Mother's Day 2021

Here, he could exist; "but mere existence is not enough," he sighed; "to live, one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower!" ~ Hans Christian Andersen.

Above is one of a trio of tulips that has been blooming since Mid April! They are the only ones of this color in the yard. 

These tulips are under choke cherry trees and looked spindly this spring. Lovely blooms on not very sturdy tall stems. 

We had meals with Dorothy two Sunday's in a row. The first Sunday we went to the newly reopened Long Branch. Grandpa always wanted to play card games before the meal arrived and the tradition has carried on. Jon chose to play a game called 'Golf'. Except Dorothy didn't remember it the way the guys did. Dorothy won the first game, because she accidentally played twice in a row. Even though they were playing with 8 cards and the sister's don't do that. She said they played it all the time and when Steve asked her who taught her, she said, 'Grandpa.' Who also taught the guys!! Later, Dorothy was a bit annoyed at the way Jon was playing. She said, "We don't play like ordinary people, we like to let everyone see if they can make a match." Steve responded with, 'You would't want to win or anything...." She also said, "I'm glad you two don't play with us!" 

After lunch, an elderly lady with a cane walked up to Dorothy. The lady had on a mask and said happily, 'I thought I recognized you! But, I don't remember your name.' After a bit of chit chat, the woman walked off and we asked Dorothy who she was. Dorothy replied, 'I recognize her, but I don't remember her name!' 

The next Sunday, we invited Dorothy down for dinner on Mother's Day. While we were still getting things sorted, Jon showed off some of his photos from up on the Ranch (see previous post). He and Steve also brought in a pair of kits for her to meet. These are Maude's, they are about 11 or 12 days old here. 

After dinner, we took pictures. Always a good idea. :o) Besides, we needed to move after our meal of shrimp skewers, grilled chicken, and various salads! 

We saved dessert to eat with a game of Triominos. Chocolate cake with perfectly chocolate chocolate frosting and ice cream. The game was a bit annoying, thankfully the mom's were ahead by the time we opted to end the rounds. Dorothy was sent home with a few leftovers and when Jon got back he realised he forgot to give us surprises! Grandma's bird feeder is still on a side table. 

On Monday, I got more surprises! 7 painted lady caterpillars. The kit is supposed to have 5, but I'll enjoy the 7. At least 2 are guaranteed to turn into butterflies. Unfortunately, I didn't realise they were supposed to be kept at a room temp of 68 or more, so the not so little guys (after a couple of days!!) are upstairs where it is a bit warmer. Jon watched them for quite a while, when they were still downstairs getting acclimated to being in a container not surrounded by packing material in a small box! Hoping we can witness changes. Jon doesn't remember this from Kindergarten. I do!!! 

A holiday weekend of winter

 Dear Polar Vortex, thank  you so much for the snow you have dropped on Eastern OR. Not everyone is as thrilled as they might be. However, we do thank you for keeping us from the crazy freezing temps. Scooter (the dragonfly) is having enough trouble under snow! 

Even the pond is still burbling under the layer of white. 

Jon spent the weekend taking care of his rabbits. This is from Friday when we had a nominal amount of fluff. It got deeper, but wasn't wet. Just nice and pretty. 

On Saturday there was a stunning sunset. 

Tried to capture the lights on the icicles, because pink ice was so different. Alas, just managed to get pretty lights instead of colored ones. You can sure tell how old and uninsulated certain houses are in town by the amount of ice festooned across the roof edges!! This one is definitely in that lineup. 

Steve and Jon spent Saturday working on several different things (Steve had to go to town) and moving snow. 

This is about the only cat who was outside- The vortex coated the lawn sculpture with lovely ripples and shades and layers. 

 Schultz was hidden until Monday. It seems a squirrel tried to land on him and took off the very tall layer of snow blanketing him! 

Godfrey was doing fairly well, he's in the way of the ice falling off the roof on Monday. Hoping he doesn't get wiped out! 

Buford Buckshot provided a lovely spot for the birds. He, too, was finally brushed off on Monday. He was also quite a bit closer to the snow around his legs, so perhaps the squirrel jumped on him, too! 

Meepette was completely covered by Monday. Up to the tip of her curved tail!!!! She does look a bit disgruntled in this photo. 

Sunday was spent cooking and moving snow. Steve had a chance to take me for short drive and it was so beautiful! The locust trees were gold and black calligraphy on the parchment skyline and along the banks of the creek, those trees wrote stark lines about the hardship of winter's storms. You really couldn't see that much, there was so much white for miles and miles. We spied a few magpie and a ring tail hawk, and cows! 

These two bulls made us laugh for quite a while. Steve thinks the only not snowy bit on their pelts was where their foreheads were meeting. They scooted each other all over in the field while we watched. True stubbornness!! 

Rain is expected, hopefully the snow you dumped won't create flooding like last Feb. That was really horrid! The snow and ice falling off the roof today (those photos are still on my camera) are a bit startling from inside, am sure it would be impressive if I was on the sidewalk. Had to move a great pile of snow from the porch, there is a lot still left. As I type, can also see there is a wind picking up. Drifting snow isn't as much fun as plain fluffy stuff, I'm just thankful we aren't in OK or places where you have dumped severe winter storms. Thank you for the brief visit with winter and next time  you visit, well....I'd rather just have a normal winter of snow and not a from a vortex! 

February Birthday Week

It has been quite a while since an  update! Quite a bit has happened since Dec. 23. Baby rabbits were born on the 26th-they aren't quite as cute now, since the littles are a bit over 17 pounds as a group. The litter of 7 is growing like crazy. Jon's been making new cages to move everyone into, so the ones he was given can be turned into something else. Daffodils and tulips are coming up, the rose bush by the house is getting buds, and the butterfly bush has new leaves. February started with two birthdays. I'm as old as Steve now and Jon is a bit past a quarter of a century. 

Dear Rose found the above card, months before, she said, and Steve brought me this lovely pot of primroses. 

The babies hopping around the cages on the first, as seen from the living room window. 

Monday was a bit busy, so made an angel food cake for Ground Hog Day and my birthday. It is really a cake, even if it looks like a lamp. Steve made me a wooden holder for the pan last year and it works beautifully. 

Jon's birthday was a lot of fun. We had the angel cake, made a box cheese cake, and brownies frosted with perfectly chocolate chocolate frosting for dessert. Plus ice cream. Dinner was something I'd never made before and much of it was scratch. They were surf and turf  Po'Boys. The buns were not made properly, but tasted ok. Following online directions, I put mayo on both slices of the bun. On one side there is shredded beef, gravy, breaded shrimp, and Jon said it needed cheese. The other has lettuce, tomato, and pickles. Jon's and Dot's also had onions. (Dot didn't have shrimp) They were VERY yummy!!! We also gave Jon a  fancy digital indoor and outdoor thermometer so he can see what temp is out by the rabbits instead of guessing from the temps on the porch. The rabbits are in a much more shaded location. He likes it because he can also tell whether or not he needs to get up earlier to defrost his rig before work!!  

The weekend after the birthday's, Steve trimmed up the pear trees. We gave the rabbits some branch sections and those were devoured with glee!! Rabbits seem to be kin to beaver. 

Sun on the trees Feb 6-it appears the tree photos are out of sync!!! 

This CRAZY puzzle was worked on fairly steadily from the end of Jan until it was finally completed on Feb 7. It is a Hallmark design that was on a popcorn tin. It was brought back from mom's because it was wintery and cute. We have not taken it apart yet, it was much much much too fuzzy!!! Jon called the penguins 'baby Apteryx' because they are little flightless birds with hairy feathers. 

These are sky shots from Feb 5. What a stunning world it is up there! 

Last week of July 2020 in the north-

Sunday, July 26 was lovely. You could tell people were visiting the inlet by the trash I picked up. I didn't pick up as much as I could have, but I picked up a bag full. 

 I enjoy seeing the fun shapes in driftwood and stuff tossed up on shore. I found a log that looked quite a bit like a pug, but none of the photos I took showed what I saw!

 It was so incredibly warm, littles were playing in the water. That doesn't happen all that often on the inlet. Especially during fishing season. The man on shore was seeking halibut and I saw quite a few salmon splashing around and being caught on the nets set out.

 I'm not sure, but it looks almost like there is more snow than there was a few weeks ago. I'm not entirely surprised. We've had a lot of rain on this side of the inlet, so I can imagine it wasn't just rain over there!

 This is the moose that swam the lake. When I saw it, I wondered what the neighbor's dog was doing. Then, I realised it wasn't a dog and just a moose in neck deep water. It was moose paddling super fast, so my 2 photos were terribly blurred.

 This lovely Green Comma Butterfly landed on me for a second as I left the house on Monday. It overwinters as an adult and is considered uncommon, probably cuz it is hard to see and fast. It has green spots on it, somewhere...

 Our fireweed is blooming fast, it is more than halfway to the top this week.

The hilarious squirrel I watched. After it extracted all the seeds it could from this feeder, it opted for a mushroom entree. I'm anticipating it had a nap when it finished it's meal! 

 I didn't take many photos of the chickadees who visited me. They weren't fond of the shutter movements. I really wanted to try to take one of the bird on my shoulder (and yes, I hummed Zippity do dah!!). The lady grosbeak wasn't near me long enough, but she'd not have stuck around for a picture, anyway!

 I love how friendly the birds are here. Today it has been raining, or I'd go out and see who I could attract. The neighbors' are also shooting and there isn't much nearby! The little wings on the golden eye are  much too tiny still, but they can still run across the water when necessary! They scampered from the middle of the lake to the weeds on this side, lickety split!