Lenten Rose

My husband planted a Lenten Rose last year. It's a small plant that hugs the ground and grows in clumps. Its color can range from cream to purple. Actually weeks ago (it was the night I first saw the armadillo), I noticed that our Lenten Rose had bloomed. It was early January and there was actually some snow on the ground when I noticed it's pure white blossoms shining in the dark when I went outside to investigate some critter noises. (I took a picture of it then, but lost it.) It was pure white then, but it's got a pink blush along the edges and some pale green toward the center now. It's Latin name is Helleborus orientalis; and it's in the ranunculus family, which means it's cousin to buttercups and something called a crowfoot. (I'll have to look that one up.) They are apparently native to parts of Eurasia including Greece, Turkey, and the Caucasus. (Odd how many flowers we take for granted come from Turkey. If my memory serves me well, tulips and many roses had their beginning in Turkey.) Well, our little Lenten Rose is still small, but I hope it grows and spreads so much that we have to divide it and plant it all over the place. We have plenty of woodsy, shaded places to put it. Wouldn't it be nice to walk through the woods and suddenly in the middle of winter come across a blooming clump of Lenten Rose?

A late thought: This plant is also called a Christmas Rose because it sometimes blooms in December. I wonder if it's a coincidence that I first noticed it blooming in early January right around the time of Christmas on the Old Calendar?

It's a gray, cold, rainy day here at my place today. This has been a long and cold winter. Part of me is glad to know that this means that there will be fewer mosquitoes, ticks, and other pesky insects that like to eat up our vegetables. My daffodils and grape hyacinths are up and blooming in the yard, though, creating bright splashes of yellow and intense points of blue on the hillside behind the house. It's a day for staying inside and looking outside.

Spring is coming and with it my hens are beginning to lay more. Always, a couple of weeks before Great Lent begins, my hens start laying. I have only ten hens now, and lately I've been getting four or even five eggs per day now, with the occasional day of getting only one or two. (That's because hens lay every 30-some hours and not every 24.) So, today I get seven eggs. I've always said those hens were "heretic chickens." I shouldn't be surprised; they're Marans--a French breed. They must be Roman Catholic! My daughter, who doesn't go to Church any more, loves them since she gets most of the eggs during Lent. Oh, well.

A Picture Thought

I love this picture. I took it of my blossoming rosemary plant last year when we had a bit of snow. It's so quiet and promising. To me it speaks of hope, perseverance, meekness, and endurance. Sometimes the simplest things are the most beautiful and profound.

The Lenten Spring is Here

Just a few words because my head is hurting and my mind is not behaving itself right now.
Great Lent is almost here; in fact, we are well into the preparation phase and the spiritual warfare has begun.
One word: logismoi.



"And quench the flame of my passions, for I am poor and wretched, and deliver me from my many cruel memories and deeds, and free me from all their bad effects...." --Prayer to the Most Holy Theotokos

As I promised....

As I promised, I'm posting a picture of that armadillo I blogged about previously. It's not a very good picture, since the critter started scurrying away as soon as I approached; but the picture (if you click on it and see the larger version) is clear enough to tell it's an armadillo. He's a good sized one, too.

Critter trouble

Last night seemed to be a busy night for animals up around my chicken houses. (Click on the pictures to see a larger, more detailed version.) My husband bought a StealthCam* a few months ago, and we've been "watching" various spots on our property at night. I've captured photos of a large opossum up there in the poultry yard, which I've since trapped and re-located. Last night a younger 'possum came by less than an hour after this huge raccoon. This 'coon his huge. He (or she) has been digging under one of the henhouses trying to get in, and I blocked that up. You can see in last night's pictures that he still shows an active interest in the second henhouse. I think it's a matter of time that he/she will try again to get in there after my chickens.

There are other pictures that were captured last night that did not show an animal. However, it's obvious from the sequence that some animal was messing with the StealthCam. (Motion triggers the camera to take a pre-set series of pictures.) It had to be a large animal since I hang the StealthCam about four feet off the ground. That has me a bit nervous. I'll have to think of another place to hang the camera to try to capture pictures of whatever this animal is. It could be that raccoon coming back a few hours later. I think he could reach that high if he stood on his hind legs.

*Note: Neither I nor my husband are hunters, and we don't allow hunting on our property. We use the StealthCam solely to discover what's going on around our property when we're either asleep or not there. Anyway, it's FUN!