Additional signs of spring!

Found beauty

Spring is showing up in many ways!

Here are a few hints I have found! 

Enjoy, I am!

Natural Easter Eggs

We have a wonderful yoga instructor named Kate that has a wonderful friend named? Anyway we'll call her Karen. Karen raises chickens which produce the most beautiful and delicious eggs!  I call then natural Easter eggs! What's in your basket?

Wild visitors-Red Fox

In the past spring and fall we have seen Red Fox in our woods. Mostly in the late afternoon hunting near the house seeming to not care if we were outside. Or at dusk coming up from the woods being very quiet and stealth. One night early last spring we were awakened by an unusual loud clicking sound.  Three foxes were chasing after each other in the back yard. Dashing over and under the deck, around trees and the house. What would that sound comunicate?  I hoped they would stick around for the summer but fox must hide well because they didn't show themselves to us again until fall. I have wandered the woods wondering where the den is. This past Monday I was watching with my camera, four deer groom each other when something sent them dashing off. Two foxes were chasing around the house. They seemed to have attention deficit as they raced for one spot to the other.  Luckily to have camera in hand, I shot these photos from inside the house.  I assume this is a male and female? How can one tell? 

Where do the birds go to get out of the storm?

Our home is surrounded by a beautiful woods of sixty foot pines, majestic oaks, maples and birch trees. When we experience weather it seems exagerated by the woods. Wind hits the trees and they begin to dance and sing with creaks and whistles as well as howls and groans. Today's storm began innocently as light rain. Soon the rain became mixed with sleet that coated everything with a beautiful clear frosting. I had thoughts of doing some photography until the wind off Lake Michigan picked up tossing ice and sticks to the ground like sheets of shattered windshield glass. Ice hitting our windows sounded like stones thrown against the glass causing our cats to run for cover under a bed. Stronger gusts sent entire ice covered branches crashing to the ground leaving piles of debree for a summer bonfire.   Enough pine boughs have fallen to make many a wreath for Christmas had it not been close to Easter. The storm continues but now it's snowing adding to the weight of the ice already blanketing everything in the woods. I can only imagine how beautiful it will look in the morning light. 

Longing for Spring!

I know it is a long time before spring arrives but I can't help it, I wish it was here! How fast I forget the way the yard looks all green and lush. 

 I love the scent of the earth warming up.  Seeing and hearing the birds return. Opening the window on a tease of a warm day to let fresh air in.  Watching the wild flowers sprout out of the ground and marvel at how beautiful the plant is even if it is still curled up tight. Waiting for spring is difficult but it's the little things that are encouraging. 

The days are getting noticeably longer now.  I hear the Great Horned Owls calling to each other in the evening. I image they are singing love songs because they should be nesting soon.  

Another reason to wish for spring is I have had a few clients say to me,  "we are slow now, contact me in spring".   As we are in this phase of winter I hope for growth and rejuvenated economy full of new projects and new clients.  Bring on Spring!

These are my images from last spring.