It's Early Spring!

Dateline: Cattaraugus County, Western New York State

  So last weekend it was goodbye to Florida and a whole month later than usual, we set off for the (semi) frozen north.  No relaxed and prolonged road trip this time but a two day marathon, just getting from A to B as fast and with as few stops as possible in a rented minivan piled high with sandwiches and bottles of bleach. We had one night in a hotel, "Don't touch the lift buttons whatever you do!" "Well how are we supposed to get to our room then?" and other snippets of topical conversation. Although our drive turned out to be remarkably trouble free with sunshine most of the way . We did have some laughs - the sign that said "Welcome to North Carolina" and another straight after it, "Stay Home!" And the dad at the rest area struggling to put a mask on a reluctant two-year-old. What times we live in!
 And here in Cattaraugus County it's early spring revisited.

Yes the daffs are still going strong. (They tell me it was snowing here last week). And the apple tree that got split in half is still refusing to give up.

Can we bottle that scent? Hubby asked.

 But, I ask, why does the creeping phlox refuse to grow in the flower beds and instead goes awol in the grass?

We had a bit of a shock when we got to the entrance to our drive.

The hole, evidently washed out by snow and rain, wasn't as wide as it was when it happened before, a few years ago, but enough for the tow truck come to fix hubby's car battery to get stuck. Luckily someone was on hand with a tractor. Or they would have needed another tow truck. Which would also have got stuck. Etc.
  Meanwhile we have some new squatters. Robins, judging by the turquoise eggs. These, of course, are giant, imperious American robins that flock together, unlike the sweet little British ones. Funny that both have red breasts and blue eggs though.

 Right on top of the motion detector lights over the garage doors. I fear that, now we're back, the door opening and shutting might be too much for their nerves. They thought they'd moved into a quiet neighbourhood. I know how they feel, with all those lawnmowers. But they went to  a lot of trouble with the nest, a veritable Mcmansion. The top part is stylish smooth mud, like pottery. Even the birds have been watching all those home renovation TV programmes. We wondered why the lights kept going on and off.