Signs of Spring

Forsythia, violets and bunny ears all sure signs of Spring.

What's in Your Easter Basket?

I'm behind this year on putting the little one's Easter basket together. Partly because I've been busy. Mainly because I don't want it to be all candy and as cute as they are, there's only so many stuffed bunnies a little person can own.

As a result it's turning into a hodge podge of little things like seed packets for the garden, fairy stickers, a silly putty egg, a Thomas book, colored bubbles and chocolate. It doesn't look like something out of the pages of Martha Stewart but it's filled with things a four year might actually enjoy playing with.

A Jump on Spring

The unseasonably warm weather allowed me to clear the front garden. Just as well, the warm weather has given the plants a head start too. The oregano and our Miss Dot grass have already started growing into the dried out stalks from last year. I trimmed back the old growth and raked up a surprising amount of left over leaves from the fall. The leaf clean up revealed lots of spring buds and what's left of the tulips. I have a sneaking suspicion that our tulips are also being attacked from below. Are the chipmunk's pulling them right into their underground tunnels?

While I was bagging leaves and puzzling over our missing tulips, my little one was busy building a fairy house with her cousins. They made good use of the remains of Miss Dot and twigs from the yard. They were not a 100% happy with their fairy house, but I think it turned out first rate.

In the late afternoon, I took a walk in the back woods and came across some shed antlers and two tiny deer skulls, little victims of the winter or more likely a coyote. A strong reminder of the cyclical nature of things, which made me even happier that Spring is almost here.

Our First Crocus and the Call of the Garden

Our first little bulb popped out two days ago, a tiny white crocus looking very delicate amongst the remaining leaves that managed to escape fall clean up. It has yet to fully open and maybe regretting it's decisions the weather is cold again today.

Yesterday was so warm and sunny it could have been May. It got the planting bug going in me. Last year we got started too late and struggled to catch up all Summer. I'm not going to make that mistake again. Yesterday I bought seed packets and this weekend I'm going to get out and clear the beds and get some tiny fences up to protect the tulips. No deer candy this year.

Above are some images from Country Living that are serving as inspiration to get my hands dirty this weekend. You can see more images of this Connecticut garden here.