These are alder catkins and they are also indicators of spring, but not as cute as the pussy willows...
There it is - that's the bush!! I can't wait to go over there!!
Uh-oh... one tiny hiccup - a 2 foot deep ditch with flowing water... Hmmm... I suggested that Mama throw me across with the clippers. I could then harvest the pussy willows and... hmmm... how would I get back? Good question... I thought Mama could wade across the stream but... no go. Sigh.
A zoom-up with the camera showed that the pussy willows are already too old - they are getting their poofy bits with pollen - we waited too long!
Oh well... there are some leaves starting to come out - which is nice too.
And the ants were super busy...
I wonder if they have a honey stash down there?
Hey!! Another pussy willow bush/tree! But this one too is a bit far gone...
And it is surrounded by blackberry brambles which means it would be a painful adventure to pick them.Oh well... I guess I will have to make do without pussy willows this year. Do you have any yet where you are??
Not yet -- they are buried under a mountain of snow! And it is still snowing! I'm afraid I won't see a sign of spring until at least April. :-( Good thing I brought my snow pants to Quebec!
ReplyDeleteTrue, true... but you have ice hotels!!
DeleteIce hotels? Are those hotels made out of ICE CREAM??
DeleteI wish!! No... you can sleep in a real ice hotel (sort of like an igloo except... more). Mama's pal is taking a year off to learn francais! 5 months in Quebec and 7 months in France. I am learning all sorts of stuff about la belle province (she has a blog...)!
DeleteMaybe instead of pussy willows you could hunt some other spring flowers like daffodils? Be careful of those ants they can be very sneaky. They always try to sneak into our house every Spring.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you can trick (ugh, I mean encourage) your mother into taking you out on more hikes if you tell her you heard a rumor about pussy willows being at ----- (insert hike name you want to take). Might get out on a few more walks.
Oh, I could do that... I saw some daffodils the other day. Ants are beary tricky! Mama wanted me to stand in front of the ant hill but... then I'd have had ants in my pants!
DeleteI will... er... encourage... Mama to take me on more hikes. I hear that there are pussy willows up on the mountain because spring comes later there! Uh-huh... yes it does... so they wouldn't be as far gone!
Another great Sandy Sherlock adventure, but we're sorry you didn't find any pussy willows. We love them too! There are so happy and so wonderful for spring. We still have snow though...some little bears are beary tired of the snow...we think you can guess who.
ReplyDeleteThanks guys. Pussy willows are sooo cute... but none this year. Sigh. I imagine a certain gardener bear is beary tired of the snow... and a certain chef bear is baking up a storm to keep gardener bear distracted!
ReplyDeleteAnd how! Jerry often looks outside, then just grumbles. Luckily, however, most of the snow is gone and the temperatures are getting warmer.
DeleteDefinitely warmer... although we had 90 km/h winds today... ummmm... 55 mph... that made it a tad chilly! And blew everything helter-skelter.
DeleteHave to tell you Sandy, you're looking pretty spiffy in that bomber jacket.
ReplyDeleteScruffy seems to think one of those would fit him just fine. I told our local aviator bear to watch for a possible jacket poaching.
Oh, I know... I am definitely the poster bear for bomber jackets! I'll keep my eye out for another one but they are beary scarce - I've only ever seen one mysefl. But you never know...
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