Sunday started like this:

And the mountains looked like this:

Returning from the afternoon walk, I laughed in surprise to see…

Lupins! Small, just getting going, but I love them. They will eventually nearly cover the ground on part of our mountain loop path. And after a rain, they hold drops of water in their center and around their leaves looking like they are home to millions of diamonds. From last year: Raindrops on Lupins

And in the corner of the old garden, the first of the rhubarb made an appearance. Three weeks and a rhubarb coffee cake might be in the making!

But, Monday morning….

My day fell apart work-wise, actually internet service provider-wise and I missed getting any photos of the snow in full light. It snowed off and on until mid-afternoon, but the temperature never hit freezing so the accumulation stayed at the one inch mark and by late afternoon was mostly gone, dripping off the roof like it was raining. It was sunny and pleasant for an hour or so and then the wind picked up, clouds increased and by our evening walk the next front in our “late winter storm” was upon us.

This morning:

Winter until Friday…Spring interruptus.

There is nothing wrong with my camera. That white stuff blurring the trees, it is snow. There were a few flurries late morning. That is not unusual and rain/snow mix was forecast with the cold front that dropped down from Canada this morning. But the wind picked up, the snow picked up and it came down fairly heavy. The wind was so loud in the trees that Karl would not go outside. I opened the door, he laid his ears back and refused to budge.

Just for the record, this morning was the first day that all the snow was gone from the front yard…

One of my lilac bushes. The white blotches are spider’s webs that today, caught snow. There were ground webs in the woods catching snow as well. I’ve never seen that before and we are prone to the occasional flurry in April, May and last year as late as June 10. June snow is a bit rare – last year was the second time since I moved here in 1994. It almost always snows, at least in the mountains, on Memorial Day weekend. But, this time of year, except for the possible damage to new plants and eventually the cherries, I don’t mind the occasional “winter” day knowing it will be short-lived and we’ll get back to spring.

It was a good day to fire up the woodstove and enjoy a day of crackling warmth. I need to get the front porch wood carrier empty so I can prep and paint…someday.

The sun is back out, it is still much colder than it has been, but is nearly 40 at 5:30 p.m. If the weather people are right, the worst of the snow will be in southwest Montana, the high elevation areas: Bozeman, Butte, Anaconda – along the Continental Divide. We are to be cold, mostly cloudy and hopefully at least a bit of rain until late next week and cooler than normal through the first week of May.

Our premature summer is over and we are back to Montana Spring.