Signs of nature

Other friends in the area were showing pics or commenting on their signs that spring is tip toeing in. I was outside this last week a couple of times and took a couple of pictures that spring is finally peaking its head out on my side of town. (Yes, really there are different micro-climates in the area and drives the weather people insane.)

 The yellow lillies we got from Brandon's mom. They're from her mom's house.

My lavender and white crocuses.

I didn't take photos of the daffodils but they had a few that looked like the flowers were getting close to bursting forth. I should check those. I often miss them because they're around the corner of the house. One would also think this time of the year would be great for getting shrubs moved, but even without a few days without rain, the ground is muddy. Lots of clay in the area. My back patio is green and I have an amazing amount of moss in the grass. I actually don't mind the moss, but Brandon sometimes thinks he needs to get it out. The fruit trees also have buds ready. I hope they hold off long enough that there isn't danger of a freeze killing off fruit, think late April. (Yes, really.)

Last week I was also surprised to come home after dropping Brandon off at work to find this HUGE bird in the neighbor's birch tree. My neighbor Dwight identified it for me as a Red Tailed Hawk.  Here's the hawk:

This birch tree is in the neighbor's yard between the two houses. When the hawk was up there, I could look up at it from the side window.

So our lesson with the hawk is to listen when I open up the back sliding glass door to let the dogs out. If I don't hear any of the MANY birds in the backyard, I go out with Leeloo. If I hear birds, she should be fairly safe to go out. The funny thing is I was outside later in the afternoon when most likely a small falcon came swooping past with a small bird in its claws to land on the other side of the fence in the orchard. WTF?! I get two raptors in one day? I need to make one of the SCA meetings on Friday nights to find out if one of the people who make their own armor would be interested in making Leeloo something. ;-)