Spring in the Blue Ridge

i absolutely love this time of year. Spring has definitely arrived in the Blue Ridge. A few weeks earlier than expected, but she is definitely here to stay.



i have a pair of bluebirds that appear to be house shopping. i have two empty bird houses. One is an actual bluebird house and the other a wren house. Last week we cleaned them out and removed a bunch of moss from the previous tenants. i've never actually seen bluebirds nest in the bluebird house, and i'm guessing the sparrows or chickadees usually claim it. Anyhow after getting the houses cleaned out, i began to notice the blue birds.
They have visited the last couple mornings. The male sticks his head inside the wren house, and calls for the female. She pokes her head inside and then begins to bicker with him. i can just her her telling him 'it's too small, the location isn't right...the door isn't facing the right direction'. He checks it out again, trying to convince her it's a great house. It is so fun to watch them, and listen to them bickering back and forth. They have come back daily, but have yet to begin building their nest, so i think they are still looking for the perfect house. :)

i've begun hiking again in the mornings. i like to go out each day and look for all the spring changes. There are so many amazing wildflowers that pop up overnight. i've also been on the look out for morel mushrooms. When the Mayapples and skunk cabbage appear the ground is warm enough for morels. This is a Rue Anemone. They appear all over the woods.

Coltsfoot is one of the first wildflowers to bloom in the spring.

Deadnettle is another early spring plant. It is considered an invasive weed, and comes up everywhere this time of year. It has small delicate pink/purple flowers.



It is always wonderful to see the butterflies return. i have only seen a few so far, mainly cabbage whites hovering over my brassicas. i did happen to spot this lovely swallowtail sunning herself at the edge of the woods.

Bloodroot has started blooming in our native flower garden.

My daughter has already begun the hunt for critters of all kinds. She adores the salamanders, toads, crickets and earthworms. Every day the week she has found a few of these guys.

These are red backed salamanders she has been finding them all around the play area and yard, under every rock and log. Soon we'll be seeing the red spotted newts and giant toad that lives under our deck.

i always enjoy my morning hike, and love seeing the new wildflowers that pop up overnight. My husband teases me for taking pictures of the same flowers year after year, but i can't help myself. You will see more posted each week as the woods begin to explode in colors.

An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day. ~Henry David Thoreau

Spring is in the Air. Rural Thursday.

About 2 weeks ago i posted about my broody hen. She had disappeared and then was later found hiding behind the hay in our shed sitting on about 10 eggs. i wasn't sure how long she had already been setting, so we let her keep her eggs and have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of new chicks. Hens typically set 21 days to incubate their eggs, sometimes a day or two longer.

Twenty-one days came and went, and she didn't get off the nest. So i went out to check her and see if she had any peeps hiding under her. Instead, i found close to 30 eggs!!!

i thought the hen was hidden behind the hay, but apparently a couple of my other ladies knew she was back there too and continued to lay. The dark brown eggs belong to her. The light brown belong to either Sunny or my black hen. The big white eggs are coming from our only white leghorn. i thought all of the birds had stopped laying over the winter, as we don't have a light in our coop this year. Doh!! Seeing all those wasted eggs is so frustrating. Our ladies just refuse to lay in the coop. i put X's on them so i can collect any fresh eggs, since they are laying here.

The chickens are not the only ones with spring fever. See the grin on Casper's face? He's smiling because my doe Delilah has come into heat. Although he is a wether (castrated male), it hasn't stopped him from noticing. :) Male goats will stick their face in the female's urine stream (gross!!), and get it on their upper lips and then they curl their lips back into a smile and inhale the aroma... lovely, eh? They have both been very vocal and active. It's fun watching them chase each other around, show affection and play together. Casper bites at Delilah's haunches and makes a weird nickering sound that reminds me of Chewbacca.



Despite Punxsutawny Phil's prediction of 6 more weeks of winter...it is feeling very spring like here. i've been organizing my seeds, drooling over my seed catalogs, planning my garden...and even starting a few seed trays. Part of me is ready for spring, and part of me is still waiting for winter to show up. It has been so mild this year, i still really want at least one good snow...a few snow days...something.


There is a privacy about it which no other season gives you.... In spring, summer and fall people sort of have an open season on each other; only in the winter, in the country, can you have longer, quiet stretches when you can savor belonging to yourself. ~Ruth Stout

i'm participating in the "Rural Thursday" blog hop so click on the rooster below and check out some of the other blogs in the hop!