winter bloom

I have had this Helleborus for at least three seasons and now is the first time it is about to bloom. 

This was Josefínka's favorite path around the house, she used to love to come here to enjoy the sun-heated pavement.

I like to think that this plant is putting forth its blossom for her.

In this unusually warm winter, another Helleborus, Senecio, Heuchera and Hebe are holding strong on our baclony.

sad parting

The end of the year 2011 was very sad for me. On the last day I had to say good-bye to my beloved little cat Josefínka. Two weeks before she suddenly stopped eating; the vet found she was severely anemic and blood tests revealed feline leukemia. There is no cure for this disease in cats. She made it through Christmas and even raised my hopes by becoming slightly better and starting to eat a little. Then, toward the end of the year she gradually became worse and worse. It was heartbreaking but at least I was able to stay with her until the last moment. I miss her very much.


I would like to share with you some of the happy moments we shared together last summer.

On our balcony with her "siblings". She loved to soak up the sunshine there.

Last year we got this wonderful portable cat enclosure from my sister and so the cats were able to enjoy a little bit more outdoors at our Grandmother's garden where it is not safe to roam freely.

She loved going out on a leash. And she was fearless, in spite of her frail constitution she wasn't afraid of strangers or dogs or anything. She enjoyed lying on the ground and watching ants or birds or squirrels or anything that caught her attention. The less she saw with her only eye, the more she looked.

She loved people. The cat shelter where I picked her advertised her as a very timid little cat no one wanted. She remained timid for about a week after I took her in. Later she seemed never to get enough of the human touch. She was only able to enjoy it for four years with us. I was taken aback by her illness. Suddenly there was so little time left. I wish I had given her more strokings, more cuddles, more kind words. 

I hope that the love and bond we shared - most intensively during the final days - can somehow last forever. 

On the last morning I promised her it would.

almost winter?

We usually have snow at this time of the year!

discovery

One young squirrel became acquainted with the feeder yesterday.

young squirrels 2

Today I was able to take some more shots of the squirrel youngsters playing.

Enjoy!

young squirrels!

Thank you to all my followers who have patiently waited for me to blog again...

Today I had a big surprise waiting for me outside the door. Four young squirrels were chasing each other on the pine trees in front of our house! They are so cute. I like to think that our squirrel feeder has helped their mother along, and I hope to see these little ones find the feeder as well, as the winter time is approaching... There has been abundance of acorns, beech nuts, and hazel nuts this year, and I have been diligently collecting, drying, and storing.

sunflowers to heal contaminated soil in Fukushima

Activists are asking people to plant and grow sunflowers with a goal of decontaminating soil made radioactive in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. A group of young entrepreneurs and civil servants are asking volunteers to grow sunflowers, then send the seeds to the Fukushima area where they will be planted next year to help clean the soil of contamination.


The process of extracting contaminants from the soil via plants is called phytoremediation. While animals can move away from pollutants or other toxics (if they’re lucky), plants have evolved ways to live with the toxics and eventually extract them from the soil. The downside is that the concentrated pollutants, such as radioactivity or lead, can then pass along the food chain if not disposed of properly. 

Fungi, bacteria and plants have remarkable properties that can help clean up the messes that we humans create. While no one solution will solve the problem of irradiated soil and the struggling farmers, it’s always wise to look to nature first for the processes that can heal the land.

Read the whole article here