I was afraid of this!

As much as I have enjoyed the wonderful, warm weather we have been experiencing here in southern Ontario, it is returning to more seasonal temperatures.

This worried me because I wasn't sure that Old Man Winter was done with us.

The plants are about 7 weeks ahead of schedule.

And apparently, so are the Hummingbirds.

The first Hummingbirds are usually spotted in my garden during the time my Lilac's bloom - around May 24th. According to this Migration Map from www.hummingbirds.net the hummingbirds are already in Ontario!  I am concerned about the lack of food and possible cold temperatures ahead.

I guess there is only one thing for me to do.

Put out my feeders!

2012's first Fertilizer Friday post!

It's hard to believe the heat wave we have been having here in southern Ontario after the way March began. You may remember March 1st was this years only snow day. We had snow squalls and accumulation in the morning, only to heat up and melt everything by the end of the day.

The last 2 weeks have been amazing, and as much as I have enjoyed it, I'm not convinced that winter is done with us yet. I spent those wonderful days out in my gardens, cleaning up and re-edging them all and even doing a bit of topdressing with compost. This morning, I even found a few blooms!

So today will be my first Fertilizer Friday with Tootsie in 2012!

Pulmonaria just starting to open

The Forsythia bloomed during the winter and seems reluctant

Gotta love that Vinca!

The Daylily's practically grew overnight!

Bulbs popping up all and almost ready to bloom

The Poppies are eager this year too

The Poplar has already gotten Catkins

I am worried about some of these plants doing too much too early. The Lilac's are one of them.

They usually bloom at the end of May and the returning Hummingbirds depend on them. Have a look at what they are already doing...

My Tree Peony is in a hurry too

Bleeding Heart

I see signs of only one Hosta so far. I hope the rest don't hurry.

Found some catnip growing in one of the gardens, so I snipped a piece for Boots the cat - haven't seen her since!

The neighbor's pony 'Esprit' has been rolling in the mud. I think she's trying to get off the rest of that winter coat. She looks mighty pleased with herself.

Oh, and something to put the odd weather in perspective ... here is mid March 2008 when I had to shovel myself out of the house!

Trail Camera - March 21st

The Weather has been so nice, I have hardly had time to check the trail camera!

No too much activity ... wonder where everything has gone?

These are the only shots this month so far

These daytime close ups are great for detail.

You can see this guy is losing his winter coat

One deer night time shot

And this blurry coyote shot

Who, I might add, we think took the apple lick as it was in the last photo.

Hopefully we will start seeing other animals too!

Spring is in the air!

This week is March break here in southern Ontario. The weather has been GREAT - temperatures above the norm and the snow has all melted. Even the ice is off our tiny garden pond!

I think the pond needs a bit of a make-over this spring...the rocks have all shifted and the soil needs a healthy dose of compost.  While the ground was still frozen Saturday, I was able to rake an area of the lawn on Sunday. It sure felt good to be outside again, and got my first wheelbarrow load.

It will be a while before anything is blooming in the garden, but the first signs are here

 

No better sign of spring than new babies in the barn!

How cute are THESE?

 With the exception of today's rain, the rest of the week looks fantastic weather wise.

I intend to enjoy every moment of it!

Welcome March!

March came in like a lion in these parts...a freezing rain storm that coated everything with ice .

The school buses were cancelled, and a snow storm began.

But it wasn't too long before the sun came out.

My daughter and I decided to get out and do some shopping.

It turned into a bit of a bad day...lost my cell phone (found it later under my car seat...phew!)

A crazy driver sent a tidal wave of slushy water into my car which completely covered my windshield. That wouldn't have been a bad thing if I wasn't in 4 lanes of traffic at the time!

Managed to get the wipers working before anything bad happened, but it was scary!

In the store, I fumbled with a large can of soup sending it flying onto my poor daughters chest.

She has a lovely purple bruise there now and told Dad his soup 'hurt her badly'.

There were a few other things...It just wasn't my day.

But then...

I decided to check the seasonal section at the store only to discover that they had the gardening section ready. And there I found something I'd been looking for the past 3 or 4 years without success...

YIPPEE!

Now Netty's garden is complete!

(well, not really - is any garden really EVER complete??)

BRING ON SPRING!

Now if I could just figure out how to reply to comments.
I'm still not able to comment on my own blog!