Photos by Hamlin Grange
We’ve had all kinds of weather in the last four days: wind, rain, snow, freezin’ rain. Then more snow and freezin’ rain and wind again.
Hamlin froze his tush off to get these photos today!
We hear the birds singing loudly — though methinks it sounds more like complaining today. Who can blame them?
This wall must be warm, because a dove has taken refuge on the climbing ivy branches just outside our window. We’re so sorry for him/her that we almost opened the window and said “Come on in!”
Our snowdrops are encased in ice.
The frog, we imagine, is playing a requiem for Spring, because it sure feels like Spring has died and Winter is resurrected.
The poor daffodil buds, about to bloom, have frozen too.
In our eagerness for Spring, we put out the warm-weather table and chairs days ago.
The laugh’s on us for forgetting it’s April in Canada. They don’t call our country The Frozen North for nothin’.
Cynthia Reyes 
These days feel so “eery” when one lives on the water. So much wind and freezing rain. It’s that time of the year that we watch the lake very carefully yet there is nothing we can do to stop Mother Nature doing her thing – sometimes very destructively.
We always worry in advance about weather-induced travel delays when flying to or from Toronto at Christmas and March Break. But being ice-storm-stayed at Toronto airport for two days in mid-April is unexpected (and unwelcome) even for us winter-hardened New Brunswickers!
Oops! Nature is fickle this time of year. Thanks for sharing Hamlin’s nice photos.
It has been a little colder here but nothing like you have in Canada!
Oh boy, just a lovely series on the Frozen North; thank Hamlin for the images. From the frying South it is 85 degrees feels like 94 here and the humidity molecules are stacking up in my hairdo.
The Frying South! Love it!
You are most welcome.
Love your work!
What crazy weather lately!! Great captures…love the cardinal!!! Hope you are well…Spring will be there soon!!!
Brrr…that frozen cardinal and love that little window nest. Great shots…hope you get warm weather soon!
Thanks Jane. Inspiration comes from strange places. Doesn’t it?
We shoot what we know! 🙂
Aw…those poor little birds don’t know what’s going on. I hope spring arrives in your area soon, Cynthia!
Gosh – it’s never ending up there in your little part of the globe. Spring must come soon, winter is already making a claim down here…….
Please tell winter it can’t be down there and up here at the same time!
Um – I would, but he’s rather abruptly disappeared …… it’s warm and the sun is shining. But don’t be alarmed, it will just be a short interlude.
I am also complaining about the weather! Nice collection of photos.
We’ll be there in early June. We’ll bring warm weather with us. Here in Oz we are breaking all records for high temperatures in autumn. Some days have been well into the thirties – about 100 on the old scale.
Will hold you to that promise. It sure seems like you have more than enough warm weather to share! Thank you.
What a good guy Hamlin is! We’re getting it here in Pennsylvania also this evening. REAL Spring can’t be too far away……
Oy. sorry you’re getting the bad weather, Beth. And THANK YOU for buying my book. That means a lot!
I am sure hoping spring comes pretty soon, I’m getting tired of temps in the 20’s in April. 🙂
Oh, gosh, Cynthia! It’s even worse where you live in Canada than it is here in Maine. But, it hasn’t exactly been sunshine and flowers in the hinterlands, either. Spring sure is taking her own sweet time.
I have not been tempted outside to take photos, and I’m not sure I would feel inclined to take ones as beautiful as Hamlin’s. We are rocking and rolling and the docks are a nasty mixture of ice pellets and freezing rain. We hope to emerge to calmer weather tomorrow…
Great photos. I think you live in/near Toronto, correct? I think Rochester NY, my former home, is going through the same thing.
The photos are beautiful, Cynthia and Hamlin, and thank you for including that cardinal!
It has been a very cool, wet spring so far down here. The plums, pear and wild cherries are in full bloom. Our bing and black tartarian cherries and apple trees will follow soon. The blueberries are almost ready to bloom, too.
That sounds great, despite the cool, wet spring, Lavinia. I look forward to some blooms in this frozen north.
Crazy weather all round. That dove, Cynthia, is fixing to nest on that window sill. Now that may be okay with you, but…it’s going to be a mess. You’re forewarned. If you let it, it will be best to keep the blinds/shades/drapes closed or it will be flying off when it should be sitting on its eggs. I hope it thaws for you soon!! My cousin gin Door County Wisconsin is getting 8-12 inches this weekend. To late for this!
Yup, Lisa, I figure that dove is nesting. It still hasn’t moved! They are used to nesting on mere twigs, so that ivy must feel like a pretty strong house!
Ah, at least you heard our feathered friends singing!! Lovely sign of Spring?? Great photos too!
Iris, you seemed determined to seethe silver lining in the situation. How lovely. But with Canadian winter- spring, every silver lining has a cloud attached… tee hee.
Well, tee hee… 😉
Great photos! You should have let the dove in 🙂
Cynthia, the photos are lovely and so reminiscent of … winter! The poor flowers! Spring has finally, at long last arrived in the UK and it feels wonderful to see sunlight and discard the winter gear … fingers crossed it finds you too soon. Meanwhile, a joy to see your images! Xx
Thanks, Annika. Glad spring is there! Take two photos of your favourite spring scenes at our near your home, please. I’ll be needing them.
So it’s your fault! It’s putting those patio chairs out! That’s what did it. 😉 I have jinxed it here by tentatively venturing out without a vest. 😉
Hope spring is really spring soon.
Cheers
MTM
I think winter just wanted to give Hamlin one last opportunity to take beautiful photos. By the way, I felt a little disappointed that there wasn’t an elegant portrait of the frozen tush. 😀
Now, THAT would have been the ultimate “selfie” Gallivanta. .
My thoughts exactly. 😀
Brrrrrrrr! I can feel that icy cold from here! I hope it warms up for you soon, Cynthia 🙂
I was thinking how lucky I am to live in Southern Oregon where the grass is green and the birds are twitter pated. And then it started to hail… –Curt
I was just going to accuse you of showing off. And then I got to your last sentence….. (tee hee)
We are lucky here, Cynthia. I can’t deny that. Except of course in fire-season, which is the fish season of the year. I spent enough time back east this spring to get a small bit of appreciation for the weather you have been experiencing. Nasty. And you have all of my sympathy. –Curt
Hope the spring returns very soon!
We’ve had exactly the same weather here, and the same amount of sleet / snow by the looks. They say we might see the sun shine again Saturday.
Stay warm!
I’ve noticed that our weather patterns are very similar, so I’ll look for sun on Saturday!
We’ve had flurries on and off all day today! I live 25 miles west of Pittsburgh and it’s been a long winter. It’s supposed to warm up on Wednesday to 56! YAY!
Fantastic pictures, Cynthia. Thanks for sharing. I drove at the start of this messy weekend in my town between Toronto and Niagara Falls and it was scary. Don’t remember a mid-April like this. Hope we see a better spring soon. 🙂
April Fool’s Day has turned into a month-long event. 🙂
You’re funny. And right.
Lol 🙂
You’ll know not to put that patio furniture out too soon, next time! Oh, but how disappointing for you! You manage to talk of the bad weather with humour but I know how frustrated you must be. Hamlin’s photos are excellent as ever.
Thanks, Clare. I do like Hamlin’s photos and that he took them in freezing weather. I know, I know about the furniture. I jinxed it!
Hamlin makes the weather look prettier than it deserves to look! We certainly can relate to what you’ve been dealing with (and we put our outdoor furniture out too soon, too!) “They” say a warmup is coming this weekend . . .
I sure hope so, Kerry! It’s sunny and milder today!
I love the dove by the window, it reminds me of a pigeon that used to sit on our bathroom window ledge years ago – probably to get warm. We nicknamed it ‘Charcoal’ as we thought it might be a filter… 🙂
Nature does have a way of adapting, and it’s lovely to see how new growth is waiting to burst into energy once the snow passes.
Well said! Nature does indeed have a way of adapting. It’s just we humans who keep complaining about Nature! (guilty, hour honour…)
It was worth Hamlin freezing his tush off .. he did a splendid job. Thanks for sharing Cynthia ..
I shall tell him that, Julie! Thank you.
Oh yes please do 😃
Beautifully put photographs and depictions of the north. I really enjoyed looking through them,esp the birds
Thank you!
Cynthia, I’ll say it again–Hamlin takes such good shots! Love these, especially the crisp red of the cardinal with the cool green of the pine.
How touching is that little dove huddling by your window! It’s been a never-ending winter to be sure. I just put my snow shovel away this Sunday, optimist that I am. Hope the sun is warming your summer furniture – and you – today!
I hope you are finally having better weather. Yesterday was the first day that actually felt like spring.That little dove breaks my heart! I used to have a glass table like that and one day I decided to move it just a little. It shattered into a million pieces–into the tall grass. Ugh. It wasn’t any fun picking glass from grass. Have a great day!