battle of the scale

 Ice!!

We had another dire forecast ("Eight inches of snow!  Sleet!  Ice!!") that turned out to be basically nothing...rain, a freeze, and then a fairly rapid melt.  But before the warm-up...magic!

Closer inspection of the frozen drips revealed a tiny drama within...intricate shapes that almost looked like flowers, caught in the ice during the rapid freeze.

It was so pretty that I almost hated for it to melt.  But, winter is passing.  Here's a reminder:  with an odd juxtaposition to the ice, our daffodils are starting to poke up, despite the crunchy top layer of soil.

While I would say that mid-May through June is the absolute peak garden time for beauty, I absolutely love early spring.  Despite the cold temperatures and frequent dustings of snow, these green tips pop up all over.  It's a reminder that I need to start clearing out the old growth on warm days.  It's nearly time to start sowing late-spring flower seeds, too!  I love having four seasons and right on time, just as I'm getting tired of the cold, we have red-wing blackbirds, spring peepers, and green tips everywhere, reminding me that the new season is just around the corner.

Some tiny drama inside, too!  I noticed odd barnacle-like lumps on one of my tropical plants.  I recognized it as a type of scale, which is a parasite that sucks moisture out of plants and can rapidly kill them if left alone.

I looked it up and indeed, it was barnacle scale!  Their little babies are pretty remarkable-looking, like gigantic cells run amok.

photo courtesy of Ben Faber, UCANR

These little creatures secrete layers of a waxy substance for protection.  The only way to get them off, really, is to scrape them off with a hydrogen peroxide-soaked paper towel. Then watch...they will come back!  It will take several scrapes to rid your plant completely.  

I spotted another little creature this week...a possum is continuing to come to our porch to clean up the leftover cat food!

I'm so glad to see these little guys around.  He's a big one...and soon he'll be filling his belly with ticks!

In other news, I finished my socks.  

Socks are a bit frustrating to me.  Some patterns have you casting on 80 stitches, and some as few as 60.  The standard seems to be 72 stitches with a size 2 needle, and sometimes that works.  For example, I knitted these socks with those specifications, and they fit like a glove.

Todd accidentally washed these and they felted/were ruined, but I am almost over it!  ;)

But when I knitted these recent socks with the exact same specifications, they initially wore well, but became loose after a few hours.  It's fine, because I can wear them around the house, but I do like a well-fitted sock.  

Otherwise, in my free time, I've been working on my painting...

hitting the mediocrity sweet spot! 

...and puzzles, if I have access.

Work has been incredibly busy, and it's about to get busier here, with a big seeding push and yard clean-up.  Spring comes quickly here.  I just have to scroll through same-month photos from earlier years to see that very soon, EVERYTHING will be sprouting!  I can't wait.

Have a good week!