Spring's Sudden Arrival

Just one day after a snowstorm, we were warm and snowless. Spring was in the air, so I walked around the yard, searching for anything green. The first signs of growth I saw were the Bearded Iris coming up:

And to my surprise, I had a Crocus in bloom:

And one Crocus almost in bloom:

The Daffodils were emerging:

And the Magnolia had one green bud which looked promising. This happened last year, though, but the bud fell off when I touched it. This time I kept my hands off of it:

Jack, Daphne and Clover watched my every move from their back yard run:

Seamus and Fergus watched from the other side of the yard:

The Lilac beside the barn had buds which were very swollen, as sure a sign of spring as the blooming Crocus:

In the field, the cattle were lounging comfortably and didn't want to move. When I brought them a new hay bale, only Jasmine had the energy to walk over to it:

Blue was sleeping with the cows, but Remy walked over to see me:

And the most important miracle of all was the appearance of some green grass. Grass is an important crop here, the basic feed of much livestock - not to mention its function as lawn:

One of the apple trees by the road lost a major limb and a second big limb appears dead. Both of them have been stripped of bark, probably by porcupines. This will be a big job for me to take care of soon: