We're seeing spring colors...

The trees are leafing out...and in town the crab apple trees are blooming.  The pink blossoms are so beautiful and such wonderful eye candy after a long winter season.  In my yard, all the trees are either leafed out, or are showing green buds that are quickly emerging.  Some green fields are showing up in the valley.  Farmers are busy planting.

The bees have found the yellow blooms on the Caragana shrubs.  It seems theses blossoms arrived instantly, the moment the rain stopped and the sun began to shine.

Wet and dreary

Sunday was nothing but gray skies and rain.  And in the early morning hours, snow covered the grasses.  However, that soon melted.  I've got puddles in the driveway - yea!

I happened to have three logs of dry wood left in the wood box, and it felt mighty good to put them in the wood stove for a warm fire; the house heated up nicely.  Ahh...it felt cozy.

Cozy enough to want to cuddle up with some knitting.

The dragonfly sock #1 is coming along...I'm finally past the gusset and am moving toward the toe.  I'm continuing the lacy pattern down the top of the foot, which I think looks so pretty.  The color changes in the yarn don't really show off the dragonfly pattern as nicely as a solid color, but it looks nice just the same.

 Rain in the high plains...and yarn running through fingers - both are welcomed!

Gettin' green

In the area around my pine tree where it got some deep fertilizing, the grass is green and lush (well, as lush as it gets around here!).  Looks like it may be about time to fire up the ol' lawn mower.  Although Peter Cottontail has been out helping by nibbling down some of the growth. 

And then I saw that the Columbine is getting ready to shoot up a spring bloom.  I love the delicate look of the Columbine; it's definitely one of my favorite flowers.  I'm looking forward to seeing this year's blossoms.  Hmmm, appears I need to do a little raking as well.

It's a stretch

I think Peter Cottontail has been huddled in a ball all winter, and it must feel really good to finally stretch out in the warmth of a little sunshine. 

More leaves are stretching upward toward the warmth of the sun's spring rays.  These leaves are early.  By nearly a month.  So far they are surviving the very cool evenings.  The weather forecasts predict that we may not be dipping below 30 degrees as we move through April; I hope that's true.  Leaves on a branch of one of my aspens also leaved out in APRIL.  Seems like a stretch...

The mountains are still covered in snow.  Makes for a beautiful sight, as it helps define the foothills from the highest, rugged mountain peaks.   Will we get more spring storms to help fill the reservoirs?  Hope so.  Might be a stretch.

A Sunday drive

I like to make a trek to The Sinks when the spring run-off is in full swing, but I made the drive with a friend over the weekend, and we saw that the melting snow was just beginning to rush down the river.

In the above photo, you are looking up river, and the water flows around to the left and makes a big curve, as it flows into a cavern. 

From deep in the cavern, it is actually a mystery as to what happens to the flow, but the best guess that researchers have made is that the water goes underground into quite a large reservoir before rising above ground about a mile down the hill, at the "Rise of the Sinks." 

When the spring run-off is at its peak, most all of these rocks are covered in roaring, foaming water, and the top of the cavern is barely visible.  See the "white" around the pine trees?  Yes, that's snow.

Monday's Musings...

My little Peter Cottontail spent some quality time resting and soaking up some warm sunshine.  I suspect he had a busy night delivering eggs around the community. 

In the past couple weeks, very near sunset, I have been sighting the bunnies, usually three to five of them, playing... frolicking...around the yard area.  Oh, it has been absolutely delightful to watch them chase each other, jump, and dart.  I had not seen a rabbit jump straight up (like I have watched kitties do) and then start the chase.  It is funny and so entertaining. 

I have admired a lot of beautiful cross-stitch work, but have done very little myself.  Probably sometime in the late 70's I made this piece for my Mom.  It hung in her bedroom for years, and now it's hanging in mine.  

Springtime in the Rockies continues to be a roller-coaster ride...some warm days ... some cool days... I hope these leaves make it through the cold nights ahead.

Thursday's Thoughts

It's good to have a day with nothing on the calendar.

It's good to have the neighbor stop by for coffee and a chat 

before going in to town.

It's good to watch some cloudy, cold weather move in... and OUT.

It's good to watch the bunny taking an afternoon siesta...and two yellow finches hanging on to a twirling, windblown sock of seed.  It  must be quite a ride!

It's good to see that the cottonwoods feel confident it's spring and a few light green leaves bare themselves to the elements, despite the grey skies...

Growth

I like that idea, that beneath the surface of what you think you are seeing,  surprising growth or progress is going on.

Nature gives us grand lessons on this idea.  That's why I love spring.  So much is happening that the eye doesn't see, but we KNOW it's happening.  So, we're not concerned that after our winter season, nothing will come back.

Many times it's not easy to discern that someones' confidence is growing, that fear is subsiding, that compassion has started to bud, that patience is gaining a foothold, that practice is paying off, that latent talents are ready to bloom.  But we KNOW it's happening.  So we can look forward to the fruits of that progress.

Laying aside judgement... cherishing what's possible...knowing and loving what's already true... that's some serious mental exercise!

Flowers in the pot...

Mother's Day and Memorial Day are profitable days at the local garden shops.  I missed both deadlines to purchase and plant flowers; in fact, I just got the job done two days ago!  Sometimes it doesn't pay to get too eager to plant, as the temps dip, the winds blow, and the new blooms take a beating.  But I am now in the safe zone, and my pots of flowers should do fine.  Oh, it's so GREAT to have some pretty petunias in the yard!!

What a great day...

What a great day to sit in the shade ...

And to enjoy the beauty of spring blossoms. 

A good day for a road trip...

Another teacher-friend and I took the history-music-art teacher (who is new to our area) on a 2nd Annual Road Trip.  We don't tell her where we're going, but just give her advice on the proper attire.  Then, we tease her relentlessly that it's going to be a Spa Day, which is an event she would avoid at all costs.  It's good for a lot of laughs.

Anyway, the end destination (sorry, no pictures) was the Interpretive Center at Heart Mountain, where thousands of Japanese families from the west coast were interred for 3 years.  This Interpretive Center only opened two years ago, and I must say it's very well done.  This occurrence is a black mark on our history, and it's sad to hear the stories; I'm also disappointed that knowledge of this was kept pretty hushed and not shared in history classrooms when I was in school.  But this museum, located just a few miles northeast of Cody is well worth the visit.  While we were there, a man and woman and their granddaughter came in to take the tour.  We discovered that the man had been interred there when he was 4 and 5 years old.  We had a chance to briefly chat with him, which was a treat. 

On the way to Heart Mountain, we stopped in Thermopolis, where it was easy to tease that we would be staying for a soak in the hot springs and get a massage.  Actually, we took a short scenic drive in the hills above the hot springs and oohed and ahhed over the spring green grass complimenting the red rocks.

We looked for the buffalo, and finally spotted a few.  Do you see the baby buffalo, the dark one in the middle?

The narrow road took us past a ravine where cars had been dumped many, many years ago.  Do some of these look like jalopies from the 1930's? 

What a sight! 

It was a great day... another No Spa Day...

Leaves emerge

Finally, the leaves of spring have emerged and have survived the cold temps. Some tree are really smart and don't leaf out until late in spring, as you can see in this picture.  Perhaps the tree in the background will sense that it's safe to leaf out by the end of the week.

I wasn't looking at the ground when I was walking out to check the trees.  Suddenly I was stopped in my tracks with the sight of my little rabbit frozen in front of me.  He didn't run; he just froze, hoping I wouldn't notice him at all.  I think he was enjoying eating the green grass and didn't want to "step away from the lunch table."  I slowly backed away, got back in the house for the camera, and returned for a close-up shot.  He hadn't moved a hair. 

Spring snow on the foothills

Sigh...

Spring indoors

OK, ... so there's snow... again... on the grass this morning.  Fortunately, we were on the edge of this storm, so it could be worse.  It's only one degree above freezing outside, so I'm enjoying spring indoors today.

The spring bouquet makes it all better. 

And the African Violets are blooming. 

On Saturday our fiber arts guild held a retreat, and I took the crochet lessons.  Taking what I learned, I finished the edge on one of my cotton placemats.  Thanks, Cheryl, for the private lesson.  :-)