wild gooseberry

Well, a little delayed as I’ve been out enjoying Spring! (and working a lot of hours. Good thing I absolutely am in love with my job!)  It has been just lovely here, a much needed rest from the cold of this Winter. I know it gets colder in other places, but it’s so damp here, it makes it feel colder. Brrrr!

Last Saturday, on the first day of this new season, we loaded up the dogs and went for adventures…and findings of Spring.

These flowering bushes were everywhere.

A little visitor…

We were on the nearby Army post (it boasts a HUGE recreation area, acres upon acres of wild woods to explore). These trees were painted blue to indicate that military training could not take place nearby. The trees belong to the endangered species of woodpecker who calls these woods home. They are red-cockaded woodpeckers and I’ve seen them. This bird was the inspiration for Woody Woodpecker. The shape of his head looks exactly like them!
 

We found evidence of another little inhabitant recently present. This little perfect handprint of a racoon was about 2 inches wide…

We had on our rubber adventure boots on (also known as Dairy boots.) It was a good thing. We’ve had lots of flooding of the Ogeechee and Canoochee rivers this Winter. Some of the places we wished to adventure had water too deep for us to wade through. One of these places was in front of us, when Hildegard decided to lead the pack. She swam to the other side of this little now-island and waited for us to join.

Not even Georgia Rose swam over there and what surprised us was that Hildy hates deep water. I think she started out before she realized how deep it was and just had to keep going. We called to her and tried to get her to come back. Once she realized we weren’t going to join, the doggie drama started.

She cried and whined and whined and cried and finally, we had to say “goodbye” and pretended to walk away. That did the trick and after several false starts (and more drama!) she finally made her way back.

Her swim over was a lot less spashier than the swim back.

Our family reunited, we ventured on.

The ever present palmies…

and the baby palms…

Nearby, we also found a nursery for a bamboo forest…

Finally, we came upon a lovely little swamp. We rested here and enjoyed the view.

Things got a little too adventurous for us after this point. Unbeknownst to us, we had some company. The Three Little Pigs decided to get a drink of water and the Big Bad Wolf had to chase them. Well, actually, Georgia Rose  started the chase (she still has her hunting tendencies) and Hildy tried to herd them. I was afraid Mama Boar would be closeby, but thankfully, these piggies were just old enough to be out by themselves. After what seemed an eternity, and much echoing of piggy squealing and doggie barking, the dogs made their way back and we quickly left the area. (Well, as quickly as an almost 11 year old German Shepherd who thinks she’s still a puppy can walk after very ambitious running.) I think of the boar as Orcs (Lord of the Rings). It isn’t a coincidence that they are often depicted as swine-headed.

Home, safe and sound once again, we had a lovely Spring gift in our own back yard.

The first duckies of Spring…

…does not make for happy doggies. They are upset until their “babies” are back with them. *sigh* I try to hide what I’m doing. I put them outside, the whole bit. The minute they come back in, it’s “where’s my dolly?” At least they’re dry by bedtime. The pink bunny is Georgia Rose’s, one of the first toys we bought her almost 3 years ago. The pink and white panda bear is Hildegard’s and was the very first toy we ever bought for her, almost 10 years ago.

Everyone survived, happily.