Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Welcome February


I enjoy changing the pages of my calendar, and especially so when I can welcome February and say good-bye to our longest, coldest month. :-) On my daily walk a few days ago, I captured a few scenes from the neighborhood to commemorate this new month, in which we begin to see and sense the beginnings of Spring!




I've often photographed this barn in our neighborhood, but today my eye was drawn to the barn door and the darkness of the opening beside it, as seen from behind the horizontal lines of the corral fence. There's still some snow on the ground, as well as a little clinging to the wooden shingles of the roof. I love how the yellowish green moss on the bottom rail of the fence gives a little color to the otherwise neutral tones of this scene.





This horse,who is being pastured on our neighbor's property, was friendly enough to come up to the fence and greet me. Her name is Kiola, and she is a beautiful animal... from the pretty white star on her forehead and dark mane, to the subtle coloring of her face, which grows progressively paler towards the area of her nose and mouth.





Grazing in the pasture...where the snow is nearly melted, and patches of green are becoming visible amidst the brown.



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"February is merely as long as is needed to pass the time until March."

- Dr. J. R. Stockton


10 comments:

Corner Gardener Sue said...

I like this post and poem. You sound so expectant of spring's imminent arrival. That's a nice looking horse. I especially like the first pic.

Anonymous said...

I like the poem too. Since we can't skirt right over to March, we'll suffice with February for a few more weeks.

Nice barn and horse photos too.

joey said...

Happy February, Connie ~ love your photogenic barn photo and overhead of your greenhouse!

Catherine said...

The pics are great, I love that moss too. But the poem leaves me cold because so many wonderful things happen in February like the birthdays of VERY important people like Presidents Washington and Lincoln along with my son, granddaughter and ME! We don't want to swish this month away at all. Plus it is another opportunity to watch a couple of delightful love story movies like African Queen or Mrs. Brown in celebration of Valentines Day. And what about making that heart-shaped meat loaf for your DH on the 14th, just before the movie?????

Connie said...

Cat - As with all quotes, this one is subject to personal interpretation. My interpretation (as a gardener): February is a SHORT month. It comes between January (which can be long and cold) and March, when Spring arrives, so...

"February is a SHORT waiting time, until I can garden again."

Note that the quote says "pass" the time, not skip it. I firmly believe that every day that God gives me is a gift, to be lived to the fullest measure!
BTW, I have 3 sisters born in February, my DEAR Granddaughter, and 3 Dear friends. (One of which is YOU!)
I haven't seen either of those movies, will have to check them out. I always made heart shaped pizza on Valentine's day when the kids where young. Maybe I will renew that tradition this year...thanks for the reminder!

Catherine said...

Perhaps I was responding more to the comments than the quote. My b'day is the 27, my son's the 28th, my g-daughter's the 29th! Happy Valentine's!

Chris said...

Looks like a lovely walk. Nice photos!

Jan said...

Hi Connie,
Your photos are lovely, I really like the one with the horse out to pasture; it looks like a picture. My daughter is an equestrian and rides with her college team now...she has riden since about age 8.
I love moss...there have been several blogs that have discussed moss lately. It does add a touch of whimsy to rocks, fences, etc.

O.I.M said...

hi connie. your optimistic approach to february is inspiring. it IS a short month! Once the last day of February has arrived I can't help but feel that the winter is over (even though realistically there could still be weeks and weeks of cold weather ahead.) you are so lucky to have melting snow. We are still buried but the temperature is supposed to soar this weekend and bring lots of rain. I can't wait.
irena

Kathi said...

I wish our snow was mostly melted. I am so sick of winter and like you can't wait for March and spring. This winter was especially brutal and I am so ready for it to be over.