Spring

 

    Spring has arrived here in the San Bernardino Mountains after a very hard winter. 

Things are greening up, and it’s a lovely time to walk by the lake.  

Cherry and apple trees are blooming.  

Dogwood blossoms are forming on the dogwood trees.  Soon there will be beautiful, large white flowers. 

Patches of wild little yellow violets are blooming in sunny spots in the forest.  

And daffodils are showing their cheerful faces on the hillsides.  The lilacs have put out little new green leaves, but no blooms yet.  They’ll probably bloom in another week or so.  

The small clump of violets that I transplanted from my mother’s garden over 40 years ago are blooming.  They’ve tried to spread throughout the garden, but the raccoons, cats and skunks keep squashing them.  I had to cover this, the original clump, with a chicken wire cloche to save them (removed for the photo).  

A beautiful spring sunset at Lake Gregory.

Sunday Sunlight

Surprise!

"Are you kidding me!?"  I think that's what this Acorn Woodpecker is thinking.  It was raining lightly last night when I went to bed.  When I got up this morning I had the same thought as the woodpecker.  Now? Snow and hail now?  Just when things are blooming, or starting to bloom?  Are you kidding me?

Thankfully, there was no wind so all the blossoms are still on the cherry and apple trees, but they look pretty limp.  It's supposed to get down to 17 F tonight though, so I'll just have to wait until tomorrow to see how they fare. 

I should have expected some sort of weather, since yesterday was what my dad used to call a "weather breeder."  Brilliant blue sky, crystal air, and windy.  I wasn't paying attention...

It was good to get more rain though!

Plenty

Yesterday was a gorgeous day, very windy, but gorgeous.  Overnight, it seems, the apple trees' blossoms burst open. 

My orchard is not tidy, nor do I prune the trees or thin out the growing apples just so I can have bigger apples, although I do rake under the trees every autumn before I put down mulch.  I just can't cut them, much the same as I cannot bring myself to pick flowers. 

I know it sounds silly, but I feel like I'm hurting them.  The trees like to grow this way, so why not let them be happy?  They certainly make me happy. When the apple trees absolutely have to be pruned for their health, I hire someone and hover over them to make sure they prune only what is necessary.  I'm always being told I could get a bigger crop and prettier apples if I used pesticides and pruned every winter.  Pesticides!?  Never.

I think the apples my trees give me are beautiful, small though they are.  Some are bug bitten...so what?  Bugs have to live too.  Some are oddly shaped, but they still taste just as sweet-tart, crisp and juicy as the perfectly formed ones.  I always have plenty to give family and friends, plenty for the deer, bears, skunks and raccoons, and plenty for myself and my husband. 

What more could one ask?

Windy This, Hot That

It was cool and cloudy here today, a welcome relief from the unseasonable warmth of the past couple of days.  A chill wind from the west blew all day, but most of the apple branches managed to hold on to their blossoms. 

But tomorrow the heat comes back, along with very unwelcome Santa Ana winds.  Santa Ana winds, which come in from the east over the Mojave desert, equal high fire danger and usually we don't see them until October.  Crazy and rather frightening.

Tonight, I'm enjoying the cool, slightly damp weather with a small fire in the living room fireplace, a cup of hot chocolate and a good book.  Tomorrow I'll probably have to open all the windows and make a big pitcher of sweet tea (really strong iced tea with tons of sugar, Southern-style like my mother used to make). 

Ah, well....the warmth will make the lilac and pine scent in the air that much stronger.  I just hope the winds don't blow all the lilac and apple blossoms away! 

A Gift From Spring

We've had wonderful soft Spring rain off and on for the past two days. The temperatures have been a little cooler than what is normal for May. I wish this would become the new normal for all of California; cooler and wetter instead of hotter and drier. By the time I've gotten through 5 or 6 months of no rain I feel as though I'm just a hair's breadth away from insanity.

To me, it was an amazing gift to be able to go outside and breathe in great lungfuls of wet, cool air that intensifies the scent of the pines, cedars, lilacs and apple blossoms. It was also nice to come back into my cottage to a little fire crackling on the hearth and a hot cup of tea.

Oh, how I wish this weather would stay!