Middlewood Journal

I headed out today with a specific mission: to hike to the lower portion of Meetinghouse Creek and draw the Round Lobed Hepaticas that grow...

Today Daisy and I spent several hours hiking, heading first to Lawson's Fork to see what early wildflowers might be blooming. Last yea...

By the time I'd finished my work today storm clouds and strong winds had arrived in Middlewood, causing treetops to swirl and occasional...

Today the woods were full of silence. As Daisy and I headed downhill towards Meetinghouse Creek I stopped occasionally to listen for sounds...

I tried hard to find some flowers to draw for Valentine's Day by hiking up to the ridge and around in the woods, looking for the Trailin...

These tough, slightly dimpled polypores were growing on a dead tree trunk resting on it's own branches about 2' off the ground. It ...

It was a lovely Sunday afternoon to be outside, especially after running errands in town during heavy rain on Friday, and social activities ...

I found these leaves on the rocky ridge above Lawson's Fork while hiking with my hubby and Daisy Sunday afternoon. The lacy pattern on ...

If you sit long enough and are very quiet, you get to see special things in nature. Today, for example, I finally settled against an oak tre...

The steep slope Daisy and I explored today faces south and drops down to Meetinghouse Creek at its confluence with Lawson's Fork. We c...

What a weather day! We woke around 5 a.m. to thunder and lightning - such a treat in January. Around breakfast came pouring rain that later ...

I've been fascinated for years by the native yucca plants that grow on the ridge above Lawson's Fork, so I decided today to hike the...

At 3:00 when we headed out it was 36 degrees and getting colder. Brrr... Daisy and I warmed up by hiking straight uphill into the mowed kudz...

The woods were cool and bright this afternoon as we hiked around in the crunchy, dry leaves, and stepped over numerous dead tree branches fu...

Nine days ago we had over 6 inches of snow, topped in the final hour with a crust of freezing rain. Unlike our usual southern here-today-gon...

Today was beautiful! Too bad I had to take down the Christmas tree and do a general post-Christmas cleanup. My goal, however, was to take ...

We drove home from out of town today thinking the weather at home would be similar to where we woke up - sunny, temps almost 70. As we crui...

On my hike today I heard raucous crows in the woods, fussing up a storm. This usually means a hawk or owl is in their territory, so I hurrie...

I headed out around noon today, with only a two hour window to walk Daisy and draw in my journal. The shade felt cold, but on the sunny side...

This is what I've been working on this week instead of journaling (I still hiked with Daisy, but no dilly-dallying)...I finished up my 1...