IT'S THE LITTLE THINGS

Feeling grateful today for the little things...small gifts from a generous Mother Nature.

Clematis blooming around the driftwood on the front steps.

For sparkling webs in my little woods, and for not walking face-first into this one.

Blue Jay feather.

Rogue pumpkins in the clearing.

A bumper crop of pine cones for fall decorating and a friend to help me gather them.

A tiny bee making good use of the few remaining lilies.

A handful of beach glass from last night's pedal to the river.

Butterflies on my butterfly bush.

This.

Hope your week is filled with blessings, and the time to notice them. XO.

THIS MORNING

One of the things I love about early morning walks through my little woods, are the danglers...the odd bits of leaf and forest-y whatnot that dance and spin in mid-air, tethered by the invisible thread of a spider's web.

Of course I always feel perfectly safe in the woods, because I have a bodyguard, who throws back his head and yowls if he loses sight of me.

Fitz, my bodyguard.

Have a great weekend blog friends. 40th high school reunion going on around here. Gotta go charge my camera batteries for that!
XO

LONG WEEKEND

A long holiday weekend and good weather, at the same time. What a treat! We caught up on gardening/barn chores and squeezed some fun in too.
Spent a little time web-watching in our woods, a delicate operation which involves bobbing and weaving my way along the path, so as to catch the webs with my camera and not my face. There's a time of morning, before the dew dries, when the sun is just so...it's magic.

I'm always amazed at the variety of toadstools I find. I credit Abby and the fine manure that we compost in our woods. 

If I were a woodland faerie, I'd want to live here.

Took our bikes up to Baltimore on Sunday to cruise around with our boy. Bike trails in the city. Who knew? Stopped at the Rawlings Conservatory & Botanic Gardens. Beautiful!

They have a stunning variety of orchids!

The thorns on this cactus looked metallic.

Love this idea! Now you know what to do with those shells you bring home from the beach...make a succulent mobile.

More fun on Monday. I visited Outstanding Dreams Farm to take pics of the newest arrival (cria). Bewitched, aka "Samantha" was born just last Wednesday, and oh my!! Take a look.

Thank you Phil and Vickie for the gorgeous piece of creamy wool felt and for sharing that new baby.
Happy Memorial Day. A special thank you to my Dad, for his service to our country. XO.

 

MOTHER NATURE BITES

I keep my camera with me almost all the time. When I am doing barn chores, and pushing the wheel barrow out to the compost piles, I like to take a little stroll through the woods and see what's new. Mother Nature rarely disappoints...

Love spiders, or hate them, you have to admire their handiwork.

But sometimes, she bites...came inside to download the pics, took a minute to check for ticks while the pics were downloading and ...yikes! Chiggers! If you've never been the victim of chiggers, trust me, they are the devil. I'm talking an itch that lasts for weeks! Jumped out of my clothes, threw them in the wash, and headed for the shower, where I loofah-ed off the top 3 layers of my epidermis! Back downstairs, I still found 3 on my ankles. I usually don't start worrying about chiggers until late summer, early fall, but everything is off kilter this year...due to the extremely mild winter and early spring.
I tried to stay on the path, but wanted good shots of that LP spider web, and frankly you guys are worth it.
Hope you have an amazing weekend, but please, if you are communing with Mother Nature, check for chiggers, and ticks!!