80AcresOnline

The earliest native plum is a thicketing bush plum that’s spread in what we laughingly call  the orchard.   First bloom opened yesterday;  this morning I found these, with many more to come.

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We get snow so seldom (and enough to take pictures of, even more seldom) that I feel several posts of snow pictures are justified.

This is on the trail north from Fox Pavilion to the north fenceline.

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Early morning, 22F, snow has crunchy crust…the little Eleocharis there in the wet area are ice-coated but they don’t mind.   What a difference a day makes.  I took different trails than yesterday and have over a hundred images–here are some of my favorites.

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On a snowy morning, the horses frolic like kids out of school.

Snow started about 6:45,  just as we entered town after driving through sleet/rain from Leander, where we’d dropped M- off at the bus terminus.   It’s snowed off and on all day.  Beautiful clean country snow, melting underneath from the warmth of the ground, but still…lovely.  Took a long walk this afternoon, up to Fox Pavilion in the dry woods, down the north fenceline to the creek, and into the creek woods, then home along the south fenceline.

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Elbowbush, either Forestiera pubescens or F. angustifolia (we have both species), is the first of our woody plants to flower in spring, and yesterday the first of the elbowbushes on the north fenceline west of the dry woods was opening.

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The upstream part of the dry woods swale, with water seeping through the grass on both sides.   This area produces the best water quality, as most of the water has seeped through both rock and soil. Read the rest of this entry »

Elizabeth lost Internet access this morning. We don’t know why or what happened, but my guess is the problem is at her ISP or further up the line. No idea when it’ll get fixed, could be in 5 minutes, could be much later.

I hope that because I am posting this, the fates will restore her access immediately.

Ruta

At the end an hour slogging around a very wet, running-water-wet field as the sun gets low, you might wonder why you didn’t go back before now.  Then you look down and there it is…the first one this spring.  The sheer audacity of it–that determined stem, those leaves reaching for sunlight, and then that fragile, pale pink flower.

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