Prints in the snow

Having continuous snow on the ground allows for the opportunity to take a closer look at all the activity going on around the gardens. This is a time when wild life is unable to easily find the food they need to make it through the winter. Birds especially need help with food when the ground is covered by snow. And now the snow is about two feet deep and covering most of the plant stems of seeds that I left at the end of the season for the birds to eat from throughout the winter.

As the snows come in it becomes necessary to supplement the food that the birds normally have access to. We keep our feeders full and once the snow has taken over we create areas where we can leave seed out for them to get more readily. We use the grill, once it is cleared of snow, as a buffet for all types of bird food, as well as our sun room steps which are protected from the snow. On sunny days I also spread seed our on the section of driveway not reachable by our dog. I spotted a robin sitting in my Autumn Olive buy the driveway accompanied by two Mourning Doves on Thursday. It was a sunny day and they were just huddling in the sunshine trying to get warm.

These are the marks made by birds finding the bird seed we threw out for them on the snow.





It can be quite fun to look for animal tracks in the snow. I actually remembered to take my camera out on a few treks to capture photos of some tracks. These were tracks made by one of our cats heading into the woods from the house. These were easy to identify, but only because the tracks were right out from the house.




As I got away from the house I found others that required closer photos. Those will be the subject of future posts.




These tracks seemed to be those of a squirrel or maybe a rabbit. They will take further investigation, which was very easy to do this year with the snow here to stay for awhile!




Somewhere I have pictures of different tracks for easy identification. Need to locate them!!

Dogwood damaged by snow

We have two Dogwoods out in front of our house. The Red Dogwood, pictured below, was planted in 1987 when it was just 18 inches tall. I ordered it from Wayside Gardens, whom I have found to be a very reputable supplier of all things gardens! I had a photo of this in full bloom in my profile for a long time. It is a spectacular specimen.
It has numerous trunks leading up into numerous branches which create a wonderful canopy over this area.




The other is a white Dogwood, planted when we purchased the house in 1996. it was 12 feet when planted. This tree never was able to keep pace with the red, but it did get nice and full. Then one winter we got hit with a very heavy snow storm. At the time I was not physically able to get outside due to bad health. So I had to watch from the window as the two main trunks got toppled over by snow and then both snapped under the excessive weight.




We considered replacing the tree as it was so badly damaged. But I am not one to give up too easily.




I gave it a hard pruning and trimmed the large remaining branches so that they were about the same length and also cut back all the small growth.





We had two years of a very sparse tree, but this past year it looked quite respectable.



How interesting! When I went to look for a photo of this tree I found I had none. Then I realized that I had very few photos of any trees. My focus was on plants and other things this past season. i will need to get photos of my trees next year. I have so many that I guess i was taking them for granted!! Need to correct that in the future.

Heavy snow on pine trees

Here is a small branch which has fallen during the winter weather. We have lots of damage in the gardens during the winter.


We were very fortunate to only lose one small branch from my large Rhododendron out front.


When we have heavy snow fall, it can wreak havoc in the gardens. With prolonged snowfall, the snow accumulates on trees and bushes. With enough snow they can become weighed down very easily. Here you can see two pine trees that have fallen over under the weight of the snow. In this storm we had about ten inches of wet snow. The wet snow tends to stick to the trees and if the sun does not come out right away to melt it, it can kill a tree by the extra weight causing branches or the trunk to snap off.



This tree is just about on the ground under the weight of the snow.




I am trying to be vigilant this winter to help minimize the damage done in the gardens. Right after this particular storm I got right outside to help these trees. I use a broom and shake the snow off the branches by gently tapping them with the end of the broom. You just need to remember a couple of things in this process. If you work from the bottom branches up you end up having to do the lower ones twice, as the snow from the upper branches wants to stay on the lower ones. So start from the top.

If you are working on a tree with branches over your head, remember to not stand right under the branches. If you do, you will get buried under the snow you shake off!!!

Don't wait too long to get the snow off. If the snow stays on long enough the weight will break the branch and could destroy the entire tree. as with these trees, if you get the snow off right away they have a great chance of springing right back to their original stance.

You can see from this photo that both of these trees got right back to their upright stance within just a few days.


Most of the branches of this other tree are struggling to keep from being snapped to the ground.



And this is the after photo.


In my next post I will document what can happen if you do not get to the tree soon enough.

Holiday Treats

When I finally got the holiday spirit in my bones I got busy baking goodies to share. Mia had a lot of fun working with me on several of these items. Here are three kinds of fudge, a coconut macaroon cake, Italian fruit cake, and Autumn Olive fruit rolls.



For the first time I tried white chocolate fudge, plain and with cherries. Next time I need to use dried, not frozen cherries! It was delicious, but made the fudge a little soft!!




These are the Autumn Olive fruit rolls which we made in the fall. I kept them fresh in an air tight container. I still have frozen berries ready to be made into more fruit rolls when needed. I am so glad that we took the time to pick so many berries. Mia and the grandkids really enjoy it. And it is so healthy for you. I use frozen Autumn Olive puree every morning in my oatmeal and in Mia's smoothie.



This fruit cake is from an old Italian recipe I got from a past employer. It is light and full of ust the fruit you want to use. I use raisins, nuts and lots of cherries and whatever dried fruit I have on hand (apricots, plums, apple) Then I soak it in brandy. I used to make it every year over Thanksgiving weekend and soak it for a month before Christmas. Then it is really, really tasty. This year it got a week's worth of soak, but I have held some out to age it a bit. Problem is, hubby keeps snacking on it!! Not too much left. Will have to make two next year.




This coconut Macaroon cake was from a McCall's recipe about 40 years ago. I love almonds and coconut. This makes into a great rich pound cake. I froze half of it to be able to enjoy throughout the year, or as long as it lasts. Hubby does not know where I put it, so he has not been hunting for it!



This is one of the goodie trays we brought for holiday gifts.




We used to host Christmas eve for my family. I have 7 siblings so we would usually have 20+ here and once we did it as a sleepover! Our meal always started with Antipasto, Onorato style.




My Dad's family used to just consider the toppings as their antipasto, while hubby's always put theirs on a big bed of lettuce. It was quite a hit with our friends for their Christmas Eve luncheon and gift swap.





I always used to make a great sweet pastry candy cane coffee cake for Christmas morning. Hadn't done it since i hurt my hands, but decided to do it this year as a special treat for hubby. Only problem, I couldn't find the recipe. I knew it was in a holiday file, but was unable to locate it. So I downloaded sweet dough recipe from google and tried my best to come up with it. Ran too short on time, too much needing to get done. It tasted fine, but didn't look anything like what it had been in the past!!! But, that has been what aging is all about. Accepting what is and enjoying it!!

Snowy tree

These are the photos that go along with my post from New Years Day! This was a very cold day, so I took photos from inside, not wanting to brave the frigid weather.




It was a light, sticky snow that hung on for a bit for my enjoyment!!



I was drawn to the effect of the snow on this tree. There is Boston Ivy growing up the tree and it caught the snow as if each leaf was an individual cup, creating the look of cotton balls growing up the tree trunk!!



You can just make out the hanging branch, totally perpendicular, seemingly just waiting to plunge to the ground. Oddly, while this photo was taken January 1st, this branch is still hanging in the same way this morning, while the snow has all melted off the tree!!! But not, however from the ground!! Looks to be a snowy winter for us!

So much snow already this winter. All the better to comfort my plants through this long winter!!

To our blended families, ... again

This is the area off the front turn off. We used to have the dog pen set up here. Got it nice and level and cleared out.



This is the new shed, ready for our two families to blend our homes together. Please share in our prayers that the house sale will go through smoothly this month!! Thanking you all in advance.

An alternative to lawn

This is a photo from the fall when we starting working on a new patio area in the back yard. JD made use of his time off to get scrap granite for us and started building this patio. For now we just put it on top of the lawn on the area where we want to clear out the grass. We will decide how to proceed in the spring. It is a pretty flat area, so it was a simple process. JD had Ryan's help in deciding on the design.




I just love the patchwork effect it has, most especially when it is wet. Then the patterns show through. When you use granite, you have to put it on the wrong side, as the finished side would be too slippery to walk on!! But when it rains, the colors who through beautifully!!



I am very happy with the decision to reduce our lawn. It will save on water, gas for the lawn mower and reduce the amount of chemicals used around here. One thing I have never been able to get my hubby to do was to change his method of keeping the lawn green!! Now where we do have lawn, it will be green from the native species going up through it!! And most of it won't need to be mowed as there will be low growing perennials instead of lawn. I am planning to introduce Dutch Whit clover as well this spring as it is shorter than the clover than I do have in some areas. I also have lots of Violets, Thyme, Myrtle, Pachysandra, Ajuga and lots more great ground cover already growing all over!!