It’s that time of year again when the cherry trees are in blossom in Branch Brook Park in Newark. Last year the trees were early and we were late to the party. This year I think we planned it at peak bloom time but the weather was not very nice. We went on Friday which was predicted to be mostly sunny, but it turned out to be mostly cloudy with a chilly wind. We knew that Saturday it was supposed to rain heavily (we ended up with 3.71 inches here at our house!) and be windy so we were worried that the trees would lose their blossoms after that. So, Friday it was!

We headed off in Mia, but with the top up in hopes that the day would turn warmer and sunnier.

The trees were absolutely beautiful. Everywhere you looked people gathered underneath them to bask in their glory, rapt looks of wonder on their faces turned upwards to the blossoms.

 

My photos would have been better with a nice blue sky as a backdrop to the blossoms but that was just not to be, so I had to make the best of the situation and just enjoy the day for what it was. (Even if my fingers were turning blue!) I hope you enjoy them. One thing is for certain: cherry trees come in all colors and all shapes and sizes.

 

 

 

 

 

A bird’s nest on the lower branch of a tree. What a lovely place for a home!

On one of the old bridges.

Some trees just seemed to have an inner glow about them.

 

A closer look at some blossoms.

 

The different shapes of the branches and how the tree has grown over the years is a source of fascination for me.

This particular tree was huge. And beautiful. I had to take it’s image from several different perspectives. From the front:

Underneath:

After passing it by:

I think you’ll agree it was worthy of all three shots. And, did you notice the woman in the distance with her easel in the “in front” shot?

I had to take a closer shot of her paints. So tidy! (Of course I asked her permission before photographing her painting.)

The Catholic Cathedral of the Sacred Heart as seen four different ways! I couldn’t decide which photo to use. Which one is your favorite view of the church including the cherry trees?

 

 

 

Just as we were leaving the park at around 3:00 p.m. the sun finally peeked through the clouds. Of course. We even got to put the top down on Mia on the drive home. Maybe next year we can hit peak blooming season and perfect weather all rolled into one!

Saturday was finally warm and sunny enough to get Mia out to stretch her legs. Top down, windows down, wind in our hair.

(Note: I think this photo is kind of funny. Since I was wearing my sunglasses at the time of taking the photo, the camera focused on the writing on the side mirror instead of on me like I had intended so I am blurred out. See my new hat?)

We decided to do a big loop: up to the lovely town of Warwick through Greenwood Lake and then come back down through our favorite little back road to Upper Greenwood Lake with a side trip to the Warwick Valley Winery.

At least some people who live on the road that goes past the winery have a sense of humor. I love this sign!

The road is so tiny and narrow that going much faster than that would be suicide anyway.

The winery is smack in the middle of what is called the black dirt region near Pine Island, New York which is famous for growing onions. Follow the link to learn more about it. The dirt really is black!

We were surprised to see the parking lot full of cars and nearly every picnic table was taken up with people enjoying the sunshine. We are always trying to find a nice place to have lunch when we take Mia out and for some reason we always forget about the winery. Too bad we had lunch at our little local diner down the hill before starting our drive because the food coming out of the cafe at the winery looked delicious—especially the pizzas! Next time!

We ordered a glass of Black Dirt Blush and sat down at a picnic table outside to people watch and soak up the sun. We think a dog had claimed our table sometime in the not too distant past. Do you agree?

We sat and sipped our wine, the sun warm against our backs, and watched as people ate, drank their recently purchased bottles of wine and spread blankets on the newly greening grass while little children from various families banded together to play.

The wine was such a pretty color in the sun! I know I keep going on about the sun, but we haven’t seen it much. (Fun side note: Rick has his yearly physical a week ago and all was fine except his blood work showed a slight Vitamin D deficiency! Dr. said he thinks more sun is needed.)

I thought the recycle “bin” for the empty wine bottles was interesting.

Such an enjoyable couple of hours! It was so nice to finally get out and take advantage of a beautiful spring day.

A new season has been created here in New Jersey: Sprinter. Not Spring. Not Winter. Sprinter. Another snow swept through yesterday leaving everything looking like someone had traced around all the branches and trees with a big fat white marker.

The buds are confused.

And oh ... remember those little catkins I was so excited about? I think they were wise to wait.

Pretty? Yes. Wanted? NO.

 

Wait ... ! Wasn’t the title of this post “Welcome Spring?” I am sorry to report that this is the view out my window this morning. A rather disheartening sight if I must say so. Just yesterday we had Mia out (with the top down!) for a short ride. And now look! Sheesh. It’s supposed to turn to rain later on in the day but it’s so disappointing to know that it can still do this to us.

We had great weather for viewing the Super Moon on Friday night. It really didn’t look all that much bigger and brighter to me. After all the hype I was expecting more. Here are a few pics anyway. First, a creepy one; then two pics alike except for the focal point in one was on the trees and in the other it was the moon. Rick took both of those pics.

The turkeys returned again on Sunday morning. Rick took a video that I will be posting as soon as he gets it ready, but in case you didn’t get enough turkey pics the other day here are a few more.

Watching over his harem.

If you’ve got it, flaunt it!

This guy was gobbling as I took the photo.

I think they like our yard. We counted over twenty turkeys in the yard at one time! No mating took place yesterday. Maybe they are done with that.

Even though we did take Mia out for a spin to celebrate her one year anniversary, it wasn’t all that warm this weekend. I think it may have gotten to 50 late in the day yesterday, but Saturday was quite cold with a chilly wind. We walked the dogs, played video games and other than a trip to the Rockaway mall for a disappointing clothes shopping trip (but a great lunch at the new Red Robin) we stuck pretty close to home.

For dinner last night we had a surprisingly good meal of roast venison. One of Rick’s colleagues is a hunter and he gave us a roast knowing that we like to cook and eat on the adventurous side. I was very skeptical about the whole thing, but I have to admit it was very good. The dogs and cats were all very interested the minute Rick pulled it out of the fridge to start preparing the rub for it. They thought it smelled pretty darned interesting! We made garlic smashed yukon gold potatoes and fresh asparagus with it. If I had been blindfolded I would not have been able to tell you I was eating venison. The taste was not beef, but it was hard to pinpoint. It kind of tasted like the wild boar we ate in France once.

And, that about wraps up our weekend news! Hope you’re experiencing spring-like weather wherever you are today!

A serious weather advisory is out for New Jersey today and tomorrow. This kind of weather can bring on fevers! And that weather advisory is ...

 

Oh my.

63 degrees F.

Sunny.

Warm enough to sit outside without a sweater on.

Laundry on the line outside.

Unbelievable!