Spring or something like it…

What a beautiful sunny day! Still a bit nippy but the sun is so strong now that it’s warm if you’re not standing in the wind.
There are all sorts of spring-like events popping up around here despite a slow start. We were spoiled last year because it was a very early spring and it stayed spring-like–no fake out. Not so fortunate for 2011. An April 1st snowstorm is promised with as much as a foot of snow in some areas. Hey, wait a minute! April 1st is Opening Day for the Red Sox! Good thing they open in Texas, it would be a brutal home opener, starting with plowing the field and base paths. Good grief, the boys of summer would freeze out there after their balmy Florida spring training!

Excuse me, Mr. Usher, could you please brush off my seat?

Well let’s perish that thought for now, and think about the beautiful day we had today, all right? Enjoy a few of these photos before we see some of the above.

You've got to love these little flowers, there are still 3-foot high snow banks around them

My bees are alive and thriving which is something that amazes me every spring–how do they survive in a wooden box for months in a shivering ball? I would have given up after a day of cold.

Sweetman's Hive Spring 2011

I never really trust that it’s been a successful winter for my bees until I see them bringing in pollen.It means the queen has started laying again. They were flying in with both yellow (willow) and black (I have no idea what the hell that is) pollen yesterday and today. They really are amazing.

Beautiful atrium at the Peabody Essex Museum

It was a great day for a bike ride so I ventured over the Salem-Beverly bridge for a look at the new exhibit of the Dutch Golden Age. This museum is so amazingly beautiful and full of incredible artwork. It has several galleries and of course the Yin Yu Tang Chinese House.
I kind of rushed through the Dutch Golden Age exhibit because I went at the wrong time–somehow I ended up in the middle of a tour bus group from Cranky Acres Assisted Living…before lunch… Let’s just say it was a better day to ride my bike outdoors than mingle with hungry, peevish museum patrons who were also of a Golden Age.
Was it the warm weather or was I inspired by the artwork at the PEM to add a major acquisition to our vast collection of art, sculpture, bees and priceless bicycles? No, after nearly a year of running by this little fellow at a local antique shop then not seeing him after all the snow melted, I realized that I not only loved him, my life would never be the same unless he was sitting in our garden! He was moved to the back of the yard at the shop because he was almost stolen! The would-be thief was scared off by the automatic flood lights on the building–as well as the beefy Italian owner of the pizza place right next door who saw the lights flick on and ran outside to see investigate the hubbub.
I hauled him home today (no coincidence that my beloved is on a business trip to Germany and couldn’t possibly protest). There he sits, waiting for spring and getting pelted by a few wayward bees.

Little garden guy in his new home