still fresh in feb

So here it is, the last day of February, and this is a whopping bowl full of freshly picked greens. Freshly as in literally five minutes ago. From my garden. Outside. In Pennsylvania. Did I mention that it's February? Quite obviously, I'm still tickled by my little salvaged-windows cold frame!

potato tower

Came across this nifty idea while trawling the pages of the time-sucking wormhole of inspirational prettiness DIY that is Pinterest. and yes, I was feeding my addiction of NEED MORE IDEAS while neglecting the completion of various other projects instigated by that very same site. DON'T JUDGE ME. but look, I conveniently wasted time so that YOU don't have to. apparently, this potato tower will enable you to plant several varieties of potatoes horizontally, with a potential yield of 25 pounds of pure potato in the fall. and not only is it far more aesthetically pleasing than the oft touted stacked tire method, harvesting in the fall is merely a matter of tipping the tower over, and leisurely gathering up all your produce. obviously, no digging is needed for planting or harvesting, which is definitely always a bonus in my book ( ironic, for the one with the degree in archaeology)... I've earmarked this for trial here in the spring, and conveniently enough I'll be able to use all those bits of woven wire netting I'm constantly saving. besides, all my tires have already been pressed into service under the gates as lamb barricades. Full, step by step directions can be found here.

silent watcher

'I spy with my little eye.....something something...up in the sky' etc... can you find the hidden image? no worries, it's in the next picture. grabbed these shots the other evening out walking in the snow, for some reason happened to look up at the right spot at just the right time. funny to think of all the creatures carefully watching as you happily traipse by, unaware. To be perfectly honest, just want to brag a little about the new camera, which I'm loving; you can see from the first picture just how far away I was standing, and that powerful zoom really does the trick, even in very low light without a tripod. (clicking on the picture will really show how clear the images are). now if I can just get better at having it on hand when things are really cracking...

ol' phil wasn't lying...

that six more weeks of winter? we got the snow to prove it, punctuated before and after by days with temperatures in the 40s. the weather the past few months has been all over the map, a kind of strange winter/spring mash-up that, for a life so attuned to the seasons, gives you the feeling of being continually a bit off balance. these impromptu february squalls serve as a biting reminder that winter still has plenty of cards to play before we're out of the woods...

Downy Woodpeckers, come on down...

cause dinner's on the table. well, on the tree. I've actually remembered to fill the bird feeders that hang on the tree just outside the kitchen window, which is happily where MY table sits (though it is sadly lacking dinner at this particular moment). Obviously the appearance of this jaunty little guy was a reward for my good deed, and I was lucky enough to grab a few shots; more importantly, I now have photographic evidence proving that, contrary to a much-voiced complaint, the cats' clear preference for this particular tree for lounging, grooming, and socializing has in no way discouraged the native bird population...

Sir Alisdair MacNibbles

a huntin' we will go...