Okay. You've forced me into it. Today I decided to brave the cold spring-time winter temps, and head outdoors. The temp actually warmed up one degree since I left, hence that 12 degree is a bit misleading. It was actually way colder than that.
However, I dressed appropriately. Just because we live in the Lower Mainland of God's Country, doesn't mean we don't have snuggly winter gear. We just don't have skidoos and ice-fishing equipment.
So off we go, my little dog and I, looking for signs of Spring. We didn't have to go far up the street to find these lonely little daffodils sheltering by a wall. I bet there is a furnace inside that wall, and that is what the flowers are leaning towards.
And finally, a dandelion. We were walking for about an hour - well, meandering is more like it, with a bit of loitering and marlin' thrown in, and we only passed two in all. Two little measly dandelions, who were brave enough to open their little heads to these climes. You notice how this little guy stayed close to the ground?
We walked to Queen Mary's Park, which has been highlighted on this blog before. In the summer, it's a nice place to go to get out of the blistering heat, as it's made up of old-growth forest. Today the trees were pretty bare, though the creek was bubbling along.
A tiny little beach, perfect for fairies. The troll bridge is just up the way a bit.
Teddy wasn't sure about the water, so I guess he doesn't have any Labrador Retriever in his blood.
Oh ... maybe he's got a touch of mountain goat. (Only kidding. I put him up there for this little photo shoot.)
Some trees are popping green - I imagine they're the young ones who are raving to go ....
And there was some pretty blue sky overhead. The big old black clouds were in the other direction, and for once they didn't bring us any rain.
We headed back on the Hydro path, and lo and behold - we met another daffodil plant trying to pop open. Soon, pretty little daffodil, soon. You'll make Robert Frost proud.
And what do we have here? A bit of star-shaped fungi? I've never seen a mushroom like this before, so I wouldn't touch it in case it spored alien germs all over me. I'm pretty sure it sat on a stem that was implanted in the ground.
Of course, we couldn't go for a nice nature walk with coming across some garbage that some piece of sh.. garbage threw out.
Getting closer to home, more signs of the long awaited season ... Steve said these were related to Lilies-of-the-Valley, without the scent. They are very pretty, though.
Back home, our little daffies are blooming in the front yard. These are teeny tiny ones, so I zoomed in to make them look bigger.
And in the back yard, Teaser's Lilac Tree is coming along. Steve planted this tree the day my Teaser Cat passed away, and I thought that was a lovely tribute. I'll have a purple Lilac Tree, please. And a Rhubarb Plant. Thanks.
These raspberry leaves just popped open over the past few days. I still have raspberries in my freezer from last summer, this plant was just pumping them out hand over fist last year, and we got tons. Can't wait.
The rhubarb plant is also counting on no more snow. You can see how wrinkly its leaves are - that's because it got caught in a massive shivering fit during a late frost. (No - only kidding. That's the way rhubarbs are. Makes me feel better about the mirror thing.)
And finally, my honeysuckle. It's gone mad with growth this year, but hopefully it can find a scent when the flowers bloom. Last summer there was absolutely no honeysuckle aroma, no matter how close to the flower your nose got. I really felt gypped. Because no matter how pretty this plant looks, you buy it for the smell. Because it reminds you of growing up in Scotland, where honeysuckle abounds.
And that's it.
I guess there's a lesson to be learned here - sometimes you can travel far and wide, but it turns out what you were looking for was in your back yard all the time. Or in the front. Whatever.
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