Wildflowers to Wood

2012 03 22 With the warm-hot weather all plants have been popping out early and fast.  I picked up my sweet sister, Sugar, (she must be sweet we call her Sugar, hey why didn't they call me sugar?  Oh well) and we visited Minnie Skwarek Nature Preserve, Ottawa County, Michigan (Land Conservancy of West Michigan). 

There was still more brown than green as we started off. 

The swampy area was full of big, green, Skunk Cabbage leaves but when we got to the first bridge I saw what I came to see.  A Marsh Marigold blooming!  Just one blooming, many coming up.

Marsh Marigold

We also saw, newly out of the ground amazingly, Mayapples, "Umbrellas", no flowers of course, but a little forest of green making their way up through that cold hard packed earth. 

Mayapple

We saw just one hepatica blooming, it was pale compared to mine here at home. 

Round-lobed Hepatica

There were frogs and birds singing. 

Bridge at Minnie Skwarek
It was a warm day but nice to be out.

Also going on this week was woodcutting, splitting, and stacking, March is a good month for this because the leaves aren't out on the trees yet. 

One of my smaller piles of split wood.

We worked hard and there is much more work ahead.  It's actually fun when the weather isn't too hot to work.  And this log splitter makes it much easier.  It's my job to keep the home fires burning and to do that I need wood.
That's just some of this busy week.