GOLDEN...

It is a GOLDEN day today - my forsythia is starting to bloom...and our little Princess is celebrating her GOLDEN birthday!
Yes, if it is her golden birthday she is definitely an adult but in her parents hearts she will always be our "little Princess", just like I will always remember the day she was born. I called her this morning at the exact time she was born as I thought back on the events of the exciting day of her birth. To celebrate, I decided to highlight some GOLDEN items including this daffodil blooming in the garden.I searched the photo albums of the last 28 years for a photo of her in a GOLDEN outfit, but her favorite colors were always pink & purple and that reflected in her clothes. I did manage to find one of her standing by a GOLDEN wall though :)
Another type of GOLDEN daffodil covered with this morning's raindrops which will soon dry off because we are experiencing some GOLDEN sunshine for the birthday girl today.
In searching for a photo of a GOLDEN dressed Jayme I also found some of her elementary artwork, where she made this beautiful GOLDEN Bee. I love the signature on the back.
Just this week she mentioned the size of lemons to me - so here is a GOLDEN lemon in a mason jar...
and one last precious piece of her artwork which in her early cursive handwriting reads: "I just want to thank you for all that you do. Although I'm not always an angel I'll always love you!"
To which we respond:
We want to thank you for all that you do!
You are still our little angel and We will always love you!
Happy GOLDEN Birthday Jayme - may your day be as beautiful as you are and we look forward to seeing you tomorrow! Love, Mom & Dad

Wishing all a blessed Easter!

Spring migration...

I saw the first yellow rumped warblers today which is another wonderful sign of spring.

Sorry for lack of posts lately - time to play on the computer has been at the bottom of my "to do" list lately. Spring projects are taking the majority of my spare time.

Historic Fort Davis

I didn't really post much on our March vacation to Texas because of ending up with computer problems when we got back. While all is fixed now, Spring was happening around me and taking time to blog was put on the back burner. We really enjoyed our time staying in Fort Davis which is the highest little town in Texas and hearing about the wildfires engulfing that region this weekend was so sad to hear. More than 60,000 acres have been burned in the region and 40 homes destroyed. Historic Fort Davis which is pictured in the photos below was thankfully spared as well as the historic buildings downtown.












We hope the wonderful people we met at the MacMillen RV Park were spared.

Our thoughts go out too all affected by tragedy this weekend - Texas wildfires and midwest tornadoes...

my morning was "just ducky"...

It is gray and overcast here today but I still really enjoyed seeing at least a dozen wood ducks in our grove this morning. There could have been more but it was hard to count with them flying around, I did manage 8 in one photo.
There were bachelors hanging out...
and 2 couples double-dating.
While the males are the more beautiful of the pair, I love the blue wing feathers on the females below.
I spent an hour watching all the duck comings and goings with my camera and binoculars. Suddenly, I spotted more color and lo and behold...
Joseph (he has the white stripes on his crown) was perched high in a tree. I was so excited to see him that on the first photo I didn't even notice the couple directly below him!
In fact, Joseph was surrounded by 3 close by ducks and one flying by in the background.
I am really hoping one or more of these couples decide to stay and nest on our property. We do have 4 duck houses set up but the dang squirrels and starlings are always in them.
Before finally setting down the camera so that I could get some work done I did spot a female checking out one of the boxes.
Hopefully, there will be more ducky days in my future :)

early spring in the garden...

This morning while I was looking out the window at the current mess I call my garden I thought I spied a tiny bit of color. So this afternoon I went out with the camera to investigate, coming around the garage to the patio you can see there is still quite a bit of snow to melt before we will be eating in our outdoor dining room again. The good news is I can see a few tulips starting to grow.
A look towards the pond, reveals it is still frozen and half covered in a snowbank. The whole garden is a wet mess of compacted leaves and cottonwood sticks from all the winter winds. I can't wait for it to be dry enough to clean up.
Goodness! Spring is here to stay! These crocus are the tiny bit of color I spied from the window, I call them fairy flowers because when they bloom it means the fairies are waking up from their long winter rest and....
Spring is definitely here to stay...look at what I spied next to the fairy flowers!
Let's head back up towards the patio to see if they have the Pine Lady house opened up for the season...
Another fairy by the door checking things out, they sure have their work cut out for them with gardens buried in pine needles and debris and their paths scattered about.
I thought I saw something on the patio snow on my walk back...did you?
Oh my goodness, do you see what I see? I guess some of the fairies are enjoying the last bit of winter!
I guess I would too if I had been cooped up inside for 5 months. At least when they are out playing in the snow it is 50 degrees and not -25F. There is one brave girl sledding down the snow bank...
and this one has made an adorable garden snowlady!
I just had to come back inside and blog about today's discoveries of spring and looking out the patio door, I just can't believe I didn't see those playful fairies before :)
As you can see we still have snow in the road ditches, the groves and the north sides of all the buildings. I sure hope a few more days of this 50 degree weather melts it all, I am anxious to begin gardening!

rural rest stop...

This evening around 7 my neighbor, Jane, called to tell us that migrating swans were spending a few days resting in the fields by their yard. I grabbed the camera and the low angled sunlight made for perfect lighting.
It was so fun to see these beautiful birds only 1/2 mile from my house.



The fields in our area are finally melted off leaving lots of water, but the road ditches and my backyard still have quite a bit of snow. Hopefully in a few more days it will all be gone with 50 degree temps finally forecast.