Come on spring...

Or (orton) This?
Originally uploaded by mightyquinninwky©™

Keep your eye to the ground and look for the little yellow and purple flowers called crocuses॥they are the true heralds of spring॥so ready for spring to bloom!!! This year is the first year I can say I have had enough winter weather. I think the back to back weeks with ice storms has really soured me toward winter this year. but I am sure after the long summer I will be ready for winter then. But for right now bring on the spring flowers and new growth to renew my senses, body, and mind (and spirit as well, the most important actually)!!

Ready For Spring.....

Ready For Spring.....
Originally uploaded by mightyquinninwky©™

With February going out like a lion, winter trying to hold on.. I can truly say I am ready for spring to spring. This last winterly mix of weather has really worn me out. I love snow, but ice..ice(freezing rain and sleet that is) is an inconvenience that I can live without. Snow makes everything look new and clean, but ice makes it impossible to move around at all, and gives me instant cabin fever. I have gotten my ice and snow shots so I am more than ready to see the brightly coloured flowers and the beautiful green of spring... It can't come soon enough!!

Ohio River Bottoms In Bloom

I went down to the Ohio river near Uniontown, Kentucky a couple of days ago and found some interesting things..
The first thing I came by was a collection of geese and ducks summering in the flood waters near the boat ramp. Its fun to watch them cross the road and all of them keeping the little ones in line. The thing that amazed me were the amount of wild flowers in bloom in the Ohio river bottoms right now!! I first came across a Wild Potato Vine....this plant have heart shaped leaves and trumpet shaped blooms that are white with a small amount of purple. This plant is also called bindweed because it can choke out anything around it...small bushes, trees, and ground plants. The wildest thing is the tubers of this plant have been known to get up to thirty pounds and are edible, but bland (I don't know this myself...just looked it up!!). What really surprised me was the amount of black-eyed susans in the open fields..they were everywhere and IMHO very beautiful! But the flower that blew me away was the coneflower or the Echinacea purpurea. Absolutely gorgeous this time of year! While I was photographing this flower I see some blue streaks out the corner of my eye....I look over and I see an indigo bunting hanging out in the tall grass...A beautiful site!! This is what makes this area so special...all the natural beauty..

Here's some beauty....

Just so you know that I am not all about the negative...here's some beauty I recently found in my backyard and on the side of the road...The first shot is a picture of wild Chicory growing on the side of State Route 359...the coffee substitute and relative to endive that you find in your mixed green salad...Then there's the wildflower Queen Anne's Lace or Wild Carrot...yes the root is edible and the common carrot comes from this plant..also the seeds are used as herbal birth control....then you have my backyard..a bee hard at work and a butterfly working on some thistle in an open field...
Here's a link to get more info on the common chicory...
http://flickr.com/photos/mightyquinninlex/633967713/
and more info on Queen Anne's Lace/Wild Carrot...
http://flickr.com/photos/mightyquinninlex/633968181/
Have a great Friday!!!