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!

Genghis Khan's Garden

Indiana has sometimes been accused of having a rather unpredictable spring - that we can go from extreme cold temperatures to pretty warm ones, without the pleasant middle ground that makes spring so nice.  That may be the case sometimes, but not this year.  We've had a delightful long, cool spring, and looking ahead at highs in the high 60s next week, I see that it's not over yet!  This cool, wet weather is great for bringing out the wildflowers, like these Virginia Bluebells...

...and flowering trees, like redbuds.

The road to the farm is lined with them!

Work is slowly moving on at the house.  Just taking down the close, dark curtains that were in the living room opens it up and makes it look bigger and brighter.

After a week of work, the living room is painted, and so are the kitchen baseboards.  Meanwhile, I've been feeling like a kid in a candy store as I peruse and order wallpaper samples right and left.  Wallpaper, where have you been all my life? 

I've had to do a little yard work too.  I joked to Todd that we inherited Genghis Khan's garden, because it's chock-full of invaders.  Vinca, violets, but by far the worst is mint.  They all spread by underground runners and are near impossible to eradicate.  Mint, in particular, has long, deep, woody runners that mightily resist persistent tugs.

I dug up several large clumps...

...and planted them in a large wooden planter by the side of the house.  The planter will contain those nefarious roots, and I'll still get to use the mint.  Win win! 

Some good news in the front beds:  the massive bleeding heart in the center has re-seeded!  It's surrounded by 'babies' and I will dig them up in about a week and transplant them to other locations.  With the columbine and spring bulbs, it will look amazing in a couple of years!

I know there's a wealth of insect and animal life at the farm, but I just haven't had time to do much exploring.  I did see a really interesting moth on the back screen door.

No one is quite sure why the abdomen curls up, but some think that the curl is for mating purposes, or perhaps part of its camouflage.  I've seen several other interesting moths and hopefully I'll have time to get some photos later.

Lots of these around too!

I'm absolutely loving the front yard tree.  It looks totally different, depending on where you're standing.  So beautiful!

It's nice to make progress at the property, but it's REALLY nice to come home to a comfy couch and our sweet kittens. 

Have a great week!