There are signs of life even in winter....

Sunday afternoon I was out grocery shopping to get some needed supplies. On my way back home I stopped to take some photos. This was the first day in a while that we had some decent sunshine, including blue skies. There has been a lot of dull, rainy and overcast weather lately. This was a welcomed change and so was the temperature at 8 degrees Celsius. It'll be a bit on the cool side for the week but sunny. The warmer temperatures, and the rain, return by the end of the week but we'll take the sunshine while it's here.

So the above photo shows a condo building nearly complete. There is a pharmacy on the main level and room for other commercial/retail outlets. This building is on Hastings Street in the Heights in north Burnaby. There are a lot of new condo buildings going up in the Greater Vancouver area. I thought I would share this photo with you.

Finally, just before you think all goes lifeless here on B.C.'s lower mainland, below is a photo of heather in bloom (Erica), also on Hastings Street near the new condo building. Hope this cheers you up, especially those still deep in the throws of winter!

Tuesday Afternoon in Hawthorne Rotary Park

Although it was raining Wednesday in the lower mainland of British Columbia, tuesday was quite a different story. The clouds broke up enough in the afternoon to give us clear blue skies and sunshine. I decided to take advantage of the cooler but breezy weather and walk down to Hawthorne Rotary Park at the other end of my street. So many robins were seen that I didn't have enough fingers to count them. The above photo just shows us some of our friendly visitors. There were robins everywhere!

Then there was spring heather in full bloom where ever one looked as these two photos will attest.

The rhododendrons are in bloom also but many more plus azaleas are yet to follow. The photo below is just a teaser.

The squill are in flower as well. Such a beautiful shade of blue!

Below are just a few daffodils currently in bloom to brighten up an early spring day.

The hyacinths are in flower too. Hopefully spring will come where you live soon, if it hasn't come yet. Perhaps these photos will give you inspiration for things yet to come. Enjoy them!

Enjoy your Spring!!!

Hawthorne Park - Surrey - March 2007

view of a planting in Hawthorne Park

some spring heather (Erica) in bloom throught the gardens

some spring heather

summer heather (Calluna vulgaris) with some orange foliage

another view

No rain Monday and a chance to get outside to take advantage of the sunshine.

Scenes of Hawthorne Park - Surrey

These photos were taken Tuesday afternoon (February 27) at Hawthorne Park in north Surrey, BC. As you can see, the little bit of snow we had is melting. The day was partly sunny with some cloud. It was cool but warming up nicely. A pair of ducks was seen on one of the two ponds in the park (I think they are Hooded Mergansers but I'm not certain). The other pond was full of mallard ducks but a fallen tree did not make for a great view or photo. The first crocuses are coming up as you can see in the second image. The spring heather (Erica) is now in bloom as seen in the third photo. The last two images give you a better idea what part of the gardens at the park look like. As we get into spring, the azaleas and rhododendrons should come into flower making for a great show. There are enough of them to do just that.