turtle power

Last week we had frost.  Today, it was 93 degrees.  In a few days, it will be back in the 30s overnight.  It can be challenging!  But the cats love the sun.

And I love the sun coming over the hill, which I can see every morning from our living room.  It's even more beautiful now that the leaves are coming in!

The rain...

...has brought out the flowers.

grackle in apple tree

prairie trillium

Japanese anemones

peonies, daylilies, euphorbia

hostas, columbine, lily of the valley

I make up small bouquets with the "nibs and bibbets" in the yard...whatever small flowers and greenery that I can find.  I take this conglomeration and break it into small bouquets that I put in various cat-friendly places around the house.

Claudia is by my side when I pick.

Turtles are moving in the front pond...

...and those April showers brought the flowers, which in turn brought the butterflies!!  So many!

both eastern tiger swallowtails

pipevine swallowtail

black eastern tiger swallowtail

Because of our weather and my sore shoulder, I am woefully behind in the garden.  I've tried to put in a couple hours a day, pulling weeds and prepping beds.  With some company...

chestnut slug

The back annual garden is an absolute disgrace.  None of last year's stalks have been pulled out of the ground, and it's not even close to ready for May's flowers.  I just have to work a bit at a time, when I can.

It's slow going, but I guess I don't mind if things are a little bit late this year.  It's nice to just be outside, watching the bluebirds dart in and out of the birdhouses that Todd just installed...

...and the maple leaves unfurling right in front of my eyes.

The trail cams are yielding more in warmer weather, too.  A happy couple!

I love watching the deer come up out of the woods in our back pond, too.

Although we're wilting from the heat in the moment, we're still loving this most active of seasons.  Hooray for spring!!

Trees all greening up behind the white barn!

Have a great week!

a mink stink

 Spring showers bring May flowers...and rainbows!

Spring ephemerals are popping...

Dutchman's Breeches

...and other things, too.

common fern

mayapple

garlic mustard

Our apple tree was juuuuust starting to blossom out...

...when we had an unexpected hard frost.

euphorbia

black-eyed susan leaves

violet

Frost will kill the blossoms, which means that we wouldn't have apples this year.  Thankfully, the buds had some crystallization, but survived.

It's the weird, in-between weather now.  Spring/summer clothes are unboxed...

Frances

...but I'm still bringing in seedlings on cold nights.  The cats are watching the weather, too.  Nearly time for open windows!

Claudia is firmly ensconced in "her" chairs, perfect for napping in the sun.

view from living room:  porch, pond, and Claudia!

I saw a mink in the front pond this week!

Ripples on the water...and then a cacophony of harsh cries from the red-winged blackbirds nesting in the cattails.  The mink was looking for eggs.  

It's also turtle season, but I haven't seen any snappers yet.  I'll keep looking!  We've had multiple sightings in the past.

Who knows what else the spring will bring?  Have a great week!

 

mandible mouthful

 Beautiful warm mornings for hiking!

I love seeing the woods wake up.

red maple

rusty blackhaw

spicebush

silver maple

anemone ran.

senecio aus.

Sometimes, when looking into the woods, the woods looked back! Someone did, anyway.

white-tailed deer

Things are stirring everywhere!

american bullfrog

There's definitely plenty of water for frogs to play in.  :)

At home, I'm picking the last of the early daffodils and the start of the late daffodils.

I love bringing them into the house!

When I was out picking daffodils, I noticed that carpenter bees were bypassing the flower throats and stabbing directly into the nectar pod behind the petals.

You can see how short their tongues are...

That makes it difficult for them to penetrate tube-throated flowers, like daffodils.  Instead, they use their cutting mandibles...so helpful when they're chewing wood fibers...to cut directly into the nectar pod.  The flowers are still getting pollinated by other visitors...

northern paper wasp

...and the bees get the nutrition they need.  So interesting!

In other news around the house, both sugar snap and sweet peas are thriving and ready to go into the ground this week!

I'm getting some nice growth in the outside mini greenhouses, too.  If our weather remains above freezing for the next two - three weeks, AND if the forecast is positive, then I will be able to put out the summer flower seeds by the third week of April!  Hooray!  I've got a lot of great plans for the garden this year, shoulder permitting.

Have a great week!