It's Here!

If you have an iPhone, you may have seen the icon for the weather app that says 73 degrees, which may or may not have tricked you into thinking that was the actual weather when it wasn't. Finally, it's no longer a joke with a disappointing punchline ("Surprise! It's actually a high of 36 in mid-April!"). No more jokes; it finally feels like Spring!!

We went to garden center this week, a couple days before the warmth rolled in, and browsed through the trees and perennials that were still just dormant branches and stems. But it still felt so good to be outside, even if there was nothing green.

But today? This is what happened in our front yard: 

 It's the first flower I've seen all year! I'm sure crocuses came up somewhere, but I haven't seen anything yet except these glorious daffodils! We didn't plant anything last year, so it will be a big surprise whatever we see growing.

Mike is starting to harden off his plants:

Although I spent the baby's naptime just finally getting around to planting my second flat of seeds and replanting in the pellets where nothing came up. At least my procrastination goes along with weather-- I doubt it will really be time to plant zinnias or basil for at least 3 weeks anyway. 

Here are the plants in their indoor environment, underneath the grow lights:

And here's something we had a couple weeks ago-- delicious maple syrup made from the tree in our backyard. 

Today I had the joy of being assisted by my little gardener:

Making a pile of rocks

Deciding if she should rip off a piece of the daylily

Watching me weed

Handing me rocks-- much better than when she tries to eat them! 

 It's been a great weekend so far, enjoying the warm weather: grilling burgers, eating breakfast al fresco, bonfire with s'mores and stargazing, family time in the new hammock, weeding and moving landscaping rock, taking down the exterior shutters and getting swooped by a rudely awakened, disoriented bat. And there's still Sunday to enjoy! It was a long time coming, but Spring weather is finally here, and I am in love with every beautiful minute of it!