Gifts of all Kinds

In early March Maggee over at Stitching Devotee had a give-away.

It was for this cute little hand made snow angel bead.

I won!  And I am so pleased.

Now here's where the 'small world' factor comes into play.

The snow angel was made by Melanie of the fabulous Moonraker Beads.  Melanie has a blog - Moonraker Lampwerks.  She offered to give away the three part Lizzie Kate Halloween Mystery Sampler.

  

And I won that as well!  Wow - I am continually amazed at the generousity of the cross stitch blogging community.  Thank you so much Maggee and Melanie.  

The rain is to return tomorrow.  Today's sunny dry day is a gift as well.  Let's take advantage of it and go for a walk.

It's April and everything is in bud.

This is an evergreen blackberry - I love the color of the old leaves.

The first sign of Common Horsetails (Equisetum arvense). 

This is some kind of Forget-me-not relative and will bloom within the month.

Another horsetail!  These are Scouring Rush Horsetails (Equisetum hyemale).  It does not produce flowers or seeds, but has spores and rhizomes instead.

I think this might be a Lady Fern (Athyrium filix-femina).  It was growing along side a rivulet.

Near the house we have a wild Lamb's Tongue (or Trout Lily) growing.  It is a large specimen, but as you can see, the deer have already nipped at it.  So we've protected it with a cage.  I think the bloom stalk may have multiple blossoms - we shall see.

And oh, the many pretty shades of green as the deciduous trees and shrubs erupt with new foliage.

I'm still loving my Grand Hound's Tongue.

Amazingly the wild Iris (Iris tenax) have begun to bloom.  I can't remember a time that they were this early.

With four days (Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday) of unseasonably warm weather, the blossoms of the Big Leaf Maples have dropped and opened.  That is wonderful news for many pollinators including bees and hummingbirds.  Many other birds and animals also feed on the blooms including the Evening Grosbeaks.

Well that concludes our Early April Walk.  I hope you enjoyed seeing the first big wave of Spring's verdant rebirth.