We had flurries yesterday morning, but none stayed around to sully our spring. The crocus are beginning to bloom and the lilac bush buds are swelling. Whew – seems like it was an awfully long winter this time around.
Almost nothing here except one or two flakes. (snow, not flaky folks) Of course we still have piles of the old snow that will probably still be here in July.
It was lovely to see new green popping up … which is probably I haven’t been able to make myself go back yet to see if they survived the temps down in the teens.
The flowers and allergens of spring are already in full bloom down in Dixie. Usually, down here, we’re done with snow and ice storms by this time of year – in fact usually by late February those sorts of events become pretty unlikely. Now it’s time to face severe thunderstorms. It’s always something.
We had a brief downpour and some sky grumbling here a couple of hours ago. Much improvement over the ice and snow of the first three months, at least IMO.
Wednesday morning, I’m off to spend a couple days helping the teachers at my old school ride herd on their young’uns on the camping trip that we started 20 years ago. We’re hoping the weather forecast is wrong, but we can’t do anything about that. See you on Friday.
Hope everyone has fun and its not too soggy. Winter seems barely over and there’s already spring peepers along with their egg masses down in a wetland we were hiking around last Sunday.
I’m back from the soggy, soggy, soggy woods. We had about 3 hours on the last afternoon that we didn’t get rained on. In 20 years of going on the trip, this was the worst weather I’ve ever had.
The kids and the camp’s staff were amazing. The staff had the kids singing “Singin’ in the Rain” and a bunch of silly camp songs as they tromped through the woods. They had them huddled around in ponchos and rubber boots or soaked tennies looking at bugs, fungi, rocks, benthic macro invertebrates and other curiosities (scat for instance) that aren’t usually in the classroom. They had them studying erosion and erosion control by comparing where we’d walked down a steep trail with the land we hadn’t walked on. When the storms hit we took shelter and the staff continued playing games of creativity, teamwork, and observation and doing game-type simulations of what they’d been teaching. It wasn’t until later that, the kids realized they’d learned something through the game. 12 year olds can be really whiney, but there were next to no complaints or adolescent attitudes on the trip.
I hope my teacher friends keep asking me to go back to Bradford Woods (bradwoods.org) with them.
Thanks, Bob. I woke up to 2″ of snow, and saw my first robin sitting in the woods as the snow fell and blew all around her. It’s nesting season and confusion reigns. I may have lost all hope of seeing live green grass again.
The weather forecast for the metropolitan Cleveland Area: Partly miserable with a 40% chance of bullshit. Growing darkness toward evening will lessen the reality of sucking weather
The pine trees are full of new green needles so I have the deciduous trees aren’t too far behind — past history suggests their leaves will start showing in 10-14 days.
I’m especially happy for the warmup, since my task this week is to go through Mrs. ID’s stored client files out in the unheated garage and select those that are ancient enough to be shredded. The solid waste district is offering a free shredding session Sat. morning, sponsored in part by us, so I want to get my money’s worth;-)
“April Showers” The view on the morning of April 16
We haven’t had so much as .25″ of rain, so far.
And we had record lows of 8F to 11F in many eastern ND cities.
Longest consistently cold winter in my memory, Dec, Jan, Feb, March, 2/3 April. Nearly 5 months, ackkk!
‘Tis going to be a late start for the garden this year.
We seem to be progressing nicely into spring here. The last frost we had was just a touch on the night of the 15th. The only damage I could see was the poor magnolias that had already bloomed. The pear trees exploded with blossoms a little over a week ago and they didn’t seem hurt at all. Its the most prolific daffodil year I can remember. Everything seems happy to be awake and growing. Hope this spreads out to your neck of the woods soon.
Long gone and decidedly not missed. Spring is really coming on here. I’m especially happy to see an abundance of dogwoods flowering (most of them didn’t last year).
He hasn’t been on the internet since last fall but we’d been talking every couple of months. Your asking made me realize that I hadn’t heard from him since mid-January. I tried to call him but his number has been disconnected. I’m hoping all that means is that he’s moved in with some of his family. If I hear from him, I’ll let you know.
We’ve been seeing them around our place for several weeks on sunny days, but their presence is decidedly intermittent so far. There are plenty of blossoms out for them whenever they show up.
We’re not seeing enough. The redbud trees usually are covered with wild bees, but this year there were only a couple of bumble bees on them. I hope whatever is causing the colony collapse disorder in the honey bees hasn’t infected the wild bees too.
I immediately thought about BooMan when I saw the acorn signs. This is a group of local Democrats getting ready to join a parade here yesterday. The spirit of ACORN lives!
Thanks Bob – BTW, the bride is playing Annelle in a local production of Steel Magnolias – opening night tonight. We’ll be there tomorrow night with our entire family.
I was going to ask what the occasion for the long weekend was but then I remembered … which just shows that I am so well and truly retired that I don’t even remember what holiday is coming up.
I was going to ask what the occasion for the long weekend was but then I remembered … which just shows that I am so well and truly retired that I don’t even remember what holiday is coming up.
Hi all. Had to make myself a bit more scarce than normal. All work-related. Sometimes my current job has me travelling to other parts of the US and occasionally Eastern Europe. Hope all is well with everyone.
It is definitely one of those weeks. Lots to do. I thought I was pretty busy while I was working off-site. Now that I am back on-site, seem busier than ever. This too shall pass.
Now that the afternoon temp has gone to over 90 with the usual higher southern Indiana humidity, that snow photo is starting to look a lot more inviting.
I heard from Whit (Family Man) today. He broke his hip and was in the hospital for a month but he’s back home and is able to walk with the help of a walker and hopes to progress to a cane.
He sounded very good and wanted everybody to know he misses us.
He doesn’t have the internet right now so he can’t get email. He said he was hoping to get it before too long. I’ll check back with him in a couple of weeks.
Following Bebo over the hump…it’s snow covered here today as well.
I’m ready for daffodils now, please. 🙂
We had flurries yesterday morning, but none stayed around to sully our spring. The crocus are beginning to bloom and the lilac bush buds are swelling. Whew – seems like it was an awfully long winter this time around.
Finn was asking me “why is March SO LOnG?” this morning. Even he thinks this winter is out of control. 🙂
Almost nothing here except one or two flakes. (snow, not flaky folks) Of course we still have piles of the old snow that will probably still be here in July.
I’m happy this one seems to have passed us all by.
Lucky you!
Your wish is my command (sorry no flowers yet).
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Nice!!!
It was lovely to see new green popping up … which is probably I haven’t been able to make myself go back yet to see if they survived the temps down in the teens.
The flowers and allergens of spring are already in full bloom down in Dixie. Usually, down here, we’re done with snow and ice storms by this time of year – in fact usually by late February those sorts of events become pretty unlikely. Now it’s time to face severe thunderstorms. It’s always something.
We had a brief downpour and some sky grumbling here a couple of hours ago. Much improvement over the ice and snow of the first three months, at least IMO.
I’m jealous of your flowers — this time of year I am really sick of our monotonous “color” palette of brown, gray, and white.
I can’t believe I’m wishing for allergy season to get started. 😉
We’ve got nothing here. In fact there are still some patches of snow.
I think that yours are further along than ours at this point. We really need a couple of warm days to kickstart everything.
It was nice to see some honeybees out working the crocus blooms this afternoon.
Not so nice were the words coming from Mrs. ID when she saw all the little black ants trooping around the kitchen sink.
We’re getting a bunch of rain today and I’m hoping that convinces some trees to start seriously budding.
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I wonder what gave rise to those strange growth patterns.
Twister that blew through here in aught 6.
Was that the one with Dorothy and that witch?
Could’ve been. I think the bad witch stuck around – I keep running into her at govt. meetings.
Those are sassafras trees which tend to grow crookedly — mostly from shedding limbs and trying to get to the light (speculates Jim).
Wednesday morning, I’m off to spend a couple days helping the teachers at my old school ride herd on their young’uns on the camping trip that we started 20 years ago. We’re hoping the weather forecast is wrong, but we can’t do anything about that. See you on Friday.
Have a good trip!
Hope everyone has fun and its not too soggy. Winter seems barely over and there’s already spring peepers along with their egg masses down in a wetland we were hiking around last Sunday.
Unfortunately it is just as soggy in Martinsville as it is here.
What a shame for all the campers. Hope you packed him a couple of extra pairs of dry socks.
I’m back from the soggy, soggy, soggy woods. We had about 3 hours on the last afternoon that we didn’t get rained on. In 20 years of going on the trip, this was the worst weather I’ve ever had.
The kids and the camp’s staff were amazing. The staff had the kids singing “Singin’ in the Rain” and a bunch of silly camp songs as they tromped through the woods. They had them huddled around in ponchos and rubber boots or soaked tennies looking at bugs, fungi, rocks, benthic macro invertebrates and other curiosities (scat for instance) that aren’t usually in the classroom. They had them studying erosion and erosion control by comparing where we’d walked down a steep trail with the land we hadn’t walked on. When the storms hit we took shelter and the staff continued playing games of creativity, teamwork, and observation and doing game-type simulations of what they’d been teaching. It wasn’t until later that, the kids realized they’d learned something through the game. 12 year olds can be really whiney, but there were next to no complaints or adolescent attitudes on the trip.
I hope my teacher friends keep asking me to go back to Bradford Woods (bradwoods.org) with them.
Sounds as if you had a productive and fun stay in the woods despite the less than ideal conditions. Glad it was a success!
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That spot is totally humped.
A beautiful day here in the Hudson Valley!
Flog is up, see you there.
Thanks, Bob. I woke up to 2″ of snow, and saw my first robin sitting in the woods as the snow fell and blew all around her. It’s nesting season and confusion reigns. I may have lost all hope of seeing live green grass again.
Snow?!! Yikes!
Peter Matthiessen is at play in the fields of the Lord now.
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It’s a bridge to nowhere!
Considerably less expensive than its namesake, however.
Bebo doesn’t care where the “bridge” goes so long as it gives her a good view.
The weather forecast for the metropolitan Cleveland Area: Partly miserable with a 40% chance of bullshit. Growing darkness toward evening will lessen the reality of sucking weather
62 degrees today! Woohoo!
I got my bike out of the shop today. I hope soon I’ll start racking up miles on it instead of on the ice at the rink.
You were warmer than us but we’re supposed to hit 62 today.
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Bare humps, hopefully soon to be full of green.
The pine trees are full of new green needles so I have the deciduous trees aren’t too far behind — past history suggests their leaves will start showing in 10-14 days.
Our lilac bush is all leafed out, blooms are emerging and (hopefully) all the snow is just a bad memory.
The toothwort are up in the woods but the flower buds haven’t opened yet. I’m hoping to see rue anemone and spring beauties soon.
Just noticed that our crocus is up!
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Everybody gone into hibernation because of the return of winter?
Thankfully, despite the cold temps, the snow we got didn’t last past noon.
We got some last night as well. It will probably melt shortly but my windshield is totally frozen right now. It’s mid April, right?
Happily, the cold weather moved through fast and we’re back to highs in the 50s today and the 60s by tomorrow
I’m especially happy for the warmup, since my task this week is to go through Mrs. ID’s stored client files out in the unheated garage and select those that are ancient enough to be shredded. The solid waste district is offering a free shredding session Sat. morning, sponsored in part by us, so I want to get my money’s worth;-)
And since the temps are in the 60s for the rest of the week, you don’t even have to feel rushed to get it all done in one day.
TGIF!
The Into Thin Air tragedy has now been exceeded on Mt. Everest.
“April Showers” The view on the morning of April 16
We haven’t had so much as .25″ of rain, so far.
And we had record lows of 8F to 11F in many eastern ND cities.
Longest consistently cold winter in my memory, Dec, Jan, Feb, March, 2/3 April. Nearly 5 months, ackkk!
‘Tis going to be a late start for the garden this year.
The lows were the morning of Wed April 15. It was 8F here at the farm in the wee hrs while I was out taking photos of the lunar eclipse.
We seem to be progressing nicely into spring here. The last frost we had was just a touch on the night of the 15th. The only damage I could see was the poor magnolias that had already bloomed. The pear trees exploded with blossoms a little over a week ago and they didn’t seem hurt at all. Its the most prolific daffodil year I can remember. Everything seems happy to be awake and growing. Hope this spreads out to your neck of the woods soon.
Spring finally seems to have truly taken hold here in the Hudson Valley. This has been a long miserable winter. I hope you get some warm weather soon.
Thursday evening April 17th
At least the snow from the 16th didn’t last long.
We still have drifts knee deep on the north side of the trees belt.
Bummer on the weather but good to see you!
This is pretty epic.
Having been a reader of LRH’s scifi work many years ago, I still feel a a bit weird even getting that close to the guy.
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About 70 degrees here today in the Hudson Valley! Sadly, back to the 50s again tomorrow.
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Your hump(s) is outlined by snow!
But at least there’s some green inbetween.
It must be gone now.
Long gone and decidedly not missed. Spring is really coming on here. I’m especially happy to see an abundance of dogwoods flowering (most of them didn’t last year).
Our crocus finally came into bloom. Spring is really here.
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Very cool!
That is just awesome.
Brown County gold – lovely!
Thanks all of you.
rue anemone
Perfect replacement for the icky snow picture up top (not-so-subtle-hint).
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Heavy rain and wind chills into the 30s here in the Hudson Valley. Isn’t it almost May?
Does Family Man still hang around here?
Any word on how he’s faring with all the flooding in Alabama?
Hay SN! He hasn’t been here in a while.
He hasn’t been on the internet since last fall but we’d been talking every couple of months. Your asking made me realize that I hadn’t heard from him since mid-January. I tried to call him but his number has been disconnected. I’m hoping all that means is that he’s moved in with some of his family. If I hear from him, I’ll let you know.
Hope you and all the family are doing well.
serviceberry
wild bee
It’s amazing that you are seeing bees. Winter finally seems to be giving up here.
We’ve been seeing them around our place for several weeks on sunny days, but their presence is decidedly intermittent so far. There are plenty of blossoms out for them whenever they show up.
We’re not seeing enough. The redbud trees usually are covered with wild bees, but this year there were only a couple of bumble bees on them. I hope whatever is causing the colony collapse disorder in the honey bees hasn’t infected the wild bees too.
toothwort twosome
AWESOME!!!
Stuff is just starting to bloom after this weird spring.
That is one, two, strange cool flower(s). I didn’t know flowers were made of tinker toys, pick-up-sticks, and false fingernails.
That sounds like a future FFF theme.
fiddleheads version of Heart and Soul
Welcome to the new Saturday Foto Flog. 😉
Hey, why not.
jack in the pulpit
I immediately thought about BooMan when I saw the acorn signs. This is a group of local Democrats getting ready to join a parade here yesterday. The spirit of ACORN lives!
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box tortoise with that gleam in his eye
Where did you get that photo of Mitch McConnell?
showy orchis
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Looks almost like a caterpillar hanging there.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i62/jimferguson/2014/_DSC4613_zps5fa8d58c.jpg
a pair of jacks
a pair of jacks
Nice find, Jim. Is it my imagination or are the woods more lush than usual this spring?
I think we’re being rewarded for a cold and wet winter and spring.
dogwoods
Flog is up! Enjoy.
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That’s hilarious! 😀
Spring is still going on. I pulled 30 gallons of garlic mustard today at the nature preserve. Unfortunately it didn’t take long.
From a few days ago, before the storms.
dogwood
Pretty!
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Multihump!
🙂
Happy Friday and a good weekend to everyone.
sprINgdiana #12
spiderwort
Happy birthday, CG!
Happy Birthday CG…a fine day for monkeying around.
Great flog everyone, Indy, I didn’t get a chance to, but that is a nice set and a great shot of that fine young man and his equally fine bride.
Thanks Bob – BTW, the bride is playing Annelle in a local production of Steel Magnolias – opening night tonight. We’ll be there tomorrow night with our entire family.
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And one bite at a time.
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It’s a hidden hump!
The hump decor is quite lovely.
Too bad we had all that rain — the dogwood blossoms didn’t last nearly as long as they usually do.
TGIF and long weekend!
I was going to ask what the occasion for the long weekend was but then I remembered … which just shows that I am so well and truly retired that I don’t even remember what holiday is coming up.
Mrs ID and I have now joined you in the ranks of the retired. Grey Power!
Congrats!
I was going to ask what the occasion for the long weekend was but then I remembered … which just shows that I am so well and truly retired that I don’t even remember what holiday is coming up.
I heard you the first time. 😉
Apparently it was so nice, I said it twice (but I don’t know how).
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Very nice! Peaceful.
This has got to be pretty embarrassing.
At least the breached area is not related to their core business.
Unfortunately, I was on the forum 🙁
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Your flowers are clearly further along than mine
The wildflowers start blooming here in very late March, early April. Of course, different flowers bloom at different times through spring and summer.
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“The woods are lovely, dark and deep,…”
But, thankfully, not at all snowy.
Amazingly green.
Just took the combination of young spring leaves, rain overnight, and an overcast morning to get the color to look so saturated.
If I didn’t know, I might think it was manipulated.
I’ll confess to brightened it a bit but I didn’t do a thing to the color.
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I would like one of these for my backyard, please.
Love the waterfall.
Waterfall seems a bit grandiose for that little drop. 🙂
made 2 of the 12 in the HuffPost article 12 New York Cupcakes That Are Better Than Magnolia’s. #BraggingAunt
Well I had to go look. Now I’m craving a Bird of Paradise. They all look so delicious.
I guess you could go have some fried biscuits to help you get over it. I’d rather those anyway since I don’t really like sweet stuff.
Sound like an acceptable alternative, since I probably won’t be in NYC in the near future.
Hi all. Had to make myself a bit more scarce than normal. All work-related. Sometimes my current job has me travelling to other parts of the US and occasionally Eastern Europe. Hope all is well with everyone.
Glad to see you back. Hope you get to stay home for a good while.
Should get to stay put for a bit.
Welcome back!
Flog is up, sorry for the delay, family emergency.
Hope all is okay!
Nothing major, Mrs.X needed treatment on an urgent basis so we were out early and back late.
Glad she’s okay.
Me, too.
Thank you both.
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It is definitely one of those weeks. Lots to do. I thought I was pretty busy while I was working off-site. Now that I am back on-site, seem busier than ever. This too shall pass.
There’s a lot of buzz about your photo.
🙂
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Some lovely scenery.
The woods seem extra lush around here this year. I think everything is happy, now that winter is over for awhile.
You appear to have actual sunlight. We have constant gloom.
Maybe you’re spending too much time reading the news.
Or dealing with the barrage of political campaign ads (which thanks to dark money seem to be on almost endlessly).
“Blow up your tv throw away your paper…”
Got rid of the paper long ago. I watch Netflix streaming. I’d cut the cable if it wasn’t for hockey, now that’s over, back to ‘flix.
I hope the picture at the top of the Cafe changes before we have that weather again.
It all seems like a dream with the lovely spring we’ve been having.
And quite a banner year for these delicious babies:
Lovely!
I think we still a little pile of snow out back.
The late Gil Scott-Heron once referred to it as “winter in America” (great song, by the way). Perhaps the photo could be viewed as symbolic.
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What a life!
You say, “It’s a dog’s life,” like it’s a bad thing.
That dog’s got it made. 🙂
Now that the afternoon temp has gone to over 90 with the usual higher southern Indiana humidity, that snow photo is starting to look a lot more inviting.
That white stuff will be back with us soon enough.
Yea, verily tis so.
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“In the Spring a young
man’sbug’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.”Bug porn!
Best 200th comment ever. 😀
I heard from Whit (Family Man) today. He broke his hip and was in the hospital for a month but he’s back home and is able to walk with the help of a walker and hopes to progress to a cane.
He sounded very good and wanted everybody to know he misses us.
Glad to hear that. Do you have his email address?
He doesn’t have the internet right now so he can’t get email. He said he was hoping to get it before too long. I’ll check back with him in a couple of weeks.
Thanks Andi!
Good to know he is on the mend.
Glad to hear he is still around and will be ok.
Taken May 25, 2013.
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Very nice!