Winter came with a January snowstorm. Heavy snow blanketed the ground and the near-zero temperatures cast many diamonds on the snow. But Winter was mild, and March brought record warm temperatures. Unfortunately, April brought Winter back and devastated Michigan fruit crops.

The sunset on the right was taken Jan. 5, 2012. The photo below that shows a frosty morning in February. The snow was gone, but not the cold.

While we appreciated the mild Winter and would like a repeat, we hope that this year, Winter will leave in a timely manner and stay away until it is time for it to return late in the year.

March Snowdrops

We had great plans for this year. We wanted to repair the ruts in the back yard made by the heavy equiipment brought in last year to help put on our new roof and siding. We'd then have the yard re-seeded . That was phase 1. Phase 2 would be to replace the driveway and sidewalk, which were both quite broken up. Phase 3 would be to finish the landscaping around the greenhouse.

Things didn't quite happen that way. Though we did do the lawn repair and seeding, the other goals will have to wait until next year.

Lee took great pains to keep the newly seeded lawn moist so that would make the grass grow. But the weather turned hot and, although the grass seed sprouted, so did a heavy cover of crab grass. The lawn guys said the seed was probably in the dirt they first put in place.