Spring Has Sprung

 Inside

I brought some wild plum branches inside, intending to use them for my Easter tree. They bloomed! So, since they will be done by Easter, I am putting some decorations on them now. 

Snow!

 More Snow

Did I mention snow? 

Last night we got a fluffy white blanket over everything. This is what it looked like at 6:30 a.m.

By the time we got back from church and all associated with that this evening, the roads were clear, and the trees had dropped their blankets. The ground is still covered though. 

On our walk this afternoon, we saw this cluster of Christrose (Hellebores) in a wild area along a woods. 

Spring Sprouts

 From the Kitchen

It is snowing today! Heavily. So no thoughts of garden. Instead we harvested some sprouts we grew inside and had some wild Bärlauch to top our salads. That will do for now until winter is really gone. 

Next up: the Garden show in Zürich. 

Bärlauch Season

 First of the Year

It’s too early at our house, but a bit lower at altitude the Bärlauch is out. I think Americans call it wild garlic. It is a spring tonic. Just don’t use the similar-looking Lily-of-the-Valley leaves or the autumn crocus leaves, both of which will kill you. 

Bärlauch will be found here in stores and restaurants in sausages and marinades and breads and sauces, and lots of other things for about a month. We pick our own, and put it in or on almost everything. 

Early Spring Blooms

 Before Spring Even Arrives

It isn’t officially here, but our first Spring flowers are up and open. Crocuses and snowdrops come first.

The cyclamen have been blooming in the greenhouse most of the winter, so now they are finishing their bloom in the sunshine. Three colors.

Primulas (primroses) pop up in everybody’s lawns in the spring. 

Our Singrüeni (vinca minor) is happy in the sunshine on the slopes.

Tiny little blooms are peeking from otherwise-still-bare flower beds.

Except in a few spots, which are showing their colors.

With more to come in time for Easter - maybe. 

Or before.

The Countryside

 Driving

We went driving to find a little town with a woodworking shop - for reasons. We went the scenic route, literally. The skies were clear, so the mountains were very visible. 

(Sorry about pictures through the windshield, but one does not stop on these roads - in facts, one hopes mightily that cars stay on their side, and motorcyclists don’t try to pass, and you won’t meet a big Post Bus on one of the switchback curves.)

Sometimes the mountains were obscured by trees on the steep hillsides. There are no guardrails - I was informed it is better to go properly straight off the cliff into the stream below - if one is set on leaving the road by going too fast or slipping or falling asleep - rather than hitting a guardrail and being flipped upside down into the stream dozens of feet below. Indeed. 

And then the town - 

Note Easter tree

Note the jolly Buddha

Note the angled windows

This was one of the things we came away with (not what we went for). It was carved by an old man in Tirol, who had no successor for his craft, so no more of these will be made. It is a small rare Baroque Holy Family from one block of wood. Note the tiny cherubs, the owl, the lantern, and the tree - not things one sees in typical Holy Family groupings. 

Going out of town, a different way, we saw this fortress above vineyards. 

‘Twas a nice day for a scenic drive - and we survived. 

Happy March

 Looking Like Spring 

Inside, the first Sunday in Lent. 

Outside, flowers blooming in the little German town of Wangen. 

Fasnacht

 Parades

Before Lent in Europe, there are various festivals as a last party before the solemnities (or what used to be solemnities) of the pre-Easter season. Here it is called Fasnacht. People dress in outlandish costumes, play carefully off-key music, and throw things. Like candy. And colored confetti. 

This is what one finds in one’s driveway and yard along parade routes. 

You will still see it months from now. 

And, on another note, how is this for winterizing? 

Doubles

 Amaryllis 

Yes, they look like the others, but two sets of blooms on one bulb is remarkable. 

A February full of flowers!

And these are blooming more, as we got another big snowfall. 

Tiny Daffodils

 From the Greenhouse

These have been calling for spring. They started pushing out new growth after the deep cold. They are re-blooms in their little bird bowl. I brought them into my kitchen to enjoy the tiny flowers.