Did You Know?

I've been away on retreat contemplating emptiness and spaciousness. It is amazing a) that our minds are so chaotic and "busy" and 2) that they can calm down to stillness.

Ahhhhh. Or should I say, Om.

In the meantime, I received this YouTube video detailing some jaw-dropping statistics on our changing world.

Bird Highway

The weather may be hard to read, but the birds aren't confused. The jays are building nests. The chickadees are chasing each other with renewed fervor.

I spied a Downy Woodpecker who took great interest in my suet cube. It's not much bigger than a sparrow. (web photo)


I believe that's a Lesser Goldfinch on the bottom.


This beautiful Rufus Hummingbird has started coming by every afternoon around 4PM. He's quite punctual.




And perhaps my most unusual visitor was the yellow variant of the House Finch. (web photo) The best photo can be seen here.

Daffodil Time

Springtime is here and it's "stormy weather". A gray, wet day can break open to sparkling sunshine without much notice. But don't count on it to stay that way.

I grabbed a sunny walk late yesterday afternoon. I chose a new neighborhood that overlooked the Columbia river. I like this view of the dappled shadows on the water.


The cherries are out in full force. Again, clear skies frequently come on the breeze making it hard to look up into a tree that isn't moving!


The yellow of daffodils is off the charts. Like ducks in rain, they thrive in this cool, wet weather.


My front door camellia is coming on strong. The blooms have more color and vigor.

March Madness

This weed is amazing! It's kept me bent double weeding for the past several days. I couldn't find it in any of the local weed indexes, but finally identified it as Little Bittercress (Cardamine Oligosperma).


It's a member of the Brassicaceae family which includes mustards and cruciferous vegetables (your broccoli family). The Genus is Cardamine.

It has a fabulous quantity of roots when in loose soil and seems to flourish in any environment. The poorer the soil, the sooner it sets bloom. When the seeds mature they spray explosively at the lightest touch. They are generally easy to pull up.

I am so ready for spring. My lettuce seedlings need to be transplanted, but the weather is still quite volatile so they're going to have to wait a little longer.


We got rain for the next three days.

Fort Vancouver Walk

Last Thursday was a sunny day, perfect for an afternoon walk. Fort Vancouver affords tranquil alleys with little traffic.


For some reason, I found this row of utility vans intriguing. That's the I-5 bridge in the background.


Mt. Hood is at its best in the late afternoon light. Since Vancouver is west and north of the mountain, it's in shade much of the day.


That's the tip of Mt. Jefferson poking above the distant Cascades with Portland's Mt. Tabor in the foreground.


I love this copse of trees lit up in the afternoon light.


I came across the first cherry blossoms of the season. There was a brisk breeze so I wasn't able to get any detail as everything was swaying and wiggling.


I love this walk. It's a pleasant way to get in 4 miles and discover little neighborhoods tucked away off the beaten path.

I'm not sure if this is Mt. Rainier, but the amount of snow and its alignment make it a strong candidate. It's the smaller mound to the left of Mt. St. Helens.

Blooms and Sprouts

On days like today, you think spring is here already. But it's fleeting. Storms are predicted for the weekend. This camellia is very reliable. Come March, it's blooming. I think it's suffered a little from this dry winter though.


The crocus close at night. This morning these were wide open.


To my great surprise, my Parrotia Persica is blooming! I had no idea. This is the first I've noticed. Turns out it's a relative of the Witch Hazels.


This tree tends to keep some of its leaves, so the blossoms aren't quite as showy as they otherwise might be.


The day lilies and iris are up and seem to radiate great joie de vivre. And who wouldn't in this glorious sunshine?

Hachooo!

We're having a little cold snap here --- in more ways than one. For the past two days we've had intermittent SNOW and hail flurries. It's not even that cold, but it was snowing!

And I'm sniffling ....


Yes, those are PC handkerchiefs I ordered on the web from Lartisana. Decided I was denuding the planet with my Kleenex usage and switched to cotton a few months ago. They're getting a work out.

Meanwhile the trees are noticeably "pinking". I was surprised to see that even my backyard maple is budding up.


Throughout the yard anything that can send up shoots or sprouts is doing so. If I were feeling better, I'd provide more examples -- just trust me on this.

Winter Color!

Today's been one of those on again off again days. One minute dazzling sunshine, the next black clouds and a brief squall --- very emotional weather!


But color's in the garden. My little Witch Hazel twig has provided a lovely shower of yellow for the past month. This display should be much more spectacular when this tree/shrub gains some size.


The crocus bulbs are blooming. They too are new and small. Crocus tend to naturalize and multiply over time.


I only planted about half of the mixed pack of 100. Either I chose the yellow and white bulbs, or there weren't many of the purple. No matter. Yellow and white is fine by me.