HAPPY NEW WEEK and HAPPY NEW MOON!The moon turns new on Sunday night/Monday morning in UK and US. I hope everyone has a safe, healthy week and finds some moments of joy.
Here in Indiana, everyone is walking the woods and the fields searching the ground for morel mushrooms! It's a highly anticipated rite of spring here, and the mushrooms are very tasty!
Morel Mushroom with SnailsGreat Smoky Mountains National ParkWarren Bielenberg/NPSPhoto labeled "Public domain" (copyright free)
LYNETTE - no hospital appointment for me, but thanks for the good wishes! Very quiet on here today! Quiet here at hme too - but lovely blue sky and sunshine. OH just cleaned the kitchen - last time for the old one, we hope! We shall soon start packing stuff away for work to begin installing the new kitchen. Apparently Mr Siskin did find a wife - the pair were feeding together yesterday. Been watching Goldfinch pair feeding and Sparrows gathering nesting materials this morning
Morning all: Daughter and dog departed for Arizona this morning amidst the usual last-minute packing panic (her's, not mine). You'd think she was heading off on a 6-month cross-country trip by wagon train what with all the preparation! She's anxious to get back to the chickens, goat, horses and the wide horizons in the valley. :-)
Heather: That is SO smart and I may follow your lead re the garden. Maybe you have a local website or way to get recommendations; another way may be to call local nurseries and ask if they can recommend someone. I think you'll have to let go (as I certainly would!) of how we want things done in order to just get them done, but not by us. It all gets a bit overwhelming and plants, weeds, etc. insist on keeping to their own schedules! :-)
Lindybird: Interesting that so much is still shut down in Wales, but maybe things will be better next time round. Cheesecake sounded yummy.
Annette, the 4 countries of the UK are still making their own decisions: Scotland are different as well, and as for N. Ireland, well, I've lost track! We were confused yesterday as we saw families sitting on tables outside a local f & chip shop at lunchtime, but now we think they must have brought their own picnics, to sit by the sea. Never mind, we will survive! I keep a full set for a picnic here, including flasks for if we want to travel far. By the way, I also brought with me 3 pairs of shoes, plus a pair of sandals . I keep shoes here including 2 pairs of wellies, 1 pair walking shoes, 1 pair of sandals & 2 pairs slippers!!
ANNETTE: Thank you so much for the link to the article about OR-93, the gray wolf who's traveled to the Central Coast and may arrive in your county!!! He's a beautiful creature. I wonder if the scientists/researchers are wrong, and he's following an untagged/uncollared/unknown wolf pack? That was a fascinating read, and I wish the fella the very best. I hope he beats the odds and finds a mate. May Mother Nature protect him from harm.
Indiana once had a healthy wolf population, but they were considered to have been extirpated in the 19th century. When I was young, though, there were still rumors of a lone wolf pack living in an abandoned coal mine in the county south of me. Periodically, hunters would report having seen one. It's difficult to know for sure, though. We have the Northeastern subspecies of coyote (Canis latrans thamnos) here in Indiana and throughout the Great Lakes. Their DNA is 30% wolf, so they can look very wolf-like, especially in winter.
Coincidentally, last week I had my charger hooked to my car battery. The extreme cold from the last blizzard had drained my battery more than I initially thought, so it was dark by the time I went out to unhook the charger. I looked over in the clearing in the woods and a coyote was sitting and watching me. I rarely see one, although I hear them often. It was a very special moment. I revere them. Thanks, Annette!