Cloudy Day

Here's a trio of those species tulips in the back garden, looking a little more formal and reserved today, in lieu of the sun's golden rays.

It was a pretty mellow day, all things being equal. We saw a lot of gathering clouds today, with little actual sunshine. Still, it was nice enough to get some serious stick-and-branch gathering and raking accomplished around here.

I like to make distinct piles of the many twigs, branches and large limbs the winter winds bring down for us, and then add the raked leaves and pine needles on top and around. I figure the process must create a reasonable dwelling for any one of a number of different creatures we see around here.

While raking, I spotted one of the Canada geese sailing peacefully around the pond.

I've noticed, too, that the water level in the pond is right up there, thanks to all our recent rains. It hasn't started to spill into the meadow yet...but it is raining again this evening, though it seems pretty light.

Those tiny daffodils are a continuing surprise, as they are putting out more than one bloom per stem. Their show just gets better each day. In the background here, you can see that our larger forsythia along the kitchen path has begun to bloom, as well.



Just couldn't resist another visit with one of our delightful hyacinths.