Nature Walks.

Spring is my absolute favorite time of year. After what felt like the longest winter in history, i was so very ready for spring to finally arrive. i've been outside almost every day hiking, wandering the woods and digging in my garden!  Exploring the woods and looking for wildflowers is one of my favorite activities.

Bloodroot is one of the first to appear. We've also been seeing a lot of wood violets, anemones and star chickweed.

Trillium is another favorite. This deep crimson comes up everywhere. It is sometimes called Wake Robin or Stinking Benjamin. :)  i have transplanted trillium in white, pink and yellow onto our property in hopes of getting them to spread. 

Jack in the pulpit. This one is always fun to find! Such an unusual plant.

i also came across this interesting plant for the first time. It's called Largeflower Heartleaf and it's a type of wild ginger! The flowers are small and hidden near the ground so i've never really noticed them before. Now that i've identified it, i'm finding the plants every where!

So i admit, i like finding morels much more than i like eating them. They are tasty, but for me the fun is in the hunt!  Earlier this week the kids and i hiked all over the woods looking for morels, but didn't find any.  On our way back through the yard i spotted this lone morel about 5 feet from the garden. :)  

i can't wait to go out this weekend and hunt for more. We have a couple secret spots we like to check, and this is definitely the weekend to do it!

So it's been three months since our house fire, and i am just now starting to feel a bit like myself again. Getting out of this house, and be able to dig in the dirt and hike has really helped to lift our spirits. 

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.  ~John Muir