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Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Spring back to winter!

We had a couple of days when it felt almost like spring. Some sections of the trails were down to dirt although I still needed my snow bike for those nasty north-facing slopes. The birds were singing. And our Broad-tailed Hummingbirds had arrived. Yesterday, I heard the trill of their wings four times during my bike ride. The Mountain Bluebirds were staking out their nesting spots. Here was the male of a pair near us.

Some flowers were starting open. Spring Beauties... These blossoms are tiny, about a half inch across. They grow in meadows and even from under the pine needle cover, like this one.

Some bigger flowers, Pasqueflowers (wild crocuses) opened during the brief window between snow storms.

This morning, we were out early to beat the winter storm here. We got sunshine for our early start!

After an off day yesterday due to meeting a large group of off-leash dogs, Shyla was back in her normal form today.

She even shared today's yucky find with me - a deer jaw.
Although I don't love yucky stuff, it's wonderful when she wants to bring these animal parts to me rather than hiding while gnawing on them. It makes me think that all of our hard work is doing us some good.

Now it's snowing. The forecasters say it will snow almost all week, with possible big snow totals. Here's the sight of the elk antler Shyla found a couple of years ago with the snow coming down around it.


I'm sitting by a warm fire so I'm lucky. However, I am dreaming of the desert. Here's a star trail that I photographed at K's Rock on our last trip. It was during a full moon so only the brightest stars were visible, and a front was moving in from the west, as you can see from the clouds in the lower left.
Spring will be here before we know it! And it's already arrived at K's Rock! I'll just pretend that I'm there this afternoon!

23 comments:

  1. Stay warm, we're under a tornado watch. Mom said if the storms get bad we're sleeping in the cellar tonight.

    Aroo to you,
    Sully

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  2. Oh no! I was hoping you were done with the big snow. I'm glad you got to get out and enjoy a few moments of spring while it lasted.

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  3. Oh the beautiful blue bird,,, and the gorgeous flowers! Just like spring,, and then,,, magically a kiss from the snow flakes!
    Beautiful sky and stars!
    love
    tweedles

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  4. Such beautiful photos! Hugs to sweet R!!!

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  5. Shyla looks so much happier today! That's awesome she was able to bounce back quickly! I love the shot of the blue bird and the flowers, too!

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  6. So much beauty! The bird is so vivid.

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  7. Sending som cool and lovely spring breezes from So Cal. It was 61 today and gorgeous. It's supposed to get warm by the weekend. Oh, and Shyla? Could you talk to Otto about bringing those "Treasures" to KB?? The other day Otto found some sort of bone - rabbit?? - And REFUSED to drop it. Crunch, crunch, crunch. I was envisioning thousands of dollars in vet bills as he was enjoying his treasure. Sooooo could you please??

    Thanks,

    Otto's mom

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  8. I like your signs of spring. I also saw a Pasqueflower yesterday at Vail. However, winter isn't done with us yet! It's been snowing off and on here all day - more to come. We're planning a trip for May - dreaming of warmth and surf!

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  9. This storm has bad timing. We are only getting rain, but we weren't able to leave for SD because of the storms in Wyoming. (Grrr)

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  10. So sorry the snows have returned. But your mountain flowers and those bluebirds are just gorgeous. Won't be long now and the snows will be gone and your fields will be ablaze with more flowers to share with us:)

    So far we have escaped the worst of the storms. Waiting on another round to come in overnight that could be severe. Thanks for thinking of Ciara. She has been very anxious for the last few days but thankfully no seizures. More storms this weekend:(

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  11. Craziness!! The deer jaw though. Oh my goodness!!

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  12. What a beautiful blue bird! We get scrub jays out here - great personalities but not quite so pretty :)

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  13. Your wildflowers are just beautiful and you are so sweet to share your special find with your mom, Shyla!

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  14. We have been having yo-yo weather here too. One minute it is HOT at 75 and the next it is 30. The high today was only 38.

    Your flowers are just beautiful! Shyla sure has fun on your walks...she just exudes happiness!

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  15. ooooh seems white is the color of the year... paws crossed that miss spring wins that battle :o)

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  16. I hope the snow stops soon. We haven't had snow but it is unseasonably cold.

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  17. We are stormy all week - but just rain, maybre thunderstorms. Your bluebird is so beautiful!
    hugs
    Mr Bailey, Hazel & Mabel

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  18. That;s the Rocky Mountains . . . the beauty of spring and in a blink back to winter!

    Your Pals,

    Murphy & Stanley

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  19. We guess we won't complain about our cold temps here since it hasn't brought us any snow. I couldn't imagine a week of snow this time of year. Glad you were able to enjoy a little glimpse of spring while you could.

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  20. One of the things I LOVED about living in Colorado was the weather. Really!

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  21. The antler and snow pic is just stunning!

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