It's not unusual for us to have a January thaw. A lot of years, in January, we will have a string of days when the temperatures go a little above zero and any accumulated snow begins to melt and we all leave the scarves at home and go around with our coats open. Then, winter reasserts itself, the puddles that the thaw left, here and there, turn back to ice, we get another dusting of snow and we all return to winter, as usual.

This year though the thaw has been more extreme than usual. The temperature was the highest on record for the date and the warmth was accompanied by two days of relentless rain. The back yard is a sea of water and mud, and every branch and leaf is dripping.  All I can do is hope that it doesn't do my favourite plants too much damage when the inevitable sub zero temps return, and the soil once again freezes up like rock...that and pull out my macro...if you can't beat the rain and wet you may as well take pictures of it.