life and death

This past week was our annual spring ephemerals hike...and it might've been our most successful one ever!  So many flowers...

spring beauty

star chickweed

celadine poppy

dwarf larkspur

Virginia bluebells

nodding trillium

jack in the pulpit

rue anemone

But my very favorite...at least on this hike...was the wild blue phlox.  

It grew en masse along the hiking trail...

...and everywhere else!

It was absolutely magical!  Of course, we saw a lot of interesting non-flowers too...a lot of beautiful green grown.  Spring chartreuse is my favorite!

solomon's seal

wild ginger

So many different types of ferns, too!

rattlesnake fern

maidenhair fern

broad beech fern

both are christmas ferns

It was perfect!  However, we had some nature-related sadness this week, too.  Eastern tent caterpillars were spotted along our daily walking path...

...and, at home, I kept seeing a white-tailed deer in our front barn yard.  I was surprised it was alone and that it didn't run away...

...until I saw its front hoof/ankle, swollen to many times its normal size.

A little searching told me that this was likely hoof rot, an infection that can happen when a cut becomes infiltrated by bacteria.  At this late phase, it's probably fatal.  I emailed our local DNR contact, who sent me a list of county resources, cautioning that it was likely that I would need to let nature take its course.  As I suspected, not one local organization handled deer.  

Two days ago, the deer spent most of the day lying in the shade...today, it's gone.  I hate to see any animal suffer...and yesterday, we caught a coyote on our trail cam...missing a back foot!

It's heartbreaking.  There's no way that this guy can probably survive, and we have no way of helping him...or the infected deer, for that matter.  We just have to, as the DNR contact suggested, let nature take its course.   

Try to focus on other things, like new life.

It's not easy, but I'm trying to just look forward.

Have a great week!

teeth and toothwort

The redbuds are just just passing their peak.  They're everywhere around here and give a nice pop of color!

Last week, Todd and I took a walk in our wooded property section.  Beyond the back fence, blackberry bushes spread quickly in early summer, blocking our access...but it's lovely in spring.

So much lovely spring growth!

dutchman's breeches

crane fly orchid

trillium

dwarf cinquefoil

mayapples

so many ferns!

ragwort roundleaf, unopened...

...and opened.

slender toothwort

I love it back there.  We have two limestone bed streams...

...and a new smaller one, red from the iron beneath it.

No wonder we see so many animals on our trail cam, which is at the mouth of this stream (by the main pond).  It's a pretty perfect animal habitat...plenty of shelter and a water source.  We found evidence of quite a few deer back here, judging from the skeletal remains!

It's so peaceful back here that we're talking about hacking out a trail and hanging a hammock on the ledge overlooking the stream this summer!

Meanwhile, I'm continuing to weed a little every day, making slight progress...

...and hanging with the cats to relax.  They could teach a master class in chillaxing!

We're all loving the new growth that we're seeing every day...cats included, I think!  Apple tree is leafing out...

Lilac buds are starting to open!

Every day, something new.  I love spring!

Bed in front of porch...totally empty when we moved in!

Have a great week!