Break Out the Shorts, At Least for a Few Days

The farther north one goes, the more the year is regulated by the changing seasons.  In northern college towns, this phenomena takes on an amusing predictability.  You have dinner downtown one Saturday night and the pavement markings are worn and faint, you drive through town at eight o'clock a.m. the next morning and cones mark the freshly laid paint.  It's that time of year again:  two back-to-back days of warm dry weather that fall sometime between the first of April (last day for snow tires) and mid-May (graduation).   


We spent some time at my friend Kate's farm on Sunday.  The highlight was playing shepherd to the baby lamb that couldn't figure out how to get through the gate and was separated from his mother for an hour or so.  The poor ewe was wondering around bleating ridiculously loud.  I carried her lamb back and she shot me a dirty look, like "what have you been doing with my baby!"  I laughed and said "I'm not the one who left my baby by the gate!"  The other highlight was picking daffodils from an old homestead site.  We're going to go back later and dig up the bulbs--they are this wonderfully ruffled yellow daffodil that I've not seen before.  The bulbs must be 80-100 years old!


Alas, I have no farm pictures to include, but I did do a lot of work in my gardens so I'll post these instead!

Getting organized!

My gnome is lonely since his friend was killed by an errant soccer ball!

I will think of something for this spot...

Pretty hyacinths!

Lupins be gone!  (They are now a backboard to the soccer goal!)