Happy Easter!

Awake, thou wintry earth -
Fling off thy sadness!
Fair vernal flowers, laugh forth

Your ancient gladness!  

~Thomas Blackburn, "An Easter Hymn"

The song birds are returning and the snow is melting!

We enjoyed a glorious, sunny spring day on this wonderful Easter Sunday!  

Happy Easter Everyone!

Puddle Fun!

I think we reached a high of +5C again today ... just warm enough to start the big puddle at the bottom of our yard!  A puddle forms there every spring and is always a source of entertainment!  Well, the boys kick started their Easter weekend with a bit of puddle fun!  I was thankful I recently bought them new rain pants for the upcoming puddle/mud season.  After a few refreshing splashes and swims in the water, the boys headed inside for a cup of hot chocolate!

New Babies

It must be spring ... the first of our babes came home today.  Yes, back towards the end of February, at Holloway Farms Ltd. (www.hollowayfarmsltd.com) 3rd Annual Horned Hereford Rancher's Bull Sale, we purchased not only some bulls but some bred heifers as well.  The only problem, the heifers were scheduled to start calving mid-end of March.  We are fair weather 'May 1st' calver's since we don't have the facilities to calve cows in March.  However, lucky for us, my husband was able to strike a deal with Holloway's that they would calve out the heifers for us!  I was never so thankful for that agreement when that lovely spring snow storm hit last week!

The calves are healthy and happy, the sun was shining, the snow was melting and in a few more weeks the rest of our herd will begin calving!  You gotta love spring!

Has Spring Finally Sprung?

Aaah ... no wind, a low fog burning off as the sun rises and the twinkle of frost!  It was a beautiful morning!  

The bonus:  Gophers surfacing and crows and geese returning!

Maybe spring has finally sprung!

The Melt ...

Nothing fancy ... but this frozen landscape will eventually give way to spring one puddle and one trickle at a time!  Here is to a few more days of that warm, delicious sun!  

Full Worm Moon

They say the Full Worm Moon or Sap Moon, is a time when the ground begins to thaw and the worms and robins begin to appear.  Hmm ... when it was -18C here this morning, I have to question just how soon the worms and robins will reappear!  Soon I hope!

Setting Sun ...

The sun was shining but gosh it was cold this morning (-15C)!  Perhaps its just me ... but my body says 'spring' and 'spring temperatures' and no longer cares for temperatures below -5C and would truly prefer the positive side of the thermometer!  Year 3 of my Seasons 365 has certainly been kicked off on the chilly side of things!  

Stompin' Around CowTown

Yesterday I headed to Calgary, AB to meet up with a friend of mine ... who shares the same crazy passion for snapping photos!  Together, we spent the afternoon and evening around the downtown core and this afternoon we spent some time capturing some images in the Inglewood area.  We met some crazy fun characters in downtown Calgary that certainly made our day!  And despite being a southern Alberta girl ... I still couldn't believe Calgary had so little snow when we seem to be living in the next Ice Age!  Anyhow, here are a few snippets from yesterday and today ... 

Have you ever been thrown under a bus?  

Better yet, asked to lay down underneath a bus?

Well, all I can say is, this is the perspective you get when you lay under a city bus and use your wide angle lens!  (You had to be there!)

I had a great couple of days in Calgary!  It was nice not having to trudge through the mounds and miles of snow we have to get a shot!  

White Sculptures!

There are no shortages of these massive white sculptures ... especially after the last couple of days!  I wonder how many more days before we see them start to melt away??

Winter White Out!

Welcome to Year 3 of my Seasons 365 Project and Welcome to Winter!

Haha ... yes, this is day 2 of 'Spring' on the Canadian Prairies!  FUN!  The bonus, the roads did blow in, the buses and school were cancelled, it was only -5C ... oh and school is cancelled for tomorrow as well.  Yeah!  The kids get an early start to their 'SPRING BREAK!'  Hmm ... I wonder what we will do???  Perhaps snowshoe!  LOL!  

I just want to send a huge 'thank you' to all of you who have faithfully followed along with my 365 journey!  I greatly appreciate your comments and hope you'll join me for yet another year!  Cheers Everyone!  

Spring Eh?

If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.  

~Anne Bradstreet

At 5:03 am, Spring officially arrived.  Unfortunately, hours before that, the wind arrived and the wind stayed!  Despite a high of +4C, a smidge of sun and some blue sky ...

the roads are a mess again!  

If the wind keeps howling, the roads that were plowed earlier will be filled back in!  Not the way most of us wanted Spring to start but hey, Spring is here and it can only get better ... right???

Putting Winter to Rest ...

Let us love winter, for it is the spring of genius.  

~Pietro Aretino

As the sun beat down and warmed the winter landscape to -4C this afternoon a puddle did emerge on my front walk.  Yes, we enjoyed a beautiful, bright sunny day and in a few hours we will bid farewell to the Winter season.  Spring arrives at 5:03am our time!

However, in glancing across our very wintery landscape and knowing full well that 'Winter' doesn't let 'Spring' just take over (at least as not as quickly as we would like) ... putting winter to rest isn't as easy as the weatherman says!  LOL!

Here's to bidding a long, white winter farewell and welcoming Spring!

Return of the Rays

Brrrr ... it was -20C this morning and with windchill it felt like -29C.  However, with the return of the sun's warm rays, the Rock Doves (Columba livia)... aka, domestic pigeons came out of hiding and sought those warm rays out!  It was nice to hear the chatter of birds, and yes, the cooing from pigeons once again.  Here's hoping 'Spring' makes it's debut on Wednesday!

Can the Colour Come Back?

We endured a blustery, snowy day for MOST of the day again today!  However, around 3:30pm this afternoon, the gloom and doom grey clouds lifted and the smiling face of the sun returned!  By sunset, colour was returning to our world!  Let's hope it takes over for a little while!

I hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful weekend!  

Winter ... Enough Already ...

Another colourless, wintery, blah day!!!!

I am so ready for Spring!  So ready for Colour!  So ready for Migratory Birds!  

So ready for Mud!  

More Snow ...

Getting closer to the official arrival of Spring and another 3-4 inches of fresh snow have blanketed the already existing snow.  Jake and Jewels decided to greet me late this afternoon while out checking on the cows and heifers.   Continually batting his eyes as the snow fell, Jake seemed unimpressed with the weather today.  I can't say as I blame him ... with the wind chill we are supposed to reach a low of -26C tonight!  YUCK!  

Drifting Away ...

There is no shortage of snow drifts in this part of the world.  In fact, if we get anything out of the two winter storm 'clippers' that they are predicting ... there might even be a few more drifts!  Hmm ... it would appear that 'winter' is NOT drifting away ... just drifting!  LOL!

Gloomy ...

No matter how long the winter, 

spring is sure to follow.  

~Proverb

The landscape is still very white and the sky was hazy and grey much of the day and still is.  The forecast is for a few days of flurries.  Spring arrives in a week but I don't think Winter will succumb to the seasonal change as quickly as we would like it to.

Isn't She 'Purty!'

I was treated to a fairly 'up-close and personal' encounter with this pretty lil' lady this afternoon.  Yes, another Sharp-tailed Grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus)!  She was rather comical ... her curiosity kept bringing her back.  She would hurry off, stop, gawk and come back!  Now, the challenge is to spot the males and get some photos of them!!!