A Lovely Surprise

I mentioned in an earlier post that we really haven't had much in the way of winter down here in the Midsouth this year. We never have much of a winter, compared to the winters I grew up with, but this has been an exceptionally mild one. Today felt particularly spring-like; the sun was out and the air felt a little "warmish." It was beautiful, and all the critters outside seemed to agree! The birds were chirping, frogs were singing, the bees were buzzing, and the feral cats in the woods....well, let's just say they seemed intent on making a few more feral cats!

The cats were making such a racket out there at one point that I decided to poke my head outside to make sure they weren't messing with Martin and Fred, our outdoor cats who are skittish and obliviously friendly, respectively. Marty was thrilled to have me outside with him. He was positively rumbling as he trotted along beside me while I went in search of the feral critters. (I never did find them, but they were quiet after that, so I assume they went in search of a little more privacy!)

On my way back from the woods, I paused to have a little peek at the garden. Mostly, I wanted to check up on my little daffodils that had budded-up right before the snow and freeze we had last week. (Incidentally, they made it through the freeze quite unscathed and look primed to "pop" any second.) What I hadn't noticed before were the fat buds on my reticulata irises. They caught my eye today when I saw this:

 Aren't they beautiful?! They are such quietly pretty little things -- a spectacular color in a small package -- and a lovely harbinger of spring. I think this was the Universe's way of telling me it is time to weed the garden! I have been quite surprised by how much "green stuff" has remained in the garden over the winter. I really thought my last fall weeding session would have been my last until March, perhaps. I could easily have weeded a few weeks ago, though! Crazy Southern winters. Well, I know what I'll be doing on my next (warm) day off -- can't wait to play in the dirt!