Late Winter Walks and Nature's Gifts -

 

Spring is still far off, but little teasers, perhaps more like tiny treasures, 

appear daily in the garden. The early morning sun brings a new light to

 the tall leafless trees behind the house, while the akebia vine clambers up

 the walls of the old potting shed, lively and bright with green leaves shooting

every which way like stars.

A walk in the park to breathe fresh air. 

Pleasant. Colorful. Serene. Placid.

There are no water fowl right now - although the Canada geese probably

 come and go having become a constant in the landscape. The turtles and

 fish were in deeper water away from the pond's edge. Dogs were being

 walked. Perfect catkins dangled, golden in late afternoon sun.

Bundled up in boots and cashmere 'woolies' as it was still chilly, I loved

 the day and seeing Nature busily at work.

Wishing you happy late Winter walks.

Making plans for a change -

 

This week has been really good - warmer, sunny days with still cold nights. We were able to get into garden and look around at all the pruning that will require attention come spring. There are a few daffodils budding and the bluebell leaves are poking through. Camellias are blooming again despite some flowers being damaged by the recent snow/ice. Yesterday afternoon it reached 60F so we took down and packed away the faux Christmas tree in the gazebo, it had few decorations remaining other than white lights. Will miss the twinkling fairy lights at night but still have the year round string of larger lights around the interior. 

Yesterday the City arrived at long last to vacuum up the mounds of fallen leaves, mostly oaks, from along the streets and here in our cul-de-sac, it looks so much better now.

The summertime Boston ferns still hang in their baskets on the front porch. Though dried and frazzled, their rusty bronze fronds in the sunlight look quite beautiful, and of course we hope the wrens, as always, use them for sleeping on these chilly nights. That's why we never take them down until the new green ones arrive in late spring!

 Carolina wren - Front porch

Do you have big plans for the weekend? Being St. Valentine's Day on Monday perhaps you are going to eat out.  Despite so many restaurants in our vicinity we really don't enjoy eating out when celebrations are in full swing. Too busy, often noisy, slower service, and of course often hard to get reservations. We're all for supporting local businesses, especially restaurants who have gone through two very rough years, so instead we are eating out tonight at a local Greek taverna. 

This will follow an afternoon at the movies to see Kenneth Branagh's new version of Dame Agatha Christie's 'Death on the Nile' opening today. This will be only our second movie theatre visit during the pandemic and we had to reserve seats. Watching something on a big screen - our TV is small - will be a treat, and having someone else cook my meal, serve it to me, and do the all clean up will be more than enough of a Valentine gift for me. . . . with perhaps a tiny bunch of pretty rosebuds tossed in later. Shhhhh!!!!!!

Movie review next week perhaps. Enjoy your weekend wherever you are and whatever you do.