fence sense

 Warm days, cool mornings, and beautiful fog in the back field.

Todd took advantage of the nice weather by putting together a fence, made up of old farm gates.

We had 1500 feet of fencing put in, but one fence doesn't go all the way down to the water at one end.  Now it does...hooray!  

I've been working outside, too...slowly getting seedlings in the ground.  It's not my favorite gardening activity.  I don't like getting dirty and as I'm gritting my teeth and flicking off ticks, I'm trying to remind myself to be positive.  The sun is shining, there's a soft breeze, and think of the flowers that will grow here!  Amid these contemplations, I've noticed a song sparrow that comes every time I start to dig.  Singing while perched on the garden bench...

...or grubbing for worms, just a few feet away from where I'm working.

I'm reading on the porch swing in the late afternoon now...

...and sometimes the sparrow will perch on the deck rail and regard me curiously.  He's not the only creature I see every day.  We have so many turkey vultures!

They are remarkably efficient.  A full-size deer was hit by a car about a half mile from our house.  We passed it every day on the way to our walking location.  It didn't take long for the turkey vultures to find it...

...and the deer was nearly gone within four days!  Another cool thing that I've started to see on this short trip...bowl and doily spiderwebs.  The spiders themselves are tiny and rarely seen, but their webs are everywhere in the late spring.  You can see how they got their names...their small webs look like bowls suspended over gossamer doilies.  They are best visible in the early morning sun.  By afternoon, they fade into the shadows.  

Of course, I'm also seeing tons of new growth on our daily hikes!

The cats were momentarily interested when I started opening all the windows, but they are still devoted to their daily naps.

Frances

Barnabas, sleeping against the barrier meant to keep him separated from Calliope

Even Calliope has started coming downstairs to spend the day by an open window...

...although she's still pretty skittish.  

Enjoying the temperatures, enjoying the birds, and enjoying more flowers coming up in the garden...

geraniums

lily of the valley

false baptisia and euphorbia

part of front shade garden

...loving the spring!

Have a great week! 

a maple staple

 Let there be life!

I thought they were goners, but these anemones and ranunculus have really taken off.  I planted these in the ground yesterday and only one was rotten.  I love seeing the green...

...and in probably a month, I'll have this!

It's been pretty chilly, but we have a few bulbs blooming.  Hyacinth and daffodils make a great pair and bring a really cheerful spring feel to the mantle.  I've planted many different types of daffodils, so while the really tiny golden ones are dying now, other patches haven't even bloomed yet!

I love delicate scilla in the tiniest vases.

I'm even making small bouquets with the scant new growth outside...mint, dead nettle, daffodils, and vinca.  Nothing fancy, just something nice to see on the kitchen counter.

I re-hydrated one of my favorite geraniums and it's blooming on a low table in our dining room.  Geraniums are pretty easy to overwinter...just bring them inside, water them maybe once a month, but increase in the spring.  I've had this one for years.

Peonies are starting to pop outside, too!  It won't be long now until beautiful color everywhere!  

Other signs of spring:  these bags are appearing on maple trees all over town.  It's sap-collecting time!  To make syrup, all you have to do is boil down the sap...and the syrup is not just for pancakes. As a child, I fell in love with the description of using fresh-made maple syrup to make candy in Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little Girl in the Big Woods:

“They could eat all they wanted, for maple syrup never hurt anybody. There was plenty of syrup in the kettle, and plenty of snow outdoors. As soon as they ate one plateful, they filled their plates with snow again, and Grandma poured more syrup on it. When they had eaten the soft maple candy until they could eat no more of it, then they helped themselves from the long table loaded with pumpkin pies and dried berry pies and cookies and cakes.”

Who could resist?  Not me!  Todd and I purchased some of this homemade syrup at our local town's Maple Sugar Festival a couple of weeks ago.  Now all we need is a little bit of snow!  :)  

More spring things:  deer are everywhere, eating up those tender spring shoots.

Birds are building nests.  This nest on our front porch has been used by different birds for four consecutive years!

Rabbits are out and about, too.  This one hopped up the steps onto our front porch to nibble at the pumpkin leftovers from last fall! (not-great cell phone capture)

Speaking of rabbits, I decided to use them as the subject in my next embroidery project.  I traced Happy Rabbits by Yumiko Higuchi...

...used a light box to illuminate the pattern...and then traced it onto light green fabric.  I selected my colors and will be ready to start soon!  

More rain is expected this week...

...but I'll be out working in the garden when weather permits.  

Have a great week!  

makin' tracks

Todd has said that Indiana winters are grey and cold, with few evergreens to give relief from the relentless drab.  After living in South Carolina for 6 years, I have to admit that he's right...mostly.  But sometimes, you get one of those brilliantly sunny winter days, and everything is made right again.

Deeply blue skies...

...crisp white snow.

I took a walk to the back pond...

It was completely skimmed over with ice.  Lovely!

I'm always looking for wild animal tracks.  We had about 2 inches of snow, but I still couldn't tell who left these behind:

Of course, Claudia took advantage of my tracks to make traversing the path easier.

Borga came out to play...

...and left her own tracks.  What's interesting to me is that you can often identify snow tracks by the "tail swishes" left behind, especially with foxes.  Borga left a few of her own!

She frequently gets "droopy tail" because she's not a huge fan of the snow.

But she'll go wherever Daddy wants to go!

After our one brilliantly sunny day, we've had a series of grey days with intermittent sleet and snow.

Thankfully, we've got a bit of life inside that brightens things up.  I always plant paperwhites in January.  They're beautiful while they're growing...

...and once they bloom...sigh!

I repotted my ferns, and they're unfurling new, tiny fronds...

Begonias are blooming...

...and even this pot-less geranium that's been in my freezing garage revived after a 12-hour soak in warm water.  It's sprouting little leaves everywhere!

The cats, of course, are unimpressed with much of anything in the winter and are mainly focused on getting plenty of sleep.

Sounds good to me.  Have a great week!