of the three crocus photos above, the middle one is actually straight from the camera. the other two i had to tweak quite a bit. year by year they are starting to grow on me. we have some doubled snowdrops in bloom, too, and also coltsfoot in the ditch by the road. the ground is still mostly frozen, though and the latest snow is still lingering in the shade. but it feelslike we are finally on the cusp of warmer weather.
it's a different story where the sun hits the ground. i saw my first butterfly today. this year it's a rarer one, as i'm pretty sure this was the scarce tortoiseshell (nymphalis xanthomelas) or the 'great nettle butterfly' as we call them in finland (isonokkosperhonen). i think it's a promising omen.
here's another kind of pine away... the last three trees have been cut down in the back yard this week but i'm expecting to wake up way too early tomorrow as well, since there's still a lot of chainsawing to do and when better to do it than at half past eight in the morning...
