Miscellany

One evening during the "golden hour", it was so lovely outside (in other words, not windy) that I wandered around snapping photos. Here are some of the things that caught my eye.

A robin's egg that didn't make it to the nest:

A maple leaf that was full of gall mite nodules:

A closer look at some more of them (kinda creepy, huh?):

An old empty milkweed pod, contrasted against the new spring growth:

Wild phlox Update: A very observant reader discovered that these are not wild phlox but "Dame's Rocket" growing in the ditch (thanks, Jenny!). In my reading, I found that they're an invasive species that crowd out natural wildflowers and should be removed. Hmm... I think I'll leave them there... I enjoy them. ;)

Half a moon:

Rolling hills of new crops:

And I didn't have to walk more than 50 feet for any of them.

Boring?

I was informed the other night (very gently, mind you) that my blog has gotten somewhat boring lately. :) I readily agreed. I'm kind of bored with it, and I guess it shows. I sorta feel like it's become "same ol' same ol'" in some respects. I mean, how many times can you go through the same events, year after year, and keep them interesting?

Writing blog posts takes time... time I'd rather spend sewing. So do I give up blogging to have more time for other things? Maybe. But not yet. I still have to think about it.

Maybe it's just the time of year. This right now is about the most dreary time of year ever. The snow has all melted but it's left everything just a blah tan/brown. Not much new life out there yet.

BUT... it's coming! On the way back from shooting yesterday's squirrel, I noticed these pretty leaf buds on the maple trees. They're so tiny... yet so colorful! Just look and see what I mean:

I especially like this next one. Have you ever looked closely enough to notice all those teensy spears?

Against a blue sky, they look especially lovely.

Just so you know, my tulips are making good progress, too. The color's coming.

So who knows what will happen with the ol' blog. Maybe there'll be new life here, too, eventually. Or maybe not. Any input or suggestions for possible future posts would be appreciated. Or feel free to tell me to give it up 'cause it ain't worth the time to look at anymore. ;)

Sights of spring

These photos are getting outdated fast. I took them last Saturday, and things have grown and changed a lot since then. But here's what it was like 'then'.

Asparagus:

If any of you local friends would like some, give me a shout. I have more than I know what to do with!

Rhubarb:

Same deal on the rhubarb, although everybody around here probably has their own.

New maple leaves:

Field of dreams dandelions... weeds, but they make for pretty pics:

Same deal as on the asparagus. Heheh.

Hostas:

Come to think of it, if anybody wants hostas, same deal there! I've divided a few, but many more need it.

The branch

I took the camera outside with me this morning, hoping to find something photo-worthy to blog about, but things are pretty brown and dreary around here now, and I just couldn't make myself snap any pics. Then I remembered the sawed-off branch I wondered about in yesterday's post, so I checked it out. I took some pics to show you what the deal was. However, as I was looking at them on the computer, I didn't know if you'd be able to see very well, so I started playing, and here you have the results. You can also click on the pics to see them much bigger.

Conclusion: Yep, a sawed-off branch that just never got removed. If I could've jumped high enough, maybe I could've gotten it down, but I guess it'll just have to stay there for now.

Okay, enough tree branches. Didn't know you were gonna get a bonus, did you, Gwen? ;)  Now I'm just going to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving! I plan to take a few days off from blogging and be back here on Monday, unless something momentous happens that I MUST share with you, which is doubtful. You'll be busy stuffing your turkeys and your faces, anyway, and hopefully enjoying time with families and friends for the long weekend, so maybe we won't miss each other much. Enjoy! And don't forget to take note of all those things you have to be thankful for! (I, for one, am thankful for the 63° we're supposed to get today! Woohoo!!)

For Gwen

It was such a pretty morning yesterday (and is again today) that I just had to get these shots for you, Gwen, while the gettin' was good.

Tree bark, yes. But these trees have special significance. This first one is an ash that Courtney's daddy brought home from elementary school on Arbor Day one year. It was tiny... but look at it now!

Ah, yes... we've been here a lot of years! We must be gettin' old!! Gettin', mind you... not there yet!! :)

The rest of the photos are all from the same tree. It's a maple that we dug out of Grandpa's parents' yard and replanted here. It, too, was very tiny. But it sure isn't anymore!

As I was taking these pics, I found it kind of fascinating how many different directions the branches grew... some even curved!

Oops! What's that sawed off branch doing there? Is the other end attached or not? I'll have to try to remember to go and check it out sometime! I didn't notice that as I was snapping away.

The next pic was taken during the same photo shoot, just in the shade. Sure makes things look different, though, doesn't it?

(Click any photo to enlarge.)

There you have it, Gwen. Enough bark and branches for you?

Ya can't say I don't aim to please! ;-)

One maple tree [and two(+) cats]

It was so pretty outside on Friday, and I love the contrast of the new leaves against the blue sky, so of course I had to take some photos. Click to enlarge the collage and just enjoy the beauty of the different shots from just one tree.

I noticed that there had also been a little frost damage from a really cold night we had recently, but it was minimal.

On another note, I realize I haven't mentioned my outside cats for a while. Here are a couple of them as seen outside our back door last evening. Sorry for the poor quality of the photo... I had to take it through the kitchen screen so as to not disturb their cozy pose.

A few minutes later, they appeared like this. Enough was enough, I guess.

I'm SURE you who have followed my blog for any length of time are wondering if there are any new babies around yet this spring. (And some of you are thinking, "Oh, no... here we go again.") There ARE!! Mama had babies born Easter Sunday or so, Patches had hers last Friday, and Scamp (new first-time mom) had hers just last night.

Unfortunately, I have NO pictures of them to show you! Pretty sad, huh? I don't know where the first two litters are, and Scamp's are in a place that I simply cannot get the camera into. I did find them last night, though, as she was having them. One had "wandered away" from her, very warm yet and placenta still attached, and was crying loudly. I managed to get it back to Scamp where it was cared for with the others. A peek this morning when Scamp was out eating showed 4 or 5 babies, but they didn't like being abandoned when their mama went out for breakfast, and they were crying, so she grabbed a few bites and quickly returned to them. I was happy to see that she is going to be a good mother, since this is her first time around.

Patches and Mama are always around, so I figure their babies are nearby somewhere. Maybe Courtney and I will have to go hunting tomorrow! I will show you pics when I can get some!

Spring is bustin' out all over!

Or trying to, anyway. I thought the sun shining on our maple tree this morning was kinda cool, although I took the pics through a screen, so they leave a little to be desired. But ya get the idea. ;)

Note the tinge of green to the grass... and what didn't make the photo is the rhubarb that's coming up. (Just ignore the dirty white stuff in the background. It's melting pretty fast these days.)

And ya gotta love the blue sky!

(Pics look better enlarged... just click on 'em!)

That little blob there is what remains of the oriole nest from last summer. They sure know how to build 'em tough!

More signs of spring

The rhubarb is coming up. It even had little leaves already when I took these pictures on Wednesday!

The huge snowbank is almost gone from under the maple tree.

Even the maple's broken branches are doing their thing.

Our poor maple tree

While I was up on the snowdrifts in the treetops a couple weeks ago, I took some pictures of our poor broken maple tree. It's in pretty bad shape due to all the frost/ice we had. These are all the big breaks, not to mention all the smaller branches that are down on the ground.

Pretty sad, isn't it?