Spring in the Woods

I'm experimenting with a natural tick repellent for Thane - one made with essential oils instead of scary chemicals.  I'll let you know how it goes, although I estimate it's only a couple weeks until the black flies and mosquitoes start getting bad, so we may stick to the sidewalks after that point anyway. 

It's still nice in the woods now, though.

Autumn is my favorite, but Spring is a really, really close second.  I think maybe it's because things change so rapidly - you never know what you're going to see from day to day.

I found four species of wildflower blooming already.  Trillium:

Violets:

Possibly the "Alpine Marsh Violet"??

Trailing Arbutus, AKA "Mayflower":

Goldthread (I think...):

(Thanks to my "Wildflowers of the White Mountains" book, without which I would have doubtless spent quite a bit of time on Google searching for the names of these flowers...)

I found this thing too.  I don't know if it's a flower, or what else it might be, but it's kind of cool looking:

Oh!  The fiddleheads are popping up too.  We sell pickled fiddleheads where I work, and I believe you can also saute them.  If I remember right, though, the ferns are not edible when they're full grown.  Funky-looking little things...

Thane got the zoomies again, this time because we were walking through a swampy bit of trail.  You'd think I never exercised him!

Most of the areas he sprinted through were briar bushes...I'm impressed so far at the protective capabilities of his coat!

A couple more photos:

Spring is going by too quickly...but I will say that I'm glad that I have Thane to get me outside and exploring the woods again.

Maybe in another Spring or two, he'll be herding some Butterscotch Farm sheep!  :D  

Oh, almost forgot...Rug update:

One bummer: it seems to be cupping...I'm not sure if I've been stitching too tight or what.  I'm hoping I don't have to rip out several hours' worth of stitching to fix it.  :(