Nutty Weekend

This weekend is being sponsored by the most beautiful fall weather. The sun came out first thing this morning to melt the frost. The temps have warmed to a whopping 50F (10C) with sunshine this is marvelous.

My DB went out to check on the grill. It needs a screw to hold something in place and when I looked up he was standing at the back door with something in his hand. PEANUTS!

We were surprised by how many were at the roots of this plant. It didn't grow in full sun. 

Just look at em.  I am thinking about going all around the garden and digging up the nuts.

I will wait until the frost really knocks down the foliage in hopes that there will be enough for a snack. 

Do any of you know how to process the peanuts? Maybe I can find out on line. What did we ever do withouth the internet??

My DB has been inspired to do a little weeding while out. He has plenty of help too. Luna is very casual about the whole thing. She does keep an eye on everyone. Oly, the toy poodle, is always following his own agenda.

Vinny, the Rat Terrier/Jack Russel mix, is the ever ready dog. Always on alert to any creature that dare come into the garden. Woe be it to any squirrel that dare set foot into this garden while he is on patrol. 

Obviously we are dog-sitting this weekend. I am so pleased that they can be outside today. They will be ready for a nap this afternoon and will sleep good tonight with all this exercise.

I want to leave you with a picture of Ramona Clematis, one of the last blooms of the season. I hope your weekend is full of sunshine and lively companions. 

Snow, Luna and The Birds

This morning we had a heat wave for a few minutes before the cold front came in. So Luna and I decided it was time to get out into the neighborhood and test out the new fallen snow. I guess we had 4".

She loves to be the first dog on the block to break snow. There wasn't another critter track in the driveway before we went out.

 Several people have asked me if I can see her in the snow. It is difficult but you can see her. That is why I have to keep her teathered. Besides I am afraid that someone driving by wouldn't see her and there would be trouble.

 By the time we got home she had snowcicles on her whiskers.  She loves this kind of weather.

When we got back to the house I made a hot cup of tea and did a bit of bird watching. We had quite the influx of field birds. Brown headed Cowbirds and a few Starling joined the masses of House Sparrows at the feeders. They have a game they play. First you see them... 

Whoops... 

Now you don't. Ever vigilant for the Cooper's Hawk that patrols the garden. One can't blame them for being so skittish. 

The temperature dropped all afternoon. Quickly getting into the twenties and upper teens. This will be the high tomorrow what with the wind whipping through here. 

I am glad the snow is insulating the garden. I hope you are all warm and safe inside.

Blanket of Fog

The other day when we were at the park I took a few photos and showed you the little ice bergs that were in the river.  It was so cold then.  Today it was a balmy, comparatively speaking, 32F when we went for our walk.  The challenge today was the fog.

We didn't realize how foggy it was until we got out in the mist.  The fog was dripping off the trees.

My Dearly Beloved held the dogs while I ran back to the truck for my camera. You know I would find something I would need to photograph. The little dog here is Vinny.  He is staying with us while his family is in Florida looking for warmer weather.

The ice from the run off of the hills is melting fast.  I imagine that is one of the reasons why there is so much fog.

There is so much moss growing.  At least it is the only green thing in the forest right now.

I was admiring how the moss was emerging from under the frozen falls.

I have shown you a picture of the Wabash from this vantage point in the park several times over the seasons. The above photo is from this fall. Below is how it looked today.

I guess all of those icebergs makes for fog soup. There is more on the menu for tomorrow too. Be careful out there for any of you that have to contend with this.

Headed for Texas

We are gonna have a good time. It is vacation time for Greenbow inhabitants. We are headed for the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Lots of good birds down in that neck of the world. Of course I will be looking out for any and all interesting botanical subjects.

As I have written before I keepGarden journals of all sorts. I could do a whole post about travel journals too. I have kept several travel journals over the years too. Here I have the journal to keep track of our current trip. I have embellished it with a cover and some drawings. I hope to have all sorts of interesting tidbits to share with you on our return. It will be exciting to see what all has sprung in the garden as spring will be more to the fore when we return.

I am not sure how much I can read or post while away. I will see you as soon as possible though. Look out Texas here we come.We are lucky that our house sitter loves Luna about as much as we do. However Luna isn't sure she is so happy about all this packing that has gone on. It will be her job to protect the house and garden from the various pests that want to take over her little world. Including these voracious squirrels...

And the neighbor's cat that sits under the bird feeders talking about what it would like to have for breakfast. We all know what that might be.See you soon...

Garden Bloggers Muse Day - February 2009

Snow Angels

When the snow is pristine
I hear them calling
I begin to feel like a tween
I can’t help falling
It’s not that I’m so keen
I can’t stop laughing
My boots full of snow
The angels are calling
So down I go

For more Garden Blogger's Muse Day quotes, poems and other thoughts go Here. Carolyn Gail at Sweet Home Chicago started this some time ago. Lots of fun.

I must say Luna has never seen me lying in the snow. She was wondering what in the world is my Mom doing? She is lying there in the snow flailing around. (Pam this one is for you.)Heck, I can do that. It is easy.

I would really rather that she get up and run around with me even though it is difficult in this deep snow.Dad is over there contemplating the double dip hill where the children that sled here made a ramp at the end out of two trash barrels. Dad always likes a challenge. Hope you all enjoyed the weekend. We sure did.

Snow Again

Today we woke to even more snow than we got yesterday. This is what we got on top of yesterdays 5 inches of snow and one inch of ice.

This is the second go round of trying to get our driveway cleared in case we need to get out. We cleared it yesterday and then more snow and ice arrived. There is a State of Emergency called for in our city. You aren't supposed to get out unless you have a 4-wheel drive vehicle. We don't have 4-wheel drive so we will stay in for the day.

But yes I do get out and help shovel off the drive. As you can see we are only getting down to the ice. It will hopefully melt off with the sun coming out today. I wonder how long the sun will last.
Early this a.m. my DB shoveled out to the bird feeders and chunked away some of the ice so the birds could find some nourishment.

Yesterday Lincoln looked more like a bear.

Today he looks more like a Snowy Owl.Luna was sort of excited about the snow yesterday. With just one layer on the ground she could still get around farily easy.
Today my little Snow Princess looks disgusted with it all. She seems to be saying "Aww Dad do you have to take my picture again. Can we go in now?"
Even the knot garden is looking a little lumpy today. The globe is barely showing. Yes, we had some snow.

Through dogs eyes

These little beady eyes belong to Oly. Oly is vacationing here at Greenbow while his momma is away in New England for a week or so. Oly is a an almost 7pound toy poodle. He comes to Greenbow often as he and his momma babysit for Luna when we are away. So it is like a homecoming for him to come stay with us. This tiny little dog is such a sweetie. He enjoys wandering through the garden paths checking out new territory.

I was just thinking today of how the garden might look from his point of view. Everything would look so big. Like this Blue Angel Hosta that he is standing beside. One of those leaves looks almost as big as he is. I am sure a Sum and Substance leaf is larger than he.

Now Vinny on the other hand weighs a whole 20 pounds and stands a little taller than Oly. This little imp is rarely still. His Jack Russle/Rat Terrier breeding plus him being only a year old makes for a lively guest.
He is always on the look out for squirrels or any other creature that happens to wander into our garden. He can barely see above most flowers but that doesn't bother him. He plows right through path or no path.
Luna being a big dog doesn't seem to mind the flowers in the garden. She can usually see over them or she, not often but occasionally plows through them. Ususally she does the plowing through in pursuit of a rabbit.
I sort of know how they feel walking through the paths in our garden since during a tour of a garden with huge azaleas I felt like I was in a maze. It feels like another world. I too occasionally felt like plowing through a small break in the azaleas to see what might be on the other side.

Snail migration

I must say I haven't thought much about snails unless they are in my garden chewing on things. Today they made me pause for thought. I wonder if they migrate as turtles do?? We were walking at the park and found several snails crossing the road. As usual they appeared to be bustling, as much of a bustle as a snail can manage, right across the road. This is one creature I don't want in my garden or on my dinner plate. This creature has a face only a mother could love after rolling in something perfectly stinky. I wasn't paying any attention to her as I was trying to see a warbler in the trees above us and I felt a little tug on the leash. Nothing out of the ordinary but when I turned around to see why...ugh...too late. There she was trying to squiggle onto her back to get the full affect. Thankfully I came to my senses and got her away from the nasty smelling stuff. Luna was quite proud of herself. Just look at that big smile on her face.

After a good face washing she looked rather angelic lying there in the grass taking her afternoon nap.

Rain, rain and more rain

Tuesday morning after I went to work Dearly Beloved got on weather underground to see how much rain we had received. Well, it was 2inches so he decided to take pictures. The water it was collecting in the places. By the time I got home from work we had received more rain. I got out and took some late afternoon pictures. Wow you can see that it isn't exactly soaking in.

In this photo taken in the morning you can see the bottom of the gate and a little bit of grass in this area.

After I got home the bottom of the gate is nearly submerged and I can't or rather don't want to walk through the water to get the same angle that DB took earlier. Vinny doesn't seem to mind. After all he saw a squirrel out here just a few minutes before. He is always on guard.

This side of the garden earlier isn't just too bad. Over behind that tree, beyond the fence is a storm drain.

A little different angle but even Luna tries to take the high ground to walk in this area. The storm drain must be full it isn't working very fast.

All of the paths in the back garden are submerged. You can see that the flower gardens have been built up over the years with compost and mulch. Water water everywhere and we are to have rain all day wednesday too. Quack quack, I mean have a good day anyway.

P.S. sorry about the water spots on the camera lens. I should have taken an umbrella out with me. duh... I am not going back out there. Don't try to make me.