Bits of Silver and Gold

That's the title of a little poetry book I've had in my possession for many years, and I guess that's what this blog is going to be about: little bits of shiny silver and gold nuggets from my life -- and maybe a few tarnished bits, too!

After a l-o-o-ng cold, snowy winter, finally there are lovely green shoots bursting up through still frozen ground. Every year we wait in anticipation to see what they will turn out to be. When we bought this house, a few years ago, the garden was fully planted, but every year we discover new plants we've never seen before -- we love surprises!

But, in the meantime, we bought this pot of varied-colour Kalanchoe on sale after Easter. The colours are so rich and they have brightened up many a dull, rainy day.

We spent much of the winter in a love/hate relationship with nature. There's a picture window in the office, looking out over the back garden, and a lilac tree with its branches almost brushing the window is the perfect spot for a bird-feeder. Not sure which critter is actually the culprit (raccoon, chipmunk, squirrel?), but our bird-feeders have been chewed on, knocked to the ground, punctured and probably trampled on, in an effort to get at the seeds! We are on our fourth feeder and I think we've found the best one, now -- at least it is still intact after a week. It seems to have also attracted some new birds. We've seen a beautiful rich, brown-backed Wood Thrush, which, along with the Brown-eyed Junco, scratch in the dirt under the feeder for left-overs. Both haven't stayed long enough for me to take a photo.

Not sure if this is a Goldfinch -- he doesn't look like the ones we saw last year which are yellow all over, with black/grey wings -- but he's cute all the same.

And this is the Pileated Woodpecker, with the red stripe on his head. They are everywhere, and when we go for a walk we hear their rat-tat-tat echoing throughout the neighbourhood. He was in the lilac tree and I just happened to have the camera ready.

And this lovely Cardinal brightened up a snowy day back in March. He is our wake-up call around 6:00am every day! But he's too beautiful to be upset with!

Finally, lest you should be envious of our springtime, this is what we faced for seemingly months on end!