've spent the past couple of days working on the fence line.  Oddly, the current fence does not actually run along the property line, and it's basically falling down.  We're going to put up new fences, but before we do, we have to eradicate the old growth so that it can be mowed.  When we moved in last year, it was too late to deal with fence weeds - they were too firmly established.  But this year, I'm ready.  Here's the BEFORE - cockleburrs, old leaves, inch-thick dead weed trunks, and a few desultory blackberry vines:

It's slo-o-o-wly coming along.

We've got random piles of wood all around the back of the property, and Todd is burning them - and the brush I'm pulling up - so that everything can be mowed in a month or so.

We took a quick lunch break after several hours of work this week, only to notice a large amount of smoke coming from one of the piles...

We had a small, spreading fire back there.  Todd easily stopped it with the hose...

The excitement never ends around here!  :)  At least one drama is much anticipated every day...these skies over our property!  I never get tired of it.

Have a great week!