Blossoms on you ...

Ahhhh cherry blossom time. This is a photograph taken by our nephew David Michael Finch. It arrived in an email from him this morning. I couldn't resist posting his beautiful photo. David lives where my David grew up - in the Similkameen Valley of BC. It is definately spring in the valley! Thanks for the blossoms David.

The greening snow

Even though we knew it was coming it was a bit of a shock to wake up to a heavy snowfall. There was at least 3 inches of snow on the ground by 8 am. A bit of shock for the birds and the sheep too - even the chickens were suitably subdued this morning. So we slogged outside and knocked the wet snow off the solar panels ... fed and watered the animals and reassured our little ewe lamb that although summers are short here - they are not as short as the one she just witnessed. It's just after 3 in the afternoon now and the snow has almost disappeared. It's still wet and cold but the hay brown grass of yesterday (in this pic) has been turned a whole shade greener courtesy of our late spring snowfall.

Thursday before dinner

April showers seem to be coming in the form of hail & snow. One moment it's a snow storm, the next hour it's warm enough to sit out on the back porch with a cup of tea while we throw the ball for the dogs. The ground is the colour of last summer's hay bales. The grass has a faint aura of green about it. All around us the meadow is a-buzz with springtime visitors ~ waterfoul and shorebirds, our resident moose and her yearling are to be spotted most mornings now grazing on the willows or wading knee deep through the water at the low spots on the hay field. We have welcomed back the blackbirds and kestrels, the mallard ducks and sandhill cranes, trumpeter swans, bluebirds, plovers, grouse, robins and Canada Geese. Along the road that leads to town we have seen marmots and black bears (two cubs and their mom just the other day) and of course deer, deer and more deer... We burned our brush piles this past weekend. We had a good cover of fresh fallen snow, an overcast sky and it was just the window of opportunity we had hoped for. This winter we (the 'royal we' for the most part) harvested our winter wood supply from the standing dead trees inside our fence line and over by the cabin. There were alot of brush piles and the resulting fires were impressive! The burn adds nutrients to the soil and rejuvenates plant growth. As a note to myself ~ The Massachusetts Audubon Society has an excellent resource on managing small grasslands for grassland birds. Life goes on apace. The sun was shining on the meadow this morning and we're expecting snow tonight. Right now it is raining and very welcome too. It's almost dinner time. Nice to have the wood stove on evenings like these ~ it's wet and cold outside and very cozy in the house.

Spring in earnest

We put the snow shovels away yesterday afternoon and brought the little ewe lamb and her mom outdoors from their winter shelter in the shop. Bella was born on March 9th. She and 'The Mrs' are doing splendidly. The little ewe is healthy and strong and the other sheep have been meeting and investigating the new arrival with great interest. The first dandelion has popped up her bright yellow head at the edge of the house under the kitchen window. We must add a little garden in that spot ~ plant some crocuses and hyacinths. . . Busy day ahead today. Rings to finish and lots of folks to touch base with in preparation for the next shipping day. It's overcast this morning and that's okay since it will be an indoor working day for both of us. We keep the camera close at hand to capture whatever wonders come into view today.

Trumpeter swans again ~ on a fly by

Four trumpeter swans made an appearance yesterday. A magnificent fly by!

Spring on the meadow

Some spring scenes... Moose on the meadow at sunrise, eyeing the hay in the hayshed. Our sunset on April 4th ... that kind of thing. out walking April 4th

Trumpeting spring

Just before sundown today, we had the magical pleasure of a visit by eight Trumpeter Swans. Without a telephoto lens we didn't get a good close up shot but here they are, just after they touched down on our flooded meadow.The Trumpeter Swan ~ a link to Environment Canada's Hinterland Who's Who ~ there is a great vintage clip on the trumpeter swan on their site. The photo here is from the website Venture North. We invited them to stay of course but after just about 20 minutes, they lit into the air and headed south west across the meadow.

Blue birds

Todays arrivals on the meadow; bluebirds, a redtailed hawk, robins, a couple of Canada Geese ... and a wicked spring storm. A flash of lightening and a great clap of thunder at about 4 oclock this afternoon was our cue to shut the power down. We don't take any chances with our power system. Our inverter caught fire one day a few years ago during a lightening storm. It was an expensive repair. With the power down and my laptop off, what to do? Reassure the dogs that the sky won't fall in, stoke up the wood stove, get dinner happening and bake a batch of cookies! I love my wood cook stove. There are challenges to living off the grid - cooking is not one of them. Okay, while I'm on the topic of cooking, I'd like to plug the world's finest kitchen knife... hand forged by Scott Richardson. He and Aki Yamamoto are the couple you'll meet at Cariboo Blades. If you need a good knife (or carving tools) this is where to find what you want. Check out Aki's artwork too. She creates the most amazing greeting cards and woodcarvings. It's Daylight Saving tomorrow and April Fools day too. Just a few weeks now till the hummingbirds return.

An otter morning

It wasn't an especially bright morning so I almost didn't bother taking the camera along on my walk and I am so glad I did. As I came up to the creek I spotted an otter at the edge of the ice. The otter didn't seem to notice or perhaps didn't mind my being there. We spent a just few minutes together before he slid off into the water and under the ice.

Spring storms and the world comes alive

From a letter to a friend in Upstate New York ... I think about your newly seeded hot pepper plants as I look out on our swiftly disappearing winter wonderland. Every glance out the window, the scene is changed. Grass and ground and great pools of water replacing what was two feet of snow just days ago. My morning walks are no longer accompanied by the crunching of snow underfoot, instead I come back with my boots muddied up to the ankles :) This is such an exciting time of year. We look forward to the sandhill cranes returning, the deer come back from grazing at lower elevations - there are a couple of does (that we are aware of) who come back every year to tend their fawns among the willows at the edge of the meadow. As soon as the snow on the meadow turns to a shallow lake of water, birds and ducks and waterfowl of every description return! The place just comes alive. We lose our winter refridgerator now too. During winter we put our fridge on the porch and unplug it. The great outdoors makes for a great walk in cooler... It saves a tremendous amount of power! But I see that I will have to look after that in the next day or so... no more free fridge. We do have a great cold room in the basement mind you... all year it is cool enough to keep vegetables and butter and cheese fresh. It won't be long before the swallows return. They like to build their nests all over our house so we have to curtail that a little or our house ends up looking like one large swallows nest by the end of summer... We do encourage them because they are the very best defense against mosquito's and they are beautiful! But I'm getting ahead of myself... a little blast of warm air and some ground appearing has me fast forwarded to summer days... Life is good. Our little Bella is getting big and strong! Growing so fast - she is already nibbling on hay and she's a very friendly, trusting little lamb. Just a sweetie... Today has a been a wild day weather wise ~ spring has firmly planted itself around the meadow. The creek has appeared, the trees are green again and we had a wicked hail storm this afternoon combined with some good cracks of thunder and flashes of lightening. This is our front porch littered with hail stones today.

Still winter in this neck of the woods

A couple of pics from our latest trip to town... It's still winter in this neck of the woods. Our resident moose posed for us on our way up the hill - her young'un was not so keen to be photographed and took off to hide in the bushes. Our good news ~ 'The Mrs' gave birth to a healthy ewe lamb on March 9th. We've named her 'Bella' since she was born on Isabella's birthday. Here she is just 15 minutes old with her 'very good' Mom. The Mrs is a natural; patient and calm. This next pic is Bella at about 30 hours... we moved the two of them into a makeshift shelter in the shop where they'll stay for a week or two till it warms up a bit outside. The shop has a wood heater and a big bright window ... life is good.