February 2, 2025

Happy Groundhog's Day!  Didn't I tell you it would happen sooner than later?  I wonder, of course, why the illustrious day wasn't called Woodchuck's Day.  Anyway, here is the important point.  Statistically at least, this is the day when the minimum low temperature stops getting lower and starts to rise.  Did you hear that?   I said "RISE"!    I NEED that RISE.  Oh dear, the winter really has dragged on too long.  Anyway, here is a picture of a real Groundhog from the past summer.  What they really seem to like is weeds in a flowerpot.  Or maybe Chaim threw him a raisin, whatever it is that he feeds the Raccoons.  What about wood?  Well, they may like to chuck it but they don't seem to eat much of it unless it is a hidden piece of your foundation.

So the little guy does exist.  Now we need to let him get to work on the temperatures.  According to the Web, he did see his shadow on February 2, which foretells six more weeks of Winter!    

Now here's something you probably didn't expect to see suddenly - on January 31, the pond totally defrosted.  The temperatures didn't rise that much, just slowly enough to melt the whole pond.

But don't worry, it's frozen back over now. The temperature is down near 0 most of the time.  

The little Thistle seedlings are finally on track.  Almost ALL of them now are showing at least a couple of tiny leaves.  I had to move them all into the living room, where they are now much warmer and showing no signs of failing.

Mystery creatures were all over the place this past week.  Here is some kind of Spider from January 17.   Next are a couple shots of something else new from  that same day.

Here's the Pond with frozen images of fishes.  Second shows it unfrozen with a fractaloid pattern on top.

Last week I left you with a puzzle.  Is this or isn't it a Praying Mantis egg case?  Well, the person who thought it was thought it was a picture of a larger creature - The reddish part is really only a couple of mm long!  So no!  It's something else!

The little Tree Frog we saw last week turns out to be a Grey Tree Frog (Hyla Versicolor).  Now you know!

The week was long and cold.  I had quite a lot of problems breathing out there.  But I seem to be on the mend.  Please everyone, be careful out there.  Take care of yourselves but still thinking of ways to improve the environment so that we will soon be enjoying Spring!  Love, Martha