ST. JOHN, USVI EPISODE 4

we stayed at a small house on st. john, "ridgetop," which had a lovely little garden. it didn't take me long to discover huge tetrio sphinx caterpillars, fat as my thumb, on the plumeria bushes.
here is the front gate, necessitated by the island's many roaming donkeys and goats. more on the animals in a later post...
the garden path, cleverly built to withstand the traffic of anoles, hermit crabs and people! all of the flower photos below are from this little garden.
i think this is euphorbia milii... wow, i struggle to grow tropical plants indoors, here they thrive with little care...
plumeria... there were two bushes, one had flowers, the other had caterpillars!
i don't know what this little delicate flower is.
striped anole on the path...
spotted anole... this one sunning upside-down on the deck...
i think this is perhaps a columnea...?
gardenia...
i don't know what this is either, but it reminds me of the novel the crimson petal and the white.
and another sphinx moth caterpillar... they really decimated the plumeria, but i think it will survive.

ST. JOHN, USVI EPISODE 3

another somewhat remote excellent snorkel site on st john is little lameshur bay and yawzi point, on big lameshur bay. most of the road into the national park is paved, but a short portion requires 4 wheel drive and a high clearance, below.i was just about to hang my hat on a branch on little lameshure, when i noticed this millipede had dibs on the perch. he was about 5 inches long, and fatter than a pencil.
i didn't take many photos of the beach at lameshur, as it wasn't much. but there is a rocky beginner spot just off shore that had more fish diversity than almost any other spot.

the trail up yawzi point is .8 miles, but it can be thorny in spots. i saw cacti blooming...

and a nicely colored hermit crab...
also on the trail, we saw this cactus overlooking little lameshure bay.
here is the tiny cove on yawzi from which we snorkeled. so private! the entrance to the water was easier than it looked, with fish immediately present. the coral diversity was great, and there were many fish.

ST. JOHN, USVI EPISODE 2

our favorite place to snorkel on st. john was waterlemon bay. swimming across the channel to waterlemon cay, below, we saw large cushion starfish, sea turtles, remoras, spotted eagle rays, and small rays. once at waterlemon cay, we rested on the sandy spit, and then proceeded swimming around the cay. there we spotted the largest diversity of marine life on the tortola side, where the currents were the most difficult.the .8 mile hike to waterlemon was difficult, because the rocky path was at times submerged during high tide. the launch point was also rocky. we found the more remote the site on st. john, the more there was to see. here's a heron at waterlemon cay.
after swimming to the cay, we rested on the larger beach, where this pelican was fishing only a few feet away from us (however, these were taken w telephoto lens.) here he comes!
right off the beach, the water teems with fish. what a rich paradise! the pelican only had to open his beak to eat.


having frightened away the fish, the pelican flies off to find another spot.

ST. JOHN, USVI EPISODE 1

we spent last week snorkeling in st. john, usvi. unfortunately, i don't have an underwater camera, so the most amazing things we saw will remain up to your imagination. however, i'll be posting above water photos until i run out! here is the view from the ferry from st. thomas. there isn't an airport on st. john...we rented a jeep wrangler, here is the view from chateau bordeaux, an inn on our way to coral bay...

here's our jeep mightily powering up the switchbacks to the house we rented...

we enjoyed this lovely view of coral bay from our rented house...

we faced east and i saw the sunrise each day... these were the best...

early in the week we went to trunk bay, which has the only marked underwater snorkeling trail i've ever seen. snorkeling for dummies?
a big orange boat, and a little tiny surfer, at left...
sadly, we did come home yesterday. here is the view leaving st. john. and it's quite cold here in zone 6b right now!

SNOW DESCENDED

cold, camouflaged whippet (viburnum on left, sciadopitys verticillata behind)
sunflower heads, ungainly ornaments
potager - day
potager - night

GUESS WHAT WE DID TODAY?

not the best photo i've ever taken, but i'm happy with our tree this year...the leaded window in our dining room is one of the nicest things about our house... this year i put the candle village there (from pottery barn, maybe 5 years ago.) you can see the north garden through the window, the Heritage River birch in the middle, and the winter berries on the right. i was close when i took the photo, so it is distorted.

FIRST SNOW

last night we had our first snow, wet with huge conglomerates of flakes... the neighbors behind our house...the potager...
our spruce, which is around 20 feet tall... i was up on the extension ladder trying to fling the lights over the top of the tree with the tree pruning pole. not the smartest thing i've ever done... hubs held the ladder... we survived and the tree got lit.
the potager early this morning... the sugar snap peas are still going strong and i ate one yesterday. we've got some sub-freezing temps on the way, though...

PAPER WASP NEST

i found this paper wasp nest in the driveway this week...

AFTER THANKSGIVING

i hope you all had a happy thanksgiving... we have much to be thankful for...

things are strange this november in zone 6b... there are some sure signs of winter... the hakone grass is turning colors...
but look, echinacea blooms! (sundown)
(coconut lime)
the deciduous holly 'winterberry' is aglow with fruit...

the ferns have turned...
but the sugar snaps are thriving! (this one in front of the ruddy bald cypress)

here was the thanksgiving harvest... not much, but i'm surprised to have anything at this late date.
here are the herbs i grew... i'm surprised we still have parsley, but we have not had a killing frost.
sunset from a week ago framed by tulip poplar...

PAST PEAK

what a beautiful day it was today! i've got a mishmash of photos, as this is such an in-between season. below is the tulip tree reflected in the bird bath...and tulip trees in front of a nice sunset today...
i started working on the holiday lights in the potager... what do you think so far?
view from the kitchen window...
see what i found while was working on the potager? it's been so warm that my bulbs are up already! these leaf tips will likely get frost burn...
the bald cypress has almost turned rusty red... we usually have our first snow when it's all red...
the school fields fenced by weedy norway maples across the street...
hope you had a warm day too!

BATHING SPARROW

before we get to the bathing sparrow, i caught this pair of male house finches drinking this morning. i'd never seen one before (thanks for the correction, MR.) i thought my eyes were deceiving me! the bird action was so fast that i was not able to get the correct camera settings before shooting this...i think i'll take a bath...
what a warm, beautiful day, the water temperature is perfect!



i think i'm clean now...
hey, wait...
are you spying on me?
(that sparrow was spinning so fast that my camera only stopped the water droplets! that's fast!)

FIRST FROST

it finally happened, jack frost visited. not a killing frost, though... echinacea 'coconut lime' is just opening...the small marigolds were hardly affected...
alpine strawberries seemed carefree...
the broccoli soldiered on (when should i harvest it?)
the japanese blood grass survived - this time...
echinacea 'sundown' deformed by cold...
the kale looks salted like a pretzel, but it is frost...
small marigold fringed with white...
tithonia 'torch' was higher and more protected...
brussels sprout leaves...
tagetes tenufolia, is so sturdy...
tulip tree seeds and leaf frozen in the bird bath... i you enlarge you can see the bubbles in the ice...