dead nettle mettle

I love this time of year.  Every time we walk, we see new things popping out of the ground and new green on formerly empty vines and branches.

My favorite right now is the ferns.  They are so beautiful as they slowly unfurl.

We're seeing so much activity, too.  Squirrels...

...geese...

...turkey vultures...

...and raccoons are daily visitors.

Chogs are back!!

Oh, hello!

We have a nesting pair of herons in our back pond!

It's a lot of excitement.  ;)  We've even got some insect activity!  Spiders have been making webs everywhere.

I've been frantically working in the back garden to try to stay ahead of the weeds.  It was cold, and then we had a week of rain.  Finally, it dried out, but the weeds got a head start.  This is the front of our side bed...

...and this is the huge weed patch in the middle of it. My perennial bee balm is growing up amidst the sea of dead nettle, wild cress, poison ivy, and other monsters.

So...much...dead nettle.

I've put in hours and hours and barely made a dent.  There's a lot of guilt, too, because in early spring, bees rely on dead nettle for sustenance...and I'm yanking it up by the handful.

I've left plenty for them, and besides...our crabapple tree is blooming.

Dandelions and violets are up, including some especially pretty varieties...

My late-blooming daffodils are still holding on, and vinca is blooming everywhere...

In short, they have plenty to eat right now.  

Claudia continues to come outside, briefly, on nice days...

...but she's definitely ready to go back in the barn after a few hours...and she never wants to be outside at night.  She and Todd have always gotten along...

...but he never thought they'd be roommates one day!  :)  She's always by his side in his barn office now, begging for attention or sleeping on her special mat.  She's definitely enjoying retirement!  

And, as usual, our indoor cats are enjoying...whatever.

Still not allowed on the table...but taking advantage of my distraction while working on a business project.

Spring is a busy time, but hopefully I can get the garden in shape in time for the hot weather.  Have a great week!  

owl fest and a not-quite vest

Ack!  Time goes by so quickly in December, and it's even busier than usual because we're relocating some of our business merchandise to a new facility.  Hiking and other leisure activities have taken a back seat to work.  However, an exception had to be made for my birthday, and we made the 75-minute trek to Eagle Creek last week.  I haven't made any secret about my love of Eagle Creek - it's my absolute favorite place to hike.  Look, they still had some pumpkins out!

A wintry mix dampened our clothing but not our spirits as we made a 4-mile trek around the reservoir.

So many dramatic red berries.

So many birds, too.  I spotted another downy woodpecker in the underbrush.

We saw many birds on the water. and lots of nests in the trees.

I didn't have my binoculars, so I'm not sure what kind of nests these were.  It reminded me a bit of the heron nests we saw around water in South Carolina. 

Eagle Creek has lots of bird feeders clustered around the Ornithology Center, and I loved watching the birds there.

I had some company!

After the hike and a quick lunch (and a couple hours of work that couldn't be postponed), we had healthy chocolate brownies with honey-sweetened cream cheese frosting.

YUM.  It was a great day!

I've been feverishly knitting a bulky-weight cardigan in my spare moments this month.  It's the first time I've felt pretty confident about the fit, because I've been able to try it on as I go (here it is, knitted top down, halfway done).

Now the body and one arm is completed.  One arm to go...then a quick blocking, buttons, and it's going to be ready to wear!  This is the first time I've heavily modified a sweater too, with the help of Ravelry.  The yoke is shortened, the back is lengthened, and arms are added.  It's gone really well so far.  Although it looks like a kind of odd open vest in the picture above, I'm hopeful that it's going to be a great sweater pretty soon.  Tabitha is keeping a close eye on my yarn balls...in between naps, that is!

Have a great week! 

winter wonderland

It got cold!  Frosty windows, frozen ground.

Then, the unbelievable.  We had snow!  Just an inch, but...snow!!

Birds swarmed the feeders...

...and called from tree branches, seemingly impervious to the snow.

Our turkeys came out to play.

They left perfectly-formed arrow tracks in the snow.

Squirrels were out, digging up caches...

...and leaving their marks as well.

Some not-so-wild animals had fun, too!

The snow only lasted a day, but the cold persisted for a little while.  We saw beautiful ice at Lake Conestee this past weekend.

It really reflected the blue of the sky in places.

Air bubbles trapped under the ice!  A rare sight in South Carolina. 

The snow was melted by then, except in a few deep shady places, where heavy frost could also be seen.  I love it!

And, in keeping with the 'snow' theme, I made a simple chocolate loaf cake for a friend passing through town, covered only with a sprinkle of powdered sugar.

It's Smitten Kitchen's Everyday Chocolate Cake and so good...one bowl, no fuss, and lovely velvety texture and deep chocolate flavor.  Perfect for a chilly January day.

Have a great week!