More signs of spring

Photos from this morning... spring is definitely here!

Of course it wouldn't be spring without dandelions. This is the first one I've seen so far. Or second. It had a twin nearby.

And the violas (a.k.a. johnny jump-ups) always bloom early.

But my tulips started opening yesterday!

This is actually the one I went out to photograph:

And closer:

Did you notice the background above?

Yep, I was getting an assistant, Miss Mia. She had her eye on the same flower I did.

Awwww......

That was a lucky shot - ha!

Nature's beauty

I mowed off an awful lot of these yesterday:

Most of them were beyond this stage, though, thankfully:

Look at all those seeds! No wonder they spread so profusely!

Here's one that was very wet but still kind of pretty after a light rain:

Fortunately we'd had heavy rain on Sunday, so most of the fuzz was washed off and I didn't have to mow through clouds of it in the air.

Here are some more lilacs, a bit darker color than the previous ones I showed you:

Just pretty pics.........

Morning macros

It's such a beautiful morning today, which seems to be rare these days, so I just had to take the camera out for a little play practice time. It's been unusually cold, for the most part, so spring has progressed slowly. The trees are only beginning to leaf out.

Here are some pretty macro (very close up) shots of those same leaves:

A good thing about the chilly temps is that the tulips have lasted much longer than usual. They're still blooming, although nearing the end.

The violas are getting thicker...

And of course the dandelions are popping up all over.

I've mowed once, and thanks to recent rains, need to again very soon. Miss C comes again today after school, and we need to finish our 'project' from yesterday, which I'll show you soon. I've also cut out another small sewing project. So I've been busy. I haven't planted any garden yet, but that'll need to happen soon, too.

Yesterday's sightings

I took my camera outside yesterday when I went to meet Courtney at the bus. Below is what I saw. The lilacs are just beginning to bloom. And smell wonderful!

Last week on the way to meeting Courtney at the bus, I discovered this robin's nest, but I didn't have the camera along, and I never got around to going back out there with it. It had 3 eggs in it.

Yesterday I peeked in again, and two of the eggs had just hatched. These little birdies were still pretty weak, but one had its head up with mouth open wide right after Mama hopped off the nest. Unfortunately, by the time I got the camera focused, it wouldn't do it again. So new and fragile.

Then Courtney arrived and immediately decided to pick Grandma a bouquet of dandelions. Notice that she's still using the backpack I made her a couple of years ago. She usually has it loaded with a LOT of stuff, and it has really held up well! The only place showing any wear at all is the corners of the blue outside pocket, and it's minimal. Tough fabric! And it was well worth my time making it.

She found one of very few (so far) dandelion puffs and tried blowing the seeds off as she made a wish. Everything is so soggy from all the wet weather we've had, though, that they didn't blow very well. I'm afraid she's not going to get her wish for a "Kit" American Girl doll (not sure if she wants her own Kit, or mine!).

As we got back to the house, we discovered all these mushrooms (toadstools?) at the base of our hackberry tree.

Quite a crop here. I don't think I'll be harvesting any, though. ;)

That's all the pics I took yesterday. We did visit the kittens, who are just getting cuter every day, but we didn't take time for a photo shoot. Maybe next time!

Sights of spring

These photos are getting outdated fast. I took them last Saturday, and things have grown and changed a lot since then. But here's what it was like 'then'.

Asparagus:

If any of you local friends would like some, give me a shout. I have more than I know what to do with!

Rhubarb:

Same deal on the rhubarb, although everybody around here probably has their own.

New maple leaves:

Field of dreams dandelions... weeds, but they make for pretty pics:

Same deal as on the asparagus. Heheh.

Hostas:

Come to think of it, if anybody wants hostas, same deal there! I've divided a few, but many more need it.

Interesting

I happened to find this unusual dandelion stem the other day:

Great. As if we needed extra dandelion production. I hope it's not the going trend. Double trouble.

Just like having a baby

It's said that a mother forgets her miserable labor pains once she lays eyes on that little newborn. I think it's true (although maybe it isn't an instant forgetting, but rather more gradual over time). Otherwise, why would any sane woman willingly go back and do it all over again?! ;-)

This spring makes me think of that, in that the delightful weather we've been having lately has made the miserable winter we just came through seem only like a bad dream (okay, a nightmare), and it's nearly forgotten in the beauty of NOW.

I thought it might be June before the snow would be melted and the farmers would get back out into the fields again. But here we are mid-April, the snow is completely gone, and the farmers are indeed in the fields doing the planting already. Grandpa has planted many acres of corn the last few days.

The snowy white view from my sewing room window has now been replaced with a lovely green, plus a few other colors. Enjoy it with me.... (This time I enlarged them for you.)

Yes, Grace, I know... Roundup! :-) Already done. But it turned out to be such a clear, crisp picture that I had to post it.

(Fooled ya, didn't I? ;-) )

And very soon (tomorrow?) that lovely green is going to need mowing........

Now I KNOW it's spring!

I was amazed to find this yesterday when Courtney and I were wandering around outside! All by itself, in the middle of nowhere. Look closely! You can click it to enlarge.

Yep, it's really a dandelion, looking kind of unreal there, with barely any green for it to come from. When I showed it to Courtney's daddy, he even touched it to see if it was really attached.

Here's a closer look. You can click this one to enlarge it, too.

See any green dandelion plant there? Hardly.

But this means it's GOTTA be spring now! And it was 50° out, but it sure didn't feel like it with the wind we had yesterday.

Snow's melting!

I love green!

Especially the new green of spring!

And I love blue!

And lilac (victorian?), too!

Yellow? Not so much.

Though we seem to have plenty of it. A big portion of our lawn looked like this yesterday.

I mowed it off. But they're starting to pop right back up. Actually, the yellow part isn't so bad. It's the seed puffballs that really get ugly. And fly into your eyes when you're mowing. If dandelions start growing out of my eyeballs, I'll take a photo and post it here.