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!  

ice, ice...maybe?

We're in the deepest part of an Indiana winter, but it hasn't been very...deep.  Last week's bit of snow, and this week, a one-day ice drizzle.  Todd and I cast mocking eyes on the frozen branches and reminisced about the powerful and much-superior ice storms of our childhoods, but we were careful to watch our steps as we traversed the path to the barn.

I have to admit, even wimpy and short ice storms leave beauty behind.

The birds were happy for the filled feeders!

I stayed in and organized my office/craft room area.  I'm pleased with how it has evolved since we bought this house.  The IKEA cubbies keep fabric and craft supplies organized...

...and other organizational odds and ends work for the other side.  The space is definitely maximized.

In my office, the built-in cabinet nicely stores my overabundance of puzzles...

...and I've got a nice computer space, when the cats allow.  Bosewichte sleeps on my desk...

...and Tabitha controls the area to the left from her ottoman perch.

It's undergone quite a transformation!  Old carpet ripped out, new flooring and paint, and a whole lot of additions.

I'm happy to be completely unpacked and relatively settled!

Have a great week!

twice as ice

After six years of living in the south, you've never seen anyone more ready for some real winter weather.  You can imagine how I felt when I heard the brittle tapping of ice on the roof last week. 

Alas, it was gone within a few hours, but it was great to crunch through a field and admire the view.

Call me crazy, but I have missed these scenes:

There's a Danish word called hygge that translates roughly into "winter cozy and contentment."  It's apparently become a big deal in the U.S. lately, but I can safely say that I've been hygge-ing for as long as I can remember.  Flannel pjs and sheets, homemade quilts and hand-knitted sweaters, hot water bottles, winter baking (bread!), cozy fires, candles, seasonal fabrics, knitting in my lap...the colder it is outside, the more delightful it is to be inside.  Living in a three-season climate made me feel so out of sorts, so I am loving everything about the cold so far, being back home again in Indiana. 

After the ice melt, Borga was ready to get back to business.

I was pleased to spot this female downy woodpecker.  The males have a red patch on their heads, so it's easy to tell the difference.   See how she's using her tail to brace against the tree for support? 

Speaking of birds, I found an old warbling vireo nest on the same hike.

Warbling vireos are one of the many small, dull-colored birds that you probably haven't seen but have heard a thousand times in the woods.  "Fresh as apples and as sweet as apple blossoms comes that dear, homely song from the willows," said William Dawson, early ornithologist, while birder Pete Dunne had a more colorful observation:  "[It] sounds like a happy drunk making a conversational point at a party."  That makes me smile!

I also saw a fairly large tree burl.

This deformation is caused when the tree experiences some sort of stress...fungus, insect incursion, etc.  It doesn't really hurt the tree...I think it's rather like a scab.  They can take decades to reach their full size, and some are incredibly enormous...in coastal redwoods, burls can grow up to 26 feet!  Burl wood is prized for its odd, twisty patterns and has been made into jewelry, furniture, and sculpture. 

I'm seeing a lot more dried seed heads.  I think they're so pretty.

I love how I see something new on every hike.  We're headed out again in a few hours, to get in some miles before a big Thanksgiving meal with friends.

Have a great day!