Country Mouse Monday: what time is it?

After years of living out here in the country, I'm at the point where I can tell what time of year it is by what's blooming. I'm not sure how useful a skill that is, but there you have it: this set of equations in my head that goes like:

Mimosa and tulip trees = February, Asparagus = March, Lilac = April, and so on.

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Country Mouse Monday: the incessant busy of squirrels

If you happened to be driving down my street this morning about 7am, and noticed someone in my garden in a plaid men's robe, cowboy boots and a knit cap, that was me.

I was out wandering and taking pictures, making up for not getting out much this weekend. On the quiet of a Monday morning, before the week begins, I like to get out early to notice what's new.

Everywhere: holes.

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Country Mouse Monday: fall starts

Fall is such a funny time around these parts: cold in the mornings but so very hot in the middle of the day, as if rallying to keep that summer feeling going.  The pumpkin is still sending out new vine, pushing energy into little green orbs, all thanks to this crazy daytime heat.

This weather weird is normal, but it can still turn your head.

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Country Mouse Monday: the hive & the present (+ give-away!)

Opening a bee hive is like opening a present.

You know some things in advance, just from the shape of the package. Plus, this ain't your first rodeo -- or birthday or Christmas -- so you have some sense of what might be inside the box.

But until you take off the cover and start to unwrap that colony, you don't really know anything.

Opening a bee hive is like opening the present.

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Country Mouse Monday: eating autumn

I didn't even realize how much I was longing for this time to arrive. Now that the fall Equinox has come and gone, and the trails I use are carpeted in orange and yellow leaves, the smell of moist mulch and bay leaves in the air, now I know I'm ready.

Summer was great and hot and long, but bring on the cooler temperatures and shorter days.

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