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!

Maybe we should buy the ceramic squirrel to throw at the real ones.

Oh no!  You are getting a lot more snow than we are.  No snow yesterday until about 5:00 pm and then got just a dusting overnight.  I think you definitely need to hide that snowman from Alex!    Looks like this latest amaryllis is going to be gorgeous!  Maybe another squirrel-proof bird feeder is in order too??  At least the metal one they can’t chew on.  Have a great day.  Spring (hopefully) is just around the corner.  We were in the 70s this time last year!!!  We were lucky to make it to 40 yesterday.

Rick, haha. I would buy it if I thought it would help. Maybe use it on the railing as a scare tactic like people do with plastic owls?

C, Yup, no fun. We didn’t even try to clear the driveway it was so heavy. The squirrel-proof feeder was good until the bear punctured it that one time which gave the squirrels purchase for gnawing. I keep covering the hole up with tape and they keep chewing it off and making the hole even bigger. Nasty little things!

Maybe the squirrels are just hungrier than usual because of all the snow and the long season. Have patience with them!

I can completely sympathize with your weather frustration. It’s snowing now, as I type, and I’m sitting inside in front of the fireplace wrapped in a blanket. Ridiculous.

Steve, I have no patience any more with those little rodents! I feed them in the front of the house with a mix of seed, peanuts, old junk food from my pantry and etc., so they have more than enough to eat. I used to think squirrels were cute before I had them in my yard and on my deck.

Winter is hanging on here as well.  In our blizzard yesterday - there were up to 50 cars and semi’s slammed together on I-25 (and the ditch) by Johnsons Corner.  One tanker on fire - lots of people taken to area hospitals.  Crazy year for sure…..

Debra, we heard about that pile-up on the news! It doesn’t surprise me the way people drive on that stretch of road. Yikes!