Walking Iten's Acres: First Flowers March 21, 2015

Delightful day at The Acres.  I finally had a morning to traverse The Acres now that spring is officially here.  The crocus and snowdrops are coming up in a variety of places.  One patch of aconite under the canopy, but I think another batch is coming up in the trees. Crocus lots of places--mostly yellows with a few soft lilacs and one a little darker.  They yellows brighten up a couple of the pot bunkers, Bed 9 (it's by the pond), the trees, meadow wild, wild, and back 40.  The soft lilacs are in Bed 7 and by the old dilapidated doghouse.  The snowdrops are also by the doghouse, by the house, in the trees, and in Bed 14.  I love their whiteness.  There will be more of all these in the next week or so.  And at least one of the Lenten roses has begun to bud.
The early morning walk resulted in the pictures you can see below. First orchard iris bloomed this afternoon as the surprise for my after lunch trek. You'll have to wait until next Saturday's gallery to see a photo of it. Sorry. Deep purple with white on its "wings." More and more daffodils coming up every walk and even some tulips. Daffodils will bloom first; tulips are a mite slow. Buds on several of the Lenten rose. Should be a lovely week of fulfilled expectations. Despite the somewhat frigid snowy February, most of these blooms are a week earlier than they were last spring. Of course, last winter was a bit chilly if I remember correctly. The pond is ice free, but no sign of the red polka dots.
The birds are still active at the feeders, but there's fewer of them. Still some snow birds hanging around--just so you don't get too dreamy about the cold being over. Actually, the weather is perfect. Frosty nights--magnificent star shows, warmer, breezy days. Today as I walked and worked about The Acres the sun and the clouds were constantly fighting for supremacy. I did get to spend a little time on the green throne in the meadow. Robins about, which is good. Saw a meadow lark as well. And the buzzards have returned. Guess I'll have to see if I can rustle them up a little squirrel and rabbit for lunch.
One more week of school and then I'll have the whole day to enjoy my hermitting. I did do some work today--raked last fall's leaves off a couple of beds under the Ancient Maple. Did some clearing of "junk" from some of the beds. More than enough left to do to keep me entertained over break. I'd make a list of all I want to do over spring break, but then I'd just feel guilty at the end of the break when I saw all the stuff I hadn't done. I think I'll just remain listless--as always.