In general the weather has not been encouraging of winter photos, but I just happened to catch the sunrise (which I cannot see from my house) at the end of the road looking over the fields of the next farm south from me.

Thursday morning

Dee, I love these early notes that spring is on its way and that we are over the darkest days of winter! For me the ground is totally snow-covered, but I am hearing the chickadees with their two note mating song, and the owls are calling in the woods, so this week it has felt like spring. Temperatures have been in the 40s and 50s.

What a gorgeous sky, Babs! I love sunrises over sunsets any day. Sunsets can often leave me feeling mildly sad. [g]

Our yard is a complete mess....lol. I didn't do any fall clean up. Plenty of debris from the trees all over the place from some of the weather. We had a lower amount of snow then many people in MA in the past few storms but we did have some rain at some point after the ground froze and then we had lots of puddles sticking around. The past few days have melted a lot of the icy surfaces out there and this morning I see that there's only a trace of snow left here and there. The puddles seem to have been absorbed but now everything is saturated and muddy in places. And yes, everything is BROWN!

I did see some crocus foliage coming up, but I haven't really walked around enough to see if anything else is coming up. I should check out the snowdrops to see if they are peeking out yet. After tomorrow, would you believe there are only 4 more Mondays before spring?!

So instead of the snow showers and dusting that was forecast for yesterday, we got around three inches of heavy wet snow. Ugh. But it did look quite pretty! Unfortunately I was too busy shoveling to get pictures, but the garden sure does look prettier at this time of year with a covering of snow (to cover up the fact that I too did not really do much fall clean-up lol!)

:)

Dee

Just popping in to say hello. I can't remember the last garden picture I took. Probably during or after the first snow storm but that gets old fast...lol. Last Saturday when the thermometer hit 50 I did see a snow drop or two blooming on the patio but didn't get around to taking a picture. Three inches of snow on Sunday followed by single digit temps likely sent it scurrying back underground. Better luck next month...

I don't usually see snow drops early. Mine are planted on the north side of an Arborvitae so they are in shade for the most part. I assume that's part of the reason they are later. With all the snow, the rain, and the melting, followed by single digits, the yard is etiher icy or muddy. So we are staying out of the back until we have some better weather.

The first arrival of my snowdrops and crocuses varies every year. I do have many planted out in the lawn, along the street, on a small slope that goes down to meet the road. Lots of nice sun out there. Lots of snow piled up too, lol, from the plows, but that sun does keep it melting pretty quickly. So in mild winters I see blooms as early as the first week of February. Not this year lol. Despite last Saturday's 60-degree high, most days are colder, like the single digits mentioned above. But it's fun to go out and look. As with every gardener, hope springs eternal!

:)

Dee

Sunday evening sunset.

The snow by now is icy and not too attractive. i spent some time today creating drainage channels in the snowbanks along the drive sinnce we are scheduled to get quite a bit of rain tonight.

The view down the field and across towards the river gives me a wonderful range of sky views, a good thing when the view underfoot and in the gardens is relatively u attractive right now, a mess od ice, crusty snow, and vole damage. it is a good thing that my native columbine/Aqillegia canadensis selfseed so freely since the voles seem to find them tasty, leaving dead stems and a hole in the center.

These next three were all taken over about 10 minutes at sunset from my pantry window.

This morning’s sunrise looking east, then south, then west. I typically don’t see much color at sunrise because of where the house sits compared to the woods and rising land to the east, but today I spotted the western view and went out to look at this lovely series of pearly pastels.

The other area of interest right now is the stream which has been rising and falling with the snow melt, rain, and refreeze. This series was taken over three days, with the first two photos taken at about the same time several hours after the rain had stopped and then the next taken less than a day later, and then one each day after. This stream drains a large area of town, so when we have significant rain, it really changes the stream.

The yellow birch tree just to left of center well under water is normally on the bank a couple of feet above the water

The stream was just starting to flow onto the floodplain.

The floodplain was well flooded by the next morning, and the spot where I stood to take the first photo in this post was totally under water

By the next day, the water was already going down and the flood plain was freezing.

In some spots the stream left rings of ice showing the high water mark on tree trunks.

After the rain that started this evening, I expect water levels to rise again since the ground is too frozen to absorb any of the water.

Babs your sunrises and sunsets are just lovely! Today I was returning from the gym early this morning and suddenly realized as I pulled in the driveway that it was somewhat light out! Yay! I've definitely been noticing it in the evening but not so much in the morning, so that was a nice revelation (even though I did have to scrape my windshield this morning).

The photos of the stream are very interesting. Does this flooding happen often (like, every year?) I maintain a garden for a customer and she has a creek at the back of her property. One year we had a lot of rain, and then a big storm, and SEVEN trees along the creek bank just toppled over. The ground was just too wet. So that was one of the things I thought of when I saw those trees of yours in the standing water.

Weather here has been bizarre. Went to work Saturday, it was partly sunny, supposed to be that way all day with temps in the high 30s. Around noon it was snowing unexpectedly. Rather heavily, but not much sticking. By 2 or 3 the sun was out. I drove home at 3, had a quick bite to eat, and was putting on my coat to run out to my daughters. Noticed it was snowing a bit. A BIT. In about three minutes we had a white out. I could not see the front of my yard, the street, the neighbor's house. It was insane. We got about 3/4 inch of snow in about ten minutes. And then the sun came back out lol. The snow stuck around on the ground for a few days though!

And tomorrow? 60 degrees. Then snow. Crazy!

:)

Dee

Babs, I didn't realize that your photos can be taken from inside your house. I always thought you had to walk to get to that point where you see the sunrise/sunset. What a great view to have from your house. My neighborhood is very flat and small lots, so I don't really see the horizon at all anywhere on my property. Sometimes I can see it if I walk around the neighborhood and I'm looking straight down a street. Or if I am driving home on the highway. It feels a bit claustrophobic. I'm used to it by now I suppose, but I really think you have a great blessing in having all that open space and access to watching the sky and the horizon.

Dee, our forecast is the same, 60's and then 8 inches of snow mixed with rain for Friday. I can't say I am bothered by it. I just feel like the winter has flown by and I'm getting very excited that spring is just about here. I may get out and do some pruning today. Time to start fertilizing the houseplants. start thinking of starting some seeds. This was actually a pretty painless winter weather wise, so far, and if we get snow in March which we usually do, it usually doesn't last long.

Let's see if this works....having trouble posting from my phone.

We were in FL last week but I caught these snowdrops blooming before we left. Now they are under a few inches of icy snow.

Winter is my fourth favorite season. It wasn't hard to get used to scenes like this, my view from dinner last Friday night.

Sue

Yes, Dee, the stream floods every year during snow melt, and often at other times during heavy rains. Trees do topple into the stream, usually when the roots get undercut.

More snow yesterday, about 3 inches, but 50F today so it is expected to melt. I was tempted to run out and get a photo this morning, because it was pretty and it started melting early and looked pretty melting off the trees and shrubs. March 10th - wishing I didn't have a lot of other things going on so I could be ramping up for gardening. Right now, still not ready to put in any time doing that. I guess I will have to just be happy to see what is out there start blooming soon. I just want to clean up the perennials and prune any shrubs needed, so it will look good once it does start to bloom. Maybe this weekend I can do a bit of that. Hope you all are seeing an increase in sun/warmth and enjoying the garden waking up.

PM2, we got about 3 inches of snow too - it's almost all gone today in the backyard which gets a lot of sun. Like you, I just want to clean up the perennials too. Otherwise, it will be harder when the new growth comes in. It's supposed to rain on Saturday though around here.

Babs and Sue, nice pictures!

Looks like we are getting the same weather RTHawk. It was so nice today, all our snow is just about gone except for the shadiest parts of the yard. Soil is soaked so I didn't walk in the beds or on the lawn, but I did get out and did some clean up today of plants along the edges of my walkways. I'm going to try to do a little more tomorrow, because Saturday the forecast is for heavy rain and it's going to be zeroF on Sunday. So there goes my plans to work outside this weekend.

I was out for an hour today - very comfortable working weather. It was so great to get some fresh air and sunshine. We've been cooped up more than usual this winter. I saw 2 buds on a daffodil, first one. Hellebore leaves coming up, snowdrops starting to open, a little crocus foliage. I am not uncovering anything but I'm cutting back stalks and pruning shrubs. I won't be touching the roses for awhile. I'd rather things come up later, just in case we have some late cold snaps.