Spring is Showing!

Lots of things are happening in the flower gardens! I love to see all the little green plants beginning to poke out of the ground, but pulling out the weeds which don't belong is such a chore! Our tulips are doing nicely, and some little purple crocuses are blooming. The forsythia bush is showing its yellow petals. Irises, of course, are well on their way. I also see that the Johnny-jump-ups, bleeding heart, columbine, chives, Jacob's Ladder, violets, phlox, dianthus and Veronica are beginning to grow. Spring-time is wonderful!

For Christmas, a friend made and gave to us a pair of bluebird boxes. He knew that we had seen bluebirds at our place, and thought it would be worth a try to get them to nest here. On Sunday morning, would you believe I saw a bluebird on a fence post! After lunch we went right out to get the boxes installed at the edge of our lawn. While we were working, there were swallows flying around, very interested in what we were doing! Five minutes after we had the houses up, a swallow was checking them out. He went into one box a couple of times, but I haven't seen any recent activity. I also haven't seen the bluebird again. I am really hoping that when the bluebird is looking for a place to nest (which I think is not for a while), the boxes won't have been claimed by any other birds. I am really excited, though, and would actually be happy to see any kind of nests built. The boxes have one side which swings out so that we can check on the progress. I will be sure to post pictures of any developments!

Here is the swallow sitting on the bluebird box. Amy says I need to put up a sign that says "Bluebirds Only".

We had a beautiful weekend - lots of warm sunshine. Jen, Rich and Maeve were here overnight, and went for a morning walk with Amy. Here are the girls by the pond.

The fields around are quickly turning green, and the first wild flowers are blooming too. On Saturday we found pussywillows, coltsfoot and mayflowers.

Kevin and I went to see the Disney "Earth" movie, and we both really enjoyed it. The photography is wonderful - I kept thinking of the word majestic - and there is a lot to learn from the story. Many different animals are shown, but the polar bear, elephant and whale are the featured ones. Of course, it doesn't leave out the fact that death is part of life, even in the animal realm. The scenes at the end, as the credits are rolling, show bits of the production of the movie - I think that itself would make a good movie!