A real winter's day yesterday

This morning too. Everything is still covered in ice.

Central NC, like much of the country, is experiencing a spell of real winter weather this week. I am rejoicing in the cold because I am hoping it will kill the ticks, as they had become active again in the mild December and January temps. Obviously there were advantages to the relatively dry warm winter we had in 2011/2012 ~ nice footing, an overall easy winter, and in the spring, an unprecedented crop of figs and a magnificent display from the 'Climbing Old Blush' as it didn't experience any dieback. But, (and why is there always a but? Why can't we just have advantages without disadvantages??) the ticks over the spring and summer were horrendous. In every other year but last year the garden was a tick free zone. Ticks were only a problem in wild unmown places in May and perhaps June, and therefore easy to avoid, and then as the summer got dry and hot as it often does they'd die out completely. Not last year. It got hot all right ~ very very hot ~ but we had rain too, so the ticks kept on thriving, right through the first freeze. I rather like spiders and snakes but ticks ~ blech. At least none of us got any tick-borne illnesses. Yes, horses can get those too.

Now, everything is reassuringly frozen and yesterday sleezing rain was ticking down steadily. We had a beautiful sunny if cold week before today. Is there anything more beautiful than a sunny winter's day? No doubt part of the appeal is the contrast to the depth-of-despair gray doldrums of an overcast day in January, but when the sun comes out a magical transformation occurs. Light floods the world with beauty and makes it a masterpiece. Golden light fills the spaces between old stems and blades of grass and there is a dance of light and shadow in the air and on the ground. Difficult to photograph though. What I get on camera usually looks like overexposed patches of bare ground where I have cleared and a jungle of falling over brown stalks where I haven't.

I wouldn't be clearing anything at all but I want to start getting the daff bulbs into the ground.

I ordered 350 daffodil bulbs from Van Engelen last year, consisting of 'Curlew', 'Hillstar', 'Sweet Love' and 'Thalia'. I need something to help fill in under the bare knees of the baptisia when they bloom, and it needs to be ephemeral since 'Purple Smoke' in particular casts such deep shade.

Northern river oats near the creek

Typical of NC, temps will be back up to 70 by Tuesday and Wednesday. Currently the sun is back out and ice is falling like rain.