Funny how a few weeks can pass, and the seasons can change. On the 28th we visited friends who were celebrating the Jewish holiday of Tu B' Shevat which is a celebration of trees and a kind of nod to the return of spring. It was hard to pipcture that with a nfoot of snow on the ground, but sure enough the weather has been steadliy warming. The bulbs are coming up, most of them bitten off as they poke through the ground by eager deer. The flocks of siskins and chickadees that descended upon us have found nfood elsewhere and we only get a steady stream, not the full on invasions of the colder weather. We've even had a hummingbird, which we supported with a feeder, as it showed pluck in trying to feed on a couple of ever flowering snapdragons.



No snow around here any more, and the snow line on the mountains has risen to about 1400 metres, which keeps the ski hill at Cypress going, but keeps it dry down here.