Iris heaven this spring

Ah, the outdoors!

Two for one

I was trying to capture the shelf fungus and it's little pond and discovered I also got a jack-in-the-pulpit!

Blooming finally!

Yesterday in the woods!

She never even moved!

What I didn't capture was the next moment when Willow was on the ground just behind Abbey Rose in the "let's play" posture.  Abbey finally looked at her, but still sat there unmoved by Willow's whimpering entreaties.  Both Kali and Ruby would have given Willow a merry chase.  Abbey is now 10 years old and less inclined to frolic than she once was.

Notice that green grass!  It goes with yesterday's willow tree as hopeful signs of spring.  Stayed tuned for more such signs.

Sign of hope

Springing to life is this Willow on Pleasant Lake.  As March ends, the willow branches are the first to show life and reflect hope that, yes, there really is a spring coming.

This tree has captured the imagination of many all over the world for centuries.  Here are just a few!  Poets have written about it, from Robert Herrick (To the Willow Tree) in the 17th century to William Carlos Williams (Willow Poem) in the 20th.  And for children, there is Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows, from which AA Milne took his play Toad of Toad Hall.

How we feel about a sunny day

Willow and I took a long walk on this sunny day, and as I started to flag she was still roaring to go.  Still no real green in those old grasses, but soon we hope.  Again this morning the temperature is below 20,  but it will be sunny again today!

Update on yesterday's crocus: somebody ate it last night! 

Spring?

Brrrrr! this crocus is saying.   Despite the sun, our temperatures are starting the day much below average for this time in March.  20, not 30, or even 35, which are the averages according to the Channel 8 weatherman.  So this little guy seems uncertain about opening up just yet.  Yesterday, the day time temperatures made it over freezing, but just.  But that was OK for a long walk in the woods with Willow.  Tomorrow I will show you how she is feeling about the sunny days.

early days of Spring

The swans are back in the marshes that line Coon Hollow Road.  The red branches behind the grasses are either brambles or red dogwood (osier) beginning to come alive for another season.

Big Moon Shadow

Our big moon night was a little too hazy  with thin clouds hanging around, so here it is with a shadow or two to set it off.  The night before it was dazzling, but I thought I would wait for the full-moon version.  Mistake!  First day of Spring resolution: no more camera-procrastination.

For much more intriguing shadows, visit Hey Harriet's Shadow Shot Sunday.

March is a green month, particularly on the ground

Moisture, either in the form of rain or snow and lots of it, has brought green back to our woods.  The light snow was melting quickly and turning to water almost before our eyes at the base of a tree where the moss was "blooming."    We did this walk twice yesterday so I could bring my camera the second time for close ups of these hints of spring.  However, the path up the hill facing north is still impossible to climb because of ice.

Tilling

It is ABC Wednesday again and the letter is T, in this case for tilling.  If you click on the photo, it will enlarge and you will be able to see part of the tractor's cab in the dust cloud.  This field is just across the road from the Cowling Road Bridge.  I wondered if tilling and plowing are the same.  In the American Heritage Dictionary, till, tilling is defined as preparing the land for raising crops by plowing, harrowing, cultivating, so this word encompasses anything done to prepare the soil.  Well, what soil is left if you are tilling very dry land.  This photo was taken at the end of last week before the badly needed rains came on Sunday.

Till by the way comes from the Old English, tilian, via the Middle English, tilen, and it is another one of those wonderful words that mean several things.  'Till we meet again is the shortened until and comes from Old Norse.  How much is in the till denotes the compartment for money in a store and also a purse or a supply of money,  And then it denotes glacial drift and the mixture of clay, sand, pebbles, boulders it brings with it.  And with that definition of till you are describing the land of Fabius Township. 

Happy T on ABC Wednesday everyone!   Click for more tours of T.

Amazing May

Already there has been the first haying which seems very early to me.  But now it is June and who knows what will happen next in this, oh, so very warm spring.  I tried to see if MSU (Michigan State University) had any statistics on average first haying and could not find anything.

I have been offline for two days now -- too much mowing of our own to do on Sunday and yesterday unable to get online during all the storms (we connect via satellite, one of the difficulties of rural living),

The view from the other side

Yes, we are back at the Cowling Road bridge (Fabius Towhship is bridge-deprived).   Unlike our first visit now all the leaves are out and the sun is shining, maybe a little too brightly.  We are looking southeast and if we could walk along beside the Rocky River, we and it would arrive in downtown Three Rivers.  This view of the bridge give you a glimpse of the sag developing, but isn't that something we all face? 

Across the road a farmer was plowing and cattle were grazing.  And down the road the first haying had already occurred and it is still May, one more piece of evidence for applying "spectacular" to this year's spring.  Question: how can you call it spring when the temperatures are in the high 80's?!

For more intact bridges, pleas visit Louis la Vache's Sunday Bridges from around the world. 

Oh no, please not snow!

But it sure looks like it.  It could happen, has been known to happen, for instance, during the Memorial Day Parade.   However, when you take a moment for a close look, you find you are in the presence of the Eastern Cottonwood whose seeds in their snow-like strands are floating in the breeze during the day and in early morning are settled on the ground.

Can you stand one more spring bloom?!

Yes, finally, the rhododendron are blooming out here in the country.  What can I say, except, aren't they gorgeous?!  We have had fantastic rains several times in the last couple weeks and the growth produced by those waterings is wonderful.  The iris are the best in years with four blooms to each stalk and some are doubles.  The regular peonies are just starting to pop open.  Big debate in our family about whether it take ants on the buds for them to open.

Wonderful, unless you are the one who mows the paths during the heat wave that started yesterday with temperatures of 85 as far north as Grand Rapids.  Today the local weathermen are giddy with the thought of hitting 90 in May, warmer than we ever got last July.   Already Gene is muttering about when will fall come.

Beautiful iris

(Just click on the photo to enlarge)
But I cannot remember its name!  Does it really matter?  Perhaps contemplating its beauty is the important thing to do when encountering it.  It is a wonderful optimistic color even in the rain!  Cheeky, too, sticking out its tongue at its admirers.......

the snowball bush

Here it is the latest arrival among the blooming bushes, the snowball,  and it is one of my favorites.  (Do you, Miss Giddy with Spring, have any flowering bush you do not like, you could well ask?!)  I have loved the snowball since I was a child and played round it in my grandparents' yard.  One of life's little ironies to love a plant called snowball while celebrating the absence of snow.

Peek-a-boo, I see you.

 

The Jack in the Pulpit spies the Trillium in a woods close, close to home!  Some wildflower whimsy for the letter P on ABC Wednesday. 
To peer at more P's, go to the blog:  ABC Wednesday.

After the rain -- and before

Crabapple blossoms cover the ground and nestle in a small indentation in the rock (which we just dug up when planting some ferns under the tree).  Wind and rain this weekend have almost denuded all the trees that were blooming this week, especially the crabtrees and redbud.  The honeysuckle are taking over as bloomers for this week along with the hawthorne and, lest we forget, the dogwood who are in their glory days.