I was so pleased when the first of the bulbs started to bloom. They are pink not the apricot that the photo on the package suggested. I don't mind because they smell good and look beautiful.
Look beautiful that is until... Like Tim Conway on Laugh In... it started to tip over.
Timber! Obviously the shape of this vase is not such to keep the heavy head upright. It still smells good. What is a person to do?? I will just have to prop it onto the window I guess.
Are your bulbs blooming? Do you have such trouble?
We had such a good time this weekend. We birded every day and we weren't disappointed. The photo below show just a few of the Snow Geese that were coming into the lake where we bird. It is an amazing sight and sound.
If you look right in the center of this photo you can see the Barred Owl that flew across the road in front of us and landed in a tree. We stopped and watched it for a few minutes. All the while it watched us. When we tried to get closer it flew back across the road where it came from.
I must stay that the most fun was watching this skunk foraging at the side of the road. The road we were on was down a grade from where the skunk was foraging so we were almost eye level with it. It trundled along so I drove ahead of it and stopped the truck so Gary could get a good picture of it.
All went well until it heard the clicking of the camera. Huh? What was that??
It turned face on, lifted that tail and stomped its paws into the ground. Fare warning to any human crazy enough to cross that line. Needless to say it didn't have to go any further. We sat quietly.
It turned and strolled away from us.
Did you notice that this skunk didn't have a stripe down the middle of its back? Most skunks around here do. They are Striped Skunks after all. It looked quite interesting with a white top knot and a white tip to its tail. Did you have an interesting encounter this weekend?
Today is January 15th and we all know that the 15th of each month is Garden Bloggers Bloom Day as brought to us by Carol at May Dreams Garden.
Sitting in my kitchen window I have a trio of Hyacinths that are sitting on regular little vases and a small jar. I can't tell you what color they will be because my neighbor gave them to me. She thinks they will be an apricot color. We will see.
I am most happy to report that there are buds on one of them. That counts doesn't Carol?? For us that live in the Zone 6 or colder I think that buds should count for today.
Another bud going here only outside is on a pachysandra. I checked the Hellebores but they haven't been fooled by the meltdown occuring today. They haven't set any buds as yet. Just as well. This way I hope to have something to show you next month.
Do you have any blooms in your garden today? If you do won't you post them for all to see? For more blooms around the world go to May Dreams Garden.
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.
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.
It is that time of year my fellow Gardeners. It is time you seek out that special journal to keep this years musings, plantings and dreams recorded. I have my trusty 5.5x8.5inch Cachet sketch book settled in it's leather cover. The front page is sketched and I am ready for the new gardening year to begin.
While it is too early to actually get out there and do much until it thaws I like to take this time and do a little dreaming.
I was passing through the Rural King while purchasing some bird seed for the feeders and came across this magazine about Chickens. I know those of you who read my blog regularly know my dream of having chickens. Just a few layers would be delightful to me. You probably know by now I can't have them due to city ordinances. I just have to bide my time this winter reading about the darling little feathery egg factories.
My poor Dearly Beloved gets mighty nervous when I start sketching ideas in my garden journal. He is worried that "something" might happen. I try to explain to him it is just "that" time of year. Things are slowing down. I have time to think, to dream. I tell him it is like these men who purchase Street Rod magazine and drool over the pages. They don't have the wherewithall to have such a gem but hey, it doesn't cost much to dream.
Do you have any dreams crowing at you this winter regarding your garden?