It's Groundhog Day again in the US, and Punxsutawney Phil in Pennsylvania has predicted an early spring by not seeing his shadow. Not to be outdone, Western North Carolina gets in on the action with a foretelling by Grady the Groundhog of Chimney Rock, NC.

Grady's no ordinary groundhog. He was found in St Paul, MN, and had suffered from a parasite which resulted in some brain damage. So, the folks at Chimney Rock State Park decided to adopt him to take care of his more special needs. All that said, he seems pretty ok, curious and energetic, so good on him and good on the folks at the park for taking such good care of him.

So, let's get down to business... Grady comes out of his den, and lo and behold he sees his shadow. As the story goes, this means we'll have another six weeks of winter. Given Phil said we wouldn't and he's further north, I'm not sure how all this is going to work out, but we'll see...

And then they pull out Grady's buddy, a possum.

We'll be heading back to Chimney Rock later in the year, and we'll tell you all about the park then - it's worth looking out for. But then it clouded over, and to prove the point that winter's still here, it started snowing.

So what more was to be done than build a snowman on our deck! Or is it a snowwoman, or a snowgirl?

And so now, we're in a winter wonderland. It's not settled on the roads yet, but more is due overnight. We'll see if we're snowed in when we wake up.

If you've not read about the groundhog (also known as a woodchuck and also known as a whistle pig) that visited our garden last summer to great destruction, go check it out: In The Wild: We Just Met Chuck, Our Resident Woodchuck.

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