Can I just emphasize how nice it is to see spring. Potatoes are in the ground, more garden to come in the next couple of weeks.




Look how much the hosta has grown.






The little bluebird of happiness..



Can I just say how beautiful the lilacs are this year.

What A Day

What a marvelous spring day, if only Mother Nature would stay this way...



Of course the wild violets are out in full force. Even after being mowed over by the mower Thursday. They are so small the mower doesn't usually touch them.




The first apple blossoms, this little antique tree is rushing through the season. Apple blossoms are quite pretty aren't they




The first hosta leaf that has opened, and would you look it's slug free for once.. (sure wish it would stay that way)





The northern mockingbird doing what it has done all day long. It is singing its little heart out. I don't know how many different songs it has, but it was certainly loud today :)

Snow & Blooms

Spring has come bouncing in but forgot to bring spring weather with it. The end of March had a nice wet snow arriving. By the time the first weekend of April was over we had pretty close to record high temperatures...




See I wasn't teasing about the snow!!




The Bradford pear is blooming very nicely...




I realized I have 3 different varieties of daffs blooming. I don't know which I like the best.




I think this one is my favorite. It's a bit tattered, but it went through a lot this week :D




This is a little daff, it is quite sweet and tiny

Time for February

February is upon us and moving fairly fast. Of course we don't like to wish our days to go by faster, but that's hard not to do in winter...

I've been waylaid just a bit with some minor knee surgery. It looks like I'll miss most of February at work. I hope by the time I've recuperated that the weather will be somewhat milder. I've got big plans to do more walking and exploring this spring.




This is probably a bit uninteresting, but I just think this is such a neat looking tree. I couldn't resist a photo.




This is one of the hawks that likes to frequent the backyard. They are so quiet flying in I'm usually more startled at times than the birds. One surprised the birds one day and snared a small one off of the feeders. I try and keep the feeders close to shelter, but this hawk flew in and out in a blink of an eye. Mother Nature is amazing.




This was actually a sunset one evening. It certainly didn't remind me of a winters sunset, but gave me a bit of hope for spring :)

Winter Doldrums

It's official, I have the winter doldrums



The tufted Titmouse is very quick at the feeders, I just snapped this quickly before it flew away. It's easier to get photos of the birds now except when they won't stay still :)




I have seen several purple finches at the feeders this winter, but I'll have to say maybe not as many as usual...



One of the little sparrows perched on the deck this morning.



Yeah, Molly doesn't really mind winter weather... but she has slowed down in it quite a bit. She's having some minor health problems, but nothing that serious hopefully...