Snow. Again.

Last time, we were posting photos of some of the flowers blooming all over the place.  Now we've got this.




Yes, it's snowing again.  It had been raining all day.  It's still a couple of degrees above freezing, according to my WeatherEye.





I'd even done some planting last weekend.  Some are cool weather plants, so they might actually survive.  Others... not so much.





No, I won't be using the BBQ tonight.  Not likely to use it tomorrow night, either. 

After that, it's supposed to start getting hot again.

Our co-op is having its spring garage sale this weekend.  We shut down early when no one was showing up over a couple of hours, what with that chilly rain.

As I write this, the snow is coming down even harder.

This is going to be an interesting spring!

A lovely day for photos

 Anna:  Today was a lovely day for taking photos.  An overcast sky made for even, if slightly dark, lighting, with a temperature comfortable to walk around our neighbourhood in.  My older daughter wanted to head out with her film camera (she likes to use black and white film), so I brought mine as well.



Not far from our place were several blooming plum trees.  I love trees that go into full bloom before their leaves are fully in. 




Like this one!  This time of year, there are many trees like this all over the city, with flower petals drifting down like fragrant snow. 



A few more blocks brings us to City Hall, where someone decided a statue could use a little jewelry.

Still Alive

Anna: Our first spring in our current home, a year ago, one of the things we discovered that we loved about our new home was the apple tree almost directly under our balcony.  Once it started blooming, we got to enjoy the wonderful scents that the breeze blew onto our balcony.  It was absolutely beautiful! As the apples started to form, I looked forward to seeing what kind they were.



Unfortunately, that was not to be.  Looking down one day, I discovered the main branch of the tree lying on the ground.  How long it had been that way, I didn't know, but it could have been several days.  All I could say for sure was that it wasn't done that day.  My guess was that some of the kids in our complex may have tried to climb it to get at the apples.

I knew it might be possible to save the tree, if it was done quickly enough.  I mentioned it at the office of our co-op, but nothing came of it.  The most that was done was a few months later, when someone had pushed the fallen portion off to one side so that it was no longer lying on the garden bed that no one was using.

There was still a portion of the tree unharmed and I thought it, at least, would have a few blossoms this year.  Imagine my surprise when I looked down and saw this!



Almost the entire fallen section is now blooming!  Only a couple of branches are without leaf or blossom and, if I remember correctly, they were already dead before the section had fallen.

A remarkably resilient tree!

Morning flowers

Philippe: Up at 4:30, on site at 5:00. Morning shots rock :D

A bit more

As I headed out today, I took some photos of the front of our home.



The poor Maple tree by our front door!  That and the Mountain Ash, though I think it's hardier.  I know none of the Maples' leaves around our home fully recovered after last year's May snowfall.  Looks like we'll have another year of brown-leaved Maples.



We've got a beautiful old Willow next to the highrise.  It handled last year rather well, too.  That lane under it is how the Handi Transit buses make it to our street.  It doesn't take much to make it quite difficult for them to get up that lane and around the corner.  If they're going to get stuck, that's the spot it happens.



This poor little bush in front of the high rise was just starting to bloom, too!  Just a few branches, though.  Last spring, it was a mass of flowers, and I'd been wondering why so few were showing this year.  I hope this means that, once things warm up again, the rest of the bush will still be blooming.

Just another day in ... paradise?

Ah, the joys of weather!  Here is it, May 4, and we've got this.



This is our balcony.  With our brand new barbeque.  So new, in fact, that we haven't picked up a cover for it yet.

We won't be having BBQ for supper tonight, Dear.

(We had snow even later last year, but not quite this much!)



Normally from this spot, I can see the entire neighborhood below us, parts of the river, and the south side of the valley.





This is right along side our townhouse, where an old house used to be last year.



At least it's supposed to warm up in the next few days...