Yesterday I showed you things that were not yet blooming, so today I will show you what I saw that was blooming. This magnolia was superb! Grab a seat on the bench and drink it in!

These sweet little lavender-blue flowers that were dwarfed by the large tree they were growing under. I thought the light was interesting (and tricky) in this photo; part shade, part sun.

Gee, surprise, surprise — a daffodil. It was the only one of its kind blooming and it was just outside of the designated flower bed like it had escaped confinement. You go daff!

Mayapple. Love its freckled face!

Last night as I opened the door to let the dogs outside for a final visit to yard, I heard them. Finally, our spring peepers singing in their froggy chorus!  What a  welcome and lovely sound that was. I did hear peepers at Duck Pond while on my walk at Skylands the other day but only for a minute as I first walked up to the pond and then they became silent. I opened the window when I went to bed so I could hear them and be "peeped" to sleep.

Through my open window this morning I was awakened by the repetitive robin and numerous woodpeckers drilling away on the trees. There was so much drilling going on that it sounded like a construction site! My goodness, I think Spring might just be around the corner! The warm temperatures that we are expecting over the next few days might just encourage the trees to pop.

(Photo: Cardinal at Skylands that was singing such a pretty song for me.)

I think Spring is finally on the way. As I type the little Carolina wren is singing away outside my window. I just adore those little birds and their sweet varied songs. I can see buds about to pop on the maple trees and the day lilies have broken ground. The daffodils have lots of flower buds coming. Soon it will all burst wide open and I'll be glad for that.

Our three-day weekend went pretty well. On Friday we did some errand running around. Some errands were successful (like our trip to DSW for new shoes) and others weren't as successful as I had hoped (Unique Photo for this new lens which was out of stock). As soon as I made the final decision to actually buy it and spend my reserved "Mom" money they run out due to a super new sale price. Next week!

We took the dogs for a walk, Rick took down the old cabana canopy frame in preparation for the new one and gave Mia a much needed bath.

We branched out for dinner and tried cooking skate for the first time and it was amazingly good. 

On Saturday we took Mia out for a spin. It was nice enough to have the top down once the day warmed up. We drove down to Branch Book Park in Bloomfield (a suburb of Newark) to check on the progress of the cherry trees, and also because I wanted to know the route so I could drive myself when the time comes. Last year this time the cherries were just about done, but this year they haven't even started yet. We saw a couple of trees that had popped, but most had not. I plan to spend a lot of time wandering around the park with my camera (and my new lens!) just taking in all the blossoms and getting some much needed cherry therapy or "cherrapy". Here's what they looked like last year.

When we got home Rick experimented with the new cook book I got him the other day. America's Test Kitchen's D.I.Y. cookbook: Can It, Cure It, Churn It, Brew It: 100+ Foolproof kitchen projects for the adventurous home cook. He made ketchup! It was very tasty and much better than the prepared stuff. Healthier too! It made the house smell so good.

We used it on our homemade onion rings that accompanied our grilled steaks. Here are the rings before frying. Yum!

Easter was spent doing much not of anything. The weather was cloudy and windy and by afternoon the rain had started in. We bathed Alex, who was sorely in need of a bath, and blew him dry dog-show style in the morning. We just stayed around the house and watched TV, read and I knit some (still working on Rick's slippers, almost done) and cooked our free Easter ham. We also had gratin dauphinois and roasted carrots, parsnips and onions as sides. Delicious! Now we'll be eating on ham for the rest of the week: in quiche, split pea soup and so on. We'll also be having Sloppy Joes this week and using Rick's ketchup in them to see how it works when used in a recipe. 

So that's it folks, the weekend that was. I think I covered most of the highlights. I hope however you spent your holiday weekend was equally as enjoyable as ours.

(Top Photo explanation: I was intrigued by capturing the play of light on the fencing around the pool late in the afternoon as we grilled our steaks. The wrought iron chair on the opposite side of the fence was casting a shadow.)

The first day of spring has come and gone with nothing to show for it. Our ground is still covered in white from our 4-5 inch snowfall on Monday. It's melting, but slower than you would expect it to at this time of year. The thermometer is stuck in the 30's. When I look back on the blog entries from years past at this time it's almost surreal. Last year the forsythia was blooming! This year its buds are closed tight with not even a glimmer of yellow showing. I know, I checked it yesterday. I also know I promised no more white photos, but I couldn't help myself the other day with the late afternoon sun on the melting snow.

It's hard to motivate myself to go out with the camera to find anything of interest so I headed to the local garden shop yesterday since I had noticed that they were flying a big OPEN sign the other day. No flowers yet except for a few potted bulbs inside. And these colorful hummingbird feeders.

And this cheeky little guy who is much cuter than the pesky squirrels in my yard that have now chewed an even bigger hole in my best bird feeder. Other than that there was nothing to see or buy at the shop.

The weekend is supposed to be a bit warmer with temperatures in the 40's, but they are saying the wind chills are going to make it feel much colder. And, a little  more snow is expected on Monday. Alex keeps pulling out his snowman toy that was a Christmas present to play with and I think he might be jinxing us. I'm seriously thinking of putting it away until next year.

In other news, the last amaryllis is just about ready to bloom and it looks like it's going to burst forth with three flowers at the same time.

And on closer inspection, the huge amaryllis that still has one last flower blooming has another flower stalk poking out of the base of the bulb. Wow, I'm thrilled it has the oomph to send up yet another bud stalk!

So how's that for a mish-mash of stuff in one blog post!

Our dinner party was a huge success. The food was wonderful, the guests all got along and had a great time and everything went according to plan. 

The day of the party was a little strange because it snowed most of the afternoon. Big, fluffy flakes that mostly evaporated as soon as they hit the ground but did in fact manage to pile up enough to leave the branches and grassy areas coated with white. At least it didn't stick to the roads. I didn't take any photos because, well, frankly I'm tired of taking white photos and showing them here on the blog. And I'm certain you are getting tired of me prattling on and on about our weather as well.

The temperatures haven't varied very much since last month. Yesterday it barely got above freezing! Our nighttime temperatures are still dipping down in to the 20's. As I type this entry this morning at 8:30 it's only 24. I am tired of wearing jackets and gloves and layering my tops two deep. Tired of lugging firewood up the stairs (our stash for this year is running dangerously low).

Today we are expecting more snow--this time leading to one or two inches, then some ice, then rain. I hope this year's spring is really sweet and pleasant to make up for its late start. At least I sure hope so. If it ever does get here that is!

I am tired of pointing my camera at the colors of gray, white and brown. I'd much rather point it towards blue and green.

(photo: Doorway to … Spring?)