Looking a Little More Closely

I'm making a new flower garden with native, and not, flowering plants.  Getting down to the ground gets you to notice the little things you've been overlooking, and creatures you may not have known existed.  They can be fascinating.

These are a wild growing lily of the valley.  They grow all over and have a pretty perfumy scent that smells almost sickeningly sweet up close.

A close up of the flower.

Star moss blooming.  These flowers at the top of the moss contain the male gametes for reproducing.

When digging I found this Red Velvet Mite.  They live in the soil.  This one is about as big as my pinky fingernail.    

A spider whose web was between two flowers. 

A close up of a bluet. 

That mystery tulip 

I Forgot to Post in March

I must have been busy, so here are some pics from March:

What, Pray Tell, Makes Cocoons Out of Mouse Hair?

So, I was out walking around with my camera, looking at what's been springing up and planning to photograph a bird's nest that incorporated and icee wrapper.  I pulled up a board that's been lying there in the yard for ever.  Underneath was an old mouse nest with chewed out hickory nuts.  Looking more closely, I saw a couple of weird egg shaped objects.  They were cocoons covered in what looked like hair.  Short brown mouse hair.

I thought the cocoon was empty but when I held it up to the light, I saw some body inside.  I could tell it wasn't alive. It was light as a feather and the body was translucent, just a shell.  I wondered, do mice make little cocoons to keep their newborns warm?  I think I would have come across such a thing by now, whether from Beatrix Potter, or time spent at my grandfather's cabin in Vermont, or from my husband who has been driven to near insanity with the mice in our attic and walls.

It turned out to be the shell of an insect inside this cocoon.  I'm guessing the larva of some kind of wasp?  Resourceful of them, covering their cocoons in mouse fur to keep warm while they pupate.  Cozy.

Spring is Springing Up So Nicely

A family of fiddleheads

Finally, the green stuff started popping up

Ahhhhhhh greeeeen

Pretty little wood anemone

Apple tree

A fancy tulip I planted in the fall.  I forget what it will look like.

What's this?

Skunk cabbage.  My son used to like to pick bucketfuls of it.

It's Wonder Woman's invisible jet!  You can just make it out if you use your special vision.

These weedy flowers are growing all over the flower garden.  Some kind of sandwort, maybe.

This is Ringo.  If it weren't for the rings on his tail, he might have been called John or George, or Mr. Whiskers.

The bluets will cover the entire yard, along with dandelions.

Snowflake

Here's another flake to admire...

Taken 2/4/13 in Bozrah, CT

Snowed In

Between yesterday morning and earlier this afternoon, we had a snowfall of about 28 inches.  It's windy, so there's a lot of drifting and it's hard to tell exactly how much.  Some spots measure a couple inches more.

I guess I won't post another snowflake photo on facebook.  People have stopped appreciating them and I'm starting to get some frosty commments.  I guess I've had it with snow myself, but I can still appreciate the flakes.

Just how many billions of these tiny crystals does it take to blanket my five hundred foot driveway with twenty eight inches of snow anyway?

As I type, a family member is attempting to plow us out.  My husband is out there helping him shovel by hand around the truck because it's that hard to get through without a utility sized plow.  

See my driveway?  Me neither.

Well, it's not like it's the worst snowstorm ever.  It's just not as fun when you're a grownup.  A couple of years ago, lots of consecutive snowfalls made for fun sliding off of the roof.  When the work is done, maybe the kids will get to do that again.

Here's to appreciating the flakes:

The car window turned out to be a good spot for spotting the flakes.  See that twelve tentacled one?  I tried until my hands were frozen to capture one on my coat sleeve.  They were kind of rare in this snow fall, and whenever I spotted one it would melt or blow away.

Warmer weather wishes and budding spring dreams!

Flaky Morning

Lots of beautiful snowflakes fell this morning while I was at work. I watched them fall and hoped I would have the chance to photograph them when I got home.  I did have a break before I had to run errands, and here's what I caught with my camera.

Look at those tiny ones...

The shapes of snowflakes depends on the temperature and moisture content of the clouds.  There were a variety of shapes falling today.  Moisture content and temperature in the clouds can change constantly.

 Snowflakes on a chicken

Snowflakes in my hair 

And on the driveway