Sunday, January 17, 2010

Spring is right around the corner

by Christie Kelley

Or so my husband keeps telling me. I'm not sure I believe him, and I'm usually the optimistic one. Personally, I'm tired of winter already. After almost two feet of snow before Christmas and temperatures barely reaching 20 degrees, I want spring. NOW! I'm sick of being cold.

Although, if today is any indication, maybe spring will be here soon. With temperatures in the mid-40s, I went for a nice long walk to the river and watched the seagulls trying to walk across the ice. They do a little better than me, but not by much. The geese were out honking as they flew around looking for a break in the ice.


So maybe spring is right around the corner. In the spirit of that thought, maybe if we all think about spring and what we love about it, we'll make it through the rest of the winter.

For me, the first signs of spring used to be the robins returning. But since I've moved to Maryland I discovered that the many of the robins stay all year long. Two days ago, there were about ten in my front yard.

Now, it's the sound of geese returning to Canada. Living near the Chesapeake Bay, we hear them by the hundreds as they making their way north. I love the sound of their honking as they fly through the spring sky.

Then there is the signs of flowers popping up in my yard. It's far too soon here, although, we have had warmer winters that caused the daffodils to pop up in February. I would be surprised if that happens this year but I won't give up hope!


So what about you? Are you sick of winter yet? What do you love about spring? Tell me all about it.

42 comments:

Unknown said...

I am sick of winter and I am ready for spring, but I think we have a while to go before spring.

Unknown said...

I would say we have at least eight to ten weeks before we see sighs of spring maybe longer.

I love the warmer tempertures of spring and the fresh flowers blooming. It like the world is opening up new and its a fresh start to a new world. I love the spring its my favorite time of year.

Helen said...

Congrats Virginia are you going to put him to work today

Christie

I am over summer here in Australia it has been so hot thank heavens for air conditioners. I am looking foward to autumn then winter I have never been fond of really hot weather unless of course I am at the beach under cover and reading a book LOL.
I have seen lots of photos and footage on the TV about all the cold weather and snow you have been having and although it looks beautiful and I have only seen snow a couple of times in my life I am sure too much of it can be difficult. I do like spring as well and seeing the plants start to flower and the comfortable weather where it is still nice to sleep and beautiful days.
Stay warm Christie

Have Fun
Helen

Anna Campbell said...

Hey, Virginia, people are starting to talk about you and your flirtation with our feathered friend! Congratulations!

As Helen said, we're still in the grip of full summer here. Bleuch! I'm not a great fan of the Queensland humidity - that is unless I've got a GREAT FAN! Mind you, I'm always sad when I have my last swim for the season. I do love the pool. Love the sound of all the signs of spring where you are, Christie. I've been lucky enough to be in Europe for two springs in my life and they're just amazing. That sudden outpouring of life and color after all the gray of winter. Gorgeous!

Michelle Santiago said...

hi christie! awww... you poor mainlanders LOL--but wow it sounds like winter is an extra cold one this year. as for me, i love the winter right now! nights are finally cold (around the low 70s) and the day falls around the low 80s/high 70s--lovely weather. i don't even mind the rain sometimes :)

congrats on the gr virginia!

Tawny said...

This year our winter is made of fog. Blech. I'm tired of fog. I do welcome all the rain, though, since we've been in a drought for way too long. So while I can't wait for spring and all the beautiful flowers (I saw bareroot roses at the store the other day and my green thumb started itching), I'm going to hope we have a really rainy spring, too. You know, to water all those pretty flowers *g*

Jane said...

Congrats on the GR, Virginia.

I'm ready for spring. It's been pretty warm the past few days and we hit 50 today, but I think it's going to get cold again. I'm tired of it getting dark by 5pm and can't wait till the days are longer. I love the comfortable weather of spring and of course we get to lose the bulky coats, hats and gloves.

hrdwrkdmom aka Dianna said...

Spring and fall are my two favorite seasons mainly for the temps, I can't handle heat and I don't like cold. I can handle the cold better than the heat though, it is just the messiness of winter I don't like. I love the flowers blooming in the spring and like chelleyreads said I don't mind the rain too much.

Margay Leah Justice said...

I am so ready for Spring! It has been brutally cold here in Massachusetts for awhile now (this week saw our first warm temps - 30+ degrees, woohoo!- in a long spell) and I am just so ready for the warmth. And I can't wait to see all of the new life blooming off of the barren tree branches and pushing up through the ground. Yeah, I can't wait for Spring. Bring it on!

Margay

Buffie said...

Christie, I'm so tired of winter too! Here in Atlanta it has been very cold for us. We have had snow/ice and had several days where the highs were in the 20s. I hate taking my kids to school when it is in the single digits outside. Well, to be honest, I had going ANYWHERE when it is in the single digits!!

Thank you for showing a beautiful picture of my favorite flowers -- daffodils. They remind me of my childhood, of growing up in the country, and of special visits with my grandmother. Those sweet little yellow and white flowers are very special.

Christie Kelley said...

Virginia, we usually have another 6-8 weeks of winter but I'm trying my best not to think about it. It's raining here this morning so I'm happy it's not snow!

Christie Kelley said...

Virginia, I forgot to add my congrats on snagging the GR.

Christie Kelley said...

Helen, you can send me some of that warm weather. I'll take it gladly.

Deb said...

I think I like all seasons, truly. Each one has something special to offer.

I love the newness and the promise spring brings. Green grass growing, trees budding, robins searching for breakfast, and the flowers bringing subtle or bright splashes of color to my yard. My fave flowers are lilacs, especially the lavender ones. Their scent is lovely and I pick huge bouquets of them to bring into the house. When I was a girl, my home church would have Lilac Sunday and people would bring bouquets of lilacs to set around the church. The scent of lilacs wafting through the sanctuary was, well, heavenly! :)

I also like tulips, daffodils, and the little violets that grow in my backyard. Shary and I pick small bouquets of violets for an elderly neighbor and take them to her every May Day.

Christie Kelley said...

Anna, I need that outpouring of color right now. It's so darn gray here. The grass is brown, the leaves are gone and now it's raining. But the positive thing is...it's raining, not snowing!

Keep cool!

Christie Kelley said...

chelleyreads, wow, nights in the low 70s! That's the middle of summer here. I actually like a change of season and Maryland is usually great. But this winter has been cold. Finally, this week we reached the 50's two days. It was so nice to get out and walk the neighborhood.

Enjoy your winter temps!

Christie Kelley said...

Tawny, I'm with you and the flowers. I can't wait. I moved about one hundred daffodils when we landscaped last year, so I'm hoping they all come back. I'll have to wait until March to find out.

Christie Kelley said...

Jane, I'm with you on everything you said. We hit the 50s twice this psat week. It was such a nice change. I'm hoping it continues but I know it won't. We tend to get most of our snow in the last part of January and the first part of February. So I know winter will be back.

Christie Kelley said...

Dianna, I can usually handle the cold better than the heat but this year it's really getting to me. I think it's because we haven't had as many breaks in the cold as we usually do.

Christie Kelley said...

Margay, I agree...bring on spring! I'm sure you have been even colder than we have. But spring is right around the corner. Unfortunately, it might a rather large corner.

Christie Kelley said...

Buffie, you guys have had a real nasty winter. We're at least used to it up here. And we haven't had the ice, which in my opinion, there is nothing worse. I'll take several inches of snow over a coating of ice any day!

Stay warm!

Christie Kelley said...

Deb, I love the lilacs too. I wish I had one in my yard. But I love going for a walk in the spring and suddenly hitting the lovely scent of lilacs.

Joan said...

Virginia said: sighs of spring

I figure this was a typo but Virginia....I think the desire for spring was well summoned up.

Sigh of relief.

Not just from the onerous weather but from trials and tribulations we are all facing.

I can't wait for spring and the renewal, the freshness it will bring.

Now, where did I put my pot of tulips?

gigi said...

This has been a unusually cold winter where I live in south Georgia. I think record were broke with so many days that were below the freezing mark in a row.
I miss my roses. I am so ready for my flowers and my songbirds to return this year.
Everything just looks so sad without the pretty colors of spring.

Christie Kelley said...

Joan, I saw some beautiful cut tulips at the grocery store this morning. I would have picked them up but my hands were full with my Starbucks and the turkey I decided I needed for dinner tonight. So soon the house will smell of roast turkey!

Christie Kelley said...

Gigi, I couldn't agree more. It's so dull here today. I want some color. Instead, I'll go turn on the fireplace and work on my revisions. I'd rather be outside working in the garden.

catslady said...

New beginnings and green!! I'm definitely sick of winter - I have been sick with food poisoning for 3 days from our favorite local restaurant and worse than that, the cold spell that lasted more than a week killed one of my outside cats. She was almost 15 but I can't help but think this extra cold weather was the cause. I'm thankful she went in her sleep. What a lousy start to the new year (sigh).

Christie Kelley said...

Oh catslady, I'm so sorry about your cat. That's awful. Hopefully, spring will bring better things.

Barbara Monajem said...

I'm fine with winter for a while longer. I love grey wintry skies, and walking in the cool weather. I love the naked trees--every little twig is visible, and the branches' symmetry--or not--is gorgeous. I love all the birds at the bird feeder. And the squirrels, too--they grab the bird feeder, scoop up seeds, and set it to swinging when they leap away. I love being able to wear the zillions of scarves I've made but seldom use, and all my pairs of thick socks, which are so cozy and comfortable. All too soon, spring will come, and then summer, which is hot hot hot, and involves chores like mowing the lawn and controlling the wisteria.

Christie Kelley said...

Hi Barbara, I love the birds at the feeder too. I have a feeder in front of my windows in my office. It's great for my cat to sit in the window sill by me and chatter at the birds all day long.

Enjoy your winter!

Louisa Cornell said...

I am beyond sick of winter! Which is ironic considering I spent three years in England and three years in Germany and couple of years (as a toddler) in Maine!

It has been FREEZING cold here in Alabama which is NOT what I signed up for at all. I've spent the last week under the house repairing my plumbing because of the cold weather. Today at least it is a balmy 54 degrees and raining.

Guess I'll wait to see what the groundhog says about how much longer we have to suffer. Spring and fall are probably my favorite times of year as we don't have the temperature extremes we do in summer and winter.

The weather here can be confusing going from freezing to spring-like in the matter of 24 hours. My poor Queen Elizabeth climbing rose is blooming right now for goodness sake!

The true sign of spring here will be when my azaleas begin to bloom. They will start once the weather warms up for good and by Easter they will be in glorious full bloom covering the hill in front of my house with a riot of pinks, purples, reds and whites. Can't wait! My wild dogwoods will bloom about the same time.

I am truly tired of this gloomy weather!

I would really love to enjoy one more English spring. The color of the sky is what I remember most. This incredible blue dotted with a heavenly fluffy white and the gorgeous yellow of daffodils. Just gorgeous. I want to see it again!

Suzanne Ferrell said...

It was a lovely 63.6 degrees in Dallas today, sunny, no wind. Went for a lovely walk. But am not fooled, pretty sure a cold front or two is left in our weather before spring!

Nancy said...

Virginia, congrats on the rooster!

Christie, I'm ready for temperatures to break out of the 30s and 40s, which they did for a couple of days this past week. What I'm not ready for, though, is the deluge of catalogs that will soon arrive featuring t-shirts and shorts. This is the coldest part of our winter. I don't even want to THINK t-shirts!

I do look forward to warmer weather, being able to sit outside and read before mosquito season hits, and seeing everything in bloom.

Christie Kelley said...

Louisa, spring in England sounds lovely. I haven't made it there yet. But hopefully soon!

Christie Kelley said...

Oh, Suz, 63 degrees sounds fantastic. Cold and rainy here today so no walk. But I did make a wonderful roast turkey with mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes and cranberries. It felt like Thanksgiving!

Christie Kelley said...

Nancy, I don't want to think about tee shirts either. I need to work off the Christmas treats first. But it's been too darn cold to walk.

Kirsten said...

Hi Christie! I sure do know what you mean -- around here, winter is grey, dark, and rainy. We've got rain in the forecast every day for the next two weeks! Gah! I think I'm getting moldy.

I sure can't wait for a little sun (that's our summer -- lots of sunshine!). The flowers come early here. Primroses by February, along with the early daffodils and crocuses. I can't wait for these little bits of color. They definitely help you survive the dark days.

Good luck getting through all the cold!

BTW -- I didn't realize you had such a gorgeous new cover! Congraulations!

Christie Kelley said...

Hi Kirsten, I'm dying for some color here too. It's not too bad when the sun is out and the temperatures moderate. But today, yuck, cold and rainy.

Thanks for the comment on the cover. I love it!

hrdwrkdmom aka Dianna said...

catslady said...
the cold spell that lasted more than a week killed one of my outside cats. She was almost 15 but I can't help but think this extra cold weather was the cause. I'm thankful she went in her sleep. What a lousy start to the new year (sigh).

So sorry to hear about your cat catslady (and the food poisoning of course) it is so hard to lose a pet, 15 is really a good age for a cat though, especially outside, I lost my outside cats to cars :-(

Anonymous said...

It's funny what you said about the robins because here in Georgia, we had a couple of weeks of record lows (my kids had an actual snow day, which never happens!) Anyway, one day when the highs were only in the twenties, three robins were sitting on the swingset. AND we saw a baby bunny in the yard last week. Part of me hopes for spring, but I know that just means that the brutal heat of summer will immediately follow--and I look way better in cute sweaters than bathing suits :-)

Hellie Sinclair said...

Daffodils and lilacs--that's what I love about Spring. And yes, I keep telling myself it's almost spring. *LOL* Spring is my favorite time of year...I think it's because I like the smell of wet earth.

catslady said...

Thanks Christie and Dianna. I started taking care of ferals/strays when a mama cat came with 3 kittens 15 yrs. ago. One I brought in, one stayed outside and one disappeared. I have 2 more that are 13 outside amd 6 inside at the moment. (that was before I realized I had to capture and have them fixed - there were tons of kittens for a while lol). I did lose one 7 month old to being hit by a car - he was too young to know better. It's hard but I couldn't live without them :)