Snow. Boo.

We have been thoroughly enjoying the excitement of watching our new yard come to life over the past several weeks. We knew we had some nice bushes in back, but we had no idea they were pretty much all flowering bushes. The scent of the air drifting through the open windows in the evenings has been simply heavenly.

So here are some shots from around the yard, as it looked heading into the weekend.

two weeks ago, before weeding, budding, and grotto-building

interim grotto

these smell absolutely amazing

I was thrilled to discover we have lilacs

and cherries!

the front flower bed coming alive with allium

And then here's my view of the yard today:

I was able to rescue the allium that had already started to bloom as the snow started yesterday

No bueno :( I keep trying to find comfort in the fact that the grass will be ridiculously green when all this snow melts... but I'm not sure the trees will recover as easily.

I also had a visit from these little guys this morning:

I was doing dishes when I heard something and saw some movement outside our back door. I was startled--Alex wasn't due to be home for another several hours, and no one else had any business on our back patio. But then I realized it was a bird trying to fly into the garage through the window of the closed door. He sat and shivered on the doorstep for a minute and I was momentarily tempted to let him in, but then I came to my senses and realized that Michael and Liam provide more than enough chaos without introducing actual wild animals into the mix. As far as I could tell, they were American tree sparrows (you can't tell in this picture, but they had white breasts and red heads). Not as impressive as some of the rest of the family's Big Year entries, but I don't think anyone else has reported a bird literally knocking on their door to be let in yet.

Come back, spring! We miss you!