Spring is springing
These are my daffodils. I have daffodils that bloom early, then mid-spring, then at the end of spring. Because this spring is early and warm, they are all confused and the early and mid-bloomers are blooming together. There aren't as many blossoms as usual, but these are two of my favorites, the close-ups. The bed is one of my beds, usually chock-full of blossoms. I was taking a picture of another bed and Tess ran to the grass just above it and squatted to pee while I was taking the picture. Although the picture shows off the booms nicely, it has a brown dog squatting to pee featured prominently in the middle of the picture. She's looking defiantly into the camera, which is funny when you consider how she hides from the camera when we're indoors.

The black flies came out yesterday. This is way early and either means that June will be a banner month or that we'll have two months of awful bugness. Black flies are small flying insects that bite, sucking your blood as they do. They swarm around your head and make it nearly impossible to be outdoors.

Black flies, commonly called buffalo or turkey gnats, are pests of man and animals. They are small dark flies that fly about the face, enter the eyes and ears and cause a burning sensation as they attempt to obtain a blood meal. Most species are 2 to 3 mm (1/8'') long; a few species reach lengths of 4 to 5 mm.

Adult black flies are distinguished from other similar black flies by having 9, 10, or 11 segments to their antennas (most species have 11) and no simple eyes (ocelli). The second body region (thorax) is strongly convex, giving a humped appearance. Only the female black fly bites. Male mouth- parts, adapted for plant feeding, cannot penetrate the skin of humans or animals.

And wasn't it just yesterday I was asking where all the women in my neighborhood were? Well, welcome, ladies, welcome!