Lately

It has been unseasonably warm around here lately. We went for an entire week without lighting a fire in the woodstove. We did still have to use our central heating, but it was *just* warm enough that a fire would get the house too hot too quickly. I missed having a fire. Which is why I was happy for the rain and wind today.

I have finally put the last remnants of Christmas away, and even did a fair amount of organizing in my office/catchall room over the weekend. Somehow it is so much easier to relax and breathe when there isn't a massive mess hanging above ones' head (literally... the office is upstairs).

I also had my hair cut for the first time since July, and had someone out to tune and assess repair needs for my piano for the first time in probably 20 years... there were a few moments of thinking it was going to fall apart under the tuner's hands. What relief when it was discovered that there was a row of loose screws that tightened things back up nicely.

We are tentatively holding onto good health, with just a little sniffle or sore throat here and there. After our November full of doctor's appointments, I'll take a normal old head cold any day. The warmer days aren't helping in the health department though; along with way-too-early blooming flowers and bugs galore, there have also been a corresponding blooming of allergy symptoms. I'm praying for a good cold snap to settle everything down again. You East-coasters can feel free to blow some of that snow our way any time. Our landscape is very confused.

I have fun things to announce and show later this week (fingers crossed), so stay tuned!

Winter Branches :: Fluffy :: Dew Drops :: Out of Tune :: Kitty Love :: Hello, Son :: Match Made in Heaven :: Woodsy :: Stacked :: Elsa's Head Fell Off :: Forest Floor :: Spider Lace :: Mossy :: Blue :: A New Skill :: They Don't Look Angry to Me :: Bubbles :: Beams :: Buds :: Peek-a-Boo :: George and the Too Early Blooms :: Perch :: Look Closely :: Nearly Finished

Springing

I don't know about where you live, but the late Winter weather is always unstable and random around here. Warm sun, hail, wind, fog, snow, rain, sometimes all in the same day, and sometimes multiple times in the same day. As if two weather siblings were squabbling for supremacy.

And I suppose in a way, they are.

Winter vs. Spring, who will win?

On any given day, its hard to tell, but once those first buds start to form, the changing of the seasons appears more and more sure. The hardy blossoms of early flowers seem to take it all in stride. The ground yields willingly to shovel and tiller, happy to be waking from a long rest.

Saturday morning, as we climbed into the car for a long drive to Grandma's memorial service, we saw Swallows for the first time this year. We always look for them to show their fleet forms by the end of March, but it felt like a sweet comfort to see not one, but six of them looping right over our heads and calling their glad tidings to us... Spring is nearly here!... on a day of such deep contemplation.

Grape Hyacinth :: Digging In :: Daylilies :: Plum Blossoms :: Crocus :: Daffodil Kitty :: Lilac :: Forsythia :: Purr :: Violet's Snowy Blanket :: Frolic :: Therapy :: Pollen :: Red Pond :: Looking In :: Baby Chicks :: Chrp Chrp :: Grandma's Legacy

Flotsam

In which I display a bunch of random, unrelated photos because I like them but don't want to give them each a separate post...

There you have it, a glimpse of our Summer, which is fading away much too quickly. I keep trying to grab onto what's left... if anyone has mastered that particular trick, please don't hesitate to tell me how.