It is now MARCH 2009. The season continue their cycle, with infinite variations; I am not sure to what extent we have had a warming trend, but this past winter there were two occasions when we had, not a “normal†thaw, but a big one, days of mild temperatures and lots of rain. It does […]
Spring is truly here. The crocuses have come and gone, the daffodils are in full bloom, and the tulips are budded. The dark red velvet buds on the maples have unfurled into orangey-rose blossoms, and their leaves are starting. We’re having really warm weather, and the leaves on the poplar and birch are just exploding. […]
More beautiful days, not so warm but sunny and bright. These days I can hear birdsong in the trees from time to time – not as full and rich as the dawn chorus in full summer, but still lovely. After a shower the other day I heard the robin’s rain song, and one twilight his […]
What glorious spring weather we’re having! There are still a few patches of snow and ice, where it’s shaded all day and was piled up, and I know it’ll get cold again, but it’s just about perfect today. Yesterday I raked the leaves off the flower beds. The first year we were here, I actually […]
We’ve had more snow and cold, almost all melted again – back to patchy snow in the shadier areas. The open fields are bare and brown. Not at their most attractive! On the other hand, the birds are convinced it’s spring. I have no idea how many of them we get – I can only […]
I woke this morning to the kind of snow you long for at the beginning of winter – big, fat, feathery flakes drifting down. It’s been cloudy and snowed a bit every day since my last entry, several inches worth all together. And then the clouds rolled away and we had blue sky and bright […]
Well, I began the day watching the snow as I drank my morning tea. Much more interesting than it sounds – there was a gusty breeze, so the snow changed from gentle flakes drifting down, to undulating veils of snow, to swirls that precisely outlined the movements of the wind, changing changing constantly. The flakes […]
Already April! So far our melt has been a gentle one, with no serious flooding or wash-outs. At this point the open fields have been bare for a couple of weeks, and even here “in the bush” the snow is patchy and receding daily. I continue to be surprised by how much shade naked trees […]
Snowed lazily on and off all day, and then a brief blizzard in the evening. Not much below freezing, though, and we’re supposed to have another mild spell coming up. Usually the juncoes come first. We have had some debate as to why it’s called a “purple” finch when the males’ decorative colour is more […]
We’ve had a few more inches of snow the past few days, and lots of wind today. So did we have fun driving into town today. There’s a stretch of the side road leading to the highway that’s cleared on both sides and well exposed to a north-west wind. When we got to that part, […]