Morels are here!

My garden isn't growing yet, but Zack found the season's first morel a few minutes ago. Now I really wish I was off tomorrow, because they're only good harvested in the mornings. Maybe I can just go in late...

Hillbilly Driving Directions

These could also be redneck directions...or it could be that my daughter just isn't that good at directions:

• Take road across from cemetery
• Will get to a 'y' in the road
• Go up the 'y' on Sweden Creek
• Will pass 2 1/2 bridges (1/2 bridge??? son scratches head at this one, wonders what the 1/2 bridge will look like...)
• House will have electric box and a pole thing
• House is on left, driveway goes slightly upwards

There, that's all crystal clear isn't it? Directions from my daughter to my son on how to find her at her boyfriend's house...

More Spring Photos

From yesterday's walkabout. These are all indicator plants for good ginseng habitat. First is a yellow trout lilly. They're called 'trout' lillies because of the mottled appearance on the leaves. Some have darker markings than this one and the flowers are almost finished. I was lucky to find one still clinging to the flower.

A second-year ginseng just beginnning to open. It was the only one I could find during my walk, but I didn't go all over the mountain, just stayed near the house. Hopefully there are more survivors elsewhere. I'm curious about the ginseng market and where it will open and end this year.

A grape- or rattlesnake fern just opening up (with a trout lilly leaf in the background):

And my favorite photo of the day, Christmas fern fiddleheads. I want you to know I got very very close to the ground, in fact had to lie completely down to get this shot. It was late afternoon and the sun was coming in from low in the sky. It made a nice setup with the lighting from this angle. It's a wonder I didn't get full of baby ticks!

Jealousy

No pictures, yet, but Gabrielle has made her brothers jealous again.

She went turkey hunting this morning with her boyfriend, Kylan. He called and she shot. She bagged her very first turkey.

This is just such strange activity coming from a girl who would run the blackbirds off before her older brother could shoot any with his bb gun. I recall nearly violent arguments about how people shouldn't be hunting animals when there's so much food to be purchased in grocery stores. Days of cold shoulder toward her brother for what she considered the unjustified killing of a deer.



Turkeys are very elusive and difficult to hunt. Kylan must have done a good job calling, and she must have done a good job shooting. When I get pictures to post, I will.

In the meantime, here's some of the others from Friday. The first is Zack on my grandpa's old tractor. He's moving the tire brusing rocks from one spot to another on the driveway. I need to order a load of gravel, and I'll do that in a couple weeks. Then he can move rocks with better results, I hope!

Here's a picture of Loretta:

And one of Garrison:

More Pictures

Cutleaf Toothwort (Dentaria laciniata) is blooming right now:

Dutchman's Breeches (Dicentra cucullaria) is one of my favorite early spring flowers and today I finally have a picture of it:

Spring Pictures

Finally got around to snapping a few frames. My camera battery went dead and my card was full before I finished, but a few raindrops were beginning to fall anyway, so I guess I was out long enough.

Here's a patch of bloodroot. The flowers are almost done already. They're one of the first things to bloom in spring:
Wild plum blossoms are in full swing:

This old rock wall still looks pretty wintry, but the moss is greening up on it a little more:

These little violets are so common, it's almost easy to overlook them:

The peaches are just beginning to bloom: