Spring is in the Air

It looks like, could possibly be, maybe, spring is here. Yeah we been fooled before and it did snow on Wednesday. And there has been a chill in the wind but it was sunny and warm today so it could be that spring is here. At least the plants think so. They are starting to bud out.

The Saskatoons look like they will be loaded with blossoms this year too. For those who don't know what they are, Saskatoons are a small blue berry that is native to western Canada. And the northwestern states too but I think they call them service berries. It doesn't matter they make a great pie if you can get enough.

It is a struggle here though. Belle discovered Saskatoons last year. I could not figure out why all the lower branches had no berries. I thought maybe a low frost got them. Or some sort of bug. Well it was a parasite alright a fat little beagle. I came out one night and there she was grazing. She cleaned the branches off as high as she could reach. If she had stood on her hind legs we would not have even got a taste. If they look like they are going to be a good crop this year I am going to fence the bushes off. I will fight with the birds for them but Belle is supposed to be on my side. It could have been worse Dixie is taller and smarter than Belle and she would have figured a way to get all of them if she had know what Belle was up to.

But I digress. Spring is here! Shh not too loud. Old man winter is probably not out of earshot yet. He can always make a return visit. Just our luck he likes the scenery round here. Every time we think he's gone he comes back for a short stay. He's like Peter Falk in the old Columbo movies "Ah Just one more t'ing!" He hit us twice in the last couple of weeks once just in Calgary a 12 inch dump and then a week later all over the southern half of the province. We thought the Calgary dump was a good omen for the Flames because they won when we got a late dump of snow in the playoffs. Yeah right another old wives tale bites the dust. We need the moisture. That is true but the snow comes and then a Chinook comes and it all runs away. I'll settler for a good 3 day rain later in May.

I have had enough of winter. It's May. According to song in Camelot winter exits March the second on the dot. Old man winter has overstayed his welcome by two months if that is the case. I just hope he is gone till November. But as I recall he came for a visit to the Stampede one July and then was late for Christmas the same year.

But despite his persistence the grass is getting greener and the leaves will be on the trees soon and Belle will be munching Saskatoons before you know it.

Its spring ... pass it on.

Randy