Waiting for Spring…. Still

It seems to me as though time has been suspended.  Last Tuesday/Wednesday the huge snowstorm came.  Then it got cold, very cold.  Each night the temps go below 10 degrees and things freeze up totally.  I guess that the snow is good to protect things from that.  But I AM TIRED of IT!  It is time to see the yard again.  The first photo here is one of the evergreen we call “Charlie Brown”.  It is usually just a nice looking, slow growing, minimal shade producing  focal point for the yard.  This morning we took a photo of it as “Start Spreadin’ the News!”.  The difference between one side and the other, created by the melting action of the sun relieving one side of weight but not the other,  reminded us so much of a dancer in a musical. 

So we wait to get out into the yard again.  Maybe next week. 

 

For now the birds are going crazy outside, consuming seeds from our feeders at an amazing rate.  And they are courting as though it were warm and nice outside.  I saw a robin so swollen with eggs that I hope she can make it til it warms.  And even the Juncos are sparring with each other in ways that are unusual here, they usually mate farther north, after leaving us for cooler places. 

 

I did decide to take pictures of all of the flowers that are blooming inside of the house.  There are quite a few, give that the increasing light this time of year pushes everything to make flowers, as long as the temperatures are accommodating.  So, just for fun, here are the things that are blooming in my house today:

Inside Blooms VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Then and Now

Here is last year on March 15th in Sunnyview Gardens.  

 

 

 

 

 

And here is this year on March 23rd. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What a difference a year makes.  I hope we catch up eventually.  The 12 inches of snow we got yesterday and the day before were discouraging for sure, especially since most of the previous huge snowstorm had melted and I was beginning to see the whole yard and begin planning.  It is melting again quickly in the bright March sunlight even though the temperatures are still way below normal.  The robins and redwing blackbirds and sandhill cranes that arrived last week are not the happiest birds I’ve ever seen.  Robins gather around the few places where there were deep puddles before and the grass still shows through.  I hope they can find at least enough worms to keep them alive til the rest of the yard thaws. 

We have more birds at the feeders and under them than we’ve had in a long time.  Even the redwings are coming close to the house for whatever food they can find.  The chickadees are consuming much of the seed, but also hanging upside down on the limbs of the evergreens picking at something I can only guess is small bugs hiding there.  A song sparrow, who we haven’t heard in many months, is sounding more mournful than joyful as it sits atop of the dwarf Alberta Spruce. 

I was ready to start the yard work this week.  We have a lot to do getting the new raised beds built and installed.  Also want to move a bunch of perennials around.  Gonna have to do everything quickly this spring I think.