Here We Go Again...

What started out as rain turned into heavy, wet snow by noon.Reports of cars in ditches were abundant, as were of branches snapping under the burdening pressure of a winter come too soon.By 6:30, plows rumbled through our country subdivision, ridding our road of a slushy mess. What will tomorrow bring? --LKR

They're Back in Town!

My friend Wynde and I were finishing up on a leisurely lunch when we spotted a beautiful male ruby- throated hummingbird at our feeder. I had set out nectar shortly before we had that last fling of wintry weather that dumped upon us a significant amount of snow.

Then, while out on a walk, we saw around 10 cabbage white butterflies. Checkered whites and mustard whites also fly in our northern climate. White family butterflies over-winter in the pupae stage and are one of the first to emerge, come spring.

Several spring azures, tiny blue butterflies, flitted along the country roadsides around our feet. The first generation of this early emerging butterfly are darker blue in appearance than successive generations.

Why the picture of dandelions, you ask? They are among the few early flowering perennials that are essential for bees and butterflies which bloom before lilacs and mock orange bush, both magnets for these and other hungry insects. --LKR

Who'da Thought...

Whoa--am I dreaming???

Can you believe it???

The 28th day of April greeted us with heavily laden Evergreen boughs, about 6″on our deck's railing, chairs, and grill with heavy wet snow!!! Thankfully, there was only about 2" to trudge through in the yard, which was tolerable to both me and poochie. The roads were all clear--no shoveling needed, so this was a dream snowfall!

It was 31 degrees @ 7am, and our hummingbird feeder was frozen. Fortunately, no hummers have been spotted in Eau Claire as of yet, according to Journey North.

In 2002, a record was set when 3" of snow fell in town. Depending on where the snow was measured, we very well may have set a new record for this date!

Driving into town, it was interesting to see grass sticking up through the snow. There were even patches of green under several trees! But, it was really strange--in Spring Valley, about 45 minutes west of us, there were no traces of snow!!!

Unfortunately, I didn't have much time for a photo shoot. Some were shot through windows, and a few more were taken as I was heading for the school, early this morning. --LKR