February morning in the garden

When it happens to you....it is magic

the faithful return of the daffodils

..the morning sun warming their green

This fellow greets me every time I walk in the garden

always smiling...rain or shine or snow

as does the real sun

faithful

I love moss...

have I told you that I love moss?

I always get a chuckle when I walk in the morning and see

who was there overnight ..walking in the garden

and I thought I didn't have any rabbits..huh!

ah..a spirit rock..that I missed

poor fella had to spend the winter in the cold

I have to admit that I will miss the bare branches of the white oak

Don't tell him..but he's getting a trimming this year

Do you stop and feel joy 

when you happen upon footprints in the snow?

man and rabbit.....as it is in life this day

we travel paths others have traveled

all the time

think of this when you step

who has been here before me

whose spirit passed this way?

Oh lordie, I just found this squirrel nest this morning

buggers!

tucked  way up high in the white pine

I'll be watching it for little ears

pachysandra...even winter yields to it

I heard chattering

oh someone, sitting on the neighbor's playhouse

right below the nest that I just discovered

hee hee

oh , glorious morning light

hello Lord

The garden
a place of communion this morning

Handsome!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yesterday I was speaking to my husband about miracles
could tests be wrong....could Handsome still be alive

praise be
at least one happened
It has been almost a year since I saw this fella
and he wasn't looking too well at the time
and low and behold
he appeared at my back door this afternoon

oh ye of little faith

It is sunny today, but very cold
Snow fell yesterday, a pretty big flake snow
blanketing the garden
That is such a cliche way of saying that
but it's just how it looked
a big white blanket covering everything

Today, with the bright glorious sunlight
 the trees have lost their covering of white
but they cast wonderful shadows onto the snow

 my wards are out..looking for food
just like the kitties do inside.....every morning

It is a joy to look out of the window and see them
flitting and scurrying around
and if you look closely in the photo of the garden bench
you will see a dove hiding out on it
blending in  :)

But the real joy came this morning
in the light
 I know God said that he was love
but I think he held back
for us to discover him in other ways

I think
God is light

joy

They worked hard on getting this nest to stick

The nest has survived thus far through the winter

and  I am certain that there is something going on up there

oh woe....more squirrels

It must be the peanuts I hand out

But on these long winter days, I am truly grateful

for their antics

they keep me looking

they make me laugh when I find very little reason to

in my own private world of winter

here's hoping for spring

and all the promise and hope

for beginnings

again

I'm going squirrely

The only things in the garden of interest are the squirrels
I counted nine running through the trees
across the fence and into the pines
oh dear
Which one is my Happy Jack?
I think there is a "mixer" going on in my garden.
It is cold today and oh so gloomy
When of when will the sun come out
when will I see the first hint of bloodroot,or
trillium?
I said I would embrace this winter season
but it hasn't even been a good winter!!
Bring it on, Spring!

 I remember the day I dragged this home from the garden center
it barely fit into my girlfriend's van (yes, we must have partners in crime)
We spent a few hours figuring out where it should go
finally deciding it should go under the Japanese maples
It was a good decision
I especailly see that now
as it lights up my heart with joy
bare branches setting it off
giving it a wabi sabi feel
as it rests there rusting away in such beautiful tones
and any beauty in the garden at this time of year is welcomed
even if there isn't a single bee buzzing around it

February love

What can I say?
Love is in the air?

:)

Looking for joy in the garden this morning
in My Open Bar of Joy


sometimes it is just composition
compliments of Mother Nature,
that I thrill in




needles,leaf and stone

hmmm...someone has been gnawing
ha! my own mulcher
Happy Jack..thanks

oh, and always on the hunt for hearts

  I hung these clangers over the feeder to discourage the squirrels

ha...they loved it

Now this beautiful babble I should have brought in

It is one of my favorite stopping things

something that when I pass it

I always stop to admire it

and think

It mixes well with the iron

oh wabi sabi in the garden

lookie here.....dafs!

be still my joyful heart...soon..color

I love dropped branches

and the river birch obliges

still lifes everyday

be-still life

This little fella ran across the deck this morning
unaware that just a few days earlier
he would have been a marked mouse

Truly, I am getting antsy for flowers and dirt
and bees and butterflies
and I can hardly wait for the first robin
and his song
and watching for the Baltimore orioles to drive-by me
along with a warbler or two
So today...I'll settle  for the mouse
and the wee furry joy he gives me
....joy

 There is something so wonderful in the ordinary.

...joy

the squirrels harassed him all day
the poor fellow hardly got a wink of sleep
I tried to warn them that he might just eat a squirrel or two'
but they wouldn't listen
This morning my owl is gone
What joy this feathered creature has brought me
just when I needed it
Happy trails Lewis Long ears

HE'S BACK!!!

At first I thought Harry Hawk was back
the stillness of the squirrels made me look around
and as my eyes scanned the branches of the trees
SMOKERS!
I realized that it might be...could be...
IT IS!
The long- eared owl is back!!!
in my white pine
Oh joy
joy 
joy


however....my good camera with the long zoom
well, I let the battery run out!!
so I had to use this old pocket camera
and I had to scatter around the house looking for it
Oh it's sometimes trying to be me
but 
joy!

Isn't this a great combination,
poppies and Dames Rocket?
This was taken in Ellison Bay , Wisc.
last June
I have never had any luck growing either for any length of time
within a year or two, they get pushed out or die
Maybe I need to plant these in larger quantities
but my garden is not that big...and I hate mass green areas with spent flowers
but of course there is the question of soil and light conditions
maybe I had them in the wrong place...no, I had them in the wrong place
or they would have thrived as they do here in Door County
AH...but the dreaming I'm doing lately is grand
what a way to spend a chilly winter day
.....and liatris....that never survived either
.......and......

Things I saw on my morning walk
through the sleeping garden

The oak hydrangeas

I'm thinking this year of cutting them back

I hope I do it at the right time

...must get out my garden books

and this low spot that always holds water

what shall I do with this?

just around the corner of the house, in the Hawthorne tree

was a purple finch singing his heart out

so beautiful and so joyful

So inspired was I, that I went inside and got out

my birdcall CD and played it 

much to the delight of my kitty Abigail

Why just yesterday I was reading in a garden book about leaf litter

....to leave it...for critters 

I have a resident toad that I am certain benefits by these leaves

I have always left them for the spring thrushes to scratch around 

in for bugs

and of course, Happy Jack was full aware of my every movement

that was keeping him from the feeders...ha ha

and here is Abigail, my feral kitty that I got inside years ago
with a big belly
She is still very shy and jumpy
but she is the most lovable kitty
and a talker...only thing is...she likes to talk at night
I made myself a cup of peppermint tea
she fell asleep to the song of the Baltimore oriole

He of  home laughed at me as I placed
the old tomatoes outside for my wards.
He said that they wouldn't eat them....
said they would be like potatoes...no potatoes ever get eaten...
about that he is correct
But I hated to just toss these soft tomatoes
and I wasn't feeling in the mood to cook
so I offered them to my critters
and wulllah....I was right again
Happy Jack was feasting away in the River Birch this morning
image finding a frozen tomato in January
like winning the lottery
Joy

and......I'm going to add more nesting

opportunities

boxes

ledges

houses

Oh, I am dreaming big

Must be my new issue of

Birds and Blooms

yes,dream big

more flowers to attract

insects

and hummingbirds

Ah, what a way to spend a cold,dreary winter afternoon
....dreaming big