You.
Yes, you, with your signs of spring. With your hellebores and your hyacinths and all that green and gold, and those cherry blossoms. And those lambs!
Well, we have signs of spring, too, you know.
We have dirty snow and lots of leftover sand on the roads, left by road crews to get us through the winter. We have the teensiest of buds on a few shrubs. We’ve had four snow-free days in a row!
But we also have ice that’s finally melting on the bay. We have moving water for the first time in months!
It’ll all break up soon
We have cats, luxuriating on warm flagstones, feeling frisky, spring in their blood.
Sweet Beau in the sun
We have maple sap dripping into metal buckets, all along the roadsides.
Looking down the barrel of the spile, at a little drop of sap!
And we have the annual pancake breakfast, with family and neighbors, shucking off wool jackets, slathering on the maple syrup, and lingering in the bright sunshine of a perfect spring day.
Finally . . . spring. Always worth the wait.
Love Those "Hands at Home" 
Your spring is great too! For I love pancakes and real maple syrup . Here in the south , no maple syrup making for us. If one buys it you better have a nice fat wallet. 😉
I guess that’s a benefit of our climate in the North–we can at least have maple syrup!
Definitely worth the wait. Now I’m hankering for pancakes with maple syrup but making do with hot cocoa.
Hot cocoa sounds good, too–do you feel autumn coming?
I think we skipped autumn. Had winter last night and today. Temps to freezing level and snow on the foothills. 😀
It often feels like we skip spring the same way. I can’t believe you have snow in the vicinity already!
We can’t believe it either!
Oh how I love Maple syrup… so expensive to buy here and so long since we’ve been to New England to buy direct. Sigh.
I wish I could send you some! We always seem to have a half gallon jug in the fridge.
Spring, yes I believe it is here too…although it rained, snowed and reached 60 degree last Friday…perhaps that was a fight between winter and spring. Spring won!
Maple syrup, yes please! Such a wonderful treat.
“Spring won”– such happy words! I do think we Northerners appreciate spring more because it is so elusive!
I loved the winters in Canada and I do miss the big snows. I do not miss the long process of winter ending and how smudgy and sepia everything looks. I know your world is still beautiful and soon life will burst everywhere. As my son in Toronto says about Spring there: ” I love it, all 15 minutes of it” ;0) Hmm, maple syrup and pancakes….
When the change to spring comes, it does come so quickly! I can just start to see day lilies showing some green . . .
I only have a few piles of dirty snow near the driveway, otherwise it’s all gone. I lost a couple shrubs over the winter. I think the bitter cold did them in. But the daylily leaves are starting to appear Iin the flower beds as are the daffodils…so there are signs of life. And I had my first tick crawling across my arm yesterday. Ah, spring is here!
And now I have pancakes and maple syrup on the brain. I’m going to hunt for a recipe for grain free pancakes!
Oh, yes, I need to start checking the cat for ticks–an icky sign of spring!
I think I’m smitten with the thought of pancakes w/ maple syrup!!! Thinkin’ tomorrow’s supper!!!! Spring is still battling with the previous season. Last Friday’s snows have disappeared and the nights’ temps seem to be hovering around the 40 mark. My fave time of year…..summer days lie ahead….perfect anticipation………..
The sense of anticipation IS exciting and things change so quickly this time of year. One day, there’s ice on the lake and the next, it seems, we are seeing blossoms.
Those are the kinds of changes I really like (the reverse…..not so much!).
Great word-and-picture images, as ever. But the treat for me, over in the UK, was the shot of something I’ve never seen in real life: the maple syrup releasing its sap into the waiting bucket. Now THAT must be worth celebrating.
I’m so glad you mentioned that photo! I worked so hard to get it and took so many failed shots! The drops were coming pretty quickly–it seems it would take forever to fill the bucket but it was adding up!
You certainly captured the beginning signs of spring – what beautiful photos! I love Beau! I must agree with Margaret….the maple syrup dropping in the bucket was really a treat! Can’t wait to see and read more!
I love Beau, too–he’s a seriously handsome, sweet boy! I responded to Margaret and told her thanks for mentioning that photo of the sap dripping–I worked hard to catch that! Thanks to you, too, for looking carefully at that one!
Oh, pancakes 🙂
I love traditions involving food!
I do, too! And there are so many of them!!
I love maple syrup. We have a sugar maple tree that has sap but we have never made our own maple syrup.
You should try! I have to say, though, it does makes the kitchen very, very steamy–there’s a LOT of liquid that has to boil off.
There are people in the neighborhood who tap trees and I think the school does it too and they boil it outside 🙂
I am amazed at how quickly seasons ‘turn’. When I arrived in DC there was the merest hint of buds on cherry trees and just the slightest haze of green, if you peered really closely, on trees – five days later pink blossoms galore and green everywhere! I left home in late summer heat, leaves drying slighting on their trees and arrived back two weeks later to russet brown piles on the ground – and the first snow falls in the mountains! I suspect this winter might be a hard one, Orlando has dressed himself in a luxurious thick, white, undercoat!
I don’t believe I have ever tasted real maple syrup – what a unique sight those buckets must be and I can imagine the hope that must arise in you all at their emergence …… Come on SPRING!!
You couldn’t’ve picked a better time to be in DC!! I was so happy for you! You’re right, though, two weeks is a long time in these transitions between seasons–a lot can happen. Regarding maple syrup–not everyone likes it. My husband did not grow up with it and it leaves him cold. But I wish you could’ve tried it while you were here!
Couldn’t agree more, spring is such a fabulous season, great joy is seeing the world reawakening, buds opening and trees sprouting bright green leafage.
We’re a few weeks from bright green leafage but the signs are encouraging!
Made some wonderful pancakes yesterday, Einkorn and white wheat flour, what a combination!
And of course I taught them to ‘swim’ as my father used to say…real maple syrup from NH.
I love that–“taught them to swim”! One of the coolest things about this pancake breakfast is the big pitchers of syrup on every table–no holding back!
I love the idea of teaching your pancakes to swim! Such great pictures. And think: after our fresh local supplies of blueberries will have gone, yours will be going strong. To drop on pancakes, with that syrup! Got the candy today and snacked on its deliciousness after dinner! Yum! What a candy make you are!!
Isn’t that swimming image great?! I’m going to adopt that phrase, for sure! And I am SO glad you like the candy! Thanks for letting me know!
It was so warm yesterday, too, and it was just fine! It’s going to take a lot of discipline to break off just a piece each night. I may have to share it!
If chocolate is tempered properly, it does hold up well to moderate heat–but that doesn’t stop me from worrying a little!
Well, not to worry. It’s both beautiful and delicious!
I always think that when spring finally stirs…it goes quickly. Sending warm thoughts and soft breezes. You are not far behind us at all.
Jen
Spring does seem to zip by–when the greening up happens, it seems to come all at once. Let’s enjoy every moment!
Lovely spring season.. I love this part of the season too.. Happy spring to u 💐💐💐
Yes, indeed–make sure you enjoy it all!
Are you talking to me? (Doing my best Robert De Niro impression here, Kerry!) Well, at least I don’t have lambs. LOL. Fun post!
Yes, you! Taunting me! No, not just you–everyone is so excited about spring and so am I, now that I’m finally seeing some of it!
Great spring signs – I love the spring pancake tradition! 🙂
That pancake breakfast has been going on for 45 years–and you see tons of the same people there every year!
This year we’ve already had a streak of 80 degree days (which I’m pretty sure means bad things for the Earth in general, but hey, at least it’s warm!) but I’d be tempted to give it all up for some of those pancakes. I have a serious soft spot for all things maple.