Extra Glorious To Me

Dawn usually finds me up and waiting for the sunrise...

which became extra glorious Saturday morning...

It had started as this...earlier...a charming sunrise...

...accompanied with every conceivable song bird singing...

...turkeys cobbling on the nearby ridge...

...dogs howling in the distance...
...even the approaching sad wail of sirens...

...all added to my enjoyment of the moment...

.

causing me to venture to the field...still in my pajamas...
to take a few more photos...before the fast moving clouds
and mood disappeared.




While in the field a pair of geese flew over my head all too quickly...
only caught them in the distance above the trees.

-click to enlarge-

I then remembered my grandson Nathan...who is now 17...

-about 12 here-

was camping out with friends...in the woods...
so I walked over just close enough to sneak a small glimpse.


On the way back...just
a few more photos of the fading Forsythia...


...and dwindling Daffodils...before I go in.



When I looked toward the sky

I thought of my blogging friend Barb...in Colorado...




the clouds had compacted into...
her snow covered mountains...



but directly overhead they appeared as numerous cotton balls...



that quickly drifted off...leaving just a clear blue sky.


The sun was fully up...it was time to go in the back door...
and start my day!


A few hours later...
my grandson Andrew walked through the woods alone...




for a visit with gramma and grampa...

or was it more likely a chance for...

his favorite warm from the oven homemade cookies...

which he helped with the unwrapping

and placing of the 24 pieces of candy...



into the still warm cookies fresh from the oven!


Blogging has changed my routine...
I now do not go outside without this bag...
which holds my camera...never know what I might find.



Can you see what I found here?

-click to enlarge-
Did you find this Bumble Bee...hiding in the above photo?

Can you find the Eastern Towhee in this photo...

-click to enlarge photos-
or the Chipping Sparrow in this one?

This one is easier...count the Purple Finches...

You should have found 4 finches.


Over the weekend I cooked a few easy meals...

Coconut-Chicken Salad & Curry Couscous

Curry Couscous Salad & Cornbread

Macaroni Salad

I also...
...watched some of the family in an impromptu baseball game...

and spotted some heart shapes in the clouds...
Hope you can too........Especially Bernie!

This small heart looks a bit hurt and empty...but it's still there.

The sunrise, clouds, sky, the turkeys gobbling...

and the song birds singing......

all seemed extra glorious to me...on this weekend before Easter!

So glad I enjoyed it...for...as I sit here today typing...

it is cold and snowing!

Followed Me

Numerous white clouds floating under a bright blue sky...

appearing to be just above the tree tops...

.

.

were what greeted us Thursday morning...

making me want to hurry outside...

where I spied my first wild violet of the season...

.

...and there are many more violets yet to bloom...

along with my yellow pansies...

...but the pink hyacinth blooms just once!

Warm mornings in the spring usually mean...

a little work of some kind.

This morning's job...

is to create a (small) vegetable garden...

near the kitchen door.

I'm hoping the compost we made...

which needed to be spread...


makes our future plants grow as well as this...

very healthy wild dandelion I found while working!


Remember the beautiful white clouds and blue sky...


well...by Friday morning they looked like this...


and were accompanied with a sprinkling rain...

so...I took a walk...and you can follow me...in the rain!

I started out along the perimeter of the woods...
in the front yard...



and made my way down toward a small bridge...
made by Herhusband...over to a ridge...



...that leads to a small water hole...
which isn't big enough to be called a pond.



From there I took the lane...


that leads to our drive which goes by the cemetery...
before passing the field...into which I went!


The pink blossoms on the peach trees in the field
...were dressed with raindrops.



The pear blossoms wore them too!


Even though I was wearing my share of rain drops too...
I headed past the garden area lined with forsythia...
.


toward the winding creek in the woods...


where I spotted my first white trout lily of the season...


and this monument looking stump!

Deeper into the woods you can find Birch trees

with their distinctive white bark.

Notice the understory growth
of green shrubbery on the south facing hill...

now from the same spot...but turning left to the north

facing hill...it's less green...but will be covered with

shade loving fern later in the season.
.

I like the large Elm trees in this area with their

distinctive bark...and protruding roots...

on this trunk are engravings made years ago...

I think near the center I can make out 1930.
-click to enlarge-

Here you can see more raindrops clinging.

As I turned back up the hill to go home...

a bird started singing...it had been very quiet...
.

The singing moved from tree to tree as I walked...

I kept trying to locate the source and get a photo...

as I walked the path home...but failed.

Leaving the woods and in the yard...about to go in...

I heard the same singing.

Over in the trees...I just passed under...I spotted the source.

.

It was a Brown Thrasher...

I like to think it followed me home.