Blustery Day

We awoke this morning to a fine, crystalline snow falling and blowing.  A perfect day to snuggle in the blankets with my dog, Mollie at my side and write a note and a letter or two.

Summer Heat

This summer has been hot with little precipitation.  My neighbor' s on reservoir water have had to conserve.  We have had 18 days of over 100 degree temperature.  The monsoonal rains have mostly hit to the south of us.  Bushes have already changed color.

Neighbors

I have the cutest family which lives next door.  They have two young daughters - 2 & 4 years old.  Last week after the rain, they let the girls splash in the muddy puddles.  This morning they planted sunflowers.  They are creating memories.

My sister and I were 5 years apart, our mother allowed us to splash in puddles, and dance in the rain.  I am reminded of memories.

Like a tapestry

This morning my mother's garden reminds me of a tapestry.  It is green with the sweeping curves of feathered fern fronds woven with dotted knots of blue forget-me-nots, and the more showy yellow, orange, and pinks of Iceland poppies, fringed with pink English daisies.  An occasional spike of lupine blossoms adds color.  And while it lacks a unicorn, it does include a iridescent ruby throated humming bird flitting through, visiting the flowers.

More Spring Color

The Mountains that surround the lower valleys are covered with a soft almost velvet, spring green with highlights of bright yellow- green Maple trees.  In the canyon the Maples leaves have appeared and flowered.  We are still waiting for the Oaks.  My mother's garden is filled with blooms - tulips, daffodils, and all colors, red, pink, purple, blue, yellow, white primroses.  The neighbor's plum tree has scented the air as well as dropping petals of confetti throughout the neighborhood.

On the freshly mowed, green lawn Mollie lies, enjoying the warmth of the sun and chewing on a stick.

Spring Green

Recent rain has made the grass in our yard and on the hillside turn green.   The addition of warmth and periods of sunshine have made the canyon's choke cherry trees pop green leaves.  Spring green!

An Impatient Wait for Blossoms

This morning Mollie and I set out to collect a handful of branches from the fruit trees that grow in the canyon.  The canyon is filled with plum, apple, cherry and an occasional, and rare peach or apricot trees.

In the 30's a dam and water pipeline was built by the WPA project to insure irrigation water for the Northern Wasatch Front farmers, although now it mainly irrigates the lawns.  It is my theory that the fruit trees in the canyon came from the fruit packed and eaten from the WPA worker's lunches.  The seeds from this fruit volunteered, and the trees now grow in concentration along the pipeline.

Over the years my mother or I have trimmed branches from these trees to bring in the house, allowing them to warm and bloom, providing us with an earlier enjoyment of the blossoms of spring.  We currently have a vase filled with apple tree branches which we are impatiently waiting to bloom.

The snow is melting

The snow in our yard is melting, the snow drops are in bloom, the temperatures are reaching the mid 60s, and tomorrow rain is forecasted.  Did you notice that I said rain instead of snow?

Spring is on its way to Ogden Canyon.  Oh, how lovely!  Mollie and I enjoying sharing a patch of sun that falls through our window onto our spring green bedspread.

Missed You

Work as usual has become more involved.  We just held our annual fundraiser - an Art Auction on March 2.  Lots of work prior to the event to organize donations and works of art, bid cards, and programs.  And now after the event, writing thank yous, paying artist, creating reports, and updating website pages.  This along with every day projects.  Yes, I will get the Spring class schedule out, as well as the winter newsletter.

I have missed visiting and following favorite blogs, writing updates to this blog, checking out the new items in my favorite etsy shops, and reading the books, and magazines piling up on my bookshelf and on my nook.

Thank you for understanding, and I hope to add new post soon, after all spring is coming to Ogden Canyon.  It is a great time to share all the beauty that makes its appearance with the melting of the snow.

Winter White

The white of winter snow needs the contrast of blue skies and sun to enhance its sparkling crispness.   The gray weeks of inversion made us all deary, even the landscape.