A handful of days ago, I was delighted to recognize the tulip leaves which were beginning to emerge from beneath the winter accumulation of leaves, gently-used straw and rabbit poop, with which we had amended the perennial border along the fence. My eye had noted the garlic planted last October had started to peek out of the soil, and the crocus plants, which had been greening up for some time, had finally started to sport their unopened blooms. I giddily rushed outside with a spoonful of our salvaged honey, to offer to the foraging girls I saw emerging from the hive in response to the sunshine. Mentally, I started ticking off the list of things I needed to tend to and clean up during the weekend. I'm all for leaving seed heads standing for the birds in the fall and winter, but when the promise of spring is on the wind, you have to admit it looks messy. I ruffled the leaves of the parsley plants that had made their dormant way through the winter in my make-shift greenhouse - despite the wind's valiant efforts to strip the plastic off of the support beams on several stormy days - and felt the smile spread across my face.
We went out to Chilliwack for a second round of property viewing Saturday morning, having heard that there might be some small amount of snowfall for the Lower Mainland over the next few hours. I crossed my fingers that the driving would be unaffected, and the snow would abate.
The snow seemed rather insubstantial that morning, but for the drive home along the highway it gusted and limited visibility. The rabbits were happy with the some extra grain and sunflower seeds, and only one water bottle was frozen by the time we got home.
But the snow didn't stop.
By Saturday evening, the white stuff had been coming down in earnest. That's my track out to the bunnies in the snow.
By Sunday afternoon, the neighbor's little Miniature Pincher had to literally bound through the drifts to bark at me.
And it hasn't stopped.....
Right now, I'm just checking the water bottles regularly and tapping off the branches of the blueberry bushes before accumulation snaps them off. An unexpected surprise this 'late' in our coastal year, but I guess those chores will have to wait.
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