More snow coming..............

I got a couple of visitors today, they have been rather shy this Winter. I saw Mr Cardinal back on the shed at the end of the garden just before he came to the feeder.

They are obviously a pair and we usually do have at least a couple of nesting Cardinals around. Unfortunately the cats have to put them off a bit. I wish the cats would stay inside. They get out as often as they can sneak off. Thing is if they stay inside they are just such a pest and get on my nerves.


The birds will soon be moulting and when they do they look just terrible. Right now they must be nesting.
Mrs was down at the pond. I suspect taking a bath. There is a rock protruding and I am pretty sure she was on that unless she was swimming haha. I know they do go there for a drink so do the squirrels.

I took a walk around this afternoon in the sun. Bodi has trouble walking now so I had taken her down for a sniff around. She doesn't go far. Poor girl I am pretty sure she is on borrowed time and I dread that. She is such a sweetheart. Anyway, some buds popping through and the tulips were chewed off last time a looked. They have grown just a little since then but one can see that they are minus the tops. In fact I cant tell now if they are Tulips or Hosta's

In another garden there are some Hyacinths popping up.

All these will be sorry because this weekend is forecast snow again. I was hoping we were done with that but nope. More on the way.
I could see the Snowdrops tight buds, stay tight little Snowdrops, you need to stay warm.

I wonder if Mrs Cardinal noticed Boots taking a nap in the sunshine by the pond?

Well it wasn't warm for long and it was very soon after this that she came back inside. Neither one of the cats want to stay outside for long, but the sun was warm so Boots could not resist.

Spring? Is it really?...

My Garden journal is very boring in the winter. There is not a whole lot to say, same ol' same ol' snow snow snow.......well it is melting very slowly. So if we don't get anymore before next week when it is supposed to get up into the 40s again........maybe we will see some progress. I have the rakes out and the sun is out. That's about it. I am thinking of getting some seeds this weekend. Maybe some Basil and Parsley or Rosemary. It did not do well in the house when I brought it inside last Fall but who knows. It is supposed to be able to grow inside. Maybe Garden Goods has some fresh herbs? If I can persuade Gerry to look with me this weekend I will buy some if I see some. I know he would get some tomatoes if they had some.
Anyway..........for our anniversary he got me a nice little Daffodil. That will go in the garden when I can get it in.

Justin and Carry bought me some cut Tulips that are pretty. I prefer live ones that I can plant but these are really pretty.


I love Spring flowers, especially when they smell so good. I usually get a Hyacinth or two just for the perfume. Then they go in the garden. I always forget in the Fall when I am done with gardening, tired of it by the time everything is dead and wilted. This Spring clean up will be a mess because we never got a good chance to clean up last Fall. Inside, I need to replace some of my African Violets that are reaching the end of their lives. They do so well in that front window. They bloom all year

Meanwhile I do have to say I enjoy my fake flowers as much as any in the house and they are way less trouble. I will be looking at thrift shops for more to replace some of my real ones. Not sure I will bother bringing them in again next year.
I have bought some lovely beaded Violets from Craftymoose who does such a great job on them.



I have also bought plant stakes to go in the ones that are only really leaves, no flowers. I put those in outside plants come summer and they do not fade, and have never broken. I love her work. Do you see the little bee's in the next picture?

This year my garden will be picked over if I can get to it more often.I will pull stuff out and spread things around. I can not afford to buy a bunch of stuff like I usually do. Every year I must cut back more on spending. We want to retire, well Gerry does anyway and it is time I think. Maybe I can get him to do more around here haha.
I will have to put my money into mulch and Dairy Doo. I do need to finish the fence on the front side then that's finished.
So maybe next week I can make a start. The quicker the better before it gets hot and I won't want to be out there. I can not wait.

March Madness ..................

To snow or not to snow that is the question. One day it snows for 3 days and then the sun comes out for a couple and starts the melting process..........then it snows again. We gave up on the predictions of the Ground Hog long ago, that guy knows nothing.
I went out to see if there was any sign of life out there. A lot of snow has gone but, a lot remains and that is mainly ice now.

There are actually Hosta popping through but no Snowdrops. If I could get the rake out and move some of the Autumn leaves I think we would see them popping through. Right now they would have to fight their way through. It's probably as well I didn't uncover them because it snowed again. Today was sunny. Enough to drive us nuts, the temps will be under 40 the rest of the week. so.............when the deck clears of ice I will get back out there. The first thing I should do is work on the front porch. I need to put away the Christmas stuff. It is looking jut a bit out of place now.
So by the side of the garden by Buds I had said there was a lot of Rabbit poop. I hope it's good fertilizer. I hope J McGavin does not mind me borrowing their picture.

The Holly is looking pretty, I took a picture just because.

Finally some Finches came in to my feeder, maybe there is hope yet. This year has been bleak when it comes to birds. These yellow finches posed very nicely

They sat on the old Christmas decorations and looked so pretty.


It was so good to finally see a few old friends, when they came in the a Nuthatch showed up.


So there we go, a few birds at last and even one lone Starling made the effort. There's been a Cardinal come every evening but he doesn't go up on the feeder so I don't usually see him until he has spotted me and took off. Sometimes its getting dark so its not easy to take a picture anyway.

So there is hope yet. I am keeping my camera ready and my eyes open.
Sharing with Make it Pretty Monday at the Dedicated House

Stranger in Town................

Today we had a Red Winged Blackbird stop by. It did not stop at the feeder though. It was pure luck that I saw him/her. I think it was a male. At the same time I could hear a woodpecker doing his thing. It had to have been a very large one as it was very dramatic sounding. I could not see it, I went and got the camera and did get a couple of the Red Wing.

When we are out in the fields it is not very often that they stay still long enough to catch a picture. I think I may have got a couple over the years but not many.


So anyway, that was our visitor today. It would be lovely to see them in town. Not our usual visitors.
When I was putting out food today I put out some bread. A Seagull flew over right above, but did not circle back and I am pretty sure it saw the food. Maybe the wing span was too large to get down here? Besides that I bet Bud next door would have a hissy fit if Seagulls begin to come in haha. I would enjoy it but poor Bud he does not like my wildlife.
As the snow melts you should see the Bunny poop in the garden. At least its my side of the fence. It has to be good fertilizer there is that. I just wish I could see the Bunnies. They come on the deck at night. It's hard to get pictures when its semi dark. One year I was sitting on the steps and there were some baby bunnies eating bird seed around my feet, I would love to have one as a pet. I left them alone though. So sweet.

When Gabby and I went out on Friday, there were a whole bunch of Crows in the trees. Gabby forgot something so we had to turn around and go back so while I was waiting I was able to get a picture.

I do hope they stay around. I loved having the Crows come in to my garden and have missed them this past two Winters. I tried to get a closer look but the picture was not clear. This bunch of Crows were quite small individuals. I am used to Crows being bigger but these were a couple of houses away. The more I look at the picture I wonder if they were Grackles, they did not shine like Grackles do so I am not sure now. The eyes do not look like Grackles either.

I have walked around the garden but no shoots up just yet. It is only March so I can't expect too much I suppose. We can still get some heavy storms yet. Meanwhile I am trying to get outside as often as possible. I wanted Gerry to find me a rake but he says its too cold yet. Bah Humbug, I will have to try to find it myself. I can rake what I can rake a little at a time. I crave the outside air. The snow is melting a little at a time and even though we will get more I want to do what I can out there so it's not so overwhelming when it does get warmer.