About Me

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Delta, British Columbia, Canada
I took very early retirement from teaching in '06 and did some traveling in Europe and the UK before settling down to do some private tutoring. As a voracious reader, I have many books waiting in line for me to read. Tell me I shouldn't read something, and I will. I'm a happy, optimistic person and I love to travel and through that believe that life can be a continuous learning experience. I'm looking forward to traveling more some day. I enjoy walking, cycling, water aerobics & and sports like tennis, volleyball, and fastpitch/baseball. I'm just getting into photography as a hobby and I'm enjoying learning all the bits and bobs of my digital camera. My family is everything to me and I'm delighted to be the mother of two girls and the Gramma of a boy and a girl. I may be a Gramma, but I'm at heart just a girl who wants to have fun.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Signs of Spring

Even though it's grey, windy, and cold today I decided to go for a walk to return some DVDs and pick up some cereal at the local grocery store. I'm glad I took my camera because I was able to take my mind off the dreariness of the day to record the promise of warmth to come. The sooner the better, in my humble opinion.

My heather is glorious right now, in full bloom and brilliant in colour. Soon it will fade and become simple greenery amongst the other colours I'll add to the garden.

Daffodils are blooming everywhere - in private gardens, along municipal roadways and in parks as well as in large pots that decorate the business districts. These daffodils dazzled passersby as they scurried out of the wind into the local shops.

I noticed a cherry tree outside the bank last week that had the first blossoms I'd seen this season. So I walked on in order to get a photo. It is blooming beautifully and is the only one in the area so far along. Other cherry trees are not even close to blooming so this one stands out in its glory. On the way home, I stopped to see how many buds were on a neighbour's camelia bush. This bush must tower over ten feet tall and always has masses of flowers every year. There were so many buds I couldn't even begin to count them, but as I started to pass I turned for one last look. Behold! One small, lone camelia flower stood out amongst the greenery so I just had to pull out the camera for one last shot for the day.

14 comments:

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

Beautiful! I do miss daffodils so thank you for that photo.

Michele said...

WOW... look at all those wonderful and beautiful colors. I am so impressed of what Spring has brought to this part of BC. I do have a lot of catching up way over here, don't I?
Today it went up to 5 C so I'm thinking some warm weather is here to stay and this snow is melting fast!
Beautiful photos.

Leslie: said...

Thanks Pat & Michele - I just made it home before the rain started - not heavy but that horrid cold drizzle. I'm going to put on a pot of tea now to warm myself up.

Janice Thomson said...

Gosh gorgeous blossoms Leslie. Thanks for this. I am so waiting for the cherry tree to bloom...

jmb said...

Heavens, that cherry is far along. It must be sheltered and face south.
Spring is definitely here although it changes so quickly back to winter.

Anonymous said...

that cherry tree is just a marvel to look at.

West Bremerton florist

Leslie: said...

jmb come to think of it, it DOES face south AND is quite sheltered. I guess that's why it's doing so well.

Casdok said...

Oh i just love cherry blossom!

sally in norfolk said...

Great photos a true sign spring is really on its way :-)

HeatherDB said...

Oh how I long for a BC spring. Thank you for the pictures!

Leslie: said...

Hi Casdok, I was over your place earlier and commented.

Hi Sally, I checked in at your place today but all seems the same. Hope spring has sprung in your neighbourhood.

Hi Heather, Oh how I recall those Ontario winters. AND how it snowed in April...ugh! No spring there, let's face it - you go from winter to summer in a few days and then a lovely short autumn and back to winter!

Country Girl said...

Oh, lovely! You're at least a couple weeks ahead of us in Maryland. I can't wait to take pictures of the cherry trees on the farm here. Too bad they don't last very long . . .

Liz Hinds said...

That cherry tree is gorgeous. It's blooming ahead of anything here too. But our camellia is in full flower.

I can't believe I've missed so many of your posts! Where have I been?! When I'm doing Photohunter, I see your name and think, 'Oh, I'll go to Leslie from my blogroll,' and then get distracted!

Linda said...

The flowers and blossoms are just beautiful. We live in the south and the most I've been north is Niagara Falls. What I remember the most (besides how beautiful the falls are) was the flowers. They just appeared to be richer in color than they are here. And when I saw your pictures thats what they reminded me of.