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Category Archives: The land

Watership Down

Monday, May 28, 2018

A rabbit friend stopped by this afternoon to inspect the clover and to remind me to remind you that, if you’ve never read Watership Down, then now is a good time to read it. And if you have read Watership Down, then now is a good time to read it again.

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What’s blooming at the abbey

Friday, April 27, 2018

Click here for high-resolution version. A remarkably unpleasant winter (and lingering) winter has turned into a remarkably pleasant spring. Click here for high-resolution version.

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Bears in the woods

Wednesday, April 25, 2018

I’ve always assumed that, at the very least, transient juvenile bears sometimes wander up the creek from the Dan River. That’s because I saw the tracks of a small bear in the mud six or seven years ago, down by the creek, about a quarter of a mile below the abbey. Today, a neighbor with […]

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At last, lilacs

Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Click here for high-resolution version. I have been waiting for years for the lilac bush to bloom for the first time. This year it finally did, though only in a small way. The apple trees are looking great. There was a chance of frost on April 16, which I was afraid would ruin the apple […]

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Tilling time

Monday, April 9, 2018

Nothing excites chickens like a freshly tilled garden. They’d better enjoy it now, because after it’s planted they’ll be banned for the season.

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Daffodils

Saturday, March 3, 2018

Click here for high-resolution version Flowers can be remarkably hard to photograph. The problem is holding the subtle range of color and texture in all the parts of the flower. A little bit of backlighting helps. And the exposure has to be just right. This is a digital photo, but I’m about to shoot the […]

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Crows welcome here

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

A couple of days ago, a gang of crows drove off a hawk and saved the life of a chicken. Now I would like to know how to put up a big sign that says “Crows Welcome Here.” I Googled, and it seems I’m not the first person to have chickens saved by crows. There’s […]

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The white deer

Sunday, December 24, 2017

It has been months since I’ve had a chance to get a photo of the white deer. I saw her this morning from an upstairs window. I grabbed the camera and shot the photo from the front porch. Then I dashed upstairs to get a telephoto lens. But by the time I had attached the […]

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Sunset on the opposite ridge

Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Sunset on the opposite ridge, shot through an upstairs window. A cold front is blowing in. Click here for a high-resolution version.

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La saison des camélias

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

The abbey’s camélias have have reached above the roof line. It’s time for pruning, I think. The bee was working the camélias at 42 degrees F. And yes, when I think of camélias I always think of La Dame aux Camélias by Alexandre Dumas the younger, which, before my French started getting rusty, I read […]

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