an early April Fool's???

I'm spending a couple of days in central MN this week and this area got hit with heavy wet snow overnight and this morning. At least at this time of year...it melts rather quickly. Today, I visited one of my favorite parks along the Mississippi river.
There were lots of ducks about...
but everywhere else was peaceful and quiet.
I could hear a cardinal sing but with all the trees I was unable to spot him. It was just relaxing to sit in the car and listen to his musical tones.

I spotted this mallard couple relaxing and watching the river flow by...
I was dressed warm enough so I thought about doing the same here...
or here, but the idea of getting my pants wet from the benches deterred me.

Munsinger Gardens is a beautiful park to visit...in March or September!

more spring arrivals...

I love this time of year when you start to spot the migrators. I first noticed these beauties last night...the handsome little fox sparrows. They are fun to watch feed because they use a "jump" motion to stir up food before eating it. You spot the motion before you see the bird.
The robins are here in large numbers, a favorite spot is the watering dish.
It was only 19 degrees this morning so this one was all fluffed up warming in the sun. Notice again he has one foot tucked up keeping warm?
As short and round as the previous one looked...this guy is doing his long and lean pose...
and this one is doing his best (wings down) to pose like a chicken.
"Harley, the horse" is now peeking out of the back barn door. I think I made him too small but Jeff says a mini horse for a mini barn.
Since there is still so much black space as soon as the weather warms enough to paint outside, I am painting on a spider web and "Charlotte" in one of the corners.
I'll be "Old McDonald" I mean "Old McMarsha" by summer even if all my animals are faux ;)

Outdoor Wednesday...

Once again I am joining Susan, A Southern Daydreamer and many other bloggers for Outdoor Wednesday. Check out the above link to see them all. Today, Susan is showing beautiful cherry blossoms and some pretty awesome hot air ballon shots and I have a spring dusting of snow this morning. A robin sought warmth in a pile of leaves...
an Easter Bunny was checking the garden for good egg hiding spots and...
a song sparrow made a spring appearance in the garden.
Yesterday was a much nicer day and I spent some time cleaning up the yard. I was excited to spot my first signs of spring growth in the garden and...
to spot the return of the kestrel pair that nest each year high in a cottonwood tree.



Spring has sprung and it is a pleasure to see new changes and arrivals each day!

Thank you to my hostess, Susan, for another fun Outdoor Wednesday!

weekend roadtrip...

Jeff & I enjoyed driving up to Duluth this weekend to visit Jayme & Scott. As I was driving up on Friday, Jeff spotted an eagle in the field alongside the road. I quickly pulled over and pulled the camera out of the back seat to fire off a few quick shots.
As we were sitting there another bird flew over the car...
and landed in the same field. I'm not great at ID's but I think this is an immature bald eagle.
We thought those two eagles were the only two birds we saw until I downloaded the photos. In this first photo I took of the bald eagle there is another one visible in the upper left corner of the photo. I imagine we were both so focused on the closer one we missed the one in the background.
After 20 or so photos the first one had enough and took off flying across the field...
he stayed low to the ground and...
flew past the immature one.
As I followed his flight with the camera this photo was the last one in the series. Once again I was surprised at seeing the downloaded photo and spotting another one in the background. Guess I'm not the wildlife watcher, I thought I was ;) Four eagles in one field, but we were grateful to be able to "spot" two of them!
We enjoyed spending time with Jayme & Scott but they all wondered why I wanted to take a photo of these guys as we spotted them alongside the road...
I told them I always need "blog material" :-) At first we thought they were domestic yak's and I said I was going to blog the lyrics...Yakkity Yak...don't talk back.
But in looking them up this morning they are actually Scottish Highland Cattle.
They looked so different from the cattle we usually see along the roadside and Jayme thought it was great that they had built in back scratchers.
While up at J & S's we celebrated Scott & Jeff's birthdays. They gave Jeff a new Harley shirt and a Harley dog collar for Hershey. When we got home last night she wasn't quite ready to give up her puppy sized red one...
but soon took to her Harley Davidson Pink :)

moving day...

At 7:15 this morning the moon was still visible in the south and the sun was rising in the east.
It was 24 degrees out and the ground was frozen and the grass was frosty and slippery so it was a perfect morning for moving the little red barn into this spot between the spruces.
A last look at the completed barn in the shop...
before we opened the door and hooked up the skidloader to a cable.
With a slight lift and a gentle tug it was on it's way...
just clearing the shop door.
As the sun rose, it made it's way across the yard...
and onto the lawn.
Hershey helped Jeff figure out how to set it back into the tree line...
while I listened to the early morning song of the robins.
Finally, it was in place and the cupuloa could be attached.
You gotta love this man...
and while most of his brothers ride horses, he's rather have his horsepower with two wheels.
Though Gabi cannot see the barn, she took lots of time sniffing out the scene and rested while I finished taking photos.
Since the back of the barn is facing the road, I built a faux door and the black painted square is supposed to look like the top door is partially opened. Why? you may ask...
because every little barn needs a horse looking out of it. I'm still working on him but may I introduce "Harley, the horse"...
I'll take another pic to show once Harley is finished and mounted on the back of the barn and while I anxiously await gardening season to pretty up the area, I already moved in a cream can and the big iron butchering kettle.

Oh, the ideas and possiblilities I have in mind for this area....May can't come soon enough for me.