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The warm weather this week almost melted all the snow that slides off the roof into a compacted pile. These crocuses are up next to the foundation of the house. When we move to the new house I want to plant crocuses next to the foundation where they'll warm up faster and bloom first.
Last spring, my husband and I went down to explore the main channel of the creek in the marsh behind our house. It's easier to get to it in spring before all the grasses, reeds, and thorns grow up. While looking in the creek, we saw pieces of pottery along the sandy bottom. Since we live in an area that's been inhabited for the last 160 years, its likely that previous occupants gave their broken dishes a strong toss into the swamp. It was too chilly to venture into the water and the water was a good two feet deeps, so we decided to return in warmer summer weather to see what we could fish out.
One hot summer day, we decided to go investigate again. To our disappointment, the clear spring creek waters were now green with algae and plant life. There was no way we were seeing the bottom, nor venturing into the water.
This spring we returned to see what we could see. A piece caught our eye that looked like it was supposed to be a fake log with leaves on it. We attempted to retrieve some objects with large sticks, but breaking the surface of the water was just too hard.
This past weekend after raking off the flower bed, we returned with a long-handled metal rake and the snow shovel. We found the edge of the channel still frozen, but the water was running, high at almost three feet. We had fun retrieving a variety of objects, and here are the most interesting pieces of the bunch.
The 'log vase' ; white pottery stamped from England; thick brownstone painted with a blue design; a pair of fluted saucers; a piece brown pottery with corn design, the bottom of a light blue bottle and the remains of a dark green bottle.
We found more heavy brownstone wear and simple white stoneware as well.
Amazingly this canning lid was whole. Its similar to the ones I use on the top of my wire clamp jars which I use for storing dry goods. The top reads "A.C. SMALLEY & Co. Boston & New York."
The base of the green bottle reads "Saratoga, NY."
The blue color stood out on the bottom of the sandy creek and we were surprised to find it was another piece of glass.
Now we just need to decide what to do with our finds.
The warm weather and some strategic shoveling vanquished the snow bank next to the house. We found these crocuses under the pile this week, reminding us that green things will return soon.
Also our shoveling last weekend payed off, as we now have almost completely clear beds and the soil is starting to thaw. Earlier in the week I couldn't even extract the frozen plant labels, but now I was able to pull out a few. I'm sure it is still frozen a few inches down.
We discovered a carrot or two that survived the winter as well. I doubt there is much of a root, but we'll see if they will take off this spring.
Soon I'll have to get outside and rid the garden of last year's remains, as well as pick off all the rocks that rose to the surface in the course of the freezing and thawing this winter.
Johnny Jump Ups 
Yellow Spurge 
Violets (Purple also) 
Lily of the Valley 
Narcissus 
Winterbor Kale, overwintered. 
Ornamental Allium
A few apple and cherry blossoms are still out as well. The sweet cicely is blooming as well but I didn't get a photo of it. And I recently planted pansies to liven up the front porch.
and 4/18 after the rain,
and on 4/28 in full bloom.
I hope we get lots of quince fruit this year. Quince jelly was the biggest hit of last year's canning season and we'd like to make more this fall.
The buds on the flowering quince bush.
A leaf of a daffodil.
The leaf buds on the rose bush.
And another sedum.
And a few signs of things to come:
Pussy Willow
Lilac Buds
Siberian Squill
And signs of spring in the garden:
Chives sprouting
This is growing in the marsh with wonderful reddish brown bark. I'm not sure what it is. The plants had interesting dried flower or seed pods at the end of some of the shorter stalks.
An unknown in the front flower bed. I was struck by how beautiful the red shoots were against the brown leaves.
My freckles lettuce is getting its second set of leaves.
The spinach has it's first set of true leaves.
Here are the seedlings I started for my mom on Sunday.
Out in the garden, the soil has thawed down 4 to 6 inches. Some of the garlic is just beginning to sprout out of the ground. Matt helped me dig up the brussels sprout stalks and we cleared out those that survived the winter because they were looking pretty sad after the cold nights we've had since the snow melted. I was tempted to transplant the kale into the garden, however the forecast for the next week is mostly rain. I wasn't expecting to transplant anything out until mid-April so I'll wait until then.
The 'log vase' ; white pottery stamped from England; thick brownstone painted with a blue design; a pair of fluted saucers; a piece brown pottery with corn design, the bottom of a light blue bottle and the remains of a dark green bottle.
The base of the green bottle reads "Saratoga, NY."
The blue color stood out on the bottom of the sandy creek and we were surprised to find it was another piece of glass.
Now we just need to decide what to do with our finds.
I love seeing crocuses peaking up through the ground. They're the first flower to appear and a sure sign of spring. Growing up in Maryland, I remember these would appear in February. Here in New England, we're a month behind. These beauties opened up to show their deep yellow pollen contrasting the light purple petals in the warmth of the mid-day sun.
The arugula and freckles lettuce started on 3/14 has all sprouted. The freckles lettuce has two colors even on the seed leaves.
My spinach seeds were also seeded on 3/14. The seeds date to 2004 yet they germinated very well. 
I also seeded six cilantro on 3/14 but so far only one has sprouted. The seed package says they take 7-14 days to sprout so I'll give the other five another week before I re-seed.
We discovered a carrot or two that survived the winter as well. I doubt there is much of a root, but we'll see if they will take off this spring.
Soon I'll have to get outside and rid the garden of last year's remains, as well as pick off all the rocks that rose to the surface in the course of the freezing and thawing this winter.
