Monica Knits

This week we have had both record snowfall and record cold temperatures. For most of the week we saw neither birds nor deer, but today a couple of deer stopped to browse on the tops of yews in our garden. I noticed this one as I was doing dishes and looking out the kitchen window. The deer was less than 3 feet from me and she brought friends and family.

Click on the thumbnail to read more about the visit and view a larger image.

The afternoon sun, shining on this gold flame spirea, highlighted the red and gold leaf colors. It is the spring equivalent of the burning bush, and lifts my spirits with its vibrant colors.

It has been an unual spring. In less than a week, no fewer than 10 different flowers and 4 trees have blossomed in our garden. Flowers that normally bloom later, are vying for attention with the early spring blossoms. Only the tulips haven't yet bloomed. The bleeding hearts are already blooming. I almost took the tomato cages off the young saplings, but I'm glad I didn't. Read more ...

If you are wondering how I figured out that the industrious builder in our neighbour's pond was a muskrat and not a beaver, it is because this cute fellow came by our yard a couple of day's later. As you can see we got a good look at each other and I was able to see that the tail did not resemble a beaver's. Our snow melt pond had disappeared after a week of sunshine and warm weather, so there was nothing of interest for this fellow and he moved on later the same day. There are a few marshes around us, so if he continued his travels there were some good home sites available a few hundred yards away.

As I admired the rich blue sky, I noticed these ornaments hanging 40' or more above the ground in our neighbor's yard. I hadn't noticed these before because there are tall evergreens in front of them, plus you need binoculars to tell what the round shapes are. I'm not sure what kind of nuts these are, but they are beautiful.