Jack’s Walk

©voyager, all rights reserved

Jack had so much fun swimming yesterday that we went back to the civic center pond today. The water here is clean and clear and Jack doesn’t mind that bit of ice at all. This is the place where Jack caught his fish and he wants to catch another one. A bigger one and he even had a strategy. First he swam in a slow zig-zag skirting the edge of the ice, then he meandered near the shore until he found the right spot and planted himself like a post and just stood still……for about 5 minutes. I found a bench, drank my coffee, got up and took a few photos, sat down again and still Jack didn’t move. The spell was finally broken by the rattling sound of his cookie box when I put my hand in my pocket. After that we walked down to the soccer fields and back and Jack took one last dip before heading home where the boy is happily napping in a sunbeam.

Precious Tulips

From Nightjar,

These photos were taken in the last day of winter, just before the equinox. I brought these little red tulips from my grandma’s garden after she died and I planted them in a pot to be sure I wouldn’t lose them. It turned out to be a great idea and by moving it around I was able to capture them in different light conditions.

©Nightjar, all rights reserved

©Nightjar, all rights reserved

©Nightjar, all rights reserved

©Nightjar, all rights reserved

Spring Flowers

It’s that wonderful time of year when flowers start bursting out everywhere. Even in the sidewalks. Just ask Avalus.

Some tiny flowers, which are growing in the space between the plates of the walkway in front of my department. I wonder what insect visits them? The flowers are about 4 mm across. I got funny looks (again) by people passing by, while I was half prone on the walkway to get the pictures. Well, their loss for not noticing these tiny treasures.

©Avalus, all rights reserved

©Avalus, all rights reserved

Jack’s Walk

Hens and Chicks ©voyager, all rights reserved

I found my first growing thing of spring today. It’s a brave little hens and chicks lured out of its nest by the bright spring sun. Too bad for the little hen, though, that it’s still bloody cold. The high today was +5º, but there’s a bitter north wind blowing making it feel more like minus 5 instead. It’s supposed to get up to +11º by the end of the week, but then dip back down to zero again for a few more days. Sigh. Is it just me, or is spring taking a bit too long to get here this year?

Tree Tuesday

It’s finally spring! Well, at least it is in Germany and Avalus is sharing a wonderful blossoming tree with us today.

Today at noon, it was really warm (18°C in the sun!) and so I had a stroll over campus, discovering many things. And a fruit tree in bloom, with lots of bees doing beesness!

©Avalus, all rights reserved

 

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Jack’s Walk

Is that tree looking fuzzy or are my glasses dirty? ©voyager, all rights reserved

That tree is looking fuzzy with teeny, tiny baby buds ©voyager, all rights reserved

It’s a wonderful day in my corner of the world. There’s a bit of a north wind keeping things cold, but the sun finally decided to visit and it gifted us with a brilliant blue sky. I can hear birds twittering and the air is filled with that earthy smell of spring. It’s a day full of treats for the senses and I am loving the feel of sunshine on my face. Jack is also in excellent spirits and has a bit of extra bounce in his step. I might be a bit bouncy myself. We had a lovely walk all around the neighbourhood and we sang our silly songs and talked about rabbits and the trees.

March Light

Nightjar has sent us something special to start the week; busy little pollinators and beautiful March Light.

Spring has definitely arrived here! My opinion is that March Light is best seen when reflecting off the wings of all the busy pollinators, and that is exactly what I tried to capture this month. The weather and the insects cooperated with me. Shiny wings everywhere!

©Nightjar, all rights reserved

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Jack’s Walk

The First Day of Spring ©voyager, all rights reserved

Happy First Day of Spring, everyone. Yesterday was a bit of a melting day around here and early this morning the pond at the park was almost completely open water. By the end of the day I expect any remaining ice will be gone. Best of All? It might be a bit hard to see, but the willow trees are starting to look fuzzy with early buds. The willows are the first trees at the park to get leaves and I could jump up and down with excitement that I can actually see some promise of green. It was quite overcast when Jack and I were out, but the sun is shining now and it’s warm enough to even feel like a fine spring day. I hope all of you are having a fine first of spring day, too.

Jack’s Walk

It’s maple sugar season ©voyager, all rights reserved

Bubba and I thought we’d check out our wee forest today and we were pleased to see that maple syrup season is in full swing. There’s a farm adjacent to our woods that’s full of sugar maples and they process the syrup the old-fashioned way, with pails to collect the sap and an old-fashioned sugar shack where they boil it down over a wood fire. The ratio is 14 litres of sap gives you 1 litre of syrup. Jack has spent a lot of time checking out the farm and those maple trees and I’d warrant a guess that he’s peed on many, maybe even most, of the trees that are tapped. That’s why we call this farm’s maple syrup “Jack Juice.”

Tap, tap, tap ©voyager, all rights reserved

Mmm…©voyager, all rights reserved

February Light

It’s the last day of February and it’s been a long, dreary month for me. Nightjar has light, though. Beautiful light, and she’s sharing it with all of us.

This year the shortest month went by rather quickly for me. Between work, gardening and lack of inspiration there weren’t many photo opportunities. Luckily, this time of the year it is not necessary to leave my own garden to find something interesting and this was a very sunny February. At the end of the month I finally felt inspired to make an interpretation of February Light, playing with low angles and shooting flowers against sunlight while not caring about blowing out the sky.

©Nightjar, all rights reserved

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Bee Happy

If the early bird catches the worm what does the early bee get? Her picture taken, of course. This delightful early sign of spring comes to us from Avalus.

Walking home last Saturday I found the first bee of the year! She allowed for one photo and then took off. I hope for a good year for her hive!

First bee of 2019 ©Avalus, all rights reserved