Spring! ... spring?

Well, spring is supposedly here! ...but i think it has some mixed emotions about it. The weather here in southern Ohio has been all over the place! It has literally gone from some nice, warm, short-sleeve-wearing days - frogs and birds singing and plants budding - to waking up in a winter wonderland [!], to crazy thunderstorms with down-pouring rain, to 25mph winds, to cloudy and 70 degrees, to 20 degree nights... to what next?

I'm doing my best to get out and accomplish outdoor tasks regardless of the weather, but darn it! My spirit wanes a bit at times having to continue enduring the bitter cold. My wood stove is still getting plenty of action these days but the stack of seasoned firewood is just about gone.

The plants and the animals must be feeling just as duped. They are doing their best to hang in there. I'm hoping the honey bees have enough food to get through this, dare i say last, cold spell. I may just have to slip them some emergency grub tomorrow. As much as this spring may be playing hard to get, I am still as excited as a kid on christmas eve as I walk around the property everyday, catching new glimpses of life. Here are some bright snippets from the last few days... promising that a more colorful tomorrow will be upon us, at some point. HA!