The Sights of Spring

During this time where lots of activity has just stopped... Spring is still going on - unhindered and unimpeded by the virus.  While many are locked up indoors, there is lots going on outdoors.  It is a good thing, a therapeutic thing to get outside and enjoy God's Creation.  After work and on weekends, I like to do just that.

Tricia has been trying to use up our inventory of frozen blueberries.  That is an enjoyable dilemma.  This week we've consumed blueberry pie, blueberry smoothies, and blueberry ice cream.  We're making room in the freezer because the blueberry bushes have grown and are loading up with berries.

Just to the east of the yard bordering the neighbors is a little grove of "Indian" peaches.  They grow up wild and bear lots of small, tasty, juicy peaches.  The peach trees have no leaves now, but they are loaded up with beautiful, pink blooms.

We take a break from our previously scheduled broadcast of Spring flowers to show a photo of Belle, our 2 1/2 month old Great Pyrenees puppy.  We've currently got her living in the pasture so that she grows up with her charge - the livestock she will be guarding (cows, goats, and chickens).  We like to get her out and into the backyard in the late afternoon so that she can be around us, too.

She has really sharp teeth and we keep having to swat her nose.  She likes to jump up and bite your ankles and your pant legs.  She also likes her ears rubbed and her belly rubbed.  She's got a fat belly.  There are times when she will calmly lay in the clover.

She's developed one bad habit while in the pasture that we'll have to figure a way to break her of.  Hens, from time to time, will lay eggs around the bottom of the round bales of hay that the cows are eating on.  Belle enjoys sniffing around until she finds eggs.  When she does, she'll put them in her mouth and roll around and play with them.  We'll put those eggs aside for us to eat.  So far, she hasn't broken and eaten them, but I'm sure that day is coming.  But tell me, how can you get angry with a face like this?:

Let's get back to spring.  A telltale sign of spring is actually encountered first with the nose.  I'm talking Orange Blossoms!  Walking outdoors smelling orange blossoms is a real treat.  It is one of the best fragrances there is, in my opinion.  I'm not the only one who thinks so.  The honeybees second that motion.

The honeybees work the blossoms hard, flying back and forth gathering nectar to make honey and also gather pollen.  You can see two honeybees in the foreground below along with a very small, green navel orange in the background.

Sunshine, fresh air, along with the sights, sounds, and fragrances of spring are a sure-fire cure to cabin fever.