Friday, March 18, 2022

Unexpected Thaw

Because we got such a large amount of snow this winter, I really didn't expect we'd see bare ground until sometime in May.  (Or possibly June.  Maybe July?)  But this last week of off and on sunshine and temperatures up into the 40s has made for a lot of slow and easy melting.  A few puddles here and there but no run-off causing flooding.  (At least not yet.)
 
Yesterday we went from periods of bright sunlight that required sunglasses when outside to very shady overcast periods.  Back and forth this went on all day, but even when the sun was hiding from us the snow was still melting.
 

Lots of gravel showing on the drive back past the big wood shed.  And no standing water to freeze over night and make a treacherous skating rink.
 

Above are two new blueberry bushes (to the left) we got late last season and healed in until this spring.  The big black pots and the bushes in them were totally covered with snow until this thaw began.  If you look closely, in front of the hoop trellis, you can see one teeny-tiny corner of one of my raised beds starting to peek out from under the snow.
 

And look here.  Green grass actually showing near the orchard!
 

Our daughter and her little charge came for a visit yesterday and they played outside for a long time.  What a cute little snowman they built during a period of sunshine.
 
I know we can still get plenty of snow during the last half of March and well into April, but what a breath of spring time to see all the melting this past week.  

5 comments:

tpals said...

I envy your slow and gentle melting. We went from snow to the mud pits of dooooom.

Leigh said...

The little person with the little snowman is so cute! I'm glad to hear you got a thaw, but am still amazed at how much snow you still have. Nice to see all that wood in your woodshed.

Mama Pea said...

tpals - Not only does it seem unusual to see snow melting at this time of year for us, but to not have melting and then ICE is very welcome! Guess we lucked out this year. However, I have no doubt our mud season will come sooner or later. :o)

Leigh - Even though we had the heavy snow winter, we didn't have any extended periods of really frigid weather which has been very easy on our wood supply. We haven't touched our other two smaller wood sheds that are chock full of lovely dried wood. That will make refilling the big shed this summer seem like fun! (Well, almost.) ;o)

coffeeontheporchwithme said...

Over here in Ontario, we are also experiencing a melt. It is currently raining this morning. I've seen robins!! I hope you see a bit more sun today. -Jenn

Mama Pea said...

Jenn - Yep, full sun is scheduled for today which means more melting! No rain yet for us this early spring. I was up early this morning and just after dawn, I looked out the window and thought we were getting a heavy, fine snow. Turns out it was FROST fall from the sky! It coated all the tree branches, bushes and twigs but made no impact on bare ground or wood (such as our deck). Very strange but beautiful! Hope you have a good day.