Are We Walking to Alaska

Are We Walking to Alaska
Are We Walking to Alaska - A True Story

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Second Day of Spring

The first day of spring was wet and windy and cold - so I waited until the second day of spring to show you my photos.  It was an amazing day - predicted rain but we had brilliant sunshine - glorious sunshine. I even ventured out onto the deck to get some photos.  


First I put up my nautical hanging - it bangs around too much in the winter winds - so it has to live indoors for the winter.
  

The Oso Berry Bushes are blooming - they are the first to bloom in the woods, before the bigger trees get their leaves and block out the sun.


A close up of the Oso Berry bush that grows between the back of our house and the neighbor's house.  There is little purple-ish fruit that the birds love to eat - and apparently so do bears, judging from the name of the bush.


The honeysuckle that we planted around the edge of our deck has climbed up and it peeking over the edge of the deck railing,.  It will have to be trimmed soon - it is supposed to stay down near the ground and cover the bottom of the deck.


A rock with fossils - this was found on  mountain at about 4,000 feet.

Every spring something green grows in among the fossils.  This spring it is a lovely green moss.

The primroses are blooming



Pansies in pansy planters 
  

 New leaves on  the rose bushes in  planters on the deck


The view into the trees across the street from our deck.  Soon we will  need to call our lawn mowing boy

Rocks in a bowl on the deck, in water.  You can see the blue sky reflected in the rain water.

Violas in the deck railing planters



Then this afternoon, in the sunshine, we are off  on a ride.  At the end of our street are some miniature daffodils.  Luckily the deer don't eat daffodils.


The fields of raspberry canes are trimmed and tied over to the wires.  By bending the vines over, it makes them produce more sprouts along the vine, and then more berries.  We see miles and miles of these fields in our area.

The forsythia is in full bloom in some spots - see the bright blue sky.


And along the road, in some swampy areas - Skunk Cabbage.  I love the scent. Growing up in Southeast Alaska, where Skunk Cabbage was our first spring flower, I didn't  know that it was supposed to smell bad, and I grew up loving it.

And then - the wind picked up - the skies clouded over - and it SNOWED. 


The blur is the snow blowing around as we drove home.  It was coming down fast, in sheets.

The wind was swirling the snow around - cars were driving slow because of it as we headed home.  Fortunately the roads are warm, so it won't stick.  But the temperature went from 52 degrees and sunny when we left home,  to 35 and snow by the time we got back in the house.  It was an interesting second day of spring.


I tried to capture some snow flakes on the windshield after we got home - the car was so warm they melted fast. You can see a couple of them - they are the white spots that haven't melted..

What? Snow?  Yes!  This is the snow that "stuck" on the edge of our driveway, it was melting fast - thank goodness.

They are predicting sunny and partly sunny for the next 10 days - after we get a little more snow tonight - I hope they are right, I'm ready for spring - real spring - how about you?




7 comments:

Karen @ Beatrice Euphemie said...

Oh yes, very ready! Beautiful photos of all your Spring lovelies! That fossil rock is amazing! I love your pansy planters and the beautiful yellow skunk cabbage, forsythia, and daffodils. To me, yellow is the color of Spring! Crazy weather today. We didn't have the beautiful sunshine, just snow flurries and very cold. Loved to see your pretty signs of Spring!

Hugs,

Karen

The Weaver of Grass said...

Ready for spring is an understatement JoAnn. Our whole country is under a dense blanket of snow - some places have up to 40 centimetres - here we have about ten and it is still snowing and a fierce easterly wind blowing.

Pamela Gordon said...

That is typical March weather for most isn't it? Beautiful photos of all the spring blooming things. I love the forsythia. I have never seen raspberry canes tied in that way. Very interesting. Blessings, Pamela

eileeninmd said...

Beautiful flowers and photos! Our weather has been cold, sometimes sunny sometimes raining. I am eagerly waiting to see some blooms here. Lovely post!

Vane M. said...

Lindo florescer, mas fiquei mesmo encantada com as pedras de madressilva, que beleza. Beijos!

Love Bears All Things said...

Lovely signs of Spring...I like the fossil, too.
Mama Bear

Ailime said...

Belíssimas, fantásticas fotos que nos anunciam a Primavera!Além das flroes adrei os fósseis e não conhecia os caules de framboesas. Maravilhoso "post"! Obrigada. Abraço. Ailime