April Showers and April Flowers

Spring has come slowly this year. The pile of snow that we've plowed off the courtyard, which was once 4 meters high, finally disappeared on April 11. We've had a few snow flurries this week, so it there was snow on the ground for a while, but not enough for complete coverage, and it melted the next day. We had one day in March with really lovely spring weather and temperatures in the teens/60s F (and I finally posted the pictures that went with that post), but since then, it's gone back to being rather cold and windy. I remember lying in the grass and basking in the sun while photographing spring flowers last year. So even though it's been at least intermittently sunny, I've chosen to bring my daffodils in to photograph this year.

There are some normal/modern daffodils in the garden just outside the kitchen window that have been here since we moved in, but in the forest by our house, there is a sea of seemingly wild daffodils. We heard from someone who grew up in this house, that when her parents were getting older and no longer wished to maintain the back yard, in the 70s, they put the bull in the yard. It ate most everything, but her mother rescued some of the daffodils and replanted them in the forest. It seems like every year there are more and more of them, and they are appearing all around the edge of the back yard now too.

These fluffy, double daffodils are now an unusual antique variety. A few years ago, a botanist from Lund came and dug some up for a collection of antique plants.

Despite the chilly temperature, the deer and elk are out nearly every evening. Last Sunday there were 12 elk that were particularly near the house. One of them even came into the back yard. I was happy that it didn't eat my daffodils, because then I might have had to scare them off, and I really don't want to do that. I have so many pictures of these creatures that I've made an effort not to photograph them every time I see them any more, but this time I couldn't resist.

Spring is here!

This morning I saw a herd of 9 elk (kronhjort) in the field by our house. They were rather thin, but relaxed and unhurried. A couple of them were trying out their partially grown antlers. Previously sightings this year had been of only one or two elk, and they did not linger.

On the doorstep this morning was a dead mole in a pool of blood. Good kitties, I guess. Whenever Teddy catches something, he likes to meow at the door until we come and praise him. Once we've told him what a good little predator he is, then he can eat it. Unfortunately he doesn't like to eat moles or shrews, so I have to carry those away.

For the first time this year, I went out without my overcoat, and even without it, I was a bit warm. I had to go into Lund today, and there everyone was in the spring mood. The cafes had already set out tables, and these were all full. In the shops, people were buying sunglasses. There were easily twice as many people out and about as there had been a few weeks or months ago. As is normal with Lund, these people wandered or bicycled through the streets without the slightest regard to cars. Since I was driving, this was really bad for my nerves, and I couldn't wait to get out of the city again.

In the backyard, small patches of snowdrops and crocuses are now blooming. Yipee! The flowers are so lovely here in the spring.