Spring has sprung

Finally! The angel of spring has emerged from her winter sleep! The sun was shining this morning, the weather was a mild 15 c, and the snow has been very rapidly disappearing from my yard. I think the angel of spring must've been listening to the lament "take our snow, please!"

Returning home today, after clawing away a mat of dead leaves, I found that the chicks 'n hens had emerged from their winter sleep. Their snow blanket has finally disappeared. They're none the worse for winter, and surprisingly have kept their green faces alive under the snow--or thanks to the snow and the rotting leaves!--with just a bit of burnished red to testify to their ordeal.

While cleaning away the moldering leaves and pulling out the creeping Charley that has already begun its invasive stranglehold along the ground, I heard a sweet trilling. I looked up to find robin had flown in.

Yesterday's spring wind set a weeping birch sashaying in the sky

Musti's last snow roll. Ah, the bliss of a dog's life! As a northern dog (part Finnish pyystykorva), Musti, as well as her daughter, Tassu (who is bigger than her mother because she has some Newfie in her), love the snow. Their coats are thick; their paws are like boots, spotted mukluks. At every chance they get, Musti (Blackie) and Tassu (paw) dig into the snow and push their noses around, snorting, sniffing. They love eating snow, licking snow, getting their faces snow dusted. They prefer to walk on the snow rather than the sidewalk. Sometimes this causes difficulties for me, as Musti likes to walk atop snowbanks in her search for crows' caches. This past Sunday I took them off leash after rounding a bend on the trail along Wilson St. headland.The sun's rays shone brilliant so I stopped to let the dogs play in the snow. That snow is now melted. Too bad Musti and Tassu! Your favorite season has gone out the back door....