Updates

I took all of these pictures yesterday. The tulips have been making progress, despite the 40-something degree temperatures all week!

The rhubarb is growing, too:

The stalks are getting big enough that a person could find enough for a pie, surely.

The asparagus is coming, but very slowly. The purple color indicates that it's cold.

Here's my favorite update:

They're growing beautifully. Three males and three females.

PINK - noses, ears, toes...

(Click to enlarge.)

... SWEET!!!

Signs of spring!

My favorite sign of spring right now is open windows! It got just above 70° on Saturday, and 78° yesterday. It was a perfectly beautiful Easter Day! Annabelle and Josie are pretty thrilled with the open windows, too:

Lots of green things are making their appearance. Snow on the mountain:

Irises:

Sedum:

The rhubarb peeked out before it got so cold the last time, and it appears to have been nipped a little bit by frost. That doesn't hurt it at all, though, and it's growing quickly:

I had to look closely, but the tulip buds are coming:

And the lilac bushes are getting a tinge of green to them, thanks to the leaf buds that are popping out:

(Click to enlarge... it's prettier!)

Spring is here! Now let's just hope we don't get any more ugly surprises, like last year when we got 4" of snow on the first of May.

Signs of spring

Spring. Really? Such crazy insane weather we've been having! On Monday, it actually got up to 70° for just a bit, then the temperature quickly started plummeting... all the way down to 17° that night, with a dusting of snow!!! A drop of 53° - unbelievable - but true!

This was the view from my sewing room window late Sunday afternoon:

Sure beats that snowbank that totally blocked my view for so long! Here's the other end of it, in front of the deck:

The snow has really been dirty, thanks to all that WIND we've had, blowing the soil off the fields along with the snow. Look what's left behind on the deck after its snowbank melted:

Yuck.

I discovered this little doorway(?) in some snow under an evergreen tree. I wonder what was living in there:

The good news is, the snow has been melting very fast, on those few warm days we have had. That bank in front of the deck is now 99% gone - hurray!

Look what I found in the garden:

The rhubarb is peeking out!

My tulips are making progress, too, despite some very cold nights. They haven't gotten much taller, but the leaves are opening up:

I've seen a few robins on the ground now, though not very many. The ground is still too cold for the worms to be accessible.

Blackbirds are hanging around now, too, although not a lot of them yet:

Soooo.... I think spring is here. Now why, oh why do we have to have another Winter Storm Watch for tomorrow, with a possible 5" or more of snow (with wind, of course)?????

AAAACCCKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just as a side note: I'm getting a new computer soon (tomorrow, weather permitting), so if I disappear for a while, it likely means I'm trying to get things figured out. Ugh... I dread it. But it'll be nice once I do get it the way I want it! And no hackers will get me via my old Windows XP! ;)

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.

I love spring!

Our weather lately has almost been making up for our miserable fall and winter. Almost.

(Click to enlarge and enjoy!)

Here are some spring sightings from this morning. Gotta love those persistent little violas.

The rhubarb is making progress.

And yup, even the asparagus is peeking out. Surprisingly early!

There's another asparagus shoot in the pic below... but I bet that's not what catches your eye. :-)

Yeah, I need to get the Roundup out there, too. TODAY, before the asparagus gets going any farther.

More signs of spring

The rhubarb is coming up. It even had little leaves already when I took these pictures on Wednesday!

The huge snowbank is almost gone from under the maple tree.

Even the maple's broken branches are doing their thing.

Spring progress

"Spring"? According to the calendar, anyway. But you gotta admit, it's a little confusing this year! From a high in the 60's on Thursday and tornado warnings all over the place that night, to a chance of SNOW again last night (which, thankfully, didn't materialize)... it's crazy!!

But anyway, the spring plants seem to think it's time to grow, so it must be spring. Here's the rhubarb... making more progress, but you can see the freezing temps of a week ago damaged it a little. Rhubarb doesn't care, though... it's tough and keeps coming, anyway. Pie size isn't too far off.

The tulips haven't progressed much (what are left after the deer munched on them, that is), but this one is developing a little color. Looks kinda wimpy, but can you blame it? Okay, so all my tulips need to be thinned out a bit. This coming fall, hopefully.

I also noticed this violet blooming, too. A woodchuck usually eats off all the blooms every summer, but he must be still hibernating! (Can't say as I blame him.)

On the north side of the house are many hostas, which are making their appearance, too.

And look what I found in the garden! Can you see what it is?

Try this one... look a little closer.

Yeah, you're right... dandelions which need to be sprayed, but NOW can you tell?

Yep, asparagus! Yum! As cold as it's been, I was surprised to find them coming up. Obviously I need to get the old stalks from last year out of there. I always leave them over the winter, simply because they're much easier to get out of there in the spring after they've had a chance to rot down a little (and I have a LOT to get out!). This year I haven't removed them yet, thinking they're maybe a bit of protection from the cold and snow that keeps returning. But as soon as it's fit to work outside again, they've got to go. Can't wait for that first taste of fresh asparagus!