I went out in search of spring over the weekend, and found a tiny pocket of it at the Arnold Arboretum.



I found witch hazel, pussy willows, and snowdrops.





The willow trees are turning that yellow-green color that signals impending springtime. The maples have red buds on the ends of their branches. The vultures are back, and the hawks are out in force.

We could still get snow, and we almost always do at least once after the equinox, but spring is definitely on the way.

Last weekend, I went with a friend to Tower Hill Botanical Garden for a fun event they held called "Stempunk." It was a steampunk-themed flower show, complete with a costume contest. It was a lovely day for February in New England, so we wandered around the grounds a bit after taking in the flowers and costumes.

( Flowers! Greek gods! )

Things are still going well for me at work, but several people have left in the past few weeks (three just this week!), so it's a little more tense than it was. We'll have to see how things shake out. But it looks good for me being hired on permanently, and things are happening in our field that should give us some good selling points, so the future still looks sunny.

Two days of 70 degree weather didn't hurt, either. Of course we're back to snow today, but not a lot, and it won't last. There is light at the end of the tunnel.

Yesterday was just stellar. Warm, sunny, and breezy. The trees have finally leafed out, making the world green again. I walked downtown, leaving early for my class at the library so I could enjoy being outside after a long week in the trenches. I stopped at the little park by the pond, where I found what turned out to be bluebells!



Just a tiny patch, but after envy of my British friends posting lovely photos of them, I was glad to find some here. I found out this past week that someone in my hometown planted a patch of bluebells near the river; I don't know if they were there when I lived in Geneseo, but if they were I wasn't aware of it. As I am now about 400 miles away, I can't just pop over to see them.

( mystery bird and other adventures )

This morning is deliciously cool and green and sunny. Just delightful.

Yesterday was a glorious day for a walk. Warm but not too much so, and sunny with a little breeze. Perfect spring weather. The daffodils in front of the UU church were happy. Tiny leaves are popping out, and I even saw some trees in flower.

Down at the park, things are greening by the river, and some kayakers paddled by as I stood on the bank.



Violets lined the parking lot, and dotted the grass along the path.



I recently discovered a new cheese & gourmet shop downtown, and it's a delightful place. It's just a little hole-in-the-wall, but the proprietor is very nice (and she really knows her cheese!) and the selection is large. I tried a German triple-creme with mushrooms, and it was delicious. I'll definitely be back. I'm so glad to see all the new businesses downtown; a lot of places have opened in the four years I've lived here. We have a brewery, a martini & tapas bar, an ice cream place with a speakeasy in the back (really!), a flatbread pizza joint, and a new dress shop to name a few. Just the opposite of Westfield, where I used to live. It was sad to see all the empty storefronts there, and it's a much bigger town. I'm also glad to see that the new shopping plaza just outside of town hasn't hindered downtown at all. Maybe it even helps; who knows? It would be nice if folks who came to the plaza to shop decide to check out downtown as well. I like supporting local businesses.

My mom is home from the rehab place, and doing much better. That's a relief. She's going to have a visiting nurse for a while, and one of her neighbors has a daughter who does housecleaning, so mom is hiring her to help out. She's doing her exercises and her breathing exercises, and is determined to get and stay well. This makes me happy.

I brought the grill back up to the deck, and maybe I'll be motivated to light it up tonight. That sounds like the perfect end to a lovely weekend.

Spring is still breaking out all over. The hot weather retreated, and it's been lovely out. I've been trying to get out walking every day, despite pulling something in my leg that's left my sciatic nerve irritated. Getting older is so much fun (not).

It's no secret that spring is my favorite season. New life arising from the earth, where just weeks ago it was covered in ice and snow. After a late start, spring has exploded here in New England with some very warm weather the past few days.



( spring! )

I've spent much of the past few weeks helping my mom get moved into senior housing. It was overwhelming for her at first, especially since the new apartment is a lot smaller, but once we got started, it got easier for her. We got rid of a lot of stuff (some of which I acquired, I'm not sure how that happened), made a plan, and got it all done. She had a lot of help from my niece, and friends from church, who are a lot closer than I am. Now that she's there and getting settled, I think she's happy about it. It's a cute place, and she even has a little plot in front for gardening. It was a good move.

Yesterday, I took her to Target to get a new microwave and a toaster oven since she couldn't carry them down from the car. I helped her set them up, too. Today, she called me to thank me again because she was so tickled with them. I couldn't afford to get her something nice for Mother's Day, so I'm glad I was at least able to help her by being strong. *g*

When I got home, my apartment was 87 degrees, so I gave in and brought my a/c unit up from the basement and installed it. It's way too early to be this hot! So I did a lot of lugging yesterday. Thank goodness it cooled off this afternoon. I'd much rather have the windows open.

I need to get over to the Arboretum soon, while the lilacs are in bloom. I just adore lilacs.

I love spring!

The weather has continued to be lovely, which is making me happy. After the winter we had, we deserve a nice spring.

I went over to Danforth Falls today for some woods & water therapy. The water is still quite high from all the snowmelt, and the falls were very energetic.



I walked all the way up to the pond, which is the source of the stream, and surprised a snake, which slid into the water at my approach. But then he slid onto a downed tree limb, and I got several nice pictures of him. I looked him up when I got home, and found out he was a Northern water snake. He was about a foot long.





I don't remember seeing one of these before, so that was cool.

One of the things I love about this place is all the big boulders scattered around the stream. This one is really big, larger than a car:



It's been nice enough to sit out on the deck, which also makes me happy. In the nice weather, I have a whole extra room to enjoy. My apartment is so small, it's very nice to have the deck.

I must go down and rake out the garden this week. I'm waiting for the local nursery to open for the season so I can get some flowers for my window boxes. I'm so looking forward to flowers!

Spring continues to unfold, albeit more slowly than usual. Trees are finally leafing out, new flowers appear, grass is finally green and lush. The weather continues to resist staying nice for long, but we do get periods of pleasant weather for a day or two at a time.

Yesterday started out rainy and miserable, but ended up being quite spectacular, which was fortunate as it was graduation day for my niece. I can't believe my little Willow is a college graduate! Today, she's off to Germany to perform with her choir. Quite the exciting weekend for her!

I had to miss Plantapalooza yesterday because of this, but firespirit1 procured some tomato plants for me, which I picked up at her house today. She also gave me some tarragon from her garden, and now both reside in pots on my deck. I shall have to learn to cook with tarragon now! I've never used it before, that I recall. People have been giving me suggestions on Facebook. What's you're favorite tarragon recipe?

As I was weeding the garden, my neighbor cut me some more lilacs to bring inside. They're so wonderful! A couple of violas popped up in the garden, which I transplanted into my window box. I also found a volunteer violet, and the lily of the valley is starting to bloom. My woodruff came back, and is flowering. This is why I love spring: flowers everywhere! And green, green where it was grey and brown. Life returns in abundance. Windows are open, chasing out the stuffiness of winter. It won't be long before it gets hot and sticky, so I am enjoying every second of spring.

Yesterday was a perfectly lovely day, especially for early March. It got into the mid fifties, with bright sunshine, and I just had to get outside. I went over to the Assabet River Wildlife Sanctuary, which I hadn't been to since late summer. Lots of others had the same idea, but very few of them ventured out into the woods so the solitude and quiet was very nice.

( a few pictures )

It's not quite as warm today, but I still needed to get outside, so I took a walk down to the river where, although the paths are still covered in snow, I found evidence of winter's passing.



There is light at the end of the tunnel.