Pitter Patter Paws

Some one unexpected has been visiting my garden. It is kind of hard to see the tracks in these photos but I thought I'd give it a try anyway. I have not ever seen a raccoon around our house. I have seen skunks pass by and I have seen opossum once in a while. The size and depth of these prints (and the lack of offending odor) leads me to believe these are opossum tracks. I cannot tell for certain because the prints were not distinct enough to show whether or not there was an opposable thumb on the hind paws.Lettuce, pea and bean shoots are just starting to come up in the garden. I need to get moving on putting up my fencing!

More garden goodies... I thought I had lost all my roses in the late cold snap we had. The canes had leaf buds on them, then after a late freeze there were no signs of life. The buds fell off or shriveled up. I was most disappointed to lose my favorite and most fragrant rose at the side of my front porch. It grows taller than me and has loads of blossoms each summer. In an attempt to salvage it I cut down about five feet of dead canes. They were dry and brittle, most definitely dead. But while doing so I found some fresh, still tender-red shoots near the base of the plant. Hope!!! After the weekend it is making a valiant come back. I wonder how tall it will grow this summer. And since last spring a lot of ivy had grown to choke the base of the rose. While I was clearing it away I discovered someone had borrowed under there to hibernate. We choose to believe this is Chloe, the wollybear who came home from a field trip with the Artist in October. She was not too happy about being uncovered, so I showed the Artist what I had found and and loosely covered her up again.