AN IMPOSSUMBLY LONG WINTER

Where is Spring, you say! Here we have daffodils, pansies, even the forsythia is opening… the late camellias are starting and I swear I saw a little color on a couple early azaleas. I did! But if you listened to that dumb groundhog up in Philadelphia, well, I am sure you must be disappointed. You can see a picture of this liar on this blog: http://thefrogandpenguinn.blogspot.com/2013/03/dont-shoot-piano-player.html.

Very possumly Phil should be retired – a suggestion that he can’t refuse, kind of retirement… I, the Onley Proud member of the Possum Prognosticator’s Club, President of Possum Patrol (always on the lookout for lying muskrats), and possumly the most accurate Predictor of a Pussumly early spring… I got laughed at, guffawed at even, when I said Spring would indeed be late this year. HA! But who gets the last chortle? MOI! As I curl up all warm and toasty in my heated nest down the street from those nasty muskrats, snug but not smug… Oh, no, not me… I remember the disbelief when I saw MY shadow and ran for dear life back into my snugness on the carport Pledging not to come back out until spring really arrives… or some delicious cat food gets placed in the dish a couple feet outside my door. Whichever comes first. We possums may get blinded easily by headlights but we’re not fools! My human CO (Can Opener) still has her snow shovel out just a few feet on the other side of the heated water dish. She even has a de-icer in the ground level birdbath, yes indeedy.

But I digress… Just how accurate is that dumb groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil? According to StormFax Weather Almanac, Phil has been right 39 percent of the time since 1887. It is amazing that he still has a job. I, on the other hand can never be replaced. Not only is my Prediction record Perfect, but where else can you find an animal this cute who eats copperheads for snacks, catches mice and rats and all sorts of buglies and does NOT ever get rabies? Can you beat that with a stick? Impossumble. 

In spite of all the wet weather we have had here, and I do mean wet – I mean, look at the yard! In the summertime this is where grass gets cut! We would need pontoons on the mower to get thru here! Or, maybe we could sell it to some unsuspecting Yankee as waterfront property, huh? No?

My human will tell you, “It always snows on the daffodils.” I bet you can check back to March of each year and find a picture of some bright yellow beauties bowed over with a layer of snow. My human also says, “Count your Cards,” to see how long winter will last. Translation: the more Cardinals at your feeders, the longer the winter. Unh huh, check it out. I taught her all these things. I did. She is not as impossumble as most humans. I am right Proud of her. Pay attention to Nature I told her. The more berries, the colder the winter.  Then there is the nutty predictor – the more nuts, the worse the winter will be, or the thicker shells, or the fatter… you name it.  Whatever. They are talking about edible nuts, aren’t they? Not humans… most of them are nuts, it seems. The point is, it is 4 days after the vernal equinox, and if you look real hard, it is snowing. Either that or these trees got dandruff!

(If you were a possum you would find that hairlarious!)

OK, so it is only 5 snowflakes an hour right now. Hang on. Just wait! You’ll see!

SNOWBOARDING POSSUM

WINTER? SPRING? SUMMER?

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES! This was taken this time last year... remember what a cold winter we had last year? Record snow fall for the Eastern Shore. Froze our butts off! This year, I am grateful to say, winter passed us by! I know my friends in Vermont are saying the same thing, as some of them spent the winter in tipis while rebuilding their homes, bridges, barns, and shops. Even they have had very little snow and quite mild temps. Our mild temps hit an extreme this past week. It was 83 here on Thursday. Tank top weather! Red Emperor is in full bloom. This bush is over 10 feet tall and has a diameter of 8 feet. It is so loaded with blooms this year. Isn't it beautiful? The daisies have put out their leaves, but they won't bloom until Oct... But the azaleas will bloom soon.Punk could be found sleeping in the morning sun... by afternoon, he was in a shady spot under a bush. Pink Perfection blooms this time of year. Last year we had snow on the camellias, this year the only white on the ground IS the camellias! (or daffodils, or pansies...). I actually cut some grass (and a lot of weeds) this past week. The forsythia is in bloom as are the fruit trees. The peas are up and I have onions up about an inch! How has your winter been?

SPRING – for NOW

AND THE YARD WORK STARTS IN ERNEST. They tell me spring is here. Well the daffodils are blooming, that is a serious clue. The buds are popping on the trees, and the birds are getting scrappy as breeding/nesting time draws near.  The forsythia is in full glory, the camellias are a sight to behold. Onion sets are already sold out in one local store. I had to drive 40 miles to get some Vidalia onion sets. My peas are ready to go in the ground. It was a temptation to put them in as it was 78 degrees on Friday. However, the morning temp is supposed to be 28 by next Friday, so I guess I will hold out for another week or so.

But, the blueberry bushes have been moved. They got little sun in their old space as the pine trees grew.They were only about a foot tall when the bushes were first planted. But first, this azalea had to be moved – it went in a hole left by a blueberry bush.  The fence was taken down, rolled up, the net removed, and the posts pulled up. I did have help moving a couple plants and then putting the posts in the ground. Fortunately I had my own shatters (Eastern Shore for pine straw) to put around the bushes for weed control. This is the old Blueberry garden with the netting covered in snow. Honest! Isn’t that amazing? The center pole kept it from collapsing.  

Have you ever seen a Pussy Willow this tall? The tree stump on the left is 4 feet tall.

I love to see the daffodils turn into glowing spots of beauty in the early morning sunlight.

Because of the unusually cold winter, the camellias are blooming out of sync. Red Emperor is blooming early, this hybrid is blooming late. All around the edge of the woods, there are bushes filled with huge blooms.  

Aunt Alice is pretty much on schedule. It is one of my favorites.

A friend gave me a present – a reddish violet. No not a house plant or African violet, this is supposed to grow just like the others that grow like weeds in the yard. She has a huge patch of them.

And, Ginnie, this shot is for you.

The JOY OF A SUNNY DAY!

It managed to get up to the low 50s today. The sun was bright and the winds were minimal. What a joy to be able to be outdoors for a couple hours and not be frozen half to death. We did start out cold, 28 degrees and a heavy frost. You can see the frost on the azaleas in the background, and if you look even further, you can see snow in the field on the other side of the trees across the street, in the picture of the hawk looking for breakfast this morning.

The cardinals, finches, and sparrows hid out in the thicker bushes until he left, as he has learned to dive bomb the camellia next to the feeders out front. He usually starts swooping the ground to get a sparrow or a junco. But, after about a half an hour, the little guys get brave and come back. With 13 feeders in one area, the Bird Restaurant is quite a popular spot. See the bright copper tray behind the feeders? It is a hanging birdbath. The first year I had one, I tried it as a feeder, but I soon discovered the moisture seems to do something with the seed – there is NO drainage – and the copper tray soon “rusted” into a mess of heavily corroded metal. I have no doubt it was probably pretty toxic and even the birds stopped eating out of it. I guess they figured it out, too.

Also, birds need to drink. Imagine that! So, every morning when it is real cold, I go out and flip the tray over and refill it with fresh water. I am barely back in the house before the little guys are in the water getting a drink. On slow days, they sit and peck at the ice. Nothing like making a body feel shamed, right? So, out I go with fresh water.

The littlest birds seem to prefer the tray to the bigger ground level feeder out back.  Maybe because Spook likes to drink out of it, too? However, the larger birds, like Robins, prefer the ground level feeder.

The best shot I never got (the one that got away?) was of a pair of cardinals drinking out of the Buddha birdbath. Papa sat on the rim and watched while mama cardinal had a nice long drink. By the time I got the camera, well… you know – they were gone.

The snow is still on the ground in places. I love to see the pansies peeking thru the snow. The Color Purple…

The boys spent a little time out in the sun, but napped back in their box. I opened the flap door to the cat’s box, but dropped it again as the sun went down. In spite of the warmth of the day, the boys still chose to spend much of it stretched out on their heating pad… I think they really love the bigger one where they don’t have to curl up on top of each other, tho they still do at night. They have slept that way for years.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES

24 LITTLE HOURS

But no sun,

And the flowers,

Are covered in snow,

Yes, I said snow…

Yesterday was an ordinary clear winter day, cold, temps in the 30s, but the sun was out to give the illusion of warmth. As the day wore on, the cloud cover moved in with the promise of snow. The heater light was left on all day in the greenhouse, the cats stayed snuggled in their box on the heating pad with short trips out to go potty or eat. The birds were busy stocking up on food as they so often do just before a storm.

Sometime after I went to bed the snow started and the ground was covered by 2 AM when I made my nightly trip down the hall. The snow was sticking to the leaves and branches… it was a winter wonderland all over again.

For some reason I woke up early this morning… it was one of those days when all I did was think about what I had to do, so I decided to get up and get started. It was a good thing, because WBOC TV called just as I pulled on my jeans, so outside I went with the phone and ruler to officially measure our 2 inches of snow.

After that I came in and grabbed the camera, a can of cat food, and a dish of crunchies, and headed outside again. The camellias had started to open, again, and, as you can see, have some frost bite on their petals. But I love the color contrast with the red and white and the dark green made darker by the presence of the snow.

The van was covered, but the road was clear – well, as clear as black ice can be called clear. It was pretty slippery, but the traffic has not slowed down.

The snow has started again. We probably won’t get that much more (famous last words, eh?) All I can do is be grateful we don’t have as much as some other places that got socked again, and grateful that spring really will be here before too long. But, I must also remember, it always snows on the daffodils, and they are barely thru the ground.

"WE'RE ON PEAKS ISLAND!" OMG

OMG!

I just got a phone call about a half an hour ago... my dear friends, who go by Grenville and Beatrice on their blog, are sitting as I type this at the Peaks Cafe' - hopefully enjoying some nice hot coffee and a cinnamon bun... ah, yes, life can be good.

Unfortunately, they have about frozen their butts off - tis a bit chilly up there this time of year - BUT, it hasn't snowed on them yet... however the wind is high and probably made for a fun trip across the Bay.

It is a short trip, however, under normal conditions. 20 minutes, usually, if I remember correctly - unless there is ice. Yep, I have gone to school with ice swirling around the boat.

In the old days, as I may have mentioned before, (I'm an old lady, indulge me) if you went to high school, you had to go to the Mainland. As there were very few cars on the Island, one walked sometimes several miles on snow packed roads VERY early in the morning to catch the ferry. Once in Portland, it was a good hike up the hill into center city to Portland High School. We traveled cobblestone streets. I swear, we did for the first few blocks.

I don't know what time school gets out today, but it was out shortly after 1 pm back then, probably because of the long trip home for the islanders. It usually took about 20 min to get to the wharf, don't know how long we had to wait - when you are a kid you don't notice those things - the ferry ride was a minimum of 20 minutes, and then, for some, a walk home of about an hour. Walking on snow and ice is not quite as speedy as in better weather. So for many kids, they did not get home until about 3 PM. It is almost dark by then in mid winter. Maine is an hour ahead of the Eastern Shore, sunwise, not clock wise. But then, it is light earlier in the morning...
Living year round on Peaks is not for wimps. In my old age, I have figured out living year round in Maine is not for wimps. Oh, I am so spoiled. (Its gonna be 74 tomorrow here...)

Anyway, THANK YOU Grenville for the phone call. As soon as we hung up, I called my Aunt Kathryn and we oooooooooooo-ed and aaaaaaaaahhhhed for a while wishing we were back on the Island, just one more time... how wonderful our life was on the island, and all that great stuff. Couldn't remember one single bad moment. (Isn't memory wonderful?)

So, while talking to Grenville, I pulled up the Peaks webcam...

This image is from Larry's webcam, PI, 9:50 AM, Oct 22, 2010