Gardening is afoot! Rachel is planting sweet peas and prepping some other indoor containers for seed starting.

Snow day at the Abel house! Green Man’s Grotto is chilly.

Our little pond is mostly frozen now, except where a little water flows. I wonder if Nessie is still there.

The second trimming of the tree. For the next few days the tree will be another food source for the birds as the remaining needles drop as mulch for Green Man’s Grotto.

Folks, Rachel found the bullfrog that lives in our pond eating a bird as big as the frog itself. I’ll spare you the picture. I had no idea they’d eat anything that big. We have now named her Nessie.

About to do some herbal tea taste testing. Anise hyssop, spearmint, chocolate mint, peppermint, lavender, chamomile, marigold, sacred basil, lemon verbena.

Another way to support the local bee population: plant enough basil that you can allow some to bloom and go to seed. The bees (around here anyway) go nuts for it.

We’ve seen a monarch butterfly several days this week and yesterday spotted a yellow swallowtail butterfly. Rachel also found a swallowtail caterpillar this week in addition to the four monarch caterpillars.

Check out all these tiny bees (not sure of species) with their full pollen sacs on this sunflower.