the white stuff

I wasn't supposed to be here to write this post!  I was supposed to be on the west coast for a week, but I had a mini medical crisis (related to yet another side effect from yet another perimenopause treatment medication that my doctor is having me try out) and had to stay home.  Todd went, and took Pepita.  I had to be content with an occasional pup shot from afar:

And a few shots of some of the mischief she'd gotten into:

She wasn't the killer, but did argue firmly and rather convincingly that this squirrel hand made a fantastic dog toy or, in a pinch, a good chew stick.

My mini medical crisis (which I will henceforth refer to as my "MMC") meant that not only was I not traveling out west, I wasn't going too far from the living room couch.  So no tromping around for caterpillars, no long hikes, no nature shots.  

I did make it out to the garden to pick another bunch of tomatoes.  These are in the process of being slow roasted, pulverized, and turned into tomato sauce.

A few shots from the past couple of weeks...Pepita had her last week in the sling!  At 6 months old (around October 1st), she'll be fine to walk for a whole 30 minutes every morning.

A few interesting things on the trail...a series in white!

This cotton fluff is actually phylloplecta tripunctata...tiny sucking insects that focus primarily on blackberries.  These nymphs are safer under the cover of this "cotton."

More beautiful caterpillars!

acronicta modica

I love leafminer lines, even if they do cause some damage to plants.

A similar look on our formerly white siding (for some reason, this section got really dirty and needs a good power washing):

lines made by a snail, not a leafminer!

Our 'little lime' hydrangea is almost done blooming...

...and I just cut down the last of the coneflowers, these beautiful white ones that look so pretty against the pink obedient plants.

White trails across the sky...

Not quite white...this is a yellow woolly bear caterpillar.  

A red-shouldered hawk flew over our white barn...they've been out hunting a lot lately!

Hot hot hot, but today - at last! - the fall rain came.  It's supposed to rain all week!

No changing leaves yet, not really.  Just dry.

But the cool weather is coming soon!

The cats have been taking good care of me...sort of.

assisting with ebay work

keeping a close watch from beneath my computer...no funny business!!

gathering strength for the nursing work ahead 

They're good company.  Hopefully my "MMC" will be resolved soon and I can get back to my regular life.

Have a great week!  

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!