it's white all right!

These eighty degree days are really bringing out the blooms!  So many white flowers right now.

It amazes me that even after 5 years, I can find new flowers in the yard.  This is Mountain Snow Pieris, an evergreen which blooms briefly every spring.  Tiny white bells.

And from white flowers to white goats...

It's baby time (!!!!) at the goat farm, so Todd and I took a quick trip there this weekend.  We weren't disappointed. 

So nice!  And lots of other sweet faces there, too.

It's been a hive of activity back at the house, too.  We finally got around to making some much-needed sewer line repairs.

We're also re-staining our deck and doing some painting...phew!  I found some time to take the cats out for some much-needed fresh air.

I found this little garter snake in a corner of the garden.

They are harmless, but I didn't want the cats to startle him so he was carefully relocated.  Garter snakes are great additions to any garden!

Have a great week! 

puzzle powers and paperwhite flowers

'Tis the season!  I've been working nonstop on puzzles when not working almost non-stop at my regular job.  I've taken a break from working on my quilt and other crafty things and I'm flying through puzzles.  As a rule, I only do 1000 piece puzzles...

...although I finished a 300 piece puzzle in the time it took Todd to eat supper the other night!  I'm a total addict.  It's so relaxing.  I have done one other short and quick (and equally nerdy) project last weekend...made a quick felt ornament of our new guest!

Clotilde is now officially using her new kitty condo...

...and spends the rest of her time on the back deck, sleeping or waiting for food.

Or just peeking in!

She's so sweet!

We saw another adorable outdoor cat at the goat farm this weekend, curled up in a pile of leaves.

I love going to the goat farm.  I'm continually amazed at the beauty of these rooster feathers!

Of course, we saw lots of goats...

...including babies!

We've been hiking every weekend, so haven't made it out to the goat farm for a while.  Last weekend, or maybe the one before, we squeezed in a quick visit to a building demolition before our hike!  It was an old building on the Clemson campus.  Can I just say that those detonators are loud!?!

Around here, it's just been work, busy with the pre-Christmas rush and getting the yard in shape, now that the fire ants are deep underground.  I haven't done a ton of Christmas baking, but did make some chocolate peppermint biscotti.  These twice-baked cookies are really easy to make!

I'm pleased to report that staggered forcing of paperwhite bulbs is incredibly easy.  I keep the bulbs in the basement, in an open bag.  Every 2 weeks, I pull out a bulb and put the end in water to stimulate root growth.  I leave it in a dark corner for a few days and boom!  Roots!  Then I can put it in the window.

There are so many flowers, and so much green in general, here in South Carolina in the winter, it just doesn't feel as festive as I think it might in the Midwest.  I do enjoy them, though!

Have a great week!