Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Counting signs of spring (3)


Pic 1.  Elderly house cat trying to make a break for the outside world.

He may have known that the swallows who nest in the barn arrived back this morning.  I might have let that slip.






Pic 2.  Finally!!  The hay tedder has gotten its head out of the snow bank where it has been held captive all winter.  You can just see it to the left of the hay wagon.
Pic 3.  The first crocus of spring is up, and it didn't get squashed by the bear (or very big raccoon?) who walked off with our bird feeder last night.

Bird feeder still on the missing list.


Saturday, April 4, 2015

Counting the signs, continued


 1. Banded woollybear catepillar has been on the front porch for a couple of days.  Most of that time he/she was on the welcome mat.   He/she could be older than most of the kids who have stayed with us.  We are treading carefully.

2. Summer sparrows were at the feeder yesterday.

3. The two raised beds in the front yard poked out of the snow yesterday, and are easily seen today.

4. The wild turkeys are now making semi-routine visits.

5. A big flock of something filled up the trees across the road this morning, but we don't know what they are yet.

6. Seedlings are coming along in the basement.  Germination was slow and uneven this year, possibly due to the unusually dry basement.  I don't think the problem was the seed.

7. First ladybug sighted indoors last night, in the bathroom, on the cap of my mouthwash.   Spunky lady. 

Oh, it just started snowing.   Kind of pretty, in that pretty kind of way when it is special because it won't last long.

Monday update:

On Sunday, when George and I were coming up the drive, a small group of robins arrived in a snow squall.  Seeing those spring bits of red swirling in all that white was exciting for us, but we worried about them finding food that day.   I haven't seen them since, although there is some bare ground now.

Checked around mid-day, and the tedder is still completely hidden under deep snow.   A tedder is a piece of haying equipment that spreads and fluffs cut hay, and looks like a large spider. 

I emailed George about the tedder, and he joked that maybe "it has tedded itself into hibernation and is buried ten feet below ground level."   Would hate to be around when it crawls up!