Blue Sky, Bluebirds And Shrinking Snow

There was a magnificent view of blue sky and bright white gleaming snow out of the living room window this morning.  I was delighted to see a sunny day, but I could also see that it was frigid and frozen by the way the light gleamed off the icy crust on the snow. 

 We had just finished breakfast when I spotted a bluebird atop one of the bluebird houses.  He saw me when I went to the window for a closer look and flew to the Norwegian spruce behind the house.  I was not to be denied and got my chance to watch him with the binoculars from the bedroom window.   I got  a close look at him.  The feathers on his bright blue head and back, his red chest and his white tummy were all puffed up against the cold.  His color was brilliant in the bright sunlight and I was thrilled to see him.  In the afternoon, when the sun had a chance to warm things up, I ventured outside with the camera.  I found that I couldn't get a close look at much outside.  I could see that the snow had melted over the septic tank and a little of the stone wall that borders my kitchen garden .

I walked down the driveway being careful to stay on areas where the gravel was showing.  The buds on the oak tree that grows along the drive are closed up tight and will be for some time.  Oaks don't like to have their leaves frosted.

I saw more bluebirds on my walk which made me very happy.  I also saw a large woodpecker and several beautiful red cardinals.  However I had no chance to get a picture of them.  I had lots of chances to take pictures of melting snow.  I thought this one was interesting.  I have a great imagination so I think it might look like a bird, perhaps a chicken or a duck or a swan?

Fine February Day

Daytime temperatures rocketed into the twenties F today.  Overnight snowfall needed to be cleared from the driveway and we had committed to having the professional do that work based on the weather forecast.  As has been the case, we once again received less snow than the amount expected.  Sunlight strong enough to melt snow pulled me outside.  The ill effects of earlier time spent outside when the temperature was close to zero had kept me house bound for days.

All of the marks on the snow that had fallen on the walls were made by mother nature.  Frigid winds from the south sculpted depressions in the vertical edge of the fallen snow yesterday.  A fair amount of snow covered the path.  Nearly cloudless skies combined with light from a northward moving sun made it pleasant to be outside.

Today offered us the first glimpse of the gravel surface of the driveway in weeks.  My  habit has been to scrape the snow away after every snowfall.  When sunlight falls on the bits of exposed dark gravel, melting clears the lane despite below freezing air temperatures.  Recently, ever present insignificant over night snowfalls were driven on creating a white reflective slippery surface.  The plow pro finished his work with a coating of sand.  Dark sand trapped heat from the sun and the surface of our road is beginning to show.  Cold temperatures will return overnight and remain with us for the coming week.  The dark areas should grow if the sun shines despite the cold.

My lawn tractor was able to push back the ridges of plowed snow.  We worked across the drive with the plow set to push straight ahead.  That involves a lot of back and forth with frequent raising and lowering of the blade but a space is created to receive the next snowfall.

We have neither seen nor heard birds during the cold spell.  Today the crows flying about and their piercing caws actually seemed cheerful.  The red sumac seed clusters provide food for the smaller birds.  A chickadee is taking a meal in the photo but he is invisible.

Today gave us an all important glimpse of what is in store for us soon.  A few hours out in the fresh air and sunshine improved our moods greatly.  We were even able to endure the temporary disappearance of the blog. When you lose something you care about even for a short time, you find out how much it means to you.  Plants and Stones has become an important record of our time here at the Stone Wall Garden!

Bare Grass

Today the sun was bright but the wind from the North was cold.  Bright sunlight tricked me into venturing out lightly dressed.  Some considerable distance  had been walked before I was aware that appendages were starting to ache from the cold.  This view shows a hillside facing Southwest.  Wind blew much of the snow away then inclination allowed the sunlight to melt the remaining white cover. Standing here I was comfortably warm in this micro-climate.

My wilderness garden is located on flat land in the shadow of deciduous trees.  Filtered sunlight has made no impact on the snow cover here.  Two compost piles are partially cleared of snow but the garlic is still covered.  Compared with last year, this is a good thing.  Then early warmth drew the plants from the ground and bitter cold froze them brittle.  Last year's harvest was scant.  This year's enduring snow cover keeps me inactive while my garlic lies protected under a generous blanket of insulation. 

This is what a pond scraped in deep gravel looks like during Winter.  In milder seasons, when the springs are running, the pond remains full.  When frozen ground shuts the springs down, our pond drains.  This clear area received runoff during one of our recent warm days.  Hemlocks shade this area and at this time of year walking here is like stepping into a walk in freezer.  It was here that my fingers began to ache signaling my inadequate preparations for today's walk.  The only available option was to continue quickly.

Trees growing just above bedrock develop shallow roots.  Constantly wet thin soil promotes growth but the trees are frequently wind thrown.  When we first found this land I viewed the trees as permanent residents.  Sadly, that is not the case.  These two rocks have been buried for decades.  Why fake looking safety green is the color of the first growth on the stones seems to me to be a contradiction.  Dignified  dark green moss would be a better look.

Those few exposed dark arbutus leaves absorbed a great deal of warmth from the sunlight compared with their recent appearance here.  Two of our five plants lie fully exposed.  Becky saw Australia lying close to Africa.  We really need to stop reading fossil books that describe a time when the land masses were close together.  We see our arbutus Australia fitting neatly into Africa.  We really need to get outside to work in the warm soil.

Come Walk With Me

On this beautiful sunny 40 degree day, we absolutely had to  head outside with the camera for a walk around.  The snow has melted quite a bit and there are things to see.  We headed over to the area where the sun melts the snow off the south facing slope of the gravel bank hill.  It is easiest to walk there after the snow has flattened the prickers.   There are many patches of this interesting lichen growing there.  They are brittle hard when dry and easily broken if stepped on, but soft when wet.

Beautiful soft green mosses grow there too, revealed by the melting snow.  Finding bright green plant growth as winter is drawing toward its end is a special treat.

I was fascinated by the round marks in the snow.  I can only guess that they were made by water dripping from the trees overhead.

I always look for this creeping evergreen that Mom always called princess pine.  I was quite surprised to see the two orange and black milkweed bugs.  Apparently they were drawn out into the winter sunlight from their sheltered spot just like us.
 

We wandered around the garden for awhile. Ed was able to get a great closeup of the catkins on the hazelnut we planted there.   Without the steep south facing slope  a thin layer of snow still covers just about everything here.   There were many tracks in the snow, but there has been enough melting to make identification difficult.  I was only really sure about the turkeys.   The  retreating of the melted snow left the impression of very large bird feet.

We continued on and walked down the lane to the  other side of the gravel bank.  I never noticed the intertwined branches of  this tree before.  They wind around each other in a sort of embrace or perhaps it is  more of a slow motion strangulation in process with the two branches struggling for control.  Either way I love the way it looks.

Snow still clings north facing slope of the gravel bank.    The remains of a snowball that rolled down the hill sits at the bottom of its track in the snow.  It started small at the top and grew as it rolled down the hill.  It's not unlike the process used to build a snowman  except that gravity is doing the work.  This is the last of our pictures today.  There was one more I would have liked to add of our footprints side by side in the snow, but the battery on the camera begged to be charged so that picture  will wait for another day and another walk.