Signs of Spring!!

The spring Equinox blew in at -10 degrees Centigrade here, and a full coating of white stuff on the ground. But today--- Ahhhh, today--- definite signs of spring:


Snowdrops poking clear of the leaf litter and already in bud; they'd probably be open but they're sitting in the shade of a large Rhododendron and don't get much direct sunlight.

And more inportantly:


The road bike (the yellow one) gets an airing for the first time this year. Shorts weather in fact! Reassuring to find out that all the hours spent on the trainer over the winter were not completely in vain.
(The mountain bike has been out in most weathers and most days this winter, thanks to snow tires with studs)

It's a hard life being a dog

Gershwin, that's him at the base of the tree, has been having a hard time getting his sleep time in (dogs have the same rules as naval aviators: entitled to 8 hours sleep per day, and "all night in" too). With the annual ripening of the beech nuts (and sugar maple seed too, for that matter) the upper stories become mildly infested with squirrels and blue jays out for a tasty (and easy) feast. Lots for all, but you'd never guess it from all the inter-species rivalry. If your basic squirrel spent as much time eating as chasing blue jays to other branches, they'd fall out of the trees from being so stuffed full.

Anyways, Gershwin has no interest in the blue jays (and for the info of baseball fans out there, neither do I), but watches the squirrels for hours (somehow without getting a stiff neck) to keep them off the ground. And the squirrels watch back, just in case he decides to go up a tree I guess (a squirrel can never be too sure). The white arrow up near the top of the pic points out the almost visible head of the little beastie staring down.