Another mushroom hunt

It's mushroom time again. So we went off to the woods to hunt mushrooms.
We found a waterfall.

We found an old well-house.

We found a toad hopping by the leaves of a toad-lily.

We found a very muddy turtle.

We found lots of spring wild flowers like this trillium.

Did we find any mushrooms?

No. Not one.

I guess we'll just have to go hunting again.

The Oldest Thing

Did you ever wonder what is the oldest thing in the yard?









Maybe it is one of the big old trees?

Trees do live a long time.








Some of the trees are more than 50 years old.

That's pretty old.

But it's not the oldest.

How about Granddad?

Is he the oldest thing in the yard?

He's 89 years old. That's older than the trees.
But it's not the oldest.

How about this frog?

This frog is older than Granddad.

It was in his Grandmother's garden.

It is more than 100 years old.

I'd say it is the oldest thing in the yard.
Would you have ever guessed that?

Digging in the Garden

It is time to dig up the garden beds. Granddad is working hard on his garden. "Dig? I can do that" says Socks.

"I'll just make some nice holes over here."

Do you think Socks is going to plant things in her holes?

Follow your nose

Sniff the air today- something smells really sweet. Let's follow our nose around and see if we can find out what it is.

The bluebells are soft but they don't seem to smell.

The Bleeding Heart doesn't smell either.

Maybe we're smelling the Flowering Quince or the Sassafrass?

No, it doesn't seem to be those flowers.

How about the Service Berry

or

one of the apple trees?

A hint of fragrance there, but we haven't found that really sweet smell yet.

Oh - that pink flower - the vibrunum -

that's what we smell as soon as we step out the front door. Sniff - oh that IS sweet!

And another one, here in the back yard - over there, hidden behind the brush pile - see that tree growing sideways?

That's another sweet, sweet smell.

Ahhhhhh - sniff, sniff, sniff....

PEEEE-YEEW! What is that awful smell?

Yuck! That's terrible.!

Something STINKS!

"Why are you looking at me? " asks Socks.

"I smell really good."

"See? I found some really great-smelling stuff and rubbed it all over me"

The tooth of the lion

Isn't this a pretty little flower? So bright and yellow!And there are so many of them.

When you come to see me, you can pick ALL of these that you want.

Cedar Waxwing

This morning I saw a lot of birds sitting high in the bare trees. I could tell by the yellow band on their tails that they were Cedar Waxwings.
Then I noticed that they were flying back and forth to the flowering trees.
This tree is full of them, but you have to look very closely to see them.

I could see them better in the apple tree.

What is in this bird's bill?

They seem to be eating the flowers!

I didn't know birds ate flowers.
That's what I learned this morning from the Cedar Waxwings.

Easter grass

Scotty didn't get an Easter basket, but he didn't mind a bit.He got some fresh spring-green Easter grass to eat!

Hopping down the bunny trail

I did see a very large rabbit dashing away as I went out to feed the birds on Easter morning.

He was so fast that I didn't get his picture.

But here's a picture of the Easter frog who came hopping in my Easter basket!

April Showers

"April Showers

Bring May Flowers" and the heavy rains bring the April flowers down.

Underneath this tree is a carpet of wet flower petals that have fallen down with the rain.

Spring Cleaning

Today two strong men are helping me straighten up the yard.

Remember the old tree that fell down?

They are carrying it away on their shoulders.

I told you they were strong!

The Pelican

This is not my backyard! I don't see birds like this at home.

This wonderful funny-looking bird lives along the ocean coast.

I saw it when I went South to visit Lizard.

Its name is Pelican.

Pelican has a big round body


and a long neck


and big flat webbed feet.
But the thing that makes Pelican
special
is its beak.
That loooonnnggg beak has a deep pouch on the bottom.

This is to help Pelican eat fish. First it flies over the water looking down to spy the fish. When it sees a fish, it folds its wings and dives, beak first, down in the water with a big splash!
The Pelican catches the fish in that deep pouch just like you might catch one in a net.

One morning we saw a group of pelicans sitting together on the railing of a dock.
Did you count them? I think there are 21 of them.

Some are using their long beaks to comb through their feathers. It's a good thing they have such long necks or they couldn't reach around with that beak.

Sometimes Pelicans float on the water like ducks.

When they rest they like to be out of the water.

Sometimes they are by themselves,

but mostly they like to be with their friends.
I wish you could see the Pelicans flying (I didn't get a good picture of them). You would think you were seeing a Pterodactyl!