Spring Rebirth

Crocus

Spring is finally making an appearance here and even though it's still in its preview stage, the future is clear...it's coming - snow or not.

With warm temperatures in the upper 40's and low 50's, we are seeing some signs on life on our little spot on the planet.
   

This promising hyacinth is getting ready to make its debut as soon as temperatures give it enough reason to rouse from it's winter sleep.
 

This purple crocus is still seemingly reluctant to open its petals all the way...maybe it's still wondering if more snow is in the forecast.
 

One of my favorite late spring flowers is the rhododendron. We have hedges of these along the lake shore road.  They do wonderfully in this climate. This nice fat bud is an indicator of a future beautiful bloom, click on Photo Walk: Rhododendron to see what I'm talking about...it's amazing!

Have a wonderful Easter and be blessed!


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Lake Erie Shoreline: Earth or Moonscape?

A desert? The Arctic? Mountains? Or maybe more exotic...like the surface of another world? No, not really.  It's actually the shoreline of Lake Erie during an early March thaw. 
 

I wanted to get some shots of it while it still had ice and snow on it, but the wind usually comes from the north so it's normally too cold to stand on the shore.  Today, the wind was coming from the south so I was able to comfortably capture some pictures before it all melted away. 

It's a bit hard to tell, but the hills are caused by the wave motion on the shoreline. Snow and sand mix to create a waterscape of dunes capped with snow.

Here's a better perspective of what it looks like...you can see the beach this way and the other views are while looking out at the frozen water.

It's was a bit surreal...even I had to remind myself where I was.

A special place though.   Glad I was able to get these photos.

Blessings!

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Winter's Storms

Baby, it's cold outside but that's okay as long as I'm next to the warmth of our woodstove roaring away on this brutal 12 degree day.  It's not as cold as some spots in the world, so I'm happy with that. But 12 degrees is, well, 12 degrees and that is pretty chilly in my book.

We're on the second wave of snow according to the weather people.  Yesterday was a Lake Effect Snow Storm Warning, now we're getting snow from a Northern Clipper.  One more wave is coming tomorrow through Monday.  We don't have a lot of snow accumulation where we live, but it's enough that the roads are not nice...

That means spending extra time cleaning and thawing your cars before you can think of going somewhere.  That's part of the cost of a winter storm.  It takes more time to get things done, so it slows you down and it's an inconvenience for sure.

But, maybe the slowing down part isn't so bad.  It slows us down to make us realize how good things were before the storm and how fine they'll be after them. 

After all, it takes the storms in life to make us appreciate the sunny days and how the sun always shines after the rain...or snow in this case. 

Storms can either make us afraid or make us stronger.  I like the second choice better...

Here's a short video produced by my son of some winter footage around our small town...enjoy!


Hoary Madtown - A Frozen Wasteland from Luke Roberts on Vimeo.





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Winter's Blues

As we head into this winter season, nature's color palette shifts to beautiful blues.  Winter seems to slip into these colors as easily as we put on our most colorful denim jeans and leave us with the same comforting feelings as well.  Frosty turquoise and brilliant periwinkle shimmer in the glint of ice and snow; on land and in the sky. So in ode to these tranquil blues; here are a few photos to warm up any azure chills...

The shores of Lake Erie, northeast Ohio in January

I carefully made my way to the beach through a rutted snow covered path to take these few photos.  It was getting on in the afternoon, so the light wasn't very good but I couldn't resist taking a few pictures anyway.  The glinty ice covered boulders (used as a surf break) and the bracing north wind reminded me in seconds that it was a full on winter blast here on the northern shore. 

The wind was especially strong on this day and though it's hard to tell in the photos, the waves were big for our "little" great lake.  Bigger than I've seen them for sure, at least since Hurricane Sandy came through, and those waves were scarily amazing.  
Because of the way the lake and where we live are situated, we are able to receive lots of "lake effect snow" here.  It has to do with temperatures, warm for the lake and cold in the air, wind patterns coming across the lake and the lake NOT being frozen.  So, open water means lake effect snow can come at a moment's notice.  Because we live so close to the shore, we normally don't get dumped on as much as those a little south of us do...but it's still shoveling just the same!

So, snow season is upon us and I have to say, once the roads are clear, I don't really mind.  It's so much prettier to look at then the mossy dark green of the hibernating grass and brown muddy paths throughout the landscape.  Give me the brilliant blues of winter...perfect for resting and dreaming of springtimes to come...

What do you enjoy about winter?  

Be blessed! 

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Photo Walk - Rhododendrons

    

Went on a walk along Lake Erie today; this is my most FAVORITE time of year!  This is  when the Rhododendrons are in bloom.  They are actually two weeks early, so I am super glad I caught them on this walk.  All of sudden our streets by the lake come alive with these softball sized blooms.  This climate and soil by the lake are perfect conditions for them to grow and grow they do.  I've seen them for so many years that I forget how uncommon they are in many other places in the area.  So, if you like them or any flowers in general, stay tuned and enjoy the walk...!

I see this pot of flowers by the road every year, so pretty!

Along the lake shore...

A quick glimpse of Lake Erie

A local artist's surprise creations...

What can be better than a rhododendron bush?  How about a tree?

Almost home...

Can you believe not ONE of these rhododendrons are mine?  Our yard is way too small for one and besides, all I have to do is to take a quick walk and get my fill of them.  Hope you enjoyed the flowers as much as we did!  Blessings!!

Great Expectations...

It's a daffodil extravaganza...in March!  Pretty unbelievable for Lake Erie shore dwellers, actually pretty record setting for Lake Erie shore dwellers!!  But here they are and they couldn't be prettier.  So with all of that, I'm enjoying their first bloom and hoping this warm weather levels off a bit so they will stay around for more than two days like the crocus did.

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Now, I know just about everyone has a few daffodils and that they seem very, how should I say it, commonplace?  However, my daffodils have a history, and that makes them beautiful AND interesting.  


 I did buy a few bulbs years ago and dutifully planted them and that was it.  Mainly because they were a bit too expensive for my budget and you needed quite a few of them to look decent as a planting.  So that ended my spring bulb collection.  Or so it seemed...

Years past and we ended up meeting a gardening friend of a friend named Burt.  Now, Burt was in his seventies and had gardens, I mean gardens, all over his multi-acre lot.  Peony gardens, rare bulb gardens, a couple of hosta gardens, irisis, daylilies and the list goes on.  This is not even mentioning his football field sized garden.  (He would garden only in quarter of it a year, but still, that's huge!)  He offered for us to put a few rows of vegetables in his football field garden and we thankfully agreed.  

It was so much fun to grow summer squash, winter squash and other fun things we were not able to grow in our own small home garden.  And while we were there, Burt would show us all around his flower beds.  It always was beautiful and I certainly learned a lot from him for sure!  I grew only certain varieties and kinds of plants and flowers, I think Burt grew at least one of each.  Perhaps two, making his property a virtual ark of every kind of living green herb.  

One fine Spring day, my husband casually told me that Burt had some bulbs for me for my garden.  I'm sure I absent-mindedly said, "Great!"   After all, Bert had given me a few plants before and I managed to find spots for the few of them.  However, I knew I was in trouble the moment I saw my husband bringing in bags...yes, I'm saying BAGS of bulbs.  I was quiet with amazement and consternation.  BAGS?  Who gives BAGS of bulbs away??  Well, I should have known.  Burt was thinning out the bulbs from his VAST daffodil collections and each newspaper wrapped set contained bulbs from all over the world (which means Holland mostly.)  I think I must have stared at those bags for quite awhile until I numbly went about trying to find places to squeeze them in.  It wasn't fun and I was a bit grouchy.  I mean, I hated to plant bulbs!  But, I managed to somehow plant them all and then I quickly forgot all about them.  Imagine my happiness the next spring when I went outside to find these beautiful flowers blooming?  So many different varieties and different bloom times.  Pure happiness.   

A cup of allergy tea to offset spring's pollen bounty!

The lesson in all of this?  Well, perhaps it was the point that sometimes we hate to go about the pain of investing in something.  It's hard work, tiring and there is no visible sign that it's going to pay off.  Then just when you forget about it, you reap a harvest of blessing.  Just like that...simple faith that what is unseen is going to become something very beautiful.


Thanks Burt, you taught me a valuable lesson again...AND I love these daffodils!!