I'm back....along with more snow! Finally feeling alive after almost a week and a half of mailaise, and our wintry weather never slowed down like I did... .....looks like an ice cream cone, eh? This is a sumac along my road, growing wild as they are inclined to do up here.

Funny how snow just stacks up on even the smallest surfaces...

...and piles on branches like crazy! I think these doves had to "shovel their perch" first...
....lucky there's a roof on this feeder!

Even the tiniest twigs get covered when there's no wind...
....so pretty! My previously revealed angel is going undercover again...

...along with everything else around my house.

I like the snow cover though, it not only protects the plants while they sleep off the winter...
....I think it adds a nice clean frosting to an otherwise brown and dull landscape.

Hooray for improving health and plenty of snow! Now back to my spring plans....

Y'all diggin' my new header? I sure am! This is courtesy of Kim the Blackswamp Girl...I told you Bloggers and "lurkers" are awesome! This comes at a great time to cheer me up...I have been home from work with a terrible case of the flu for the last several days, and the smile is sorely needed!! Ah well, "tis' the season"...*sigh*.

It's a fox...it's a possum...it's a Large Tolype! (From last summer, of course).



Submitted to Friday Ark.

Say hello to my little friend...Nepenthes! Or to be more specific, Nepenthes maxima x northiana 'Miranda', also known as a "pitcher plant". I got this specimen off Ebay, and I'm happy with the price paid considering the size (over $20). Yet another carnivorous lovely to add to my collection! As you can see, this plant is fairly large...which will hopefully assist its survival in my inexperienced hands. (Or it will just become a larger victim...only time will tell :) I say this because my approach to impulsively indulging my interests doesn't necessarily include a large amount of pre-purchase research...heh...you'll have that. But I'm trying not to be a big idiot...

....so more online research is in order. It's then that I discover my first grievous error: I used plain old dirt (not potting soil-dirt from outdoors) when I potted this up! (It arrived bareroot with some spagnum moss). Yikes! That probably accounts for this browning lower leaf, since the poor thing's roots were "suffocating" in the dirt for a couple weeks! Time for some re-potting action... .....as you can see, the news isn't all bad, here's some new growth!
Okay, as for potting medium, it's safe to say I'm not prepared with the "proper" soil mix , but I do have this bag of bonsai potting medium. It's made to hold moisture, so why not? (Okay, there are likely several reasons why not, but anyway...) Obviously, I'll need to soak this stuff first...

...in distilled water of course!

Now my new friend is ready for it's place in my home: as a hanging plant by my bedroom window. Sure, these plants like humid conditions, and so do I in the winter....so here's the habitat...
...south-facing window with lots of light, yet filtered by this woven shade, and the humidifier nearby. I run it at night, so hopefully that's enough...and I'm also concerned about the cool temps in my house this time of year. But there's compelling wisdom that nepenthes can be grown like a regular houseplant, so I'm gonna go for it! (While respecting soil and other cultural needs, of course....well, now anyway! ;-)

Bloggers are cool people! And "lurkers" aren't bad, either! This is my "Bloom Day" post...no blooms, but a "blooming friendship" instead! Awhile back, my favorite lurker/commenter, Vonne, and I exchanged some plant starts and seeds. When I got the box, I was amazed at the size and quantity!I mean, this is better stuff than I pay for most of the time!And look at this! Holy cultural info, Batman!So I potted them up, taking a "multi-disciplinary" approach to rooting the cuttings.... .....some cuttings I put in soil that can dry out between waterings.......and these in an "african violet" pot with capillary action for even moisture.........and one of these in a violet pot, too (along with what's left of my african violet casualty from last summer )....*sigh*..........and finally, some are rooting in just water. Honestly, I have as much luck rooting christmas cactus this way as any other. I figured sucess would be more likely if I tried more than one method though, and I'm always up for a new expiriment! This is "blue mistflower", it was a bag of roots that I just tossed in here and covered with dirt...
....and they're sprouting! Cool!
These muscari probably feel weird growing indoors in winter, but I think they'll get over it...

...these bulbs don't care though, as Vonne says they grow in winter and bloom in summer. I need deeper pots for them, but this will do for now.... ....one is "blood lily", and I forget the other (sorry Vonne, I'm at work right now and my memory's not what it used to be, y'know? ;-) ....
....anyway, here are the plants I sent her. Goody! Growth happening all the way around, looks like a sucessful exchange! Yet another awesome benefit of blogging: cool people!
Happy Bloom Day everybody!

Early thaw?! Geez, I hope not! I mean, how am I supposed to winter sow if there's no winter?!
Now, I know this is January in Wisconsin, but this thaw nonsense is much more "Indiana-esque"....
.....deer sure are rather "universal" though, regardless the season...
....but snowmobiles are very Wisconsin and they most certainly are reckless enough to ride them on the percariously iced river! These tracks were made just the day before this picture was taken, and look how thin this is! I'm sorry, sleds are fun and all, but there is no reason whatsoever to put your dumb-ass self in a position to lose your life over it! I mean, what about the damn cost/benefit ratio here people?! (Sorry...I get so fired up about this because a dear old friend of mine and his buddy died going through the ice on lake Michigan, sledding from Marinette to Door County in April. His foolishness left a ridiculous wake of destruction, especially for his two young children and sister...senseless.) Anyway...
.....speaking of shit, here's a bunny poo smiley face!

And another one! Those crazy wabbits!
Uh-oh! What happened here? My late-season, "round-tuit"-losing self allowed the washtub water garden to freeze solid, plants and all! D'oh!
But look at the green! This is corkscrew rush...is it alive, or "freeze dried"?
Yellow flag, too...and this looks like new growth for sure.
And mullein...I like the wooly leaves, they look kinda cute next to the snow... like a fuzzy scarf or something...

...and my previously installed "cheap insurance" needs some work!
There! I don't mind the exercise, and the cold air feels good to me (which is of course why I moved here in the first place :) ... ...looks like somebody else has been wandering around, and I'm pretty sure it's a possum. I try to tolerate them, because they can be a really okay creature to have around, despite some freaky and hard to get around looks. The one in my yard, however, seems to feel that being under my river-side deck is okay. Well it isn't, and he needs convincing, so stay tuned. Some of my ornaments are re-appearing too....
.....say what?

More of the "winter interest" (a.k.a. sloppy cleanup to some folks) is still standing...

...I like this echinacea seed head in particular.
And the droopy Mountain ash fruits...
...heh, and speaking of "ash", look what we have here.... ....columbine growing out of the bottom of the ash bucket in this little micro-climate. Unwise move, foolish plant!
Naturally, the thaw is producing plenty of fog, which makes for a most charming commute to work...
...and makes this abandoned farm look even more spooky than usual........oh yea! Funny how "de-construction" and decay are every bit as fascinating as building and design, IMO. But then, as the weekend approached, we got a welcomed winter "reeee-miiix"!!!
Yeehaaa! Just as my road began to "get it's spring on", maybe I'll luck out and this will all be a bad global warming dream!

Snow for the football playoffs! Go Pack go! (Yea, I am an established Colts fan, but I also root for the Packers, and the Bears...I just like hot beefcake in tight pants! Well, combined with mad athletic skills, of course...sue me! ;-)