Stones and Sprouts and Wee Tiny Tenants

On this wonderfully sunny day,
as warm rays take the chill off the early morning frost, all 
manner of living things at That Old House are popping out to say "Hello."

Behind our house is an old stacked stone wall that stretches more than a hundred feet. . .

Tucked into countless nooks and crannies in the stones live some very busy chipmunks.

This morning my husband Howard popped the telephoto

lens on his camera and caught this little guy:

He had ventured all the way from his stone condominium

to the back corner of That Old House.

He finally spotted the paparazzo, or stalker, known as Howard.

I expect the restraining order to show up in the mail any day now.

But cute furry little varmints aren't the only living things popping up all around the stone wall;

I'm pretty certain that these are the early sprouts of our white-flowered Bleeding Hearts.

I'm very glad to see them.

We had an over-enthusiastic crew do the Fall cleanup and

I was sure they'd pulled out every last bit of Bleeding Heart before I could stop them.

Calling all real gardeners!

Do you know what this, below, is?

Whatever it is, its tubers have heaved up out of the soil over the winter,

and look a little -- well -- creepy.

If you know what they are, please let me know.

Should I toss some topsoil over them?  They look rather embarrassingly nekkid.

And last, but certainly not least, as the last of the heavy snow cover melted,

we found this poor thing lying underneath:

A once-plump pumpkin, reduced to something resembling an old hot water bottle with leprosy.

This was the only pumpkin we didn't crack open and leave

under cover of brush for animals to eat over the winter.

Next year we'll remember to serve up all the old pumpkins;

I don't want another deflated ugly popping out of the melted snow!

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 Because it is Tuesday, it's time for Three Or More at Tam's Gypsy's Corner.

Go visit here!

And because I love you, I am sharing another picture of my great-nephews,

twins Luke and Calvin, at 5 months.

This is my current desktop wallpaper, and I talk to them all day.

Yes, I am slightly cracked . . . but all the best people are.  -- Cass

PS -- I've been scarce, I know -- our daughter Alida and her fiance Josh are here for this week, our daughter Anne is home for a couple of days, and we've been busy!  A big party last Saturday, out to the beach house on Sunday, then shoppingshoppingshopping . . . the wedding's in June!  Lots to do, and not much time for the computer.  I'll catch up!