More blossoms

This afternoon I enjoyed a coffee with Marian.  I had been promising to drop by and see the Cherry Blossoms in the tree in her backyard.  It was covered with blossoms and very pretty.  This is a good year for blossoms it would appear.  She also has a small Magnolia tree with very petite flowers on it which we quite beautiful as well.

It's interesting seeing the difference in the flowers of our magnolia tree and the one that is in Marian's backyard.  Our tree is much larger in height/age and the flowers are also much larger.  I really like the fine flowers as I think they look more like roses.

Spring blossoms - part 2

This morning I received a "gentle nudge" ;-) from Asher asking if I had gone back to High Park to photograph the Cherry blossoms.  I had gone back but right afterward we went golfing :-).  Life is busy when you are retired sometimes.

Here are a few pictures from High Park when I went on Monday.  Needless to say, the flowers were amazing.

Country Road Take me home

Today we visited with Ed and Christine.  We had a nice visit together. The girls (Christine, Anne and I) went to see her friend - Bonita who owns a nice garden centre.  During our drive there we passed this lovely waterfall.  I was so annoyed that I didn't have my good camera with  me.  On our way home, Ralph took us back to take a picture on our cell phones.  It was really quite beautiful.  Christine explained that the water was much higher than it normally is due to the winter run off.  It was really pretty.

Spring Blossoms

I've been following the news reports about the Cherry Blossoms at High Park.  This year is suppose to be a very good year for viewing the blossoms.  On Friday we were told.... Saturday is the day!  Don't miss the beauty of the blossoms.

With some convincing, Ralph humoured me by agreeing to get up early and take me to see the flowers.  It was an early morning with the alarm going off at 6:00.  I didn't want to fight the crowds so we had to be there early.  The promise of breakfast at Sunset grill afterwards sounded really good so off we went.

Well...... I think we were a couple of days too early.  The flowers were just beginning.  It was pretty but mostly buds, not flowers.  We still enjoyed ourselves and spent about 1.5 hours wandering around.  There was a surprising number of people already there and by the time we left, the park was crawling with people.  I'm glad we came when we did.  I do plan on going again on Monday morning to see if they have opened up much more.

Can you imagine what the delegates from Japan would  think if they saw this carved in the cherry tree.

This afternoon, I walked across the street and had a look at the tree on the boulevard.  It wasn't blooming when we left for church but as the day progressed, the sun coaxed the flowers out.  It was beautiful.

Isn't spring beautiful!!

Family day

Today we went to visit with Jay and Laura and the family.  We wanted to see how Hailey was adjusting and to spend some time with everyone,

I decided to bring my camera along incase we saw something along the way.  Sadly it was pouring rain as we drove, so not much opportunity to photograph barns, running streams etc.  As we were nearing Laura's house, Ralph pointed out a hawk.  The rain had slowed down so we decided to turn around and see if we could capture it on camera.  We were amazed to see, not 1 hawk but 3.  Wow we both exclaimed.  Hawks are usually very territorial and to see 3 all together was quite something.  I didn't have a long zoom lens with me, but I had a 200mm.  I figured when I got home I could crop in the picture and get a better look.  Did I ever laugh when I finally looked at the picture.  These weren't hawks all all.  They were turkey vultures.  The ugliest bird ever.  It made me think of Halloween. So funny.  They were so high in the tree that even cropping in on my camera you couldn't tell what kind if a bird it was.  Oh well, we'll have to keep looking.

Later in the afternoon, we planned a trip into London.  Along the way Jay took us a an Eagles Nest.  There were babies in the nest and a female sitting in it as well,  Imagine my disappointment at not being better prepared.  Here is a photo of the nest and if you look closely you can see the head of the Eagle.

We spent a really nice day with the family.  Ralph even took his rollerblades with him and went outside with Jordan and Brody to enjoy some of the nice weather we were having.

Juniper - Hailey's new kitten

We are really happy to see how well Hailey is doing.  It's a big adjustment but she is handling it very well.

A walk in my garden

Slowly things are starting to burst forth from the cold ground and reach for the warmth of the spring sunshine.  Yesterday and today the temperatures were really nice and I enjoyed walking around with a tea in hand to admire the flowers.

This afternoon, around 2:00 p.m. we started receiving severe weather watch warnings on our phones.  Wouldn't you know it, the flowers are just starting to bloom and now we're going to get a thunderstorm with high winds and lightening.  Who knows what that will do to the flowers?  They are still so tender having just arrived.

I quickly grabbed my camera and tripod and headed outside to try to capture their beauty on film.  I really do love this time of year and hope that the storm won't do to much damage.

It was nice to see bee's in the garden.

After the storm passed, I went outside to inspect the damage.  Thankfully the storm didn't last long with more thunder than actual rain.  I think the rain lasted for about 15-20 minutes.  It's amazing how the flowers closed up and seemed to lean into each other for protection.  A few were lying on their sides but I'm sure with some sunshine they should be standing tall within a day or so.