Here in Ohio we have some pretty cold and snowy weather, but that is usually interrupted by some delightful days of cold and sun, or even warmth and sun. Not so this year, which has delivered two months of unrelenting cold and grey. The cross country skiing made it more tolerable, but even then, winter was becoming tortuous, and my mental outlook began to deteriorate.
Over the weekend we were treated to sunshine and an afternoon high of 57 degrees. Bruce suggested that we walk to the back and look for snowdrops, our first harbinger of the new season. We were not in luck, however, as the brave green shoots had not yet broken through the snow. Oh, well, perhaps another day.
This morning I decided to take advantage of the frozen ground, and spent about an hour cutting back our asparagus stalks. I fed two bunches of them to the hens, who made quick work of them. I'll feed the rest to them throughout the week. It was so much easier to work on the frozen ground, as opposed to the squishy mudville which is soon to come.
After lunch I decided to revisit the back property, in search of snowdrops. The ground in the back was still fairly snow-covered, shaded by the branches of the trees. I could still find remnants of our frozen xc ski tracks, from where we had compacted the snow. I then checked out the stream on the property behind our house, which has been running all winter long. The birds were very vocal, woodpeckers and Carolina wrens. I even saw a pair of bluebirds on Sunday, checking out our bluebird box by the sunporch. Come walk with me . . .
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| Disappearing Cross Country Ski Trail |
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| Quiet Stream |
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| Hurrah! The first snowdrops! |
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