Spring, can it be?.......

Well it did snow today but it has gone now at the end of the day. The icey snow piles have dwindled somewhat and about time too. Tomorrow promises to be sunny the weatherman says.
Meanwhile, some of my Spring flowers are popping their heads up only slightly mind.


Even the daffodils are reluctant and who can blame them.

My pond has been cleaned of surface debri but still needs a good clean out. We have both fish. They survived the winter. I hope that they will do well all summer.


The birds are still coming to the feeders. This little finch was singing so sweet.





The rain was nice. It looked nice on the pine trees.

The rain drops were so fresh hanging on the pines like diamonds.

April Showers.......

Is it April?
The sky is grey
A Winters day
No....it's really April

The sky is blue
It snowing too
Yes it is....it's April?.

The sun comes out
but don't cast a clout
It really is only April.
JKS 2013



WE IS WAITING FOR SPRING........WHAT HAPPENED.?



I am sharing with Create with Joy.....Inspire me Monday
also with A Dedicated House, Make it Pretty Monday

Snowdrops.............

I saw the snowdrops peeping through
The sun is out and the sky is blue.
Snow drifts shrink before the sun
The lovely month of April has come.



The Pansies heads are drooping down
But will gather strength as the sun hits the ground.
The birds are singing with full heart
As the watch Winters veil depart


Oh the joy of seeing the garden again
It's been buried since? I don't know when.
Little buds push through the earth
Spring.....the season of rebirth.

JKS 2013

A new Spring poem I wrote after looking at my garden yesterday..................
Linking up with Make the Scene Monday at Alderberry Hill.
Also with Inspire me Monday

Poor Robins.........

I am sure its not unusual but I have never had a Robin at a bird feeder. They eat worms and grubs and berries and fruit in the Fall. Well I saw my first Robin of the Spring in my bird feeder last week. Thursday to be precise, I was on my way to the dentist. The lady there said she had two at her feeder. The poor things must be desperate



When I got home I put out some dried fruit and there are nuts in my bird feed as well as corn and sunflowers etc. I have not seen the Robin since. We have several foot of snow still before they can get to grass.



The Robin looks healthy enough though. I know there are plenty of fields outside of town that have been swept clear by the winds. So maybe he went off looking for better grub.


As you will see in the next picture taken by the photographers for the Glen Arbor web site..........the field is clear of snow and there are at least 125 deer feeding there. They know its not hunting season. So maybe my Robin heard of this?


Meanwhile my garden has snow up to the height of the fences and until it warms up a bit and the sun comes out that's not going to change very soon.

Celtic Spring..........

February 1st Saint Brigids Day........... one of the four quarter days of the pagan year, which marked the beginning of spring and lambing.
In England (unlike Michigan) the Spring comes early. This is the time of Snowdrops and early Spring flowers.



I miss England the most in the Springtime. Its the best time of the year. I even love the rain. We don't really get "showers" here either. You know, those bursts of rain that lasts a few moments and then the sun comes out again. Ours lasts for days it seems.

Violets are one of my favourite flowers. I have a lot of memories tied up in Violets. My Grandmothers name was Violet and my Mothers middle name. I don't think that had much to do with it though. They have a wonderful scent and are just plain pretty.


St Brigid Born in Ireland in the year 450 to parents who had been baptized by Saint Patrick, Brigid even as a child showed interest in the religious life. Brigid was the daughter of an Irish chieftan; her mother, Brocca, had been a slave at his court.
She was known for her kindness and strength. Read about her in the link.
Celtic Spring.....the Druids, the Henges......Pagan Britain. You have a feel of that in Springtime




The Spring time a new beginning.




How cheerful those Spring flowers, a hope for things to come............

Linking with

A Slow start.......................

Well here we are in April and its a very slow start to Spring. The flowers are reluctant to come out. I think that having been fooled once with 80 degrees and then having snow dumped on them.....well I suppose I would not be eager to repeat the performance either. No daffodils so far this year. The only ones blooming are the mini ones, probably because they are close to the ground. Out front one lonely daffodil is showing itself. I hope the others decide to come out, maybe that one is the scout?


The only reason I have tulips out is because I bought some in a pot from the store. Oh and one shy one hiding under the Holly bush.


The Primroses are also reluctant, and are making a very poor showing. The yellow is doing OK but only one flower on the red. Just not right is it.


Well blue is better, the Periwinkle and Violets are doing well enough. Even they are late.


The wild flowers are even reluctant and the Trillium's not even making a showing. So what's left? That is it for now. Hope it will soon warm up and I will have something worthwhile to show on my blog.

Well is it Spring or not?............

There was a few weeks of really hot weather, followed by a huge snow storm. Then it was cool for a time and now it's beginning to warm up again. So what are we to think? Should I or should I not start to get the garden sorted out? Thing have popped through and sort of just sat there wondering if they should come any further? We have had some good frosts so its still a bit iffy. Of course here in Michigan, and Northern Michigan at that, we can not really feel safe until after the end of May. So they say. I generally take a chance during April if the weather seems like it will stay reasonably warmish. So...........I did go and buy some pansies. They love the cooler weather so I am thinking I will make a start with those and put them in containers so they can be moved to a shady spot once it does get hot. They don't like the heat at all.
I found these primroses out in the front garden. Those in the back are not up yet.


Some of my little wildflowers are making a showing but not the Trillium just yet.


The Quince is blooming out front as well but nothing on the back one. That is further in the shade. One of my favourite shrubs because it makes me remember the Japanese Quince that would grow up my dad's garden shed.



Some other Spring flowers are making a show but they look weak, they lack strength. Not that I blame them they need some warm rain. It has been drizzling today but they need a down pour, a soaking rain. Then some sun and they will all liven up.


My regular Daffodils have not popped yet but maybe because they are closer to the ground these mini's are up and proud. So they should be, sweet little things.

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)

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.

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

March Winds.........................................

March Winds, April showers, bring forth May flowers.
It's the same every year and it is a comfort to know that sure as Winter follows Autumn ...Spring will soon come again. I always feel so bad when I see little critters dead on the road in the Springtime. They have made it all through those lean winter months only to loose their little life in the Spring when things will get better for them.
Here in Michigan the saying is "In like a Lion out like a lamb" so we hope for an early Spring when March comes in with snow storms. This year I just don't know. Its not been a normal winter and so can we hope for a normal Spring?
In England it is my favourite time of year. Lambs and blossoms. Everything gets green and beautiful the Spring flowers in abundance in the fields and hedgerows. I miss that so much.
Our Spring in Michigan does not really begin so early as it does there. We have a couple of months yet before we see real blooms like Daffodils and Hyacinth. I know that in English gardens they have flowers already. Blossoms too and the lambs................

The lambing time is special to me because I remember when we would have the babies who had been abandoned by their mama's. Mrs Dryden would make a bed by the electric fire and we would get to feed them the bottle. To teach them to suck one would let them suck a finger with milk on it until they got the idea, then insert the nipple from the bottle. It was a strange feeling holding the little creatures with their little hooves, they were the size of a small dog but the little feet were hard. Their wool was tight and soft. They soon grew strong enough to join the rest of the sheep.
Gathering Catkins and Pussy Willow for our mums, probably the first things we could gather to bring home.