Miscellaneous Monday

I have three mini-posts backing up in my head so I decided to lump them together for today's post.

The Mystery Spot.  We noticed last year (the first year in our current house) that an area of the back yard thawed earlier than the rest of the yard.  Then we noticed a bit of a depression in the same area.  Not much of one, it's noticeable if you look for it or if you're mowing.  This year, it's back.

 

We're not sure what is causing this.  Is this where there used to be a septic system?  Why would that warm up before the rest of the ground?  Maybe a tree used to stand there and the roots rotting away are generating heat, like in the compost bin.  Can that happen?  My latest thought is that the sump pump in the basement might be draining to an underground spot right here.  A dry well?  I don't know where our sump pump drains to so this is a definite possibility.  Or it could where the aliens land (you know, like a crop circle.)  I've always suspected The Husband might be an alien.  Nothing seems to faze him.

Shoe Pond.  In town there is a series of ponds known as Shoe Pond.  The Upper Shoe Pond is a freshwater body.  Below a dam is the Lower Shoe Pond which is brackish water.  Then there is an arm of the harbor, which is salt water.  As Spring approaches I've been watching the thaw.  The brackish water Lower Shoe Pond is now thawed and this week the Upper Shoe Pond is starting to show cracks in the ice and an area of open water where a creek drains into the pond.  AND the ducks have been returning.  It started with Canada Geese when the brackish area was only partly thawed but now we've got Mallards and I think I saw something else on the water this week but I was driving past and didn't get a good look.  Something smaller than a Mallard.  You know what this means?  That's right.  The beginning of Spring Migration - the birds are headed back North for the Summer Breeding Season.  Woo and Hoo!

Salvia elegans.  Last fall I let my Pineapple Sage die back and then I hauled the pot into the basement and left it there, watering only when I remembered it.  Last week I hauled the pot up into our Mud Room/ Plant Room and it's starting to come back.  I'm really pleased.  I didn't know if it would survive my treatment.  This plant is hard to do without come late summer when it really starts to bloom.  And the fragrance when you brush the leaves is wonderful.  One of my favorite annuals.

And since this is one of the first signs of spring for me - a Salvia elegans close up.