Dispatch From My Corner of the Northeast

This morning at approximately 6:30 am in southern New England, the Robins and Blackbirds arrived.  As I walked Rigby out for her morning constitutional, right before my bleary, sleep glazed eyes,  26 Robins landed in the Butter Nut tree next to Mac's barn.  They chirped and twittered softly as they fluttered about, stripping an old vine that was draped over the tree of dried up berries.  Shortly after, a dark cloud of Blackbirds undulated across the sky over our street and settled in a big Maple.

Dare I say it?  Winter is OVER !!!!!!  Joy, joy, joy!!!

Today is also the day that the FOR SALE sign went up here at Cat Bird Heaven.  It is getting down to the wire and our moving day is looming.  Still, there is a lot yet to be done at our new home.  Due to the unexpected damage to the frame from the fire,  Mac has found it necessary to rebuild the place from the inside, out.  Most of the frame work is now complete, the plumber has begun his work and the carpet has been ordered.  All we can do is as much as we can do and hope for the best.   I will post some photos tomorrow showing our progress.

bird silhouette picture courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

Can't Stop The Seasons

While we desperately try to chisel ourselves out of the ice shroud that encased us yesterday, forming over the three feet of snow we have accumulated since the first of the year, I was heartened to know the our little Groundhog friend Puxatawney Phil did not see his shadow yesterday and so proclaimed an early spring!

To lift all of our winter weary spirits, I have decided to post some photos of spring. Enjoy!

These wild roses you see in the photos above grow everywhere around here in late May and early June and fill the air with their sweet perfume. I can't get enough of them.

These look a lot like Black-eyed Susans, but are a bit different.  Probably of the same family.

This is the Forsythia hedge beside the garage here at "CatBird Heaven".  When we leave, I will miss this early harbinger of spring so much, I guess we will have to plant one when we finally settle in to our new place, "At Last!"

These in the shot below are my very favorite wildflowers of all: Bluets.  When you see a patch on the newly thawed ground, you do a double-take, because they resemble left-over patches of snow.  The flowers are tiny, with four petals which are white and have a slight blue tinge to them, and a deep yellow center.  I have loved these tiny flowers since I was a child and found them growing in the neighborhood baseball field near my home.  I can't wait to look for them in a few months.

This one below is of a flowering tree that sprung up wild in the margin between our yard and the street.  I have no idea what it is.  The flowers are tiny, yellow and in clusters.  They have an extremely strong fragrance, similar to an Easter Lily.  I know when this tree is in bloom before I see it, because the scent drifts all over the neighborhood.  If anyone has an idea about what it might be, I would love to know.

And you just can't beat those wild roses....These above bloom in our yard, tumbling over the evergreens and hanging off the oak saplings - the fragrance is just amazing! 

This is how I plan to survive the next two months of foul weather - with memories and dreams of spring!  The seasons keep turning, nothing can stop that and as bad as this winter has been, I know that spring will come and it will be even more appreciated this year than most.