True Signs

 

It's been a long, harsh winter...but once daffodils bloom, it's a sure sign spring is making its arrival known.  One of the fun things about being in a new place and inheriting your predecessor's plantings, is that there are so many surprises.  We'd never seen our land in the springtime and finding that we have daffodils and tulips coming up brought great delight!  It's incredible to have color outside again!

 

The trees and bushes are slower to "green up," but many are starting to bud, like the lilac you can see in the above photograph.  I'm so happy to have lilac bushes in our yard.  Their flowers are beautiful and their scent is heavenly.  Lilacs have been a favorite ever since I was a little girl. The Smiths, an elderly couple who lived next door to my family when I was very young, had huge lilac bushes growing next to their home. Each year, Mrs. Smith snipped a few of the pendulous blooms for me to take home.  Ever since that early experience,  I find there is nothing that compares to the scent of fresh lilacs.

 

   

In this last photo, you can see that we put up a new bird bath.  It's still a little chilly for bathing, but the chickadees and titmice have been sipping from the basin ever since we put the bath up.  The cherry tree is brightening our backyard view with its bright yellow flowers ... the colors are such a soothing sight for eyes that have seen way too much winter!