40 - Half Over or Half Begun?

Today I am 40. I don't quite like it.

40 rings on a tree is not alot
But 40 candles on a cake will melt the icing

40 yellow tulips are stunning
40 gray hairs is not a pretty sight

40 shades of floss make a pretty sight
40 days & 40 nights is a lot of rain

40 minutes of pain is an eternity
40 minutes of laughter goes by in an instant

40.....its all relative

Remains of a Winter Guest

We frequently are host to large wildlife, in all seasons. One of our winter favourites is the moose, they are very territorial and often a mother with a calf or two, or a lone male will pick out a large area and come back time and time again, year after year. Fences don't keep them out, or in, as their gangly legs are not as clumsy as they seem, and they simply walk over the fence. They're mesmerizing to watch, its a sight I never tire of even though its almost commonplace for us, but they do leave behind evidence of their presence, which we often don't find until the snow is all gone, in the form of moose poop and chewed off sections of bark or broken off red willow branches.

The Psychology of Laundry

Hanging laundry outside on a sunny day,
It evokes many pleasant thoughts,
Not the least of which is yet another sign of spring.
(Are you beginning to realize how much the arrival of spring means here?)

There's barely a whisper of a breeze today,
Just enough to keep the jeans from complaining of the heat of the sun,
Enough to allow the T-shirts to perform their slow dance,
And the socks to scan for their mates.

How would it feel to be a piece of laundry?
To feel damp, cold, and claustrophobic,
Then to be brought into a warm sunny place,
It must feel like a renewal
Of life and energy

Then to be brought inside at the end of the day,
To have the scent of outside gently folded into place
Ready to start another day.

Winter Wonderland??

"Snow in the spring is abominable, like a slap in the face when one expected a kiss"

paraphrased from Lucy Maud Montgomery

We live in a beautiful area of British Columbia, in fact, I wouldn't want to live anywhere else, but, one of the drawbacks we must learn to live with is the fact that it can snow at any time, ask my pal Dagmar about the time she was here in July and we had snow on the laundry hanging outside!

Signs of Spring in the Cariboo

I had a wonderful long weekend....no work for 3 days..Yay! Cold and cloudy..Bah! No rain..Yay! Hammered my thumb..Bah! Got lots of yardwork done..Yay! Didn't get an ounce of housework done..Yay or bah, depending on your point of view!

Here are some images of what spring in my yard looks like...

Spring flowers blooming,

Leaves beginning to show (mmmmmnnnn, rhubarb!!)

Signs of yard work being done

Wild flowers, birds, & butterflies (The butterfly picture I can't take credit for)

Freshly cut grass and an almost empty woodpile (yes, our source of heat is wood)

And the promise of more beauty to come.

Dusty

Your dog house lies empty now
You're not sunning on its roof
You're not racing around the grass
I don't hear you woof woof woof, woof.

I've put away your bowl and leash
And all the things you won't be needing
I won't look out the window to see you
Take you for our walks,
Or see your brown eyes pleading.

But I will miss you my friend
For I could never measure
The happiness a dog could bring
The comfort and the pleasure.

And since you were put here to share
In earthly joys and sorrow
I'm sure there's a place for you
In heaven's bright tomorrow.

Beauty & The Beast

We can never be sure that winter is actually and truly over until we see the first hummingbird. Which I saw on saturday, hovering by the window where I hang the feeder every year (but where in the world did I put that thing last fall after I cleaned it??). The hummingbirds can be trusted to know that spring has arrived, but, unfortunately, so can the mosquitoes. The very day I saw the hummingbird, I also saw the first mosquito. And we don't just have little annoying flying insects that you can swat away with ease, we have "Cariboo Mosquitoes", which are almost a subspecies in themselves. They are vicious carnivores, who have no qualms about taking a hunk out of whatever tinitest bit flesh you leave unprotected. And as we live in a rural, heavily forested area, they outnumber humans by about 1,000 to 1! Time to stock up on "Deep Forest Off", what a lovely fragrance!

On a Dark Spring Night

Walking on rain soaked roads
Pebbles shining white,
Like scattered pocketfuls of nickels and dimes
But no moonlight to explain the glow.

Hearing frogs in the distance
Their first croaks of the season, of the year.

Reaching the lonely stretch of highway
So quiet I can walk on the yellow centre line
Without a care.

Standing at the centre of the crossroads
Listening to the frogs, the rain dripping off the trees,
The occasional distant traffic.

The swoosh of a truck on the wet road draws nearer,
And I turn around and walk home.

Tug of War

Sometimes its easy. Sometimes its not so easy. Sometimes its hard. Sometimes its almost too hard. One day it will be too hard.