One Day Closer (Pt 2!)

All right ~ it's still winter, i get it ~ and yessss, the snow is pretty. Great. Now it can go away!

 Last evening...

A few shots of the yard this morning ~ gotta try out the new camera! 

So, all right, Mother Nature, it's the month of my birth, the month of Spring ~ time to ACT like it!

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like.....MARCH?!

i love my job! I'm wrong most of the time, and i'm still well paid. i can make errors weekly, even daily, and nobody cares! Oh, wait, that's not me - that's our weather forecasters! (Although it COULD describe my General Manager at work....but i digress..).

 i've been looking forward to the seed swap tomorrow, so three days ago they were telling us we would get about an inch of snow today and it would be partly sunny tomorrow. Well, it ain't working out QUITE the way they predicted - it has snowed 4-5 inches today alone, and it's showing no signs of stopping! Then the weather folks are getting sneaky lately - they won't say, "This storm may generate 6-8 inches of snow". No, NOW they tell us, "It should snow 1-2 inches.....today. THEN 2-3 inches.....overnight. THEN 1-2 inches.....tomorrow morning"! If you're not listening very closely you'll end up VERY surprised!

At least the days are longer - the landscape lights are starting to come on before it gets dark!

i was shoveling this evening with a Robin complaining to me from the crabapple tree - didn't i just mention Robins coming in just before a big storm? Don't worry - a little snowstorm won't stop ME from a seed swap! Maybe it will deter all but us diehard gardeners...

Another Winter Walk In The Garden

Soon to be turning into Spring walks, I hope! About 7 more inches a few days ago, but i (WE- Crickit had to go out, too!) had to get out in the sunshine for awhile.

Crickit hanging out in the garden by the coldframe

The elephant is nearly invisible (more about him later).

We've had a decent winter - this was the biggest amount of snow all winter, it's been consistantly cold, but not bitterly cold - still, we need a short thaw, at least - this has been the longest the pond's been frozen over for years! Hope the fish are surviving!

Crickit doesn't seem to want to come inside yet!

Animal Abuse (With Love...)

Our two pet cats, Crickit and Skeeter, are indoor/outdoor cats, but they only are allowed out when one of us are also out. AND they have been trained to stay in the yard (Seriously!). We do have a 6 ft privacy fence around 80% of our backyard, so it wasn't as difficult as it sounds, but still, they are very good and don't try to climb the fence or get out. They DO chase bunnies, but stop when i yell at them, amazingly. So they don't wander, but they cannot be described as strictly housecats, either. Crickit's my garden buddy, she wants to be out as much as i do, but Skeeter- not so much! If it's cold or windy or wet, she's happy to sit in her window and look out at the weather. Of course, they do not go out at all in the winter months, but they(especially Crickit) don't understand why they can't go out, if it's sunny and they're warm INside, and commence to sit by the door, crying.So i remind them why they can't. Once a year, generally during one of our biggest snows, they get tossed into a snowdrift!

Crickit negotiating her way out

 It's also a reminder about how good they've got it, in case they've forgotten why these mean humans are holding them hostage in the house. It works - i don't hear any complaints from them for weeks! It's not total abuse - Crickit just sits there for a minute, gives me an "Are you nuts?!" look, then slowly (like it didn't bother her all that much) walks to the back door, shaking the snow off her paws.

All that's left of her ordeal