I’m having way too much fun with my other frosty photos, so I’m not ready to put them up here yet. I think I’m going to have to be a jerk and watermark the hell out of them – they are that spiffy (to me, anyway)!
Instead, I’m going to give you a bit of spring.
Anyone over this side of the pond knows that snowdrops come up first. We got these a few years ago from a cheap supermarket packet, and they are really coming into their own this year.
We won’t talk about the disastrous state of the paint on my wall, or my finger being in the pic, or the fact they are blurry as hell, okay? Okay. They make iDJ and I very happy when they come up and let us know that it is, indeed, spring in Ireland.
Next are the crocuses. The purple ones bloom first, for some reason. Have a couple orange-yellow ones now, and a variegated purple – but no decent pics (as if this shot qualifies as decent, considering one of them has been beheaded). I meant to seed the whole front ‘lawn’ with these, but damn, the ground was hard and muddy and rocky and we only ever did a few. Mice ate the rest of the bulbs that I didn’t plant. Oops. I don’t think they really like it there much – no sunshine at all this time of year. Oh well.
More crocus. Or is that Croci?
I’ve also started some seedlings – early ones. Stuff that needs more time of being alive before it can make tasty food for me and mine:
Corn! I now have a wee heated Aldi propagator, and so I started corn and tomatoes and super hot scotch bonnet peppers for iDJ. Put them in the propagator Sunday the 15th Feb, and by the 18th, I had two corn plants this tall. They have now been potted out in big pots as they outgrew the prop. quite quickly. But only three of 12 germinated, so I will have to try another batch. Should still have time, I hope.
Peppers, or tomatoes? I honestly can’t tell when they are babies. Sort of like how a Chihuahua pup and a Great Dane pup will look identical when newborn. They aren’t in danger of outgrowing the propagator any time soon, but it does concern me that they have to lean so far over just to get any of our sunshine this time of year.
I was meant to start the peppers back in December but I wasn’t ready.
I’m now feeling bad that my seedlings are much larger! If I took daily photos it might be fun, but also potentially quite boring. “Watching grass grow.”
heretherebespiders 
Nice! The daffodils here in Arkansas are about four inches out of the ground — as we await the next ice-storm to hit, some time later this evening. I love what a salty old gal had to say about all this a few days ago — “Gettin’ ready for the Frozen Daffodil and Snow Tire Festival.”
I didn’t go near the daffs! Nearly blooming this weekend. And my clematis is as tall as I am, twice – as it branched!
Don’t think my dad has either daffodils or snow tires… he’s been more worried about Crimea the last few days.
I am so jealous, I can’t wait for spring.
Beautiful…love when the new growth comes up …good luck with the watermarking…still trying to work out how to do mine…already had some pics taken and used by a blogger to sell tickets to Australia…not impressed…. Hugs Fozziemum xx
Grr! Most of mine I don’t care too much about – but my artwork and and super fancy pics I need to watermark. I have an app – iWatermark, of course (everything has to start with a little i these days it seems). Super easy and fast to use.
Might suss it out…really have some great pics I want to keep safe as I can…people suck really!
Perhaps you could try some time-lapse photography?!
Probably that is beyond iPad capabilities! I’d never wrest the real computer away from the hubby 🙂
With a battery not surpassing 2 hours under load, it might be quite a boring time-lapse 🙂
A shout-out for you, Spidey — http://catself.wordpress.com/2014/03/03/love-and-loss/
Thank you – a tough post.
Lucky, lucky YOU!
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
http://handcraftedbyus.wordpress.com
♬♬♬ Happy Saint Patrick’s Day ♬♬♬
I love that first picture – the crisp textures (I’m always getting my finger or shadow in the picture – so annoying) Too soggy for crocus here – the purple ones are always beautiful. (I used to cut out pictures of them and ask my dad why we never planted them.) My dad could grow anything. I never have any luck growing from seed…maybe I water too much…right now RC’s cat grass looks moldy not growy. Sigh. Seeds are a lot cheaper than pet store grass.
Hope there’s a bit of sun for you!
Oops – make sure your grass seed pot has drainage at the bottom! Otherwise yes, it will just rot. It annoys me so many nice planters aren’t any use for planting. Water, let it all drain out, then set it in a sunny place (not TOO hot tho) and then don’t water again until you can stick your finger in nail-deep and it feels dry. Repeat 🙂
My grass is just floating on a bed of wet mud/clay – I have no idea how the crocus survive.
Love your blog. Your pictures make me long for spring, but still a ways to go in Utah. I spent a lovely holiday in Ireland with my mother a few years ago. I didn’t want to come home. Be glad you live there.
Hi! Nice to meet you I don’t know much about the climate in Utah – is it dry like some of your neighbour states, or more grassy? Does it get very cold? I never got to go west of the Mississippi but once (Portland, OR for a few days).
I am happy to be here! Wish the economy was better, or I had a decent-paying job, or both But it is beautiful and I have a great time most days!
Utah is basically a desert that is very hot and dry in summer and gets lots of snow in the wnter. Weird huh, it’s something to do with the fact that we sit in the shadow of some glorius and beautiful mountains.
I grew up in Portland Oregon, I love it there, it’s cool and green.
One of the things that struck me about Ireland when I was there – Southern area – was that people have random pieces of castles sitting in their back yards and around the neighborhood.
I’d could get used to that.
I believe the weather in Portland is very similar to Ireland. I know my auntie had moss growing on her truck, and I sure have it growing on my poor Mini.
That is odd – the mountains block the rain but not the snow?
I don’t have any ruins nearby, but there is a remnant of a stone wall very close. Keeps the cows out of our estate – sometimes!
Snowdrops are called “perce-neige” here, for obvious reasons. But, I believe they aren’t scheduled for another 6 weeks. Hell temperature are still sub-zero. We are expecting another 10 cm of snow this Wednesday. But maple water is flowing, don’t ask me where the trees are getting the heat from.
Keep the pictures coming. That’s all I have to watch at until May comes!