A Walk In The Woods

  We've been waiting for things to dry up enough to take a walk in the nearby woods. The trees have been greening up nicely, and it seemed that the trails would be free of super sticky mud.

  After weeks of rain, and a week of sun, it was time!

  We chose to make our little foray into the woods early in the morning. There were hundreds of birds singing, and it was quiet and still...

The woods just outside the apartment.
Lots of trails to explore.

  We've walked through here a couple of times before, and look forward to many years of discovering new trails and adventures.

  Adventure #1: 

  When there is a fork in the trail, which way do we go?

Where now, Baby?

  Right now, the darling little wild cyclamen are all over the the place. They are fragrant and have variegated leaves. I just get a big kick out of seeing them growing in the wild.

Here are some with Ajuga. We have these plants in nurseries back home.
Here they are like weeds...really gorgeous weeds.

Early in the morning, the light is so lovely
coming through the canopy.

  We know that there are lots of wild boar that cruise through the area nightly, but it's scary to see so many hoof prints everywhere! Big ones and little ones. The babies are around, so it's important to be careful. You don't want to tussle with a mama that has babies with her.

  The babies are cute, though.

Hoof prints everywhere!

That's a big one.

  We've seen 'cinghiale' (wild boar), hedgehogs, porcupines, badgers, weasels, owls, bats, and yesterday I saw a fox. 

  It's nice being in the countryside. We look forward to seeing a wolf one of these days...

  

  We walked way up the hill, then around and back down.

  As we worked our way back to The Nut, we admired the neighbors property, which includes a small vineyard. 

  The vines are just coming to life after the cold weather...

Johnny loves any shed, barn, potting shed, etc.
That's the neighbor's place in the background.

Lilacs are in bloom all over now, too.
This is just next door.

  I know we will enjoy these walks in the woods often, as long as it isn't too muddy.

  Johnny is afraid of running into vipers, which can be super dangerous, but that's why we carry big sticks, wear boots and long pants.

Ahh, the country life!

    Later, I made a nice caprese salad for our lunch on the terrace.

    We worked hard in those woods!

Man, what a difference a little warm weather makes.

Mmmmmmmm. Fresh mozzarella is so good here.

  We ended the day on the other side of the lake, enjoying the sunset and making the most out of the last few days we have here.

  Thanks for showing up, Sunshine!