Spring Fever

All the bulbs from last year's Christmas gift from my aunt are starting to come in, daffodils and hyacinths already blooming. 
 

My tomato seedlings and some flowers are liking the heat mats.

I was so nervous because it took over a month for my torenia Suzie Wong seeds from Pam in Palm Beach to show up! They are just specs, but they are alive!!!

With the storms and other interruptions, it took me a little time to get to BB Barnes in Asheville, my favorite nursery to find the right thank you gift for Pam. 

How fitting to have a little mermaid planter for Palm Beach!

 Should be arriving soon, I hope she likes it. 

My coleus cuttings are looking pretty good, too. The amaryllis that my aunt sent is green with a little sprout, but it never came back in full. Those are tough. 

Around town the planters are dressed for spring and Easter. Love this time of year!

 

                 76 Degrees today, thank God it's all gone!!

First an ice storm.

Worked for days making paths to be able to walk. It was so thick and hard, but places where the sun would hit I was able to make a path. 

Our new neighbor from Virginia had the equipment to plow our road.

It was so cold we went through so much wood. I had collected bins of downed limbs, but we went through it all. Heat pumps do not warm houses that don't have good insulation, and these houses were summer homes for Floridians, so they didn't see the need to insulate.

My tree was still up, I wasn't taking it down until we had a snowfall. I hosed it down earlier taking off the fake snow and re-dressed it with glass pinecones. I cannot believe this tree made it all the way to February without dropping needles, and it still smelled wonderful. We sure got our money's worth!

The only decorations I kept on the mantle were the little wreaths on the lights. I found two beautiful white vintage teardrop ornaments and put them on where there were missing crystals.

Then the next week a snow storm, which would have been great if not for the ice underneath. We got a good six inches of beautiful white, fluffy snow. 

The chows loved it and wouldn't come in. Never too cold for a chow.

The reflections of the snow and the house in my globes hanging on my breezeway.

Feeding the deer was not an easy task walking down through the ice covered pasture, but they are worth it! I don't think I like winter anymore. I've been looking for a tiny house in Florida, time to be a snowbird!

We All Were Skunked!

 I didn't know we had such beautiful skunks! They look like chows, and maybe that's why this female was so attracted to my dogs. I left them out at 6:30 am as usual and the barking started immediately. We both got outside asap to find this skunk in the dogs' yard.
 

We'd herd her toward the fence and she would get through and immediately turn around and come back into the yard. It was not making any sense except that she may have rabies? She would come straight at the dogs and keep spraying. We were trying to get the dogs in the house, but with all the ice and stubborn chows, that was not easy and took quite a while. By the time we got Hucky in the house Persia had taken off after it as it ran to the pasture.

I got the phone and called the county wildlife manager. Unfortunately, he was at a conference in Vegas, but called me anyway to explain because it was dawn, she was hellbent on getting back to her den, she was not rabid, just let her get to where she needed to go. Not easy with a persistent chow after her. Of course, by that time we all smelled to high heaven. I thought after all that time she would run out of spray. 

She kept trying to come back into the pasture through the fence, we kept her at bay by hitting a bucket on the fence. The strangest thing happened. Out of nowhere another skunk appeared. He was bigger, had more black underbelly. He came over to her, she followed him across the stream and they disappeared into the woods. He never bothered with us or Persia, he was on a mission, and she listened to what he told her. They were not seen again.  

This is the male on the right, female over by the deer block. What beautiful creatures! So now we have to bring the dogs in before dusk because of the coyotes, and leave them out after dawn when the sun is up.  Hard to get them to change their routine.

 

Gardeners Are The Best!

Over a decade ago I could buy Suzie Wong Torenia seeds, then they disappeared. I searched for years and found gardening forums where others were looking, too. Last month I got an email from a lady in Palm Springs, FL, who saw my comment in a group from two years ago. A Suzie Wong appeared in her garden (above) a volunteer that she did not plant!
 

A few weeks ago it bloomed and she sent me this photo. Yesterday I received a packet of seeds in the mail! I am so excited to get these growing for the summer and will start them in trays on heating mats. 

People just don't do things like this anymore! I love it!!

You Have To Try This Soup!

Zanzibar Soup! Yes, those are bananas! This is the craziest soup with such an odd combination of ingredients, but it is so delicious and healthy. I have been making this for years. The recipe comes from the Sconset Cafe on Nantucket.  We loved that cafe, and I bought their cookbook on one of my trips there. 
 

 I make California Pizza Kitchen's Humus recipe and toast some Naan Bread to go with this soup.  Perfect on a chilly night!