When oh when?

When I wake up to frigid temperatures of -32C, and work outside all day in it, it's hard to believe that spring will ever arrive. The green of grass and leaves and the brilliant colours of the flowers in my planters are a distant memory, almost a dream. But hope carries me along just like this strawflower that bravely remains standing through the snow burying the planter it grew in. Hope that I will soon see the friendly faces of the pansies poking up alongside the house, that the birds of spring will be winging their way back any day now, that the horses will be all shed out , slick and shiny, and a frolicking foal dancing around his mama; hope that I'll soon be enjoying the sunshine reflecting on water instead of ice. Hope that riding through the fields will bring sight of beautiful wildflowers like these ones from last year:

Ah yes, hope springs eternal.