Chilly Tuesday

Apparently chairs are much better than the nice doggy bed on the floor.

Or ...

the dogs have taken over and I am their servant. 

Hannah still has to be lifted onto the chair, she hasn't gotten the jump down quite yet.

They keep me safe and busy.

Charlie is the watchdog and Hannah runs to hide if she hears a loud or unfamiliar noise.

After the scrapper dudes left, we headed out for some exploring. [More about them another time.]

We explored a new area.

 

A sunny bluff that ran north and south.

On the eastern side of the bluff spring flowers were pushing up. 

Spring Beauties
[they should carpet the forests in
about two weeks]

Spring Beauties and
the sprouts of Dutchman's Breeches

Blood Root a very unique
spring flower.

On the west side, there were icicles dripping off from cold bluff. This side of the bluff rarely gets much sunshine as it faces a steep and heavily forested valley.

The cracks in the bluff had frigid air coming out of them.

If it is really hot while hiking this summer, I know where I can go to cool off. All I have to do is stand at this crack in the bluff and feel the cold air venting out.

Natural air conditioning!

Hannah loved the cold so much she had super zoomies.

The bluff has such unique shapes, forms, and colors.

Looking up.

Here is the view of the Kickapoo River retreating from its flood stage. I was standing on a bridge about 10 feet above the river. The bridge still had mud and debris on it.

The pussy willows along the trail that runs alongside the river were bright with their catkins.

On the hike back I saw a pair of swans and a pair of Sandhill Cranes in the wetlands. 

Both dogs slept on the way home.

It was a cold but good day.

I'm Liken Lichen...

My outings are few and far between at the moment. We are busy with scheduled visits from the Hospice folks, deliveries of medications, and crappy weather. [I'm still trying to figure out some sort of schedule]

I did get out for a bit with Charlie and we went hunting for some little things. I went to the creek to look for Lichen and mosses.

By the rock vents above this section of the creek, there were still icicles hanging from the rocks above Snakeskin Liverwort. That has to be the coolest of all names for a Liverwort.

Snakeskin Liverwort Lichen loves cool, damp, shady places. It loves growing by this rock vent of cold air. Even in the driest of summers, it is damp here.

I found an oak limb that had a colorful array of lichens on it.

I don't know all the names of the lichens on this limb, but I thought it made such a colorful patchwork of colors.

March is the perfect month to search for Lichen
if you are lucky, you can find one branch

with quite a variety on them.

Mosses on a log

Even with a record temperature of 79 F, we still had ice in the valley.  Charlie cooled his feet.

One of the drawbacks of a nice graveled driveway is...raking up the gravel to put it back on the driveway.

I take it a bit at a time especially since NOAA has given us a Winter Weather Advisory that could give us rain and then some snow or up to 8" of heavy wet snow. Trying to do it all at once is a miserable long job.

I could hire a yard sweeper to come out and do it, but that could cost the minimum of $200. Anyway, that was the rate last year when I considered it. With the economy looking a bit iffy, I'm not willing to spend the extra money just to make things easy right now. 

If we get significant snow again, we'll get another plow and more gravel will be piled in the yard so I will leave my piles for when the snows are all done.

While waiting and waiting hours for a delivery from FedEx, I decided to do some more creative photography. 

Other news updates---->

We have Robins, Redwing Blackbirds, and Blue birds in our yard! 

[This may be the first year that I haven't gone to KVR to look for water fowl and and other migrating birds. I may have to see if I can 'shoot' some nearer the house]

...and I am waiting for an opportunity to go look for the first Flower of Spring. The Skunk Cabbage.