I've been dreaming of spring flowers, looking at ground that is still wearing a strong cover of snow, hoping for color.
My photo galleries from the last two years show flowers in late March. If this year's spring follows that pattern it will probably be another 3 to 4 weeks before I see outside color. In the meantime I'll make do with photos from previous years and with visits to conservatories.
A splash of yellow from last spring...
As soon as the car doors were opened we could hear the wind howling. The tide was inbound, the wind blowing, a somewhat warm winter's day turned chill as we walked onto the beach.
I loved this sweep of icy blue as I walked onto Popham Beach. The beach in winter can be a magic place.
Ah... we're three weeks into February and the weather wizard brought us a little bit of (relative) warmth.
It was a bit messy in inland locations but a walk on Popham Beach (Phippsburg, Maine) as the tide was rolling in was a good Saturday afternoon activity. The wind was howling and the crossing waves were fun to watch. There was snow covering the dunes and ice on the sections of the beach close to the dunes.
We're three weeks into February and I am itching for spring!
The weather wizard wasn't quite finished with us after Tuesday's snow storm; yesterday afternoon brought another inch and a half of the white stuff. Today brought change with temperatures edging into the 40s and rain is expected tomorrow with a helping of warm air. Hmm... I think it's going to be a bit messy with the combination of rain and melting snow.
I'll be happy to have a warm air interlude for a few days.
The weather wizard appears to be making up for years when we had sparse snowfall. This certainly isn't one of those years!
The snow didn't start here until late morning. There wasn't an ease in, the white stuff was heavy and steady from the beginning. And yes, it's still snowing.
Today's impending snow storm changed my plans for today. Instead of heading up the coast of Maine to visit with a friend I stayed closer to home. The Butterfly Place in Westford opened for the year yesterday; that seemed like a good spot for a visit this morning. It's much smaller than Magic Wings but it's also closer to home, a very reasonable drive for a short visit with butterflies and birds.
Butterflies were flitting, occasionally lighting on a surface to pose for photos. The butterflies are beautiful but it was the birds that really made me smile today. I asked what name this beautiful bird (below) wears and was told that it was a finch. It took a bit of searching to discover that the bird is a zebra finch.
