This time of year I can't get enough of after having too much of winter. Every year I think, "Next year - I have to go away for the winter." then it comes and it's ok and it goes by and then right at the end, I think, "Get me out of here! I need some green!"

I think the snow has stopped for the year and maybe we lost some fruit but it's ok. We still need the moisture and last year, the fruit trees overdid themselves a bit. The plum tree still seems to be recovering from the weight of all that sweet succulence, glad to just hold its leaves up. I heard some hummingbirds the other morning and put out the feeder but they haven't found it yet. The goldfinches found the thistle bag, though. Sweetie and I did some clearing and planted a lupine, a campanula, some sandwort, and some hollyhocks. The chamomile I seeded last fall has come up but no blooms yet. I discovered chamomile in Turkey near a big bazaar in Istanbul. The smell of apples filled the air but I couldn't see any around. I turned a corner and there it was, a huge plaza filled with little white and yellow blossoms.

Spring doesn't last long enough anywhere.