Blossom Time............

Well since we got snow after our 80+ degrees weather, I am having to find pictures rather than taking them. Soon I will get out and about but for now, our buds being closed, I am taking pictures off Photobucket.

Maybe this will put me back in the mood for Spring. I want to go and get my pansies today.




I will enjoy looking in Garden Goods in any case because they have a lovely shop.
I did see that the Quince is out in a few gardens but not yet in mine. It's too cold to go walking around with my camera so lets pretend.........


The blossom is out downtown as well, but its white and this is a Pink post.


Linking up with "How Sweet The Sound"

For Pink Saturday.

I am also linking with Ms Burrito at "My Pink"






The sun was warm but the wind was chill.
You know how it is with an April day
When the sun is out and the wind is still,
You're one month on in the middle of May.
But if you so much as dare to speak,
A cloud comes over the sunlit arch,
A wind comes off a frozen peak,
And you're two months back in the middle of March.

Robert Frost (1874–1963)

Cleaning out the Pond..............

The pond was clogged up with a lot of leaves. It smelled horrible. This year with hardly any snow the pond did not freeze as it usually does. Normally we have a heater that keeps it a little open but we had no need of that. Well the only two surviving fish died. Poor things. I always feel sad when they die. We now need to scrub the pond out well and put in fresh water. Get it at the right level for survival and anti chloride it. Although other people say that does not bother their fish, it has always seemed to bother ours. This year I want the pond to be a happy place and for the fish to have a good chance to survive. I will buy bigger ones to start off with I think. Here is Tristen helping Granddad.

I think I will go out to the fish place and ask some questions. I can not afford to have them come and set it up or I would do that. We go to Waterscapes Unlimited in Lake Ann, Mi. Its great for an afternoon out just browsing around their gardens, streams and ponds. Then always, the feeding of the Coy. This year I must get the pond at the right Ph levels. It only very small but intil we get this one right I can not really put in a larger one.
Here is the pond looking pretty.

Spring again...........

The end of March will soon be gone
April enters with birds song.
Flowers open to gentle rain
All the gardens bloom again.
Spring is here the Robin sings
Larks sweet call in meadow rings
Blossoms in the hedgerows bloom
where birds will be nesting soon
All is fresh and all is new
The sky a most heavenly blue.
Children in the parks now play
So it's Spring in every way.
JKS 2012


Mini Daffodils and Forsythia in my garden yesterday.
So good to see things growing and its still only March.

A Walk in the Woods in March..............

Today we went for a short walk in the woods. It was 85 degrees. At the trail head was a pile of snow from the parking lot. Strange weather. This is July weather for Michigan, not March. We were hot!!!!I took my camera but there was not a lot going on. The leaves are barely budding so not a lot of shade. The streams are a trickle rather than the bubbling brooks that there were the last time we were there.S till it was great just to be outside in fresh air. Two weeks ago we had the biggest storm in memory. Trees down all over and still sitting awaiting pick up by the side of the roads. We had just left the Cedar swamp area when we heard a big crack and the crashing of branches coming down..........so its not really safe out there just yet. Next time we will stay on the well used paths instead of going back into the woods so far.



Husband Gerry, Daughter Laura (Grandma to Tristen) Tristen (my great grandson) and me.............nice walk in March. Can't be better than that. Think we may pay for it later but hey, I am not in control of the weather so I will enjoy it where I can.

Spring has sprung.......

Well its official, Spring has sprung. We saw our first close up of a Robin today. We had heard them and seen them from afar but these two were looking for worms. They were also courting. So........soon be nesting time.







Its good to see the snow melting and the grass getting green. I will be looking for the crocus and snowdrops any day now. It is still March so with such a mild winter, I wonder what the Spring will be like.
Here is a Starling who was hanging out with the Robins. Look at that wicked beak.


They are so pretty, why are they so disliked? Must be the personality. I know we had a female nest in our eaves. What a ruckus. They were so noisy and we could not remove the nest until the babies had left and by then she was having a 2nd batch. We did, in the end manage to remove and seal the end of the eaves up so she was thwarted. The previous year she had nested all summer and must have produced her own flock. They don't come around much anymore. She must have found a better nesting place.
I also took a picture of a Downey Woodpecker who was drumming on the electric pole

Its a wonder he didn't bend his beak

I did this post on the 14th and today is 15th and here are the snowdrops.

Amazing how a days sunshine can just pop things out like that.

The Robins are Home..................

One of the first signs of Spring here in Northern Michigan is the sound of the Robin. Then the first sighting. People will always tell you "I saw my first Robin today" then you know that the end of Winter is in sight. Today I heard my first and saw him sitting in the top of a tree. He was singing his heart out but was out of camera range. I had to borrow pictures from the web and photobucket.



The Robins leave us in the north and go south for a warmer winter. My sister in law says they see them in Florida so maybe those are our northern birds. Well they are back.......it has been raining all day today so the snow is getting washed away. Soon they will be looking for worms. Goodness knows what they eat before the ground thaws, although they do eat berries and we have enough of those left over.


Robins nest in some unusual places. One nests in my friend Jo's wreath on her garage door. Probably a good job they don't open that door. We have had 3 nests on our front porch, in the vines. One year we had a very fussy Robin who made a fuss and left everytime someone went to get the mail. I think she eventually left the nest. Usually though they come and go ignoring us. I do not make eye contact, I pretend they are not there and they do the same. Mr Robin will sit on a nearby tree and wait for me to leave before bringing in some food. That can be inconvenient when I want to clean the porch.
I will take pictures of them as I can but for now I think I found some nice representations. Who ever took the pictures thank you for sharing them.

Linking up with Camera Critters Meme

Fairy Queen............

A Midsummer Nights Dream.......excerpt.

Over hill, over dale,
Thorough bush, thorough brier,
Over park, over pale,
Thorough flood, thorough fire,
I do wander everywhere,
Swifter than the moon's sphere;
And I serve the fairy queen,
To dew her orbs upon the green.
The cowslips tall her pensioners be:
In their gold coats spots you see;
Those be rubies, fairy favours,
In those freckles live their savours:
I must go seek some dewdrops here
And hang a pearl in every cowslip's ear.
Farewell, thou lob of spirits; I'll be gone:
Our queen and all our elves come here anon.


Shakespeare

Snowdrops.............a harbringer of Spring.

Some of the first flowers of Spring are the Snowdrops. They are as pure as the fresh snow and just as beautiful.


When I see the first small blooms I know that Spring is not so far behind.

Little bells..............
The first brave buds slip through the snow
Little white flowers the first to grow.
Small they are but sturdy stock
Little bells like fairy frock.
JKS2012

March Blusters in.................

March Blusters in.....

Blustery days of March begins
Clearing out the old dead things
old broken branches crash to the ground
Making such a fearful sound.
Gusts blast through to clean the land
Swept by God's almighty hand
The hedgerows need a clean up too
To make way for all things new
Soon the birds will start to nest
They will need a place to rest.
Fields shall get a windy blast
So that Spring can come at last.
March winds bring the cleaning showers
To make way for the pretty flowers
God will send each thing we need
Winds and rain will quicken the seed
The trees will soon begin to bloom
Once the winds have made the room
Howing winds and storm filled ways
Give way soon to sun filled days
JKS 2012

Did I say March Winds?...........

Well I was talking about March winds a couple of posts down. Last night we got a doozy of a snow storm. Thunder snow and all.
We knew it was coming but that's not unusual for March. Even though this has probably been the mildest winter that I remember here in Northern Michigan, we knew we would still get some weather before we really got Spring. So we went to bed last night with lightening and heavy snow, that's pretty cool if you have never experienced it. The snow was very wet and heavy and so the wires and trees were pretty weighed down. We saw a few flashes then some strange very loud cracks. I thought that is was very weird sounding thunder but it was right after the flashes. Coincidence? Probably because I had just started to drift off to sleep when the penny dropped .......tree limbs breaking. Branches falling. I looked out the window but could not see anything but got up anyway, nothing out back. Got back in bed, more cracks......I looked out front and holy Christmas, the big old oak tree had dropped a big branch. I continued to watch as a few more branches came down. Then I started to wonder about the rest of the tree. The Oaks are very old. Bits come down all the time but they are still worth keeping as long as we can. They are not ours anyway they are city trees. Well, I came downstairs to try to assess the situation seeing as how my husband was not concerned. Looking out front I could see it was really windy and that old Oak was straining to hold on to its branches. One came down next door from another tree and then another. Poor Bud's little tree in his front yard was demolished. My Apple tree was now bent over double from the weight of the snow. Bud's beautiful little Red Maple was split in two. I looked out the back door and the tree over by the road was so bent over it was staring me in the face when I opened the door. Well I decided that if the trees came down we would still be OK so I went to bed.
I awoke around 6am when I heard noise outside...............on 9th street the plough was trying to move some branches from the road. I got up and went down. I looked out the back and this was one of the things I saw

The road crew got there soon after that.

this was the other thing that caught my attention. By now they were busy with the blocked road and that poor pine tree

I put on shoes and a cardigan and still in my nightdress I went out the front. It was knee deep snow and a bit nippy. Still windy but I wanted some pictures before anyone started to clean up.

It was hard to get around the fallen archway and vines but I did, and got to the front. Thank goodness no one saw me out in a thin nightdress and no boots. I was on a mission. The side by Oak street, that tree had lost some branches but I wish the whole thing had gone because its a horrible tree that is just about done for anyway.


Most of the debri fell on Buds front lawn, it knocked down his small tree and the little one was so heavy with snow it broke in half.


That blob is my archway and vine...............hmmmm will that survive?

Meanwhile the work crew are cutting up the tree that was blocking the road. They did a good job and got the road clear in good time.



However we were put on notice that it was to be a local State of Emergency and everyone was to stay off the roads until further notice. Not a problem, we had stocked up with what we needed to stay home today.


So today Gerry had to clean up too.