Lovely Day for a Butterfly

Mourning Cloak Butterfly (Nymphalis antiopa)
sunning itself on my deck railing

Matt reported to me that Lilith chased a butterfly this morning. I guess being outside in nice spring weather brought out her inner hunter. The butterfly escaped unharmed, and I found it later, sipping nectar from my Andromeda (Pieris sp.)

Mourning Cloak Butterfly (Nymphalis antiopa)
on an Andromeda (Pieris sp.)

Thinking of Martha

I had a chance to do some gardening today. I am always happiest to be gardening in the early spring when I've been away from the earth: inside and cold all winter long.

While cleaning up around some crocuses, I found myself thinking of Martha. I was sitting on a large rock I'd placed in the lower garden, contemplating the effort I'd put into placing some other large rocks... when I remembered Martha's friends and family talking about her love of gardening, and the fact that she'd proudly moved huge stones around on her own...

Crocus vernus 'Twilight' with an Unidentified Hymenopteran

Taken By Surprise

The crocuses in my yard have appeared... 9 days earlier than last year.

Crocus 'Prins Claus'

Cally noticed today's nice weather and insisted on going outside, so I put her harness on and let her out.

Cally

Then I got my sanshin so that I could keep her company and still get something done. As I was playing, I looked around the yard, and was startled to see spots of yellow down near the street. Once I discovered the yellow ones (below), I looked more carefully and found that several clumps of 'Prins Claus' (above) had emerged as well.

Crocus chrysanthus 'Goldilocks'