Into the Woods

The forest around Dog Days has some great flora and fauna, and we are just starting to discover the wonderful things around us! In our last hike we even found a road... well, it is more of a trail, but we love it! It flows from the bottom of the hill, up the mountain and over the ridge. We have not investigated all the branches of this path yet-I hope we can get to walk more this weekend!

Claris is loving the walks we have been taking, and for most of her time is but a blur...

A happy, muddy, yellow blur!

The path leads through a grove of rhododendrons, and the branches make a beautiful archway. It makes me think of fairy tales...




I think it would look even better with a little fog on the mountain. We will sneak up there again when the atmosphere is right and get some really special photos.

The forest is filled with ferns, which gives it such a lush and almost tropical feel.

I have always loved ferns, and now I have a forest full of them to enjoy. I had no idea how many different kinds I would find, but I keep finding new ones all over. I suspect some of them are not native, but they still look beautiful and fit in nicely...





We even found some brand new friends. Really, as you can see they ARE brand new. A beautiful set of twin fawns who were so young they did not know to run away from us until their mom coaxed them back into cover.