Spring on Wolverine Lake: Flowers

April showers brought May flowers. The flowering trees in particular have been spectacular this spring after a couple of down years because of the harsh winters.

First on the scene, crocuses:

Quince blossoms:

Forsythia (soon to be the home of Myrtle Mallard and her nest):

Peach blossoms:

Flowering crabapple:

(Alas, the last Spring for our neighbor's flowering crabapple. It's going to have to come down to make room for their addition.)

Tulips:

Daffodils:

Crystal hummingbirds:

(Okay, you caught me. That one wasn't a flower.)

Something purple:

Cherry blossoms:

Apple blossoms:

Dogwood:

First, the initial blooming. Then...

And just now coming into their own, the greatest-smelling flower of all, lilacs:

Spring on Wolverine Lake: Waterfowl

Getting back to a bit more photoblogging with a batch of springtime photos from around our house.

Today we have a few migratory waterfowl photos. In addition to our usual summer guests -- mute swans, Canada geese, mallards, blue herons -- we had some fun visitors pass through on their way to locations farther north.

These are bufflehead ducks. They usually just pass through just after the ice lets out and just before the ice forms in the fall. I kinda wish we had a video clip of them because they're great fun to watch. They hang out in small, active groups and spend their time swimming about vigorously on the water, popping underwater to swim fairly long distances, and occasionally flying to a new spot to do it all again.

We also had a few less frequent visitors to our lake this year. A few loons passed by our dock. We don't usually see loons on our lake because they prefer quieter places. But every now and then a few will stop by to say howdy.

Also in waterfowl news around the house, a mallard has set up a nest under the forsythia bush by our garage. She began sitting the nest on May 10, so we expect to have a few ducklings walking by on their way to the lake in early June.

More on Myrtle Mallard later....

The Windsor-Detroit MG Club's 2016 Kimber Run

The Windsor-Detroit MG Club made it's annual pilgrimage to Holt, Michigan, today to join members of other MG clubs across the state for a celebration of the 128th birthday of Cecil Kimber, the founder of the MG Car Company Ltd. For the WDMGC the drive meanders across southern Michigan and serves as a lovely kickoff to the new year's driving season.

I have a bit of a sad history with the Kimber Run. I was out of town the first year I was a club member, and the second year the FUN MG never made it to the starting line, as its engine blew up the week in my first shakedown run of the Spring. Last year Monique, the FUN MG, and I made it to the starting line and we were halfway to Holt when our accelerator cable snapped, ending the day's driving for us.

So, we didn't get any Cecil Kimber birthday cake, but I did manage to take this lovely photo of the FUN MG stranded next to a farm field in the middle of nowhere, waiting for its Ride of Shame. This became the April photo on John & Monique's 2016 Calendar, so there was a silver lining in that debacle.

Would this be the year that I finally shook the curse?

I won't keep you in suspense. No.

An April cold snap and snowstorm engulfed Michigan this weekend. With a forecast of several inches of snow across the middle of the state, and salt spread far and wide to keep the roads passable, I decided that the FUN MG's mid-70s British steel didn't need any help rusting. And Monique took one look at the forecast and decided that she didn't need to get up early to drive around in the snow. The FUN MG stayed safe and sound in the garage. Monique stayed safe and sound in bed.

At least I kept my drive British and took Big Smokey -- our ridiculous Jaguar Vanden Plas Supercharged sedan -- for a rare ride through the snow. Fortunately for photography's sake, club members Sonny and Sher Straley weren't daunted by the weather and brought their '77 MGB along for the ride, so I had an MG to take pictures of as we drove from Novi to Holt for lunch, cake, and camaraderie.

Come along for the ride:

"Looks pretty good so far," you say. Here come the first few flurries:

I put an old MG trunk badge on the Jag's dashboard. Did I fool anybody into thinking it was an MG? Probably not.

This is what my view really looked like for this trip. Michigan and an MG as seen across the hood of a Jaguar.

The snow quickly grew thicker and the roads quickly grew sloppier.

We stopped mid-ride for a quick pit stop. Here's our intrepid fleet in full: one MGB, one BMW, one Jaguar, and one Chevy.

Windsor-Detroit MG Club Snowmobile Registry.

At last we arrived at the Delhi Cafe in Holt for lunch, cake, and cameraderie. As it turns out, only three drivers took their MGBs out for this year's snowy expedition: Guy St. John (white), Adam Gucfa (brown), and Sonny and Sher Straley in the green '77 that I followed to the party.

Kudos to all three for venturing forth into that mess in their MGs! They are braver souls than I.