Happy Ground Hogs Day!

More Ground Hog Romance
Originally uploaded by Kevin Aron

Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow this morning. If we are to believe Phil, spring should come early this year. I sure hope his prediction is correct. It would be nice to have the continuous dumping of snow here in southern New England stop, or at least, come with less frequency.

Did you know Phil is not the only shadow watching predictor of spring? Apparently, there are quite a few busy ground hogs on February 2nd:

Buckeye Chuck of Marion, Ohio
General Beauregard Lee resides outside of Alanta, Georgia
Charles G. Hogg (Staten Island Chuck) of Staten Island, New York
Wiarton Willie from Wiarton, Bruce County, Ontario
Shubenacadie Sam of Nova Scotia

If you click on the cute photo of the two ground hogs, you'll be linked to the photostream of the photographer on Flickr. He has a few more Ground Hog romance photos.

Here are some photos from the day after the January 27th storm; officially 18.5 inches. From left to right: 1. The view from our kitchen window, which is 4.5 feet from the ground. 2. Our deck 3. Our sidewalk and driveway.

5. Cat with pinecone tail. 6. Door decoration made prettier with a touch of snow. 7. Shoveling sidewalk and driveway. Can you see hubby in the distance?

Shadow or not, It will be a long while before the snow melts, the wetness dries, and I am out in my garden. At this time, I welcome the thought of Punxutawny Phil's cousin's, bunnies, and deer invading my summer garden.

Our Neighbor

It has been a very long time with no post. I have been so very busy this summer with the usually summer parties, birthday parties, with lots of garden and yard work. The recent heatwave has me watering overtime. I thought I would take a break from the outdoor work, to share with you all a photo of our neighbor...a beautiful, large black bear.

The photo was on the July 2010 cover of our little town newspaper. I did not recognize the street name of where it was taken, so I pulled out a map. It turns out the street next to us changes names as it makes a 90 degree turn. So a thin strip of trees separates our street from the street where this big guy was photographed. Lots of bear around here, so having this guy so close shouldn't really be a surprise.

I think it is so very cute. I would like to squeeze it's little cheeks. No worries! I am a bit smarter than that. The sensible thing is to stay far away and keep property free of yummy bear treats. Perhaps I'll pull out a paint brush to paint it.

Connecticut has lots of wooded areas, perfect for bears to be very happy. With an easy source of food, human garbage cans, bird seed in feeders, they are increasing in numbers. Very surprising to me, was yesterday's article in a local paper telling about a bear attack on a quarter horse. I had no idea they would attack something that large. The horse should be okay and the owner believes the horse was protecting it's corral, perhaps startling the bear who climbed into the fenced area. Read about the incident and the start of a bear hunting debate here: Are bears fair game? The Republican-American