signs of spring

Great shot cicerone! Absolutely beautiful.

Thank you for telling me about that, sozobe.
I may have misidentified the flower.

Spring has been relentless this year (more so than usual), tonight it'll be freezing. Hope all the green babies will make it....

Osso, the house looks solid, but I agree with you about the porchlette. The house also looks very New Mexican with its stucco and flat roof. I do hope you do not have the kinds of monsoon storms we have here; the flat roof could be a problem. Just a layman's opinion.

Flat roofs have been a problem in our area also; they seem to have more leak problems.

Spring! I love it. The herons (great blues) have returned to the lakes on the way to my sister's house......

There was a new roof on this just before I bought it, apparently the best of the flatties. One gets what one pays for, and I paid low, since I only have low, now lower.

New problems every day, she chuckles. But, re the yard, I accepted a bid this afternoon for the lil'retainer and front steps, and sleeving/pipe stub out to the parking strip.

Most of the houses in NM have flat roofs, no? Never seemed to be a problem. Are there drainage holes?

Well, proportionately the majority, I'd guess, littleK. I've known about flat roofs of course, but I've had tricky choices. The other house I bid on, on the other side of town, had a large lot that would have needed extensive walling around... and had one bathroom the size of an airplane toilet --- in an older neighborhood I really liked. And, that one had a flat roof too.

Most of the new tract houses have pitched roofs, but they're more money, and I can't understand how the area can support them, re water and other services. (Well, don't get me started, as this is about Spring.) Plus, they're built on shifting sands as well.

Herons, I love the great blues...

saw them in Venice once in a while, and on the road from Eureka to Arcata, by Arcata Bay.

'Long as they don't land at my 30" wide water garden....

Lawns, big green, fleshy lawns are what pisses me off in the desert.

Back to herons. They have a nesting site near where I grew up. The nest on broken off branches of dead tree in a still swampy looking place - freaky place. Quinn1 and I have talked for years about getting out there to photography them. They fish in the marsh in my parents' back yard on the cape. And, they seems to pop in and out of the lakes near my sister's place. A wonderful bird to be surrounded by.

My snide remark about my small water garden is that when a fancy Marina del Rey hotel was built, back in the late eighties or early nineties, they cut down some large eucalyptus trees that were habitat for a large colony of night herons.

The night herons came over to our neighborhood and settled on one ficus tree. Countless herons, pooping major heron sh/t. The woman who lived in the house with the tree nearly went out of her mind, with roof, yard, sidewalk, and so on all whitified with heron poop. Plus of course the dears yammer at night. I have a few photos of them in my yard, indeed one on my small pond-let. Mainly I was thrilled, but I was glad it wasn't me with that ficus tree. Of course, across the street was a full block of asphalt, part of a schoolyard not played in all that much, as there was more yard still. Better some of that land should have had trees...

Poor herons!

Agreed.

Funny but a little sad.
A couple of little sparrows had been busy for days pecking at a small opening in the post of a fence on the side of our home. I had no idea what they were doing but when I finally showed hubby yesterday, he knew immediately that they had somehow decided that inside that post would be a good place for a nest and were trying to widen the opening. Well, I blocked the opening and waited for them to come back. They returned, sat on the fence and squawked and fussed for quite awhile before eventually flying away. I had to laugh, wondering which one thought that the post would be a good idea and talked the other one into it.
They had been pecking for days but I just couldn't let them have it. Hopefully they found a spot in one of the 40 trees we have on the property.

Now, here is lavender..

(A new comer in my garden, and smells very nice. )

Here is a shot, taken this morning, of part of my white Wisteria, which goes across the bay window at the front of the house. A Clematis climbs through it, and both are showing signs of imminent explosion.
I will take pictures from the same spot at regular intervals over the next fortnight or so, just to show what a difference a couple of weeks can make at this time of year.



(I might even get round to cleaning the windows soon.)

Yeah, long term time-elapsed photography. Sounds wonderful!

I'm looking out my window at a baker's dozen shades of green. Green is a wonderful color.

In the foreground is Mr. Noddy with a garden rake and pruning shears, playing Search and Destroy with tent caterpillars.

Trailing after is Faithful Dog who would rather be napping.

Nice tableau, Noddy.

Littlek--

Thanks for the kind words.