As I looked out at the yard yesterday, I just knew it was about time to walk off the stir crazies of being in the house for the long winter.
Copper, our poor little pup, is tired of this space in the back yard.
Even if it has grown considerably in a couple of weeks, he’s been craving for a walk in the front yard, just like me.
So, out the front door, we both went, dodging under the faux icicles, that will, by the way, someday return to storage…at least there aren’t any real icicles forming there anymore.
There’s still this huge pile of ice and snow, though.
It’s hard as a rock, melting slowly from the top down, and bottom up.
Even if it was a tad cooler out last night than the weekend temps we had, it was the day Copper and I have been waiting for.
Yep! The long-awaited day arrived – we took our first walk around the yard to see what the long winter (aka, February’s 53″ of snow) left behind for us to see.
Oh, and we wanted to see if the frost has truly come up, and the hard frozen ground has officially thawed.
The slushy ground surrounding the piles of snow indicates it’s close. A few more warm days, it’ll be fully thawed. The cool nights are helping the slow melting, that’s for sure.
We still have plenty of snow piles. The ones that were drifted in place by layers and layers of storms will take a while to melt completely. Mr. has dibs on June as the actual month they will be all gone. I’m hopeful for May.
Upon closer look though, there are other spots where the green grass is starting to pop up in-between the brown debris from the fall.
The pesky little voles were busy over the winter. There are trails everywhere.
They built a nest in my flower bed.
And took over this spot in the yard. It looks like the water from the field flooded it when the rapid melting happened over the past couple of weeks. The voles or gophers or whatever it was living here was hungry over the winter and very resourceful to use the cornfield for food.
At this time of year, Copper’s nose is in dog sniffing heaven, going on overdrive. He then becomes very hard of hearing. A typical male, right? (Just kidding guys…!).
Twelve deer appeared in the field last night. They were spread out too much to catch them in a great shot altogether, so you get the tree instead. Which, by the way, has tiny buds at the top. Hopefully, they won’t sprout too fast, we’ve been known to have frost as late as mid-June.
I watched the deer enjoying their feast, while we ate ours.
And then I noticed them. Two – a tad bit too skinny and ready to eat all the grass in the yard – rabbits.
They were playfully hopping and mating (I’m assuming) in the grassy areas. These two scoundrels (who will eat my spring flowers…grr) survived the winter and they’re hungry and ready to eat every blade of grass as it appears.
It was fun to watch them hop around the yard and each other.
Their house under the Tea House is still a huge puddle of water, so they must be living under our deck instead.
But they were certainly happy to be munching on the new grass that’s coming in.
And happy to be out soaking up the warmth of the sun while they too enjoy the first signs of spring. Happy enough to do a Mating Dance, or two, too.
I wonder how many babies we’ll see in the not too distant future…I wonder who rocked who first?
“With time, your love became bigger than I thought. The special kind of feeling in my heart when we spend time together cannot be compared to anything. You rock my world baby.” – Two love bunnies
I wonder, will the deer have their fawns first, or the rabbits have a litter first? After watching the rabbits do their dance around the yard, my dibs are on the rabbits…
Post Inspiration – Dutch Goes the Photo – Tuesday Photography Challenge – Rock
PS – What’s your vote, rabbits or fawns first? Do you have voles where you live? Do you enjoy the first walk around the yard in the spring?
Great to see the signs of Spring! It rocks!!
Thank you, Frank – yes, I agree, Spring rocks!!
Ah, Spring is springing. Yea!
Yes, and it feels so good. I’ve been thinking about you the last couple of days – I’m reading Where the Forest Meets the Stars and I like how the author unfolds the story, reminds me of how you write. Hope you have a great day!
Ooo–thank you, Shelley. I don’t know if I “unfold” a story as much as hem and haw before spitting it out–but I appreciate the compliment. I will have to check that book out; it’s been on my radar!
You’re welcome. You’re an excellent writer! I don’t know what it is exactly, but I’m just really enjoying the book. Hope you like it when you read it.
My money is on the rabbits! Likely a shorter gestation period. So good to see that stuff going away isn’t it? Try throwing some hot water on that one pile of hard snow, then chip it up with a sharp shovel. Spread it out then, the sun will kill it faster! If you have a hose outlet on your water heater, pump a bunch of hot water on it directly from the water heater. Done like a dinner! 😬😎
Spoken like a guy who bets in Vegas and who lived in Michigan! Thanks for the hot tips ;-)!
If I still had that much snow around me this late in March, I would seriously lose my mind.
Love that close up of thre snow. It is so artistic.
Yeah, the snow is certainly a lingering reminder of cold winter. Glad you liked the photo! Thanks for sharing your thoughts, it is always a joy to hear from you!
Yes…nothing like spring. So hopeful. And we will soon have holes where critters are nesting, too…trying to eat my garden, no doubt. But right now, it’s all hope and happy thoughts. 🙂
We haven’t had rabbits in years, and I think it’s because we’ve seen a few coyotes in the area. However, the deer around us do a bang up job of eating plants in their absence. I’ve given up on tulips and several other deer treats. And I spray my hostas with the stinkiest stuff you can imagine. It’s war once the garden sprouts. ha!
I’m like you holding onto the hope of spring! Our rabbits come and go, depending upon the predators. We do have young eagles, coyotes, snakes, and fox around here, so I’m guessing they won’t last. I’m not a fan of them when they eat my spring flowers! Is the spray something you make or buy? I’m gearing up for garden wars now!
I buy it concentrated and mix it up, because I need so much over the summer. It stinks to high heaven. But seems to work if I keep up after a hard rain. It think it’s called Liquid Fence. I also buy cayenne pepper in large bags on ebay and put it near the chipmunk action. But overall, the chippies always win. :-p
Thank you for the hot tip. I’ve generally taken the minimialist approach to gardening – only the strong survive, so I’m hoping a bit of extra effort on my part pays off. We’ll see who wins this year! Ususally the ticks win first. But I’m not going to think about them yet…!
Looks like spring is at hand, Shelley. Welcome by everyone!
Thank you, Dan, it is welcome sight!
I like your photos of the remains of the snow. i’m glad that you’re beginning to thaw out and melt. Spring kind of sneaks up on you sometimes.
Thank you, Ally, glad you enjoyed the photos. It does seem to be sneaking in this year.
All that nature waking up! I hope the rabbits survive, despite their appetites. It will be so nice when that snow is gone. 🙂
The rabbit population seems to have survived for 30 years here, so I think they’ve got something figured out. 😉
I was going to ask if winter was done there, but then I read you still have the chance of another freeze coming. Our last freeze is as late as April. But we had a really early tornado watch this past weekend. Ugh. Way too early for that crap already. Great to see you have both Bambi and Thumper at your house! Where’s Flower??? Lol!
We’re not done with winter yet, we almost have to start feeling summer before spring officially takes hold. I forgot about flower – yeah, we have flowers – stinky ones around here, too! 🙂
So glad spring is on the horizon – although we are expecting snow again on Saturday. Hopefully just a blow by quick melt snow. April is next week…come on April. Then in July we will be complaining about being hot. After the winter we had – I don’t think I will complain at all.
Yes, snow at this time of year happens. I do like April, though, as long as the snow is gone so the rains soak in. I do not plan on complaining about the heat this year. Hold me to that, okay?! 😉
That snow just hangs around forever, don’t it?
It sure seems to like us this year!
The snow is finally starting to subside – you thought you’d never see that happen in the heart of February … that’s for sure. The critters can concentrate on each other instead of trying to dig up long-buried trets in the frozen tundra.
I’m holding you to that promise of spring! 😉
I hope I don’t disappoint you!
You never do!