Winter, Spring, Winter

It's that time of the year again when the temperatures do their wild fluctuations!  For the past several days, we've had temps in the high 70's to low 80's - pure heaven after the cold we've had.  But we had a front move through yesterday that has brought back the cooler temps.  It's not all that cold but still nearly 30 degrees cooler than what it has been.

The daffodils and forsythia are blooming and I spotted a crocus nearly open yesterday.  These plants seem able to take the weather see-saw although a hard freeze would probably ruin the blooms.

Little teasers of spring right now then back to winter.

Another sign of the season is that there are a lot of skunks out and many are being hit on the highways.  Since we're in the country, many are hit on the road on which we live.  That makes for such a delightful perfume for several days!

But, the skunks and the early flowers signal that spring really isn't that far away.  Here's hoping it's early this year!

Coming Up For Air

I know I haven't been very good about keeping up with my blog here.  Heck, it's been kinda difficult just keeping up with life lately! 

Spring is the time for renewal and growth and our garden has certainly been testament to that.

But, this spring has also brought the loss of my beloved horse, Bonnie.  She always seemed so healthy and it was easy to forget that she was a "senior" because she really didn't look it.  But, she went down on the Saturday before Mother's Day and while she rallied for a bit after a shot from the vet, we ended up having to euthanize her the next morning.  Man!  That was the hardest thing I've ever had to do and I thank God that my dear husband was home.  He's so supportive and such a rock for me.  We buried her in the small pasture behind the barn and this wonderful man of mine planted the whole area in wildflower seeds!  I know seeing the flowers in bloom will be very bittersweet.

I did the drawing above through my tears.  It's not very good, I know.  It's charcoal and I don't have any experience with charcoal.  I also haven't drawn many horses.  But this was cathartic for me and I don't really care that it's not perfect.  I guess a wobbly little foal running through a meadow of wildflowers sort of symbolizes my wobbly steps back into my own life.  Sort of stepping into a new "normal" that doesn't include trips to the barn twice a day, or heavy feed bags or hay bales. 

However, I still find myself slipping into my barn boots twice a day and panicking when I see the open pasture gate - the habits of well over 20 years are awfully hard to break.

Back to Ordinary Life

Well, the Easter holiday is over.  The kids and grandkids have been fed a holiday dinner and my DH has gone back to work!  Of course, with all the activity, especially my DH working in the yard and garden, there's a lot of cleaning to be done - AGAIN.  But, I guess that's life.  I just wanted to be able to go into my studio and do a little painting since I spent a good bit of last week cleaning and cooking, the weekend cooking and entertaining, and yesterday as support for my husband's efforts in the yard and garden!  It seems as if it's been a month since I've been able to paint or even do any sketching!

We went to a couple of garden centers on Saturday and I did get some really nice photos of flowers.  We're between blooms as the daffodils, tulips and such have finished blooming and the azaleas, little native iris and lilacs are just beginning.  We haven't gotten any bedding annuals yet as it's still a little early for the warm season flowers to be planted.  We'd seeded some flowers a few weeks ago and did transplant them into larger containers though.  We'll plant them out in a couple of weeks.

In the meantime, we're getting lettuce, asparagus, arugula, spinach right now and hopefully some radishes, broccoli and snow peas soon.  The cool season stuff is doing great even though we've had 90+ degree weather lately!

Poor Bon is miserable as she's shedding and being as dark as she is, the heat really bothers her.  I brushed on her for about an hour this morning and got a couple of 5 gallon buckets of loose hair and it didn't look as if I'd even made a dent in what she needs to lose!  She's so itchy that she let me brush her way longer that she'll usually let me so I know it was a relief for her to get that stuff gone!

We also have bluebird pairs in all the bluebird houses (5 houses, I think) and some house finches kept trying to build a nest under the porch eaves.  We put bricks in the corners to discourage them as they built under the porch last year and it was a mess.  Not only that but the nest was right outside the kitchen door and the poor mama bird was constantly getting scared and flying off the nest.  We have a glass storm door and any movement in the kitchen would startle her off the nest.

So, life goes on out here in the country.  The wild turkeys are out in force and I'm sure the coyotes are mating also, if they haven't already given birth.

Oh, I have to tell you what happened the other night.  It was about 2 am when I heard a huge thud from the front part of the house (the bedroom is in the back).  I jumped up to see what it was and saw a huge Canada goose sitting in the side yard just out from the kitchen.  It would alternately sit or stand and wobble a bit but didn't move more than an inch or so and didn't try to fly away.  I watched it for about half an hour or so but finally went back to bed.  It was gone the next morning.  I wonder if it somehow flew into the side of the house and knocked itself silly for a while!  Fortunately, nothing got it that I could tell as there were no feathers scattered about the next morning.  My DH who has always been a light sleeper and says he can hear a gnat peeing on a cotton ball at 100 feet slept through the whole incident!  Maybe we should go get his ears checked!

Spring! Lovely Spring!

After such an abnormally nasty winter, it's been a delight to spend time outside these past few days.  The temps have been in the high 60's and it even got up to 80 degrees one day!  More and more flowers are coming into bloom and the wildlife is on the move again.

Here are some of the turkeys we've been seeing on a regular basis recently.  I don't know what it is in that back hayfield that's keeping them coming back, but they're there off and on all day and don't even seem to mind when I take their picture.  Before, they would scurry back into the woods but they're a bit braver now.  Yesterday evening they were all out there along with a small herd of deer and it reminded me of a drive-through zoo with several species intermingling.

While we haven't actually seen a live skunk yet this year, there's ample evidence that they're still around!  They're on the move also and many times get stuck on one of our country roads in the path of an on-coming car or truck. While I have a hard time with any animal getting killed, I don't want skunks around our place either!

Anyway, I may not do so well at keeping up my blog for a while.  And I've been too restless to do much art - the great outdoors has such a siren call that I've been grabbing my camera and spending more time with it than either art supplies or computers!

Maybe it's time to try a little plein air painting!  I'll keep you posted!

Signs of Spring - Finally!

This winter has been one of the coldest, wettest and snowiest that we've had in a very long time.  It has been the kind of winter that keeps me cuddled up in  heavy sweats and wool socks and in a listless, "don't want to do anything" kind of mood.

Our camellias (first pink flower) have been in bud all winter and these usually bloom in February.  The crocus and Lenten Rose are usually in bloom in February also.  However, they're all just now coming into their full beauty, almost a month late. 

No matter when they arrive, they're a welcome and uplifting sight!