A Dooryard Ramble

By afternoon today the cattle in the neighboring pasture were quietly lolling.

In the background, wagons are loaded with the tobacco which has been hanging in the barns since harvest.

Apparently it now goes to auction.

The growing spears of the daffodils push through the accumulation of dry leaves.

Few of the daffodils have come into full bloom.

The buds bulge in their papery sheaths, but only a few have unfolded yellow-green petals.

Poking about in the strewing of leaves near the carport I found two more seedlings of lemon balm.

During our first springtime here I dug up many of these, transplanting them to a new garden or giving them away--still the new starts persist.

Seedheads of purple coneflower. I have pinched these off from time to time, letting them scatter on the ground.  I hope that new plants will emerge. I have set out several of the newer hybrid coneflowers which seem far less vigorous than the generic variety.

A dried pod on the trumpet vine which clambers around the crabapple tree.

Left to its own devices, trumpet vine in a temperate climate is a strangling menace, throttling other shrubs and trees, clutching tenaciously at the walls of a nearby building.  We have learned to keep most of the seedlings mown down, allowing only the  parent plant to flourish and bloom.

In October I transplanted my tree peony to the new garden which D. made. These red buds at the ends of the stubby branches have been visible for weeks.

Another transplanted peony has poked through the earth.

I have 'moved' many peonies over decades of gardening.  Most reestablish and eventually bloom.

There is always a bit of fuss as to whether the crowns have been reinterred at the correct depth.

Cardinals are shy, and I moved stealthily closer with my camera on 'zoom' after spotting this one.

The yard was busy with birds this morning after rain in the night.

Looking from the kitchen window I noticed a great deal of bouncing near the clothesline--a large clan of ruddy-vested robins drilled in the soft ground, hunting grubs and earthworms.

The feeders have attracted tufted titmice [identified by G.] a variety of sparrows, chickadees, nuthatches, juncos, goldfinches, and bluebirds. The mild open winter has made the birds less needy than last year.

The three barn cats sometimes eye the comings and goings of the birds.  There has been only one casualty in two winters--that I have noticed.  We've tried to position the feeders in places where the birds can have ample warning of a marauding feline.